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The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre film6s d des taux de reduction diffdrents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour §tre reproduit en un seul clichd, il est film6 d partir de Tangle supdrieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images n^cessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mdthode. errata I to t ) pelure, on d n 32X 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 EN SA COl <^' ^ /^ — /- / / £^ y y ^ c t ^ IIULI'] AND MrSRULE OF TIM: ENGLISH IN AMERICA. BY THE AL'TIIOK OF SAM SLICK, THE CLOCKMAKER," "thk ATTACHK," "the old judge," etc. " Nee qua cominissas flectat habenas, Nee seit, quii sit iter, ncc, si sciat, imperet illis." ovin. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. T. LONDON: COLBURX AND CO., PUBLISHERS, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET. 1851. . .j)-y n /' /i iiblSFj? DEDICATION. My dear Lord Falkland, I DERIVE much more pleasure in having the opportunity of dedicating this Work to you, than, I am afraid, you will feel at seeing your name attached to a book containing many things in which I know you do not concur ; and some that your friendship for me will cause you to wish were expunged. I do not, by any means, desire to have it sup- posed, that it has obtained your sanction, as a Colonial Governor, for vou have never seen the manuscript, nor have I had the advantage of your valuable advice and experience during its progress. My reason for inscribing it to you, though two- fold, is altogether personal. First — It will recall to your mind an old friend, who has spent many VI DEDICATION. happy hours in your soci(^ty, and partaken largely of your kindness and hospitality, in time hy-gonc, when we discoursed de omnibus rebus et (juibus- dam aliis. Tliosc days can never b<» recalled, or ren(!wed ; but memory would indeed be a source of unmitij^ated pain, if it only reflected the dark sliades, and not the sunny spots of life. This book will show you, that my political views are Tmchanjrcd. I should be ashamed of mvself, if a dedication were necessary to prove that my aff'ec- tion is also unaltered. Secondly — I know of no one so conversant with the subj(^ct as yourself. I never had a very exaltv d opinion of what is culled " Responsible; Government," knowing that the term was an indefinite one, and that an interpreta- tion had been put upon it by many people, that made it almost amount to sovereignty. To vovi was entrusted the delicate and difficult task of introducing it into Nova Scotia. Of the independence, judgment, moderation, and manli- ness, with which this delegated duty was executed? I say nothing, because in all ages, and in all countries, tliere have been others, beside your Lordship, who could justly lay claim to these qualities. But one thing is most certain, that the late Lord Metcalf and yourself were the only two i\ fi I>. DEDICATION. Vll men, cither in the Cabinet or tho Colonics, avIio undorstood the practical operation of the system ; for while voii conceded to the provincial Assembly, th(3 entire control of its local affairs, you maintained your own ])osition as the Queen's reprcscntativ*', asserted your ri[i:hts as jui independent branch of the Leg-islaturc, and at the same time upheld th(5 Royal Prerof^ativc. Thos(! Governors wherever situated, who have put a wider and more extended interpretation on the term than yourself, have become men^ cyj)hers ; while those, who may wish to follow your example, will find, that unwise, concessions have rendered the task both hopeless and thankless. *' Sibi quivis Speret idem, sudet multum, frustraquc laboret." I am, my i'^r Lord Falkland, ^ery sincerely and affectionately, Yours, always. The Author. I Nova Scotia, March 31, 1851. CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME. BOOK I. CHAPTER I. Introduction — Objects and utility of the work — No con- nected political history of the Colonies to be found — Popular error as to the origin of the American Republic — One established at Plymouth in IG20, and another in Massachusetts in 1G29, which subsisted for more than fifty years — Democracy the result both of design and necessity — Notice of the early settlers 1 CHAPTER II. The Reformation — Different conduct of the Protestants and Church of England — Religious differences lead to the settlement of North America — Division of the country into South and North Virginia — The latter explored by CONTKNTS. Captain Srnitli, and callod New Kn^jlaiid — Delusive description of it — Distinction between the Noncon- formists of Lcyden wiio settled New I'lyinoutii, and those who founded Massachusetts — Account of Mrown. his j)rinciplcs, and recantations — Tlie Hrownists j)etition for toleration and are refused — C)l)taiu a Charter in South \'iri'inia — Settle at New Plynumth l)y nnstake — ICnter into a compact for self-i^overnment — First American Democracy — State of it at the end of six years . . I'J CHAPTER III. Inducements to settle Massachusetts —Puritans prevail upon the King to ^ive them a Charter, under