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BOSTON, June 3d. 1774.

A BILL for the impartial Administration of Jus-
tice in the Cases of Persons questioned for any
Acts done by them in the Execution of the Law,
or for the Suppression of Riots and Tumults, in
the Province of the Massachusetts Bay in New-
England.

WHEREAS in His Majesty's Province
of Massachusetts-Bay, in New-Eng-
land, an Attempt hath lately been
made to throw off the Authority of
the Parliament of Great-Britain over
the said Province; and an actual and avowed
Resistance, by open Force, to the Execution of
certain Acts of Parliament, hath been suffered to
take place, uncontrouled and unpunished, in Defi-
ance of His Majesty's Authority, and to the utter
Subversion of all lawful Government:

And whereas, in the present disordered State
of the said Province, it is of the utmost Impor-
tance to the general Welfare thereof, and to the
Re-establishment of lawful Authority throughout
the same, that neither the Magistrates acting in
Support of the Laws, nor any of His Majesty's
Subjects aiding and assisting them therein, or in
the Suppression of Riots and Tumults, raised in
Opposition to the Execution of the Laws and
Statutes of this Realm, should be discouraged
from the proper Discharge of their Duty, by an
Apprehension, that in case of their being questi-
oned for any Acts done therein, they may be liable
to be brought to Trial for the same, before Per-
sons who do not acknowledge the Validity of the
Laws in the Execution whereof, or the Authority
of the Magistrate in the Support of whom such
Acts had been done:

In order therefore to remove every such Dis-
couragement from the Minds of His Majesty's
Subjects, and to induce them, upon all proper
Occasions, to exert themselves in Support of the
Publick Peace of the Province, and of the Au-
thority of the King and Parliament of Great
Britain over the same; Be it enacted by the King's
Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice
and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Tempo-
ral, and Commons, in this present Parliament
assembled, and by the Authority of the same,
That if at any Time, within the Space of    
Years from and after the     any Bill or
Bills of Indictment shall be found against any
Person for Murther, or other capital Offence, in
the Province of the Massachusetts Bay, and it shall
appear, by Information given upon Oath to the
Governor, or in his Absence to the Lieutenant
Governor, of the said Province, that the Fact
was committed by the Person indicted, while he
was either in the Execution of his Duty as a Ma-
gistrate, for the Suppression of Riots, or in the
Support of the Laws of Revenue, or that he
was acting in his Duty as an Officer of Revenue,
or acting under the Direction and Order of any
Magistrate for the Suppression of Riots, or for the
carrying into Effect the Laws of Revenue, or
aiding and assisting in any of the Purposes afore-
said; and if it shall also appear, to the Satisfaction
of the said Governor or Lieutenant Governor res-
pectively, that an indifferent Trial cannot be had
within the said Province, in that Case it shall and
may be lawful for the Governor or Lieutenant
Governor to direct, that the Indictment shall be
tried in some other of his Majesty's Colonies, or
in Great Britain, and for that Purpose to order
the Person indicted to be sent under a sufficient
Custody to the Place appointed for his Trial;
and that there may be no Failure of Justice from
the want of Evidence in such Cases, it shall and
may be lawful for the Governor, or in his Absence
the Lieutenant Governor, to settle and assess a
reasonable Sum to be allowed for the Expences
of such Witnesses as the Prosecutor, or the Person
indicted, shall desire to be summoned; which Sum
shall be advanced by the Commissioners of His
Majesty's Customs, to the Witness, who, upon
the Receipt thereof, shall enter into a Recogni-
zance before a Judge of the Superior Court, to
appear and give Evidence upon the Trial of such
Indictment.

And be it futher Enacted, That the Governor,
or in his Absence the Lieutenant Governor, if
he shall direct the Trial to be had in any other
of His Majesty's Colonies, shall transmit the In-
dictment, together with the Recognizances of the
Witnesses, under the Seal of the Province, to the
Governor of such other Colony; who shall im-
mediately issue a Commission of Oyer and Ter-
miner, and deliver or cause to be delivered the
said Indictment, with the said Recognizances, to

the Chief Justice, and such other Persons as have
usually been Commissioners of Oyer and Terminer
there; who shall have Power to proceed upon
the said Indictment, as if the same had been
found before them, and the Trial shall thereupon
proceed in like Manner, to all Intents and Pur-
poses, as if the Offence had been committed in
such Place: And in case the Governor, or in his
Absence the Lieutenant Governor, shall direct the
Trial to be had in Great Britain, he shall then
transmit the Indictment, together with the Recog-
nizances of the Witnesses, under the Seal of the
Province, to one of his Majesty's principal Secre-
taries of State, who shall deliver or cause to be
delivered the same, to the Master of the Crown
Office, and the Indictment shall be tried in the
next Term, at the Bar of the Court of King's
Bench, in like Manner, to all Intents and Pur-
poses, as if the Offence had been committed in the
County of Middlesex.

