CONTROVERSY RESPECTING THE NEW HAMPSHIRE GRANTS.
347
given at Whitehall, the third Day of July, 1741, is described in the Words following • u Our Provinceof' Mew-Hampshire, within Our Dominions of Mew-Englmid in America , bounded on the South Sideby a similar Curve Line, pursuing the Course of Merrimac River, at three Miles Distance on theNorth Side thereof; beginning at the Atlantic Ocean , and ending at a Point due North of a Placecalled Puutudcet Falls ; and by a straight Line drawn from thence due West cross the said River ,till it meets with our other Governments • and bounded on the South Side by a Line passing up throughthe Mouth of Piscataqua Harbour, and up the Middle of the River to the River of Mewichwannock,Part of which is now called Salmon Falls, and through the Middle of the same to the furthest Headthereof; and from thence North two Degrees Westerly, until One Hundred and Twenty Miles befinished from the Mouth of Piscataqua Harbour aforesaid, or until it meets with our otherGovernments,”
And whereas it manifestly appears by the several Grants or Letters Patent above recited, thatthe Province of Mew- York is bounded to the Eastward by the River Connecticut : That the Provinceof Mew-Ham;pshire , being expressly limited in its Extent Westward and Morthward by HisMajesty’s other Governments, is confined to the same River as to its Western Boundary ; and thatthe said Government of Mew-Hampshire is not intituled to Jurisdiction Westward, beyond the Limitsof that River .
And whereas the said Government of Mew-Hampshire , tho’ fully apprized of the Right of thisGovernment, under the Letters Patent aforementioned to the Duke of York ; and sensible also thathis Majesty had not been pleased to establish other Boundaries between his said two Provinces , hathgranted Lands Westward of Connecticut River , within the Limits and Jurisdiction of the Governmentof Mew- York ; in Virtue whereof, sundry Persons, ignorant that they could not derive a legal Titleunder such Grants, have attempted the Settlement of the Lands included therein, and have actuallypossessed themselves of Soil before granted within this Province ; while others claiming under thesaid Government of Mew-Hampshire, have endeavored to impose on the Inhabitants here, by offeringto Sale, at a low Rate, whole Townships of Six Miles Square, lately granted by the said GovernmentWestward of Connecticut River .
To prevent therefore the Incautious from becoming Purchasers of the Lands so granted ; to assertthe Rights, and fully to maintain the Jurisdiction of the Government of this His Majesty’s Provinceof Mew-York; I have thought fit, with the Advice of His Majesty’s Council, to issue this Proclama-tion, hereby commanding and requiring all Judges, Justices, and other Civil Officers within thesame, to continue to exercise Jurisdiction in their respective Functions, as far as to the Banks ofConnecticut River , the undoubted Eastern Limits of that Part of the Province of Mew-York, notwith-standing any Contrariety of Jurisdiction claimed by the Government of Mew-Hampshire, or any Grants°f Land Westward of that River , made by the said Government. AND I DO hereby enjoin theHigh Sheriff of the County of Albany , to return to me or the Commander in Chief, the Names ofall and every Person and Persons, who under the Grants of the Government of Mew-Hampshire, door shall hold the Possession of any Lands Westward of Connecticut River , that they may be proceededagainst according to Law
GIVEN under my Hand and Seal at Arms, at Fort-George, in the City of New-York , the Twenty-e ighth Day of December, 1763, in the Fourth Year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord GEORGEthe Third, by the Grace of GOD, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland , King, Defender of the Faith,a nd so forth. By his Honour’s Command,
Gw. Banyar, Dep. Secry.
God save the King.