the idea that they were churchmen — Some account of it — Kndicott settles Salem — Disturbs Morton, cuts down Mayjiolc, and calls the i)lacc Mount Dragon — Founds a Church on Congregational jirineiples — Arrests and transports Epis- copalians — Intii.'iue for removing the Charter to America and discussion thereon — Reasoning of the emigrants on the subject of allegiance — Removing of Charter — Large immigrations — Cost of outfit — Address to the clergy of England — Character of the Puritans 27 CHAPTER IV. Reasoning of the first settlers as to their independence — The colony becomes a republic from necessity — Oaths of supremacy and allegiance dispensed with — They decline to set up the Khig's arms — Mutilate the flag — Drinking healths abolished — Blackstone's remarks about the Lord's Brethren — Order that none but Church mem- bers be admitted to be freemen — Another, forbidding a CONTENTS. XI !»tranp^or to settle In the colony wltliout a licence — IVti- tioniiii; the Kiiii:: ealKd f^liiiideriu^ the hretlirrn — I'liiiish- mcnt of Morton, tSir CMiristopher (ranhur, und Uatelitlc — Morton j)uhli>he.s ii satire at Anistirdani — Ueturns to Massachusetts — Is fijud and hanished au;ain — Intimate connection hetween their Clinreh and State — The Kin|ij onkrs several vessels in the 'I'hamis to he put under (;nibari;o — A House of Itepresi-ntativcs nu'cts in IJoston, and is admitted as a branch of tlie Lcfjiislature — The Governor is not re-elected, and is made to account for his ex])enditure of the j)ublic nioneys — His manly conduct ou the occasion — A code of laws ordered to he compiled — Also a uniform system of Church Discipline ... 52 CHAPTER V ' A commission issues to the Archbishop of Canterbury, and eleven other persons, for i^overnini^ the colonies, &c. — Abbot and Laud, their contluct contrasted — Severe trials of the Chun-h — Its cJKU'acter and conduct — Colonists assume the rii^ht of making treaties — Free-Trade with the Narragansctts — Ollcr of hereditary rank made by Lord Saye and Sele — Reasons for declining it — Petition of the peo])le debarred of civil rights for nonconformity — They are summoned to appear before the (iovernor and Assistants, and denounced by the Ministers — Heavily fined and bound over to keep the peace — Their i)rivate papers searched, and a memorial found addressed to the Earl of Warwick — Its contents — The people extend their jurisdiction to Weathersfield, situated beyond the limits of Massachusetts — Justification of encroachment — Gorton's settlement broken up, and his followers severely punished — The Grand Council of Plymouth surrenders Xll CONTENTS. its Charter on the ground of the colonists claiming inde- pendence — A Quo Warranto ordered to be issued for the revocation of the Charter — Sir Ferdinando Georges nominated Governor- General — The Ministers convened to advise — They recommend resistance — Dissenters from the Churches of Massachusetts settle at Connecticut, Rhode Island, and other places — War with the Pequods — The army under a covenant of works — Exteimination of the Indian tribe — Troubles in England — The colony is left unmolested 74 CHAPTER VI. The colony exercises sovereignty in external affairs — Confederates with Connccti« it, Newhaven, and Ply- mouth — Terms of Confed ration — Effects of it in America — Commissioners of he united colonies receive a diplomatic agent from . cadie, and the Governor- General of Canada sends an envoy to the Swedish Governor on the Delawr e, and negociates with the Dutch on the Hudson— lassachusetts coins money — State of the colony — Pa. nment exempts New England from taxes — The people resolve not to ask favours of Parliament — Decline to send delegates to the Assembly of Ministers at Westminster — Sir Harry Vane advocates their cause — Parliament exempts them from certain duties — Prerogative claims sole control of colonies — Sketch of its origin — Idea of navigation laws, suggested by James I. — General Court calls in the aid of the elders, and deliberates on the subject of parliamentary control, and refuses to submit — They remonstrate with the House of Commons, and obtain a favourable answer , 99 CONTENTS. XUl CHAPTER VII. Massachusetts, with the rebels in England — Proclamation against the Iving's party — Hugh Peters sent to England to urge on the rebelUon — Cromwell appoints him his chaplain, and presents him with a commission of a Colonel in the army — His favourite text on execution — The Provincials decline to use the names of the keepers of the liberties of England in official papers, or to renew their Charter — They also refuse to take part in the war between England and Holland — Conduct of the Vir- ginians after the King's death, contrasted with theirs — Trade with Virginia forbidden — Admiral Ascue sent to reduce the loyalists to obedience — Puritans of Massa- chusetts flatter the Parliament, and approve Cromwell's share in the death of the King — He oifers them Jamaica, or confiscated estates in Ireland — Reasons for declining — Ai/ival of the regicides, GoflPe and Whallcy — Their reception and history — Pretended search for them — Conduct of Virginia at the death of Cromwell, contrasted with that of Massachusetts — Extraordinary letter of the General Court to Charles II. — The King proclaimed — People forbidden to drink his health . . . . 