26o HISTORY OF C OH ASSET. 



ordinances that deeply concerned their welfare were being^ 

 passed at any of these town meetings. Furthermore, the 

 town treasurer was too inaccessible so far away. To pay 

 him one's taxes or for the school committee to receive 

 from him the annual grant for schools required a deal of 

 traveling, which grew ever more irksome as the precinct 

 became populous enough for a town by itself. 



Besides these compulsory trips to Hingham there was 

 the necessity for any person intending marriage to travel 

 to the clerk in Hingham to announce his intentions legally. 



But what need is there further to specify the difficulties 

 suffered by the inhabitants of this precinct in their un- 

 fortunate subjection to the mother town } 



After three years of waiting, some of the people much 

 discouraged and others indifferent, again the precinct, on 

 March 29, 1766, voted its double-barreled petition, one to 

 Hingham and the other to the General Court. 



The next May 19, Hingham braced itself against the 

 charge. The town "voted to adjourn all articles preced- 

 ing that of the East precinct's Petition, untill that was 

 Considered. Then the s*^ Petition was Read and after a 

 Long debate upon the Subject matter of it, the Question 

 was put whether the prayer thereof should be Granted — 

 passed in the Negative." That long and exciting debate 

 called forth the strongest efforts of our precinct ; but 

 their hopes were stunned by that obstinate " Negative " 

 vote. 



Not for many years did the loyal advocates of this pre- 

 cinct again besiege the town for their independence. 



This defeat apparently discouraged the General Court 

 petition, for the records of that court show no sign that 

 the petition ever reached it. 



Four years afterwards, on May 27, 1760, the precinct 

 recovered enough to vote that its petition be presented to 

 the General Court ; but the discouraged ones prevailed, 

 and that vote was withdrawn. 



