Every town is an incorporated republic. The select men, by their own authority, or upon the application of a certain number of townsmen, issue a warrant for the calling of a town-meeting. The warrant mentions the business to be engaged in, and no other can be legally executed. The inhabitants are warned to attend; and they that are present, though not a quarter, or tenth of the whole, have a right to proceed. They choose a president by the name of moderator, who regulates the proceedings of the meeting. Each individual has an equal liberty of delivering his opinion, and is not liable to be silenced or browbeaten by a greater or richer townsman than himself. Every freeman or freeholder, as the business regards either the freeholders in particular or the freemen at large, gives his vote or not, and for or against, as he pleases; and each vote weighs equally, whether that of the highest or lowest inhabitant. At these town-meetings the people are used to debate and conclude upon instructions to their representatives respecting matters before, or likely to come before the general court—freely to express their sentiments regarding public transactions—to agree upon the choice of a minister, and the salary they shall give him—upon building or repairing the meeting-house, and upon a variety of other interesting matters, which concern the exercise of their civil or sacred privileges. All the New-England towns are upon the same plan in general, though different in certain particulars. In the colony of Rhode-Island they have no minister paid by the town, as a town, nor is it allowed by the government; the salary is not a town charge, but is made up out of the voluntary contributions of the denomination to which he is joined. From the free exercise of all the above cited rights, the Massachusetts inhabitants are to be suspended by the aforesaid enacting clause. When they wish, or have occasion to hold meetings for any of the above purposes, they will be obliged to apply to the governor, who may put a negative upon every application, and who will have it in his power to prevent their settling a minister when the pulpit is become vacant, till he can be well assured that the person on whom the choice will fall, either does or will incline to support governmental measures.