1 1 G CHAPTER VIII. The King appoints a council for the colonies — Their advice — Connecticut and Rhode Island send agents, who obtain for them charters containing full powers of self- government — Navigation laws — They fall heavily on Virginia, and alarm all the Provincials — The General Court pubUshes a declaration of rights — Tiieir reasoning ,1 I XIV CONTENTS. ■ i ! ! I I ! as to the origin of their title to the country — They send agents to England — Instruction given to them, and letters of introduction to noblemen of Low Church or Dissenting principles — They meet with a favourable reception, and return with a letter from the King re- quiring certain changes in their laws and modes of pro- cedure — An affected show of compliance — Dissatisfaction of Churchmen, of Baptists, and especially of Quakers — Severe treatment of latter — A commission of inquiry issues to Colonel Nichols and others — Their instructions — General Court orders the Charter to be put into a place of concealment — Prepares to receive the Commis- sioners 145 < I CHAPTER IX. 1 ! I' II' The Commissioners arrive at Boston — Deliver a royal letter to the Government, and proceed to the Hudson to attack the Dutch settlements — The General Court in their absence petition for their withdrawal, and solicit the aid of the Puritan noblemen — Answers of the King and Lord Clarendon — General effect of Commissions of Inquiry — The franchise extended — The clergy and demagogues prepare the people for resistance — False rumours put into circulation — General Court refuses to summon the people to assemble — Commissioners inquire whether they admit the King's authority — They decline to answer, and refuse to attend before them, or to sub- mit to an appeal — They summon the Commissioners — Close of the inquiry — Accidents to Commissioners reputed to be judgments of Heaven — The King orders the Governor and other members of the General Court to appear before him — They decline, aifecting to doubt the genuineness of the order — Distinction taken between CONTENTS. XV obedience to beneficial and injurious orders — The New England colonies renew their confederation — Effect of it — Complaints of English merchants against the infraction of the laws of trade — The oath of allegiance ordered to be taken, and the King's arms set up — Agents sent to England, but ordered to yield nothing — A custom-house officer appointed — Opposition to him — He is obliged to return to England — General Court re-enacts trade laws — Its members take modified official oaths — Collector sent out again, but they threaten to execute him — Is obliged to quit the colony — General gloom in Massa- chusetts — People t'^rrified by comets — The credentials of agents found deficient — They offer a bribe of two thousand guineas to the King — Agents return, and are followed by Randolph with the Quo Warranto — General Court refuses to surrender the Charter — Their argu- ments — They again petition and pretend there has been no service of the writ — Judgment given against them — Remarks on their conduct — Natural effects of dissent. 167 BOOK II. CHAPTER J. Indignation and grief of the colonists at the loss of their Charter — Death of Charles II. — Accession of James II. — Apprehensions of having Colonel Kirke as Governor — Some account of him — Mr. Dudley appointed President, who, with the assistance of six councillors, undertakes XVI CONTENTS. the Government — Protest of the Magistrates against the suppression of the Legislature — Unpopularity of the President — Description of the territory within his juris- diction — Some account of Maine and New Hampshire, and the intriarues of Massachusetts to extend its au- thority over them — Desire of Charles II. to confer the former on the Duke of Monmouth, and to establish a Royal Government in the latter — Both comprehended within the Commission of President Dudley — Character of his administration 212 : 'li ii^ ill 1 CHAPTER II. Arrival of Sir Edmund Andross — Fears entertained of the King — His conduct towards New York — His opinions of popular assemblies — Commission to Andross — Two com- panies of soldiers sent to Boston — Law relative to mar- riages — Manner of imposing taxes — Punishment of those who refuse to pay rates — Episcopal Clergymen prevented by the mob from reading the burial service — ■ Preachers attack the Governor for his toleration, and justify compulsory conformity — Arbitrary conduct of Andross relative to titles of land — Rhode Island, Con- necticut, New York, and New Jersey united to Massa- chusetts — News of the arrival of the Prince of Orange in England — False rumour spread of a general massacre — Insurrection — Capture sind imprisonment of the Governor and his Councillors — Conduct of the Magis- trates who resumed the old Government — Sir Edmund escapes, is retaken and sent to England, where he is released — Example of Massachusetts