THE AUTONOMY OF A PRECINCT. 



201 



was appointed agent to present the Cohasset plea to the 

 General Court. 



The following record of that court two months later 

 shows how promptly the agent did his work : — 



Oct. 12, 1727 — a petition of the Inhabitants of Cohasset 

 setting forth their great difficulty by reason of their remoteness 

 from the Grammar School in the town of Hingham (of which 

 they are a precinct) and that they can receive no benefit by the 

 said school in the education of their children although thev are 



■W'~c^^'*\- • -^-fci 



Photo Harriet A. Nickerson. 



Mouth of Little Harbor in Winter. 



taxed toward the support of it. And therefore praying that they 

 may have the benefit of the said school to be kept within their 

 precinct one third of the year, or that they may be exempted 

 from paying to the support of that school and allowed to provide 

 a schoolmaster to instruct their children in writing and reading. 



Hingham was served by the court with a copy of this 

 petition to overrule the town's vote, and was notified to 

 show cause why it should not be granted. When the 

 answer came two months later, the petition was referred 



