Page:History of New South Wales from the records, Volume 1.djvu/612

 488 GOVEBNORS' COMMISSIONS. L^islation and Qovern- inent. Develop- ment of the colonial qrstem. Compare the com- mission to Sir Danvora Osbonip Oovernor of New York ; Smith, History of New York, pp. 291-S09. Old English. in historical succession, all the Charters, Grants, Gommisaioiijs, and Letters Patent by which the Crown in later times vested powers of colonial gOYemment in the hands of individuals. Sir Walter -was empowered to "correct, punish, pardon, govern, and rule** his subjects "according to such statutes, lawes, and ordinances as sliall bee by him, the said Walter Ealeigh, devised or established for the better government of the said people: So always as the aaid statutes, lawes, and ordinances may be, as neere as conveniently may be, agreeable to the forme of the lawes, statutes, government, or poUicie of England." This was, to all intents and purposes, the sum and substance of the powers conferred on Governor Phillip two centuries later. In the Grant of the province of Maine to Sir Ferdinando Gorges, made in 1639, and in the Charter for the provLuce of Pennsylvaziia granted to William Penn in 1681, the powers of government con- ferred by the Crown were defined with much more precision than they were in Raleigh's case. During the period which elapsed between Ealeigh's voyage of discovery and the appearance of Gorges and Penn on the scene of colonisation, the government of the colonies had been developed into an official system ; the grants and charters, drawn up when Coke and Bacon were Crown Law Officers, became established precedents for later cases; and their language, stripped of its antiquated peculiarities, may be found in many State documents of modem times. Thus there is no difficulty in tracLog the pedigree, so to speak, of the Commission issued to Governor Phillip up to the American grants and charters of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The identity of form and language is unmistakable. For instance, the powers given to Phillip to levy, arm, and muster forces for defence, to execute martial law, and to build fortifications, may be seen in the Grant to Sir Ferdinando Gorges in almost the same words. The historical interest of the subject will justify the quotation of a passage from it for the pur- pose of showing the resemblance between the two documents — especially as it will serve to illustrate the constitutional position occupied by Phillip : — And because in a Conntry soe farr distant and seated amongst soe many barbarous nations, the Incnrsions or Invasions, as well of t£e barbarous people as of Pirates and other enemies, maye be justly feared : Wee doe therefore give and erannte unto the said Sir Ferdinando Gorges full power and anthorite that he shall or lawfallye maye muster, leavie, raise, arme, and employe all persons inhabiteing or resideing within the said province for the resisting or withstanding of such Enymies or Pyratee bothe atte Lande and atte See, and such enymies or Pyrates (if occa8io& shall require) Digitized by Google