Ounded by Canada on the north; by the Atlantic ocean, and New Scotland, on the east and south;

and by New York on the weft.

New England is divided into four governments, viz. 1. New Hampfhire, or Pifcataway; 2. the Maffachufets colony; 3. The colony of Phode-ifland, and Providence plantation; and, 4. Connecticut colony.

Rivers.] Their rivers are, 1. Connecticut; 2. Thames; 3. Patuxent; 4. Merimac; 5. Pifcataway; 6. Saco; 7. Calco; 8. Kinebeque; and 9. Penobfcot, or Pentagonet.

Bays and Capes.] The moft remarkable bays and harbours are thole formed by Plymouth, Rhode-island, and Providence plantations ; Monument bay; Weit harbour, formed by the bending of Cape Cod, Bofton harbour; Piicataway; and Cafco bay.

The chief capes are, Cape Cod, Marble-head, Cape Anne, Cape Netick, Cape Porpus, Cape Elifabeth, and Cape Small point.

Face of the country, and Air.] The land next the fea in New Eng land is generally low, but farther up into the country it rifes into or. and on the nordealt it is rocky and mountainous. The winters ar. much feverer here than in Old England, though it lies 9 or 10 degre more fouth: but they have ufually a brighter heaven, and wor fettled weather, both in winter and fummer, than in Old England, and though, their funners are fhorter, the weather is a great el hotter while it lads. The winds are very hoifterous in the winter-ica

fon, and the north-weft wind blowing over a long tract of frozen country, is exceffive cold; their rivers are fometimes frozen over in a night's time. The climate however is generally healthful, and agreeable to English conftitutions.

Produce.] The fruits of Old England come to great perfection here, and particularly peaches, which are all standard-trees. Mr Dudley relates, that he has had 7 or 800 fine peaches on fuch a tree at one time, and a fingle apple-tree has made feven barrels of cyder.

But I find English wheat does not thrive here. They eat maize or Indian corn chiefly, one grain whereof frequently produces twelve hundred grains, and fometimes two thoufand. This corn is of three feveral colours, viz. blue, white, and yellow. Befides the foreft trees of Old England, they have cedar, cyprefs, pine, and fir trees. Their fir-trees are of a prodigious bulk, and furnith the royal navy of England with mafts and yards; and they draw from thefe and other trees, pitch, tar, and rofin, turpentine, gums, and balm; and the foil is proper for hemp and flax. A fhip may be built and rigged out with the produce of the foil. Ship-building is a confiderable employment in this country.

Animals.] The animals which feem aimoft peculiar to New England and the rest of North America, are the moofe-deer and the bea

ver.

The fpermaceti whale alfo is found upon this coaft; of which and other whales the New England people take great numbers, and fend fome thips every year to filh for whales in Greenland: and from hence it is we receive all the whale-bone and whale oil we import, except what we purchafe of the Dutch and Hamburghers. Befides the whale-fifhery, there is a very fine cod-fifhery on the coaft of Nova Scotia.

They have now almost all European animals in as great perfection and plenty as we have them here.

Manufactures.] They manufacture coarfe linen and woollen cloth for their own ufe, as well as iron tools and utenfils; and they have. manufactures of hats and paper, from which Old England endeavours to divert them, as being prejudicial to their mother-country: And indeed if Old England would encourage their raifing naval ftores, this might prove more advantageous to both.

There are allo fet up of late feveral fugar-bakers and distillers, which is esteemed prejudicial to the trade of Old England.

Trade.] The New-England people have a great trade by fea to the British fugar-colonies, and with the Dutch at Surinam and Curaffon near Terra Firma; whither they fend horfes, falt provifions, and lumber, that is, deal-boards, pipe-ftaves, hoops, and thingles. They fend their thips alfo to the bay of Honduras for logwood, which they transport to Europe; as they do alfo fugar from the West Indies, and fifi from Newfoundland.

