BEGINNINGS OF ENGLISH COLONIZATION 69 



tional, despite an opinion to the contrary by Attorney-General 



Noy. In order, however, that these rules and provisions 



might not be void for informality, they were confirmed by a 



Charter which was afterwards known as the Western Charter, 



and which repeated word for word the language used by the 



Star Chamber.^ The following April (1634) witnessed the 



appointment of Commissioners of Foreign Plantations, who 



are the lineal ancestors of the Colonial Office of to-day, and 



who inaugurated an energetic and systematic colonial policy. 



In 1637 the Commissioners decided that the old patents /« 1637 



for Newfoundland had lapsed through neglect, and re-granted ^/fif^^^^i 



to the Duke of Hamilton, Sir D. Kirke, the conqueror o^ grants are 



Quebec {1629), and others, all that had been granted to Guy ^ift[^tyant 



and former patentees. But there were differences in the new to Kirke's 



patent. The colony was looked on as one colony, instead '^^"^P'^^y* 



of being divided into an inner and outer half, as in Guy's 



patent ; the northern boundary was hazily described as 53° N. 



lat.^ or Belle Isle Strait, instead of being described as 52° N. 



lat, and the exemption of fishing and incidental rights from 



the Governor's jurisdiction was pushed to two logical and 



dangerous conclusions : first, there were to be two separate which 



kinds of control, the Governor controlling the settlers, while scribes dual 



the fishing-admirals and mayors under the charter of 1634 control and 



controlled the fishermen ; and secondly, there were to be two ^,^/^. 



separate areas of control, an invisible line being drawn six 



miles from the seaside, which if the settlers crossed they 



suffered a sea-change, were partially transformed from settlers 



into fishermen, and might neither build houses nor farm, 



but could only build forts, fish-stages, and cook-rooms. In 



so far as these provisions were new, they were ignored. 



Settlers still lived, built, and farmed as they had always lived, 



built, and farmed, within a quarter of a mile of the shore ; ^ 



' Feb. 10, 1634. 



2 Comp. Purchas, Pilgrims, vol. xix, p. 429. 



^ See e. g. Calendar of State Papers, Colonial Series, Add., 1574 to 

 1674, pp. 157-63. 



