two years, and when that time expired would reenact them for two years more, and so on in order to avoid the veto.  In this way the colonists became used to three political institutions which were afterwards embodied in what is now the American system of state and national government:  1.  The written constitution defining the powers of government. 2.  The exercise of the veto power by the governor. 3.  The setting aside of laws by a judicial body from whose decision there is no appeal.

%102.  The Colonial Governors.%—­The governor of a royal province was the personal representative of the King, and as such had vast power.  The legislature could meet only when he called it.  He could at any moment prorogue it (that is, command it to adjourn to a certain day) or dissolve it, and, if the King approved, he need never call it together again.  He was the chief justice of the highest colonial court, he appointed all the judges, and, as commander in chief of the militia, appointed all important officers.  Yet even he was subject to some control, for his salary was paid by the colony over which he ruled, and, by refusing to pay this salary, the legislature could, and over and over again did, force him to approve acts he would not otherwise have sanctioned.  In Connecticut and Rhode Island the people elected the governors.  This right once existed also in Massachusetts; but when the old charter was swept away in 1684, and replaced by a new one in 1691, the King was given power to appoint the governor, who could summon, dissolve, and prorogue the legislature at his pleasure.

%103.  Lords of Trade and Plantations.%—­That the King should give personal attention to all the details of government in his colonies in America, was not to be expected.  In 1696, therefore, a body called the Lords of the Board of Trade and Plantations was commissioned by the King to do this work for him.  These Lords of Trade corresponded with the governors, made recommendations, bade them carry out this or that policy, veto this or that class of laws, examined all the laws sent over by the legislatures, and advised the King as to which should be disallowed, or vetoed.

In the early years of our colonial history the Parliament of England had no share in the direction of colonial affairs.  It was the King who owned all the land, made all the grants, gave all the charters, created all the colonies, governed many of them, and stoutly denied the right of Parliament to meddle.  But when Charles I. was beheaded, the Long Parliament took charge of the management of affairs in this country, and although much of it went back to the King at the Restoration in 1660, Parliament still continued to legislate for the colonies in a few matters.  Thus, for instance, Parliament by one act established the postal service, and fixed the rates of postage; by another it regulated the currency, and by another required the colonists to change from the Old Style to the New Style—­that is, to stop using the Julian calendar and to count time in future by the Gregorian calendar; by another it established a uniform law of naturalization; and from time to time it passed acts for the purpose of regulating colonial trade.