Government.] It is obferved by Mr Dummer, That by the new charter granted to the Maffachufets, (the moit confiderable of the NewEngland colonies), the appointment of a governor, lieutenant-governor, fecretary, and all the officers of the admiralty, is veiled in the crown; that the power of the militia is wholly in the hand of the governor,

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as captain-general: That all judges, juftices, and fheriffs; to whom the execution of the law is intrusted, are nominated by the governor, with the advice of the council; and that the governor has a negative on the choice of counfellors, peremptory and unlimited; and that he is not obliged to give a reason for what he does in this particular, or reftrained to any number: That all laws enacted by the general affembly are to be fent to the court of England, for the royal approbation; and that no laws, ordinances, elections (of magiftrates, I prefume, he means), or acts of government whatsoever, are valid, without the governor's confent in writing.

By these refervations (in the opinion of this gentleman) the prerogatives of the crown, and the dependence of this colony, are effectually fecured: Whereas we find the Lords Commiffioners of trade and plantations, in their reprefentation to the House of Commons, a 1732, obferving, That notwithstanding the power feems to be divided between the King and the people in the Maffachufet colony, the people have much the greatest fhare; for they do not only chufe the affembly of reprefentatives, but this affembly chufe the council, (equivalent to our House of Lords), and the governor depends upon the affembly for his annual support; which has frequently laid the governor of this province under the temptation of giving up the prerogatives of the crown, and the intereft of Great Britain.

That this colony, as well as others, ought to tranfmit to Great Britain authentic copies of the feveral acts paffed by them; but they fometimes neglect it, and pafs temporary laws, which have their full effect before the government here can have due notice of them; and if the laws of this colony are not repealed within three years after their being prefented, they are not repealable by the crown after that time.

Mr Dummer, treating of the administration of our American governors, obferves, that these governors are apt to abuse their power, and grow rich by oppreflion. We have feen, fays that gentleman, na many years fince, fome governors feized by their injured people, aud fent prifoners to Whitehall, there to answer for their offences; other have fallen victims on the fpot, not to the fury of a faction or a rabble, but to the refentment of the whole body of the people, rifing as ofe man to revenge their wrongs; others, after being recalled, have been profecuted at the king's-bench.

There were originally three forts of government established by the English on the continent of America, viz. 1. Royal governments; 2. Charter governments; and, 3. Proprietary governments.

1. A royal government is properly fo called, becaufe the colony s immediately dependent on the crown, and the King remains fovereign of the colony; he appoints the governor, council, and officers of itate; and the people elect only their reprefentatives, as in England. Suck are the governments of Virginia, New Hampfhire, New York, New Jerfey, and both the Carolina's; though the Carolina's were, till very lately, proprietary governments.

2. A charter government is fo called, because the company, incor porated by the King's charter, were in a manner vefted with fovereig authority to eftablith what fort of government they faw fit. And the charter governments have generally thought fit to transfer their as thority to the populace; for in thefe governments the freemen do not

only chufe their reprefentatives, but annually chufe their governor, council, and magiftrates, and make laws, without the concurrence, and even without the knowledge of the King; and are under no other restraint than this, that they enact no laws contrary to the laws of England; if they do, their charters are liable to be forfeited. Such is the government of Rhode-ifland, and, I think, of the colony of Connecticut in New England; and iuch were the governments of the Maffachufets, Maine, and Plymouth, formerly; but their first charters being adjudged forfeited in the reign of King Charles II. the charter granted to the Maffachufets by King William III. has referved the appointment of a governor to the crown: but the house of reprefentatives chufe the council, with the governor's concurrence; and the governor and council appoint the magiftrates and officers of itate. From whence it appears, that the government of the Maffachufets, in which the colonies of Maine and Plymouth are now comprehended, is, in fome inftances, different from either of the two former species of government, or rather a mixture of both.

3. The third kind of government is the proprietary government, properly fo called, becaufe the proprietor is vefted with fovereign authority: He appoints the governor, council, and magistrates, and the reprefentatives of the people are fummoned in his name; and by their advice he enacts laws, without the concurrence of the crown; but by a late statute, the proprietor muft have the King's confent in the appointing a governor, when he does not refide in the plantation in perfon; and of a deputy-governor when he does; and all the governors of the plantations are liable to be called to an account for male-adminiftration by the court of king's-bench in England, by another ftatute. The only proprietary governments now in being are those of Maryland and Penfylvania.

