THIS essay was in its original form presented as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Harvard University. It has since been revised and in considerable part rewritten. Though in the process of revision many errors of fact and errors of judgment have been corrected, there are doubtless many which have escaped the author’s notice, and which remain to be pointed out by others. It is hoped, however, that the conclusions here set forth may at least serve to provoke discussion and investigation in a comparatively unworked and exceedingly important field of research.

     The title and scope of the work require some explanation. The term Provincial Governor has been chosen to designate the chief executive of the royal and proprietary colonies. As will be subsequently explained, the internal constitution of the proprietary colony became so nearly like that of the royal province that the two may with advantage be treated together. In the proprietary and in the royal governor alike we have the representative of an externally imposed authority. The elective governors of Rhode Island and Connecticut stood upon an essentially different footing, and do not

therefore come within the scope of this work. Two other important limitations must be noted. After a brief introduction on the beginnings of constitutional development, the field is restricted, in the main, to the period between the Revolution of 1688 and the close of the last French war; excluding, therefore, the complications of the revolutionary era, and presenting a simple view of the normal working of the provincial constitution. The field of study is further restricted to those colonies which afterwards became a part of the United States of America, though occasional illustrations have been drawn from the practice of other British provinces.

     In the appendices are included, first, a few representative commissions and sets of instructions; secondly, a list of printed commissions and instructions to royal and proprietary governors; and, finally, a list of authorities cited. In citing any provision of the commissions or instructions, the reference in the footnote is to the particular section or page where that provision occurs. The place in which the document is printed may then be found by reference to Appendix B. The commission and instructions to Francis Bernard, which are given in Appendix A, have, so far as possible, been cited in the discussion of particular powers and duties assigned to the governor. In this way many statements made in the text may be conveniently checked by reference to the documentary material in the appendix.

     It is impossible to express adequately the author’s indebtedness to all those who have aided in the successive stages of this work, and to whom such measure

of success as may have been attained is very largely due. The officers of the Harvard University Library have done much by their courtesy and liberal extension of privileges to facilitate both the original labor of investigation and the subsequent task of verification and revision. Special acknowledgments are due to Mr. Philip A. Bruce of the Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Dr. Alexander Brown, and Messrs. Houghton, Mifflin and Company for permission to print documents included in Appendix A; and also to Miss Addie F. Rowe, of Cambridge, for conscientious and intelligent service in preparing the manuscript for the press.

     The author desires finally to express his deep sense of obligation to his teachers and friends in the historical department of Harvard University—especially to Professor Edward Channing, under whose guidance the work has been carried on, and Professor Albert Bushnell Hart, to whom he has been indebted throughout for kindly criticism and encouragement.

URBANA, September, 1898.