An Historical Account of the Rise and Progress of the Colonies of South Carolina and Georgia, Volume 2Hewatt, Alexander
History
An Historical Account of the Rise and Progress of the Colonies of South Carolina and Georgia, Volume 2
Hewatt, Alexander
Georgia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775; South Carolina -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775
From that period in which the right and title to the lands of Carolina
were sold, and surrendered to the King, and he assumed the immediate care
and government of the province, a new aera commences in the annals of
that country, which may be called the aera of its freedom, security, and
happiness. The Carolineans who had long laboured under innumerable
hardships and troubles, from a weak proprietary establishment, at last
obtained the great object of their desires, a royal government, the
constitution of which depended on commissions issued by the crown to the
Governor, and the instructions which attended those commissions. The form
of all provincial governments was borrowed from that of their mother
country, which was not a plan of systematic rules drawn before-hand by
speculative men, but a constitution which was the result of many ages of
wisdom and experience. Its great object is the public good, in promoting
of which all are equally concerned. It is a constitution which has a
remedy within itself for every political disorder, which, when properly
applied, must ever contribute to its stability and duration. After the
model of this British constitution the government of Carolina now assumed
a form like the other regal ones on the continent, which were composed of
three branches, of a Governor, a Council, and an Assembly. The crown
having the appointment of the Governor, delegates to him; its
constitutional powers, civil and military, the power of legislation as
far as the King possesses it; its judicial and executive powers, together
with those of chancery and admiralty jurisdiction, and also those of
supreme ordinary: all these powers, as they exist in the crown, are known
by the laws of the realm; as they are entrusted to Governors, they are
declared and defined by their commissions patent. The council, though
differing in many respects from the house of peers, are intended to
represent that house, and are appointed by the King during pleasure, for
supporting the prerogatives of the crown in the province. The Assembly
consists of the representatives of the people, and are elected by them as
the House of Commons in Great Britain, to be the guardians of their
lives, liberties, and properties. Here also the constitution confides in
the good behaviour of the representatives; for should they presume in any
respect to betray their trust, it gives the people more frequent
opportunities than even in Britain, of chusing others in their stead. The
Governor convenes, prorogues, and dissolves these Assemblies, and has a
negative on the bills of both houses. After bills have received his
assent, they are sent to Great Britain for the royal approbation, in
consequence of which they have the force of laws in the province. This is
a general sketch of the royal governments, which are intended to resemble
the constitution of Great Britain, as nearly as the local circumstances
of the provinces will admit, and which, notwithstanding its
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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