by and with the advice and consent of our said Council and Assembly, or the major part of them, shall have full power and authority to make, constitute, and ordain, laws, statutes, and ordinances, for the public peace, welfare, and good Government of our said Province, and of the people and inhabitants thereof, and such others as shall resort thereunto, and for the benefit of us, our heirs and successors; which said laws, statutes, and ordinances, are not to be repugnant, but, as near as may be, agreeable to the laws and statutes of this our Kingdom of Great Britain.

Provided that all such laws, statutes, and ordinances, of what nature or duration soever they be, shall be, within three months, or sooner, after the making thereof, transmitted to us, under our seal of our said Province, for our approbation or disallowance of the same, as also duplicates thereof, by the next conveyance.

And in case any, or all, of the said laws, statutes, and ordinances, not before confirmed by us, shall at any time be disallowed and not approved, and so signified by us, our heirs, and successors, under our, or their, signet and sign manual, or by order of our, or their, Privy Council, unto you, the said James Murray, or to the Commander-in-chief of our said Province for the time being, then such and so many of the said laws, statutes, and ordinances, as shall be so disallowed and not approved, shall from thence-forth cease, determine, and become utterly void and of no effect; any thing to the contrary thereof notwithstanding.

And to the end that nothing may be passed or done by our said Council or Assembly to the prejudice of us, our heirs, and successors, we will and ordain that you, the said James Murray, shall have and enjoy a negative voice in the making und passing all laws, statutes, and ordinances, as aforesaid; and that you shall and may likewise from time to time, as you shall judge necessary, adjourn, prorogue, or dissolve all General Assemblies as aforesaid.

And we do by these presents give and grant unto you, the said James Murray, full power and authority, with the advice and consent of our said Council, to erect, constitute, and establish such and so many courts of judicature and public justice within our said Province under your Government as you and they shall think fit and necessary, for the hearing and determining of all causes, as well criminal as civil, according to law and equity, and for awarding execution thereupon, with all reasonable and necessary powers, authorities, fees, and privileges belonging thereto; as also to appoint and commissionate fit persons in the several parts of your Government to administer the oaths mentioned in the aforesaid Act, intituled, "An Act for the further security of his Majesty's person and Government, and the succession of the Crown in the heirs of the late Princess Sophia, being Protestants, and for extinguishing the hopes of the pretended Prince of Wales, and his open and secret abettors;" as also to tender and administer the aforesaid declaration to such persons belonging to the said courts as shall be obliged to take the same.

And we do hereby grant unto you full power and authority to constitute and appoint Judges, and, in cases requisite, Commissioners of Oyer and Terminer, Justices of the Peace, and other necessary officers and ministers, in our said Province, for the better administration of justice, and putting the laws in execution; and to administer, or cause to be administered, unto them, such oath or oaths as are usually given for the due execution and performance of offices and places, and for clearing the truth in judicial causes.

And we do hereby give and grant unto you full power and authority, when you shall see cause, or shall judge any offender or offenders in criminal matters, or for any fines or forfeitures due unto us, fit objects of our mercy, to pardon all such offenders, and" remit all such offences, fines, and forfeitures, treason and wilful murder only excepted; in which cases you shall likewise have power, upon extraordinary occasions, to grant reprieves to the offender until, and to the intent that, our royal pleasure may be known therein.

And we do by these presents give and grant unto you full power and authority to collate any person or persons to any churches, chapels, or other ecclesiastical benefices within our said Province, as often as any of them shall happen to be void.

And we do hereby give and grant unto you, the said James Murray, by yourself, or by your Captains and Commanders by you to be authorized, full power and authority to levy, arm, muster, command, and employ all persons whatsoever residing within our said Province; and, as occasion shall serve, them to march, embark, or transport, from one place to another, for the resisting and withstanding of all enemies, pirates, and rebels, both at land and sea; and to transport such forces to any of our Plantations in America, if necessity shall require, for the defence of the same against the invasion or attempts of any of our enemies; and such enemies, pirates, and rebels, if there should be occasion, to pursue and prosecute in or out of the limits of our said Province: and, if it shall so please God, them to vanquish, apprehend, and take; and, being taken, according to law to put to death, or keep and preserve alive, at your discretion; and to execute martial law in time of invasion, war, or other times, when by law it may be executed; and to do and execute all and every other thing and things which to our Captain General and Governor-in-chief doth, or of right ought to belong.

And we do hereby give and grant unto you full power and authority, by and with the advice and consent of our said Council, to erect, raise, and build in our said Province, such and so many forts, platforms, castles, cities, boroughs, towns, and fortifications, as you, by the advice aforesaid, shall judge necessary, and the same, or any of them, to fortify and furnish with ordinance, ammunition, and all sorts of arms fit and necessary for the security and defence of our said Province; and by the advice aforesaid, the same again, or any of them, to demolish or dismantle as may be most convenient.

And forasmuch as divers mutinies and disorders may happen by persons shipped and employed at sea during the time of war, and to the end that such as shall be shipped and employed at sea during the time of war may be better governed and ordered, we hereby give and grant unto you, the said James Murray, full power and authority to constitute and appoint Captains, Lieutenants, Masters of Ships, and other Commanders and Officers; and to grant to such Captains, Lieutenants, Masters of Ships, and other Commanders and Officers, commissions to execute the law martial, during the time of war, according to the directions of an Act passed in the twenty-second year of the reign of our late royal grandfather, intituled, "An Act for amending, explaining, and reducing into one act of Parliament, the laws relating to the Government of his Majesty's ships, vessels, and forces, by sea;" and to use such proceedings, authorities, punishments, corrections, and executions upon every offender or offenders, who shall be mutinous, seditious, disorderly, or any way unruly, either at sea, or during the time of their abode or residence in any of the ports, harbours, or bays in our said Province, as the case shall be found to require, according to martial law; and the said directions, during the time of war, as aforesaid.

Provided, that nothing herein contained shall be construed to the enabling you, or any by your authority, to hold plea, or have any jurisdiction of any offence, cause, matter, or thing committed or done upon the high sea, or within any of the havens, rivers, or creeks of our said Province under your Government, by any Captain, Commander, Lieutenant, Master, Officer, Seaman, Soldier, or person whatsoever, who shall be in actual service and pay, in or on board any of our ships of war, or other vessels acting by immediate commission or warrant from our Commissioners for executing the office of High Admiral of Great Britain, or from our High Admiral of Great Britain, for the time being, under the seal of our Admiralty; but that such Captain, Commander, Lieutenant, Master, Officer, Seaman, Soldier, or other person, so offending, shall be left to be proceeded against, and tried, as their offences shall require, either by commission under our great seal of this Kingdom, as the statute of the twenty-eighth of Henry VIII. directs; or by commission from our said Commissioners for executing the office of High Admiral of Great Britain, or from our High Admiral of Great Britain, for the time being, according to the aforementioned Act, intituled, "An Act for amending, explaining, and reducing, into one act of Parliament, the laws relating to the Government of his Majesty's ships, vessels, and forces, by sea;" and not otherwise.