Forces.] In one of the reprefentations of the board of trade, they inform the privy council, that in the colony of the Maffachufets only there were upwards of ninety-four thoufand fouls; and that their militia confifted of fix regiments of foot, and fifteen troops of horse, of an hundred men in each troop. The fame reprefentation fhews, that they employed near five hundred fail of fhips, and four thoufand feamen, annually in their trade; and if this calculation be right, it must be allowed that the reft of the colonies north of Virginia and Maryland, viz. Connecticut, Rhode-ifland, New York, the Jerfeys, and Penfylvania, can raife at leaft as many more. All that feems wanting in order to render these forces useful, and capable of oppofing an invafion, is a generaliffimo, impowered on any exigencies to oblige every colony to raite their respective quotas of fupplies and troops, and to command them when affembled in the field; for thefe are particulars which it is never to be expected the colonies fhould agree on among themselves, or at least time enough to prevent the ravages of a potent enemy.

Religion.] New England was planted by the Independents, a little before the commencement of the civil wars in England. Thefe people tranfported themselves thither, rather than conform to the established church. Though they complained of the government here, for not allowing a toleration, they permitted no other fect or denom.nation of Chriftians, but themfelves, to have any share in the governments they

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erected there, and were fo far from allowing a toleration to thofe the differed from them, that they hanged several Quakers. It is but very lately they have fuffered any member of the church of England to have a fhare in the magiftracy, or to be elected a member of the commons, or houfe of Reprefentatives; and there are not more than two or three admitted at this day into their councils.

There are fome churches erected in New England by the members of the church of England; but we ftill compute that the difciples of Independency are four times as many as thofe of the church of England in the Maffachufet and Connecticut colonies. In Penfylvania and in Rhode-island the governors are Quakers, as well as most of the inhabitants.

Revolutions and memorable events.

Whited by twenty different nations or tribes, independent of each

7Hen the Europeans firft vifited this country, they found it inha

other, and commanded by their refpective chiefs. Of thefe nations, the most powerful was the Maffachufets, fituate on or near Bolton harbour. King James I. by letters-patent dated the 10th of April 1606, erected two companies, impowering them to fend colonies to Virginia, as all the north-eaft coaft of America was then called. One of these companies was called the Plymouth Company; who for some time traded only with the natives of North Virginia, or New England, for furs, and fifhed upon the coast.

Two fhips were employed in this fifhery in the year 1614, commanded by Captain John Smith, and Captain Thomas Hunt; and Captain Smith returning to England, left Hunt on the coaft, ordering him to fail with the other fhip to Spain, and dispose of the fifh he had ta 'ken there. Hunt, after Smith was gone, enticed twenty-feven Indians on board his thip, and failing with them to Malaga, fold them for flaves, at the rate of 20 1. a man.

This treachery was fo refented by the Indians, that all commerce with them was for fome time broken off.

About the year 1619, fome diffenters of the Independent perfuafion, who were uneafy at their being required to conform to the church of England, having purchafed the Plymouth patent, and obtained another from King James, to fend colonies to North Virginia, now New England, embarked 150 men on board a ship, which failed from Plymouth the 6th of September 1620, and arrived at Cape Cod in New England on the 9th of November following, where they built a town, and called it by the name of New Plymouth; and Mr John Carver was

elected their firft

governor.

The Indians were at this time too much engaged in wars among themselves, to give thefe ftrangers any difturbance; and Maffaifoit, Prince of the Maffachufet nation, learning from one Quanto an Indian, who had been carried to England, what a powerful people the Englifh were, made Governor Carver a vifit the following fpring, and entered into an alliance, offenfive and defenfive, with the English, by whofe affitance he hoped to make a conqueft of the Narraganset nation, with which he was then at war. This prince alfo confented to acknowledge the King of England his fovereign, and made a cedor