or the purpose intended. Mr. Morris adds: "I am of
opinion that a reserve of all the lands on the River St. John above
the settlements for the whole course of the river, at least
twenty-five miles on each side, will be the most advantageous reserve
to the Crown of lands within this province, especially as the river is
navigable for boats and rafting of masts the whole course of it, as
also for rafting of masts in the several branches of it; and in this
tract is contained a black spruce, fit for yards and topmasts, and
other timber fit for ship-building."

The importance to coming generations of the "black spruce, fit for
yards and top-masts," was little dreamed of by Charles Morris.
However, it seems that in accordance with his recommendation the
region of the upper St. John was at this time reserved to the crown
because its towering pines supplied the best masts in the world for
the British navy, and at the close of the American Revolution it was
still unbroken forest.

After the formation of the County of Sunbury, April 30, 1765,
magistrates and other officers were appointed and representatives
chosen to sit in the House of Assembly. Some of our local historians,
including the late Moses H. Perley, have stated that the first
representative of Sunbury County was Charles Morris jr., but although
Mr. Morris may have been the first to take his seat he was not the
first elected representative. The late Thos. B. Akins, of Halifax,
a recognized authority on all points of local history, in a
communication to the late J. W. Lawrence states that the election
writs on file at Halifax give the names of Capt. Beamsley Glasier and
Capt. Thomas Falconer as the first representatives of the County of
Sunbury. It does not appear that either of these gentlemen attended
the sessions of the House of Assembly, and as it was the rule for
members who were absent two years to forfeit their seats for
non-attendance, a new election was held in 1768, when Richard
Shorne and Phinehas Nevers were returned. The House of Assembly was
dissolved two years later, and at the ensuing general election
Charles Morris, jr., and Israel Perley were returned; the former took
his seat but Mr. Perley appears never to have done so and in 1773
James Simonds was elected in his stead. Mr. Simonds was in attendance
in October, 1774, and took the customary oath, being the first
inhabitant of the county to take his seat in the legislative halls of
Nova Scotia. A lit