It was greatly desired to encourage British settlement in North America, and special regard was had in this respect to the soldiers and sailors who in North American lands and waters had deserved so well of their country. Accordingly the proclamation contained a special provision for grants of land, within the old and the new colonies alike, to retired officers of the army who had served in North America during the late war; to private soldiers who had been disbanded in and were actually living in North America; and to retired officers of the navy who had served in North America ‘at the times of the reduction of Louisbourg and Quebec’. It was thought also by the Lords of Trade that confidence and encouragement would be given to intending settlers, if at the outset they were publicly notified of the form of government under which they would live. Hence the proclamation provided, as regards the new colonies, ‘that so soon as the state and circumstances of the said colonies will admit thereof,’ the governors ‘shall, with the advice and consent of the members of our Council, summon and call General Assemblies within the said governments respectively, in such manner and form as is used and directed in those colonies and provinces in America which are under our immediate government’. The governors, councils, and representatives of the people, when duly constituted, were empowered to make laws for the public peace, welfare, and good government of the colonies, provided that such laws should be ‘as near as may be agreeable to the laws of England, and under such regulations and restrictions as are used in other colonies.’ Pending the constitution of the legislatures, the inhabitants and settlers were to enjoy the benefit of the laws of England, and the governors were empowered, with the advice of their councils, to establish courts of justice, to hear and decide civil and criminal cases alike, in accordance as far as possible with the laws of England, a right of appeal being given in civil cases to the Privy Council in England. It was not stated in the proclamation, but it was embodied in the governors’ instructions, that until General Assemblies could be constituted, the governors, with the advice of their councils, were to make rules and regulations for peace, order, and good government, all matters being reserved ‘that shall any ways tend to affect the life, limb, or liberty of the subject, or to the imposing any duties or taxes’. [Sidenote: The Western territories.]