followed by the other colonies — Bad effects of so many political changes in England — Remarks on the appointment of Andross to be Governor of Virginia 229 CONTENTS. XVll CHAPTER III. Representatives meet at Boston, and induce the Governor and Magistrates to continue in office — King and Queen proclaimed — A general gaol delivery — Orders received from England for the local authorities to retain the Government until further instructions — Anxiety in America as to the convention of Parliament — Douhts of the Tories and scruples of the Prelates — Conduct of the Whigs — Macaulay's definition of the *' essence of politics" — The report of the Commons, and the declara- tion of rights read with great interest by Provincials — Political influence of the commercial party in England — Its conduct tovi'ards the plantations — Prerogative described — Its eifects in America — Blackstone's defini- tion and Bacon's views of it — Local assemblies imitate the declaration of rights — Cause of the loss of the old colonies 257 CHAPTER IV. Effect of toleration on the Ministers — Cotton Mather's attempt to raise a revival of bigotry, by spreading alarm about witches — His books and sermons — Preface by Richard Baxter — Exorcises a child at Boston — Salem delusion — Special Court, its proceedings — Executions — Case of the Rev. Mr. Burrows — Sudden change of public opinion — Mather falls into contejnpt — Decline of Con- gregationalism^Arrival of Sir William Phipps with the new Charter 277 XVlll CONTENTS. CHAPTER V. REVIEW. The two most interesting periods of American history ex- tend, 1st. From the settlement of Massachusetts to the English Revolution of 1 688 ; 2nd. To the independence of the colonies in 1783 — Review of the first period — Number and names of colonies then settled — Their popu- lation and commerce — Account of the different forms of Government then established there — Great increase of democratic opinions — Change in tone of feeling in Virginia — Some account of the Church there — Loyalty of Churchmen — State of Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York — Effect of the conduct of New England upon them , 292 CHAPTER VI. POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS UNDER THE CHARTER. Office, duties, and modes of appointment of the Charter Governors — Court of Assistants — Origin and growth of the House of Delegates — Jealousy of the people as to power of Governor and Magistrates — Code of laws described — Specimens of the sentences of the courts — Perfect equality secured by their laws and institutions — Account of townships and town meetings — Counties, towns, and General Court present a miniature of a great Republic — Union of the colonies, the foundation of the federal union of the States — General system of popular education prepares the people for self-government 305 CONTENTS. XIX tharter rthof as to laws irts — Ions — inties, great ►fthe [pular 305 CHAPTER VII. DEMOCRATIC FORM OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT ITS EFFECTS ON POLITICAL OPINIONS. Different course pursued by the Church and Dissenters at the Reformation — Difference between Presbyterians, Independents, and Puritans — Three kinds of Puritans — Their doctrines and form of ecclesiastical government — Singular valedictory address of the Puritans to the members of the Church of England — Extraordinary union of Church and State among the former — Cause of present political unity of action between Dissenters and Romanists 334 :r. J. t r s THE ENGLISH IN AMERICA. BOOK I. CHAPTER I. Introduction — Objects and utility of the work — No con- nected political history of the Colonies to be found — Popular error as to the origin of the American Republic — One established at Plymouth in IG'20, and another in Massachusetts in 1629, which subsisted for more than fifty years — Democracy the result both of design and necessity — Notice of the early settlers. ■^ The early settlements made by the English in America were effected either by individual specula- tors or associated companies. They were in gene- ral situated at a distance from each other, having at first little or no connection, either political, social or commercial, among themselves, and de- VOL. I. B THE ENGLISH ! I 1 1 riving but trifling assistance, and less protortion, from the mother country. They grew up into povvertiil colonies, in neglect and ohscuiity, with a rapidity and vigour that astonished Europe. Tiiey were without j)recedent in the ])revious annals of England, and the political agitation of the public mind in the present state, unhappily afforded no opportunity for establishing th(;ir relation on a proper foundation, or arranging a consistent and uniform plan for their government. The accounts \vc have of them, therefore, are detaelied, and their interest is destroved for want of continuitv. Every plantation has ,had its annalist, but the narratives arc too local, too minute, and too similar in their details to be either interesting or instructive. No attempt has been made to separate the political from the provincial, and the general from the in- dividual and petty