Page:Select Essays in Anglo-American Legal History, Volume 1.djvu/457

 13. ANDREWS: COLONIAL CONDITIONS 443 Dudley, Quary, Gauden and others.^ The failure of the bill of 1706 was a severe blow to its supporters, and the colony for several years experienced a relief from its anxiety. In 1715 the matter came up again because of the complaints regarding banks, naval stores, the trouble with Carolina, etc., and the House of Commons appointed a committee com- posed of members of the Board of Trade " to inspect into the miscarriage and to prepare a bill to resume the grants of the proprietary governments." ^ Again a list of charges was prepared,^ but, whether another failure was feared^ or a juster policy decided upon, a different plan was tried for Connecticut. The committee of the Privy Council directed the Board of Trade to inquire of the colony — through Jer. Dummer, the agent in London — whether it would be will- ing to surrender its charter peaceably. Connecticut's an- » Quary to Board of Trade, Jan. 10, 1708-9. B. T. Papers, Planta- tions General, Entry Book, D. ff. 200, 205. The following extract will show the nature of Quary's misrepresentations. The important fact to be noted is that the Board had faith in Quary. He was in high favor with the members and they listened with gravity to his suggestions and to the information which he gave. B. T. Journal, vol. 15, minutes for June 26, and succeeding dates, 1703, " I attended the Governor Colo- nel Winthrope, who received me very kindly and desired me not to look too narrowly into the mistakes of that government. I quickly found that there was good reason for that caution for on examining the custom-house I found nothing but confusion and roguery. I was apprised of many dishonest practices acted in that place before I went but did not expect to have found matters so very bad. The person that acts as collector was one Mr. Withred, a pillar of their church, but a great rogue, for there is no villainy that a man in his post could do but was constantly practiced by him. ... It would tire your Lord- ship to give you a history of the illegal trade carried on and encour- aged in this government from Cura^oa, Surinam and other places. . . . This is a very populous country, able to raise 10,000 effective men and yet would never assist their neighbors in defending their frontiers from the public enemy, who hath destroyed whole towns and carried away the inhabitants for want of a regulated government and militia. . . . I have no hope of preventing illegal trade in that governnjent whilst it is in the hands of those people." B. T. Papers, Plantations General, Entry Book, D. flF. 200-205. " Memorial from Mr. Stephen Gauden, relating to the misfeances of Carolina and other Proprietary Governments, whereby they Forfeit their Charter." July 25, 1716. B. T., Proprieties, Q. 81. » B. T. Journal, 25, f. 216, Aug. 11, 1715. » B. T. Papers, Proprieties, Entry Book, F. ff . 464-465. appointed by the Parliament . . . seemed somewhat at a loss how to fix proper causes and reasons for the doing" [of that for which they were appointed].
 * This may be inferred from Gauden's Memorial: "The committee