History of Northampton, Massachusetts, from its settlement in 1654;

1661-1663.] SPECIAL MUNICIPAL REGULATIONS. 159
By-laws for Regu- Orders and by-laws enacted for tlie proteclating
the Mead-
OWS, the Commons,
a n d t h e
Highways.
tioH of the Commons, the Meadows, and
,, -.-r- -i ^ ^ I'll
the Highways, everywhere abound m the
annals of the town. One of the earliest re-
corded municipal votes was for the regulation of the
meadow in relation to pasturage, or the trespassing of
stock thereon, but previous to this there must have been
an order for fencing them. In the commons each inhabitant
held an undivided proprietary right. That each
should profit by that privilege without infringement upon
the liberties of others was the end and aim of all these
provisions. While the personal belongings of each settler
were strictly defined, and rigidly insisted upon, there was
also much in common that required special attention.
The Rights of all The regulations and by-laws which follow
Guarded and were the most minute and particular of
any yet adopted by the town. They well
exhibit the prevailing spirit of the body politic, in
which every man's property was protected from the encroachments
of every other person, and the good order and
prosperity of the community secured. The paternal hand
of the government in jealously guarding and curtailing the
selfish propensities of the individual in order that they
might conserve and benefit the interests of all, is everywhere
visible in all the enactments of the first settlements
of New England.
Order Relating to All Order was adopted in 1661, but not re-
Timber cut upon
the Commons.
corded for a couple of years, concerning the
, , p , j-i ^ tit •
length ot time timber should be permitted
to lie upon the commons after being cut. Three months
was the limit fixed, upon penalty of forfeiture. "But in
case hee twart cutt it it may [lie] three moneths longer, but
if it bee not taken away att the o monethes end then it
shalbee forfeit, vnless it bee hewen and cloven upj^, then it
shall not be forfeite." People were also prohibited from
getting '
' any candlewood to burne it to Cole or for Tarr
within the Compass of six miles of the Towne on the pen-
alty of Tenn shillings a load." Thirty-eight years after