A BILL for the better regulating the Government
of the Province of the Massachusetts Bay in
North-America.

WHEREAS by Letters Patent under the
Great Seal of England, made in the Third
Year of the Reign of their late Majesties
King William and Queen Mary, for uniting, e-
recting, and incorporating, the several Colonies,
Territories, and Tracts of Land therein menti-
oned, into One real Province, by the Name of their
Majesties Province of the Massachusetts-Bay, in
New-England, whereby it was amongst other
Things ordained and established, That the Go-
vernor of the said Province should from thenceforth
be appointed and commissionated by their Ma-
jesties, their Heirs and Successors, it was however
granted and ordained, That from the Expiration
of the Term, for, and during which the Eight
and Twenty Persons, named in the said Letters
Patent, were appointed to be the First Counsellors
or Assistants to the Governor of the said Province
for the Time being, the aforesaid Number of Eight
and Twenty Counsellors or Assistants should yearly
Once every Year, for ever thereafter, be, by the
General Court or Assembly, newly chosen:

And whereas the said Method of electing such
Counsellors or Assistants, to be vested with the se-
veral Powers, Authorities, and Privileges therein
mentioned, although conformable to the Practice,
theretofore used, in such of the Colonies thereby
united, in which the Appointment of the respec-
tive Governors had been vested in the General
Courts or Assemblies of the said Colonies, hath by
repeated Experience, been found to be extremely
ill adapted to the Plan of Government established
in the Province of the Massachusetts-Bay, by the said
Letters Patent herein before mentioned, and hath
been so far from contributing to the Attainment
of the good Ends and Purposes thereby intended,
and to the promoting of the internal Welfare,
Peace, and good Government, or to the Mainte-
nance of that just Subordination to, and Confor-
mity with, the Laws of Great Britain, that the
Manner of exercising the Powers, Authorities and
Privileges, aforesaid, by the Persons so annually
elected, hath for some Time past been such as had
the most manifest Tendency to obstruct, and in
great Measure defeat the Execution of the Laws,
to weaken the Attachment of His Majesty's
well-disposed Subjects, in the said Province, to
His Majesty's Government, and to encourage the
ill disposed among them to proceed even to Acts
of direct Resistance to, and Defiance of, His Ma-
jesty's Authority; and it hath accordingly hap-
pened, that an open Resistance to the Execution
of the Laws hath actually taken place in the Town
of Boston and the Neighbourhood thereof, within
the said Province:

And whereas it is, under these Circumstances,
become absolutely necessary, in order to the Pre-
servation of the Peace and good Order of the said
Province, the Protection of His Majesty's well-dis-
posed Subjects therein resident, the Continuance
of the mutual Benefits arising from the Commerce
and Correspondence between this Kingdom and
the said Province, and the maintaining of the just
Dependance of the said Province-upon the Crown
and Parliament of Great Britain, that the said
Method of annually electing the Counsellors or
Assistants of the said Province should no longer
be suffered to continue, but that the Appointment
of the said Counsellors or Assistants should be hence-
forth be put upon the like Footing as is established
in such other of His Majesty's Colonies or Planta-
tions in America, the Governors whereof are ap-
pointed by His Majesty's Commission under the

Great Seal of Great Britain:
Be it therefore Enacted, by the KING's most
Excellent MAJESTY, by and with the Advice and
Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal,
and Commons, in this present Parliament assem-
bled, and by the Authority of the same, That
from and after the    
so much of the Charter granted by their Majesties
King William and Queen Mary, to the Inhabitants
of the said Province of the Massachusetts Bay, in
New England, and all and every Clause, Matter,
and Thing, therein contained, which relates to
the Time and Manner of electing the Assistants,
or Counsellors, for the said Province, and all E-
lections and Appointments of such Councellors and
Assistants made in pursuance thereof, shall    
    and that from and after the said
    the Council or Court
of Assistants of the said Province for the Time be-
ing, shall be composed of such of the Inhabitants
or Proprietors of Lands within the same, as shall
be thereunto nominated and appointed by His
Majesty, his Heirs & Successors by Warrant under his
or their Signet or Sign Manual, and with the Advice
of the Privy Council, agreeable to the Practice now
used in Respect to the Appointment of Counsellors
in such of His Majesty's other Colonies in America,
the Governors whereof are appointed by Commis-
sion under the Great Seal of Great Britain: Pro-
vided that the Number of the said Assistants or
Counsellors shall not at any One Time exceed
    nor be less than    