personal history. This, doubt- less, is the reason why so little is known of the old colonies previous to the independence, and so little benefit has accrued from past experience, either to Great Britain or her dependencies. A connected sketch of English " rule and mis- rule in America," it is hoped, may, to a certain extent, supply the deficiency, while it will correct some popular errors on the subject, and furnish valuable material for reflection, not only to those statesmen to whom our destinies are entrusted, but to those restless politicians who imagine a IN AMERICA. rrp\il)lican form of government suitabli; to the inhabitants of evcrv rountrv in the world. Warned hy past failures, the former may learn, ere it be too late, to abstain from making experi- ments which hav(; long since been tried and condemned ; to supply deticien(?ies which have here- tofore cost the nation so dearly, to correct abuses arising from inconsiderate concessions, and to cherish and foster those establishments which in every stage of colonization ha\'e been the nurseries of loyalty to the monarch, and attachment to the nation. It will at least convince them that to substitute democratic for monarchical institutions is not the safest or best mode of retaining colonies, or enlisting the sympathy of their in- habitants. The latter class (revolutionists) arc numerous everywhere. Astonished and dazzled at the ex- traordinary suc(;ess that has attended th(^ great American experiment, they merely regard the re- sult, without stopping to investigate the cause, and hastilv conclude that that which has worked so well in the United States, and produced so much general prosperity and individual good, is equally applicable to, or attainable by, every other people. This is a great and fatal error. A government must not only be suited to the population, but to the country for which it is designed ; and the moral and social condition of the one, and the B 2 ill .1 :! li 4 THE ENGLISH size, tin; climato, and political and relative ])()siti(>n of tlu! other, are of the utmost important' to be thorouj^hly understood, and maturi^ly eonsidered. Thus a constitutional monarchy has proved inadequate in Spsiin to conciliate the affections or restrain the turbulence of the people. R(v sponsible government in Canadji has failed in its object, because it is incompatible with imperial control and colonial dependence, is unsuited to th(^ povt^'ty, ignorance, and inactivity of the French Habitants, and the predilections and prejudices of the English emigrants, and because it wants cor- relative and congenial institutions, and is deficient in federal stnuigth and central gravitation. Roy- alty could not bo acclimated in thi; United States, though the experiment were to be trii^d by a vote of a large majority. It is contrary to the g(uiius of the people, their habits, institutions, and feelings. For these and other reasons, self- government has signally failed in all the republics of the southern hemisphere, though the constitu- tion and example of the United States has been followed as closely as possible. Democracy has at present a feverish and delirious existence in France. It was not the deliberate choice of the nation, but the result of an insurrection. It offered a temporary shelter amid the storms of civil commotion, and was adopted as a harbour of refuge. How long will its neutral character be IN AMERICA. rospcTtcd by the irn^'orKnleublo parties that distract that unhappy nation ? My (losin; is, amon^^ other objects of this work, to sliow where and by whom republicanism was introduced into this continent, what its founda- tions are, how they W(;rc laid, and what provision has been made for its support and contimi- ancc. Having? ds, forms, and practices of Popery as possible, and mistook in their flight obstinacy for conscience, and submission to authority for a compromise of principle. In consequence of the celebrated Germanic pro- test, all those both on the continent and in Britain, who dissented from Popery (although distinguished from each other by some peculiar name, derived from their teachers or their creeds), .assumed the general appellation of Protestants. While they made war on the ceremonies of Rome, thev retained her bigotry, and though they deiiicd the power of dispensation to the Pope, they found no difficulty in absolving themselves from the obligation of their oaths of allegiance to their Sovereign. They clamoured, and suflfered or fought for the exercise of private judgmcait and liberty of conscience. This they all united in, demanding to its fullest extent ; and the singular interpretation they gave these terms is a remarkable instance of unanimity among a people who differed on almost every other subject. Each sect claimed exemption from persecution for itself, because it sincerely believed w^hat it professed ; but tlie right to persecute 'li' ' '! 