234 



ing the same with appropriate remarks in relation to tha 

 importance of the subject therein embraced : 



Resolved, That this Society .heartily ^approves the recom- 

 mendation of His Excellency Governor Andrew, in his inaug- 

 ural addresses for the years 1861 and 1862, that the Legis- 

 lature provide for the " collection and publication, under the 

 patronage of the commonwealth, of the statutes enacted be- 

 tween the time of the union of the colonies of Plymouth and 

 Massachusetts Bay, under the charter of William and Mary, 

 in 1691, and that of the adoption of the Constitution in 

 1780 ;" and that this Society coincides with His Excellency 

 in the opinion that these statutes " are ol inestimable value, 

 on account of their historical interest, their usefulness in 

 throwing light upon subsequent legislation and the assistance 

 which they afford in the determination of many important 

 questions, mooted by the courts," and also in his represen- 

 tations of the extreme scarcity of copies of these early law- 

 books. 



Voted, therefore, that the members of this Society are 

 hereby requested to join in any proper measure for the 

 purpose of urging this important subject upon the attention 

 of the Legislature, that they may make the reasonable ap- 

 propriation required for the publication of said laws. 



After remarks from several members the resolutions were 

 unanimously adopted. Adjourned. 



Monday, March 9, 1863. 



Meeting this evening, the President in the chair. 

 Records of preceding meeting read. ^ 



Letters were read from Massachusetts Historical Society ; 

 $. B. \Yool worth Secretary of the Regents of the University, 



