pean nations soon partitioned the entire continent among themselves, as they have done with Africa and seem likely to do with China. When people desired to come to this country for the purpose of settlement, it was necessary for them to路 obtain permission from the government interested in that portion of the new country which they expected to occupy. The permits thus granted formed the basis of the new governments set upon this side of the Atlantic. Sometimes these permits were granted by the king to a company, whose members either sent out colonists to the new country or came themselves as colonists. Such permits were known as Royal Charters and were in reality a form of constitution granted by the king to the colonists, defining their rights and privileges. They usually outlined the form of government, providing for a governor and council. Sometimes these permits were granted to individuals called proprietors, and the governments set up by them were called Proprietary Governments_ These proprietors in turn granted charters to their colonists, so that in general the government of charter colonies and of proprietary governments was very similar. In time, however, all but a few of the colonies lost or surrendered their charters, passed under the direct government of the mother country (England), and came to be known as Royal Provinces. In the royal provinces the king could rule with greater freedom. He appointed the governor and the colonial judges, and everywhere except in Massachusetts, the governor's council also. Notwithstanding this, the colonists' retained no small . measure of self-government. They still had their assemblies, managed their own local affairs, and, most important of all, retained control of their own taxes, a fact which enabled them to exercise considerable power over the officials appointed by the king. LOCAL
GOVERNMENT.
When the colonists came to America, they did not invent new forms of IQcal government. What they did was to