And it is hereby further Enacted, That the said
Assistants or Counsellors so to be appointed as a-
foresaid, shall hold their Offices respectively, for
and during the Pleasure of His Majesty, his Heirs
or Successors, and shall have and enjoy all the
Powers, Privileges, and Immunities, at present
held, exercised, and enjoyed by the Assistants or
Counsellors of the said Province, constituted and
elected from Time to Time, under the said Char-
ter, except as hereinafter excepted; and shall also,
upon their Admission into the said Council, and
before they enter upon the Execution of their
Offices, respectively take the Oaths, and make, re-
peat, and subscribe, the Declarations required, as
well by the said Charter as by any Law or Laws
of the said Province now in force, to be taken by
the Assistants or Counsellors, which have been so
elected and constituted as aforesaid.

And be it further Enacted by the Authority
aforesaid, That from and after the    
it shall and may be lawful for His Majesty's Go-
vernor, for the Time being, of the said Province,
or; in his absence, for the Lieutenant Governor,
to nominate and appoint, under the Seal of the
Province, from Time to Time, the Judges of the
Inferior Courts of Common Pleas, Commissioners
of Oyer and Terminer, the Attorney General,
Sheriffs, Provosts Marshals, Justices of the Peace,
and other Officers to the Council or Courts of
Justice belonging , and to remove the same with-
out the Consent of the Council; and that all
Judges of the Inferior Courts of Common Pleas,
Commissioners of Oyer and Terminer, the Attor-
ney General, Sheriffs, Provosts Marshals, Justices,
and other Officers so appointed by the Governor,
or, in his absence, by the Lieutenant Governor,
alone, and shall and may have, hold and exercise,
the said Offices, Powers, and Authorities as fully
and completely, to all Intents and Purposes, as
any Judges of the Inferior Courts of Common
Pleas, Commissioners of Oyer and Terminer, At-
torney General, Sheriffs, Provosts Marshals, or
other Officers, have or might have done hereto-
fore under the said Letters Patent, in the Third
Year of the Reign of their late Majesties King
William and Queen Mary, any Law, Statute, or
Usage, to the contrary notwithstanding.

Provided always, and be it Enacted, That no-
thing herein contained shall extend, or be constru-
ed to extend to annul or make void the Commission
granted before the    
to any Judges of the Inferior Courts of Common
Pleas, Commissioners of Oyer and Terminer, the
Attorney General, Sheriffs, Provosts Marshals,
Justices of the Peace, or other Officers; but that
they may hold and exercise the same, as if this
Act had never been made, until the same shall be
determined by Death, Removal by the Governor,
or other Avoidance, as the Case may happen.

And be it further Enacted by the Authority
aforesaid, That upon every Vacancy of the Of-
fices of Chief Justice and Judges of the superior
Court of the said Province, from and after the
   
the Governor for the Time being, or in his Ab

sence the Lieutenant Governor, without the Con-
sent of the Council, shall have full Power and
Authority to nominate and appoint the Persons
to succeed to the said Offices, who shall hold their
Commissions during the Pleasure of His Majesty,
his Heirs and Successors; and that neither the
Chief Justice and Judges appointed before the
said     nor those who shall
hereafter be appointed pursuant to this Act, shall
be removed, unless by the Order of his Majesty,
his Heirs or Successors, under his or their Sign
Manual.

And be it further Enacted by the Authority
aforesaid, That the Governor, Lieutenant Go-
vernor, Chief Justice, the Judges of the Superior
Court, and the Secretary of the said Province, for
the Time being, shall be, and they are hereby
appointed, during their Continuance in their res-
pective Offices, Justices of the Peace in and for
every County of the said Province, and shall and
may have, hold, and enjoy, all the Powers and
Authorities given to the Justices of the Peace by
virtue of the Commission, or by any Act of the
General Court of the said Province.