14 THE ENGLISH others it by no moans renounced, because it knew its opponents to be wronp^. The Church of England, on the contrary, which had enjoyed its apostolic succession, its orders of priesthood, and its spiritual independence in all its primitive purity for six hundred years before the aggression of the Roman Pontiff, very properly retained its own original name, to which no other body of Christians had any title what- ever.''^ She threw off the domination she had been too feeble to resist, and the superstitions and human inventions that had been forced upon her, compiled her Liturgy, and settled her doctrine and ceremoni(;s as nearly as possible in accordance with those she had held in those centuries that pre- ceded the usurpation of Popery. In some or in all of these, furious zealots affected to think they discerned too great a resemblance still subsisting between the two Churches, and stigmatized the Prayer-book as antichristian, the surplice as a rag of Babylon, and the Holy Communion as the mass in English. These Protestants of various shades of opinion were known in Britain under the general name of Puritans, and as schism in '^ A.D. 1G89. The Upper House of Convocation sent down a bill to the Lower House, where the English Church was denominated a "Protestant Church." The Lower House expunged the word " Protestant," declaring they were not in unison with Protestants. IN AMERICA. 15 spiritual things naturally loads to temporal dis- obedience, they were vc^ry soon regarded (with what truth their subsequent history discloses but too painfully) as disaffected subjects, and treated alternately with suspicion or severity. To this state of thinf^-s mav b(^ attributed in a creat deo;rce the settlement of New Enu-land. In(Hvidual enterprise had hitherto been found unequal to the task. Mines of gold and silver constituted the main inducement, in the first instance, to explore the country. When the search for thc^ precious metals was relaxed or abandoned, attention was directed to the fur- trade and the fisheries, from which great wealth was derived. But the settlement of the country was a slow and expensive operation, not likely to vield an immediate return, and liable to be frustrated by a variety of circumstances. One hundred and twenty years had elapsed since the discoveries of Cabot, and every attempt at colonization had faik^d. Combination, therefore, was resorted to, that success miglit be insured by a union of means and an increase of the number of adventurers. James the First who was anxious to enlarge the limits of his dominions, divided nW that portion of the continent that stretches from the 34th to the 45th degree of latitude into two immense provinces, of nearly equal size, and de- nominated them Southern and Northern Yirainia. I 16 THE ENGLISH :l It ' ! ;i ill I ! i I I 1; ' It ! The first ho granted to an association called the London Company, and the second to a numher of persons of influence and property known as the Plymouth Company. The supreme government of the colonies that were to he settled in this spacious domain was ordered to h(; vested in a council resident in England, and the suhordinate jurisdiction was committed to local hoards. The northern portion which was surveyed in 1614, hy Captain Smith, was named by him New England, and it is to a part of this country only that I shall have occasion to refer, at jiny length. To allure settlers, the climate and soil were extolled as con- sisting of a sort of terrestrial ponidise, not merely capable of producing all the necessaries and con- veniences of life, but as already richly furnished by the beautiful hand of nature ! The air was said to be pure and salubrious, the country pleasant and delightful, full of goodly forests, fair valleys and fertile plains, abounding in vines, chesnuts, wal- nuts, and many other kinds of fruit.''*' The rivers stored with fish and environed with extensive meadows full of timber trees. In the rear of this wonderful coast, and at about the distance of one hundred miles, it was said " there was a vast lake containing four islands, having great store of stags, fallow deer, elks, roebucks, beavers and other * See Belknap's "Life of Ferdinando Georges." IN AMERICA. 17 jramc, and offering the most drlinhtfiil situation in the world for a residence." Whatever this inter- rninahle forest might contain, it was certain that the; sea that washed its shores was tilled with fish, and numerous and valuahle cargoes were constantly arriving to silence the douhts and awaken the enter- prise of the mercantile community The thstracttid and unsettled state of men's minds on the suhject of religion led many enthusiasts to think of the country as an asylum,, who gliidly entered into an enterprise that ofi'ered at once the prospect of gain and an exemption from ecclesiastical control. Accordingly, two considerahle parties of fanatical adventurers migrated thither — the Separatists of Leyden called Brovvnists, and English Noncon- formists. The former settled at Plvmouth, and the latter at Massachusetts Bay. The means, character, and station of these two were widely different, and though they are often considered as one people, and erroneously spoken of under the general name of Pilgrims, it is necessary to hear this distinction in mind. The first are