Although the New England colonists were dissenters from the English Church, they proceeded to unite their Church and their State in the township. The male church-members were the town electors.

84. The Town's Mind.-Each congregation and each town was independent. The town's mind was frequently ascertained by the vote of the freemen in town-meeting. Each freeman, as in Virginia, was a land-owner and a church-member. Each town annually or semi-annually chose a moderator, three or more selectmen, a treasurer, a coroner, a town clerk, a constable and a tax-gatherer. The town also elected a representative to attend the General Court or assembly of representatives from all the towns. This House of Assembly, or General Court, as it long continued to be called in Massachusetts, made the general laws for the colony. The freemen also elected a governor once a year. The towns chose justices of the peace, and sometimes the judges, but usually the judges were appointed by the governor with the consent of the General Court.

The people of Massachusetts, like their brethren in Virginia, lived under five jurisdictions (see ¶ 73, p. 42) :

1. The Town, corresponding to the township of Virginia ; 2. The Church Congregation, corresponding to the parish in Virginia;

3. The County, as in Virginia;

4. The General Court, corresponding to the General Assembly in Virginia;

5. The King and Parliament of England, as in Virginia. Thus the Episcopalian planter of Virginia and the Congregationalist farmer of Massachusetts, although they did not agree in their ideas of government, lived under the same kinds of jurisdictions. But they did not see this similarity as plainly as we see it now; they had little opportunity for exchanging political views.

85. Further Comparisons.-The General Court of