And whereas, by an Act of the General Court
of the said Province, made in the Fourth Year
of the Reign of their late Majesties King William
and Queen Mary, intituled, "An Act for regu-
lating of Townships, Choice of Town Officers,
and setting forth their Power," the Freeholders
and Inhabitants of the several Townships, ratea-
ble at Twenty Pounds Estate, are authorized to
assemble together, in the Month of March in every
Year, upon Notice given by the Constable, or
such other as the Select Men of the Town shall
appoint, for the Choice of Select Men, Consta-
bles, and other Officers; and the Freeholders and
Inhabitants are also impowered to make and a-
gree upon such necessary Rules, Orders, and Bye-
laws, for the directing, managing, and ordering,
the prudential Affairs, and to annex Penalties
for the Non-observance of the same, not exceed-
ing Twenty Shillings for one Offence; provided
they be not repugnant to the General Laws of
the said Province:

And whereas a great Abuse has been made of
the Power of calling such Meetings, and the In-
habitants have, contrary to the Design of their
Institution, been misled to treat upon Matters of
the most general Concern, and to pass many dan-
gerous and unwarrantable Resolves; For Reme-
dy whereof, Be it enacted, That from and after
the    
no Town Meeting shall be called by the Select
Men, or at the Request of any Number of Free-
holders, without the leave of the Governor in
Writing, expressing the special Business of the said
Meeting, first had and obtained, except the An-
nual Meeting in the Month of March, for the
Choice of Select Men, Constables, and other Offi-
cers; and that no other Matter shall be treated
of at such Meeting, except the Election of their
aforesaid Officers, nor at any other Meeting, ex-
cept the Business expressed in the Leave given by
the Governor.

And whereas, in pursuance of an Act of Assem-
bly of the said Province, made in the Seventh
Year of the Reign of William the Third, and
Three other Acts of Assembly, made in the Ele-
venth Year of the same Reign, Jurors, as well
Grand as Petty, have usually summoned and
returned by the Constables of the several Towns,
by virtue of Writs or Warrants directed to them,
by the Clerks of the several Courts, requiring them
to assemble the Inhabitants of the said Towns, to
chuse fit Persons to serve as Jurors for such Towns,
and to summon and return such Persons so cho-
sen; which Practice of chusing Jurors, and re-
turning them, without the Intervention of the
Sheriff, has been found to be detrimental to the
Administration of Justice; Be it therefore Enacted
by the Authority aforesaid, That from and after
the    
    next ensuing, so much of the said Acts of
Assembly, and of all other Laws now in force,
within the said Province, as directs the Returns
of Juries to be made by the Constables, by an E-
lection of the Inhabitants of the several Towns,
shall    
and all Jurors, as well Grand as Petty, shall be re-
turned by the Sheriffs of the several Counties, and
no otherwise; and the Justices of the Superior
Court of the said Province, at a convenient Time
before the Sitting of the Superior Court in every
County, and the Justices of the Peace for every
County in the said Province, at a convenient Time
before the Sitting of the Quarter Session of such
County, shall issue their Precepts or Warrants to
the Sheriff of such County, for such several Courts
respectively to summon, out of the Freeholders
and Inhabitants of such County qualified to serve
upon Juries, such a Number of good and lawful
Men as such Precept or Warrant shall direct, to
serve upon the Grand Jury at such respective
Court; and such Persons so summoned and re-

turned by the said Sheriff or such of them as shall
appear, shall be impannelled and sworn the Grand
Inquest for the Body of the County, and shall
continue as such during the Sitting of such res-
pective Court, and until they shall be dismissed by
the same; and in all Indictments, Informations,
Actions, and Causes, depending before the Supe-
rior Court, or any Court of Quarter Session, or
Court of Common Pleas, in the said Province,
which shall be at Issue, and ordered for Trial, the
Juries shall be summoned, impannelled, and re-
turned, by the Sheriff of the County, out of
the Freeholders and Inhabitants of the said County
qualified to serve upon Juries, and shall be cho-
sen and arrayed in such Manner and Form, and
by and with such Regulations and Restrictions,
as is directed and ordered in and by an Act of
Parliament, made in the Seventh and Eighth Years
of the Reign of his late Majesty King William the
Third, intituled, "An Act for the Ease of Jurors,
"and better regulating of Juries;" and One
other Act, made in the Eighth and Ninth Years of
the same Reign, intitled "An Act to enable the
"Returns of Juries as formerly, until the First
" Day of November, One thousand Six hundred
and Ninety-seven;" and One other Act of Parliament,
made in the Third Year of the Reign of his late
Majesty King George the Second, intituled "An
"Act for the better Regulation of Juries; and
One other Act, made in the Twenty fourth Year
of the same Reign, intituled, "An Act for the
"better Regulation of Trials by Jury, and for
"enlarging the Time for Trials by Nih Prius,
" in the County of Middlesex."

And be it futher Enacted by the Authority
aforesaid, that Lists of the Freeholders and Inha-
bitants of the several Towns, qualified to serve
upon Juries, shall be returned to, and recorded at,
the Quarter Sessions for the several Counties,
and shall be delivered to the several Sheriffs in
Manner and Form as directed by the said Acts of
Parliament, or any of them; and until such Lists
of such Freeholders and Inhabitants shall be de-
livered as aforesaid, the Sheriff of any County
shall and may summon and return fit Persons to
serve upon Juries as aforesaid, out of the Body of
the Freeholders and Inhabitants of the County,
qualified to serve upon Juries, according to his
Judgment and Discretion; and whenever the
Judges of the Superior Court shall Award a Spe-
cial Jury to be Struck (which they are hereby au-
thorized and impowered to do in such Manner as
Special Juries have been usually struck in the
Court at Westminster at Trials at Bar) and if the
Sheriff of the County in which such Jury shall be
awarded, shall not have received the Lists of the Free-
holders and Inhabitants qualified to serve upon
Juries as hereinbefore ordered and directed, such
Sheriff shall attend the proper Office of the said
Court, with a List of     of the principal
Freeholders & Inhabitants of the said County qua-
lified to serve upon Juries, and the said Special Jury
shall be struck out of the said List; and it shall
and may be lawful for the Justices of the said Su-
perior Court, and they are hereby authorized and
impowered, upon the Motion of either of the Par-
ties, in any Cause or Action which shall be brought
to issue, to order the said Cause or Action to be
tried in any County, other than the County in
which the said Cause or Action shall have
been brought or laid, by a Jury of such other
County, as they shall judge fit and proper, any
Act of Assembly or Provincial Law to the contrary
notwithstanding.

And be it futher Enacted by the authority a-
foresaid, That all Clerks of Courts, Sheriffs,
Constables, and other Persons within the said Pro-
vince, to whom the ordering, making, delivering,
or recording, the Lists of the Freeholders and In-
habitants qualified to serve upon Juries as afore-
said, shall belong or appertain, according to the
true Intent and Meaning of this present Act, and
the said Acts hereby referred to, who shall be
guilty of any wilful Neglect, Default, or Misfeaz-
ance, in the carrying into Execution this Act, ac-
cording to its true Intent and Meaning, shall in-
cur and suffer such Fines and Penalties as are se-
verally mentioned in the said Acts of Parliament
hereby referred to; and all Persons who, being
duly qualified as aforesaid, shall be duly summon-
ed to serve upon Juries in Manner aforesaid, and
shall not attend such Service, shall incur and suf-
fer such Fines and Penalities as, by the Laws of
the said Province, Jurors making Default are
now subject to.

And be it further Enacted by the Authority a-
foresaid, That if any Action shall be brought a-
gainst any Sheriff, for what he shall do in Exe-
cution, or by virtue of this Act, he may plead the
general Issue, and give the Special Matter in Evi-
dence; and if a Verdict shall be found for him,
he shall recover     Costs.

Just Published,
And Sold by EDES and GILL, in Queen-Street,
[Price, IS. 6d.]
OBSERVATIONS
ON
THE ACT OF PARLIAMENT
COMMONLY CALLED
THE
BOSTON PORT-BILL;
WITH
THOUGHTS
ON
CIVIL SOCIETY
AND
STANDING ARMIES.
Dedicated to the FREEHOLDERS and
YEOMANRY of the COUNTRY,
By JOSIAH QUINCY, Junr.
BRITONS arise! --
And show you have the virtue to be mov'd.
POPE.
NULLA FIDES, pietasq; viris, qui CASTRA sequuntur,
VENALESQUE MANUS: ibi fas, ubi maxima merces.
LUCAN.
Our necks are under PERSECUTION. LAM. V. 5.
What MAN can do against them, not afraid,
Though to THE DEATH; against such CRUELTIES
With inward consolation recompenc'd:
And oft supported so, as shall amaze
Their PROUDEST PERSECUTORS.     MILTON.
They that be slain by THE SWORD are better than they
that be slain with hunger.     LAM. IV.9.