represented as men of great zeal hut of little knowledge. Many of the others were g(intlemen and scholars, whose humility was not the result of their poverty hut their pride. The one had already separated from their Church and quitted their native country hefore thev came to America. The others having more to lose, for they were !'l 18 THE ENGLISH I, .''i I ■| ,si:i lit '• < 'I if''' t men of no inconsidcnible fortune, vvitc less frank in avowing their oj)inions and less preeipitat(; in their eoncUict, and outwardlv eonformed to the ceremonies of the Estahhshed Chureh until tlieir cmharkation. Thev luid not assumed the name of Puritans themselves, nor was it applied to them 1)V others. Their dissent, as well as their real objeet in emigrating,'"' was so well concealed from their co-partners in trade in England and from the King's government, that they were not only not suspected of schism, hut actually entrusted with the duty jmd enjoined as a condition of their Charter to spread the Gospel. The Separatists of Lcyden, on the contrary, were well-known Dissenters, who had fled to Holland to avoid the penalties of the law. They were followers of the celebrated Brown, from whom they derived their name. This enthusiast was a man of quality, connected with several noblo families ; and the defection of such a person is always hailed with delight by the vulgar, as an evidence of great manliness on the one hand and * So habitual was their reserve to the English partners, and so elFectually did they conceal or disguise their opinions, that at the very time they were plotting the downfall and death of Laud, that prelate assured the King that several bishops, of very extensive dioceses, had reported to him there was not a single Dissenter to be found within their jurisdiction. IN AMERICA. 19 as a useful instrument of mischief on the other. Though many others were equally audacious, and far more el(>(|Uent and learned, their names have not survived their own generation. To his station alone is he indehted for the rememhrance of his guilty secession. He; aspired and attained to the honour of founding a ifect. It was a ])eriod when every ahsurdity found an admirer, hut lu^ was determined to go as far as possii)le, and reached a point heyond wliich Avas the precipice that over- hangs iuiuhlity. He condenuied the government of hishops, tlu^ ordination of ministers, and the ofHces, rites, and ceremonies of the ])ul)lic Liturgy. He maintained that the Church of England was neither lawful nor true, and that jiU Christians were hound to come out of Bahylon and join him and his disciples, among whom there was nothing to he found that savoured not directly of the; Spirit of God.* Having seduced those infatuated people from th(!ir Church, and caused them to Hy from their native land, his success satisfied his amhition, and his enthusiasm expired for want of novelty. What was the astonishment of his deluded followers, when they heard that he had recanted his errors, suhmitted to his hishops, and rejoined the estahlishment. They then hcgan to ohserve, what thev had either not noticed hefore or had !■ * Fuller. h I; J i 'I I il i U h i '! i' i II 20 THE ENGLISH disregarded as unimportant, that he had a wife with whom he never lived, a church in which ho never preached though paid for the duties, and a congregation w4iom he neglected though he did not omit to collect and receive his tvthes. Revenii'c quickens the senses, and magnifies every ohject it beholds. They were astonish(!d at such enormities, and regarded their idol rather as a demon than a saint. They immr liately disowned his name, spurned the appellation of Brownists, and called themselves Congregationalists. Their situation at Ley den had become uncomfortable for them, and they were apprehensive they should be absorbed in a foreign population. Their means also were greatly reduced, and they saw no mode by which they could be recruited. They sensibly felt the effects on their zeal of the neglect or indiffcrence of the Dutch. So long as they were opposed or punished in England, it was easy for their leaders to face the flame of their sectarian ardour by appealing to their passions as men, and they derived a secret satisfaction in plotting the ruin of their rulers, both in State and Church, and in retaliating upon them the injuries, whether real or imaginary, they suffered at their hands. The moment the union for common defence was dissolved by repose, one great incentive to fanaticism was destroyed. Their vanity was no longer flattered by the sympathy of IN AMERICA. 21 a crowd who had regarded them as martyrs ; and their learning was not such as to attract the applause or even t\\v. notice of continental scholars. In this state of depression they turned their eyes towards America, and sending agents to England, they applied to the Virginia Company for a patent of })art of th(nr territory, saying " thc^y were well weaned from the delicate milk of their mother country, and inured to the dithculties of a strange land." They assured them th(!y were knit together hy a strict and sacred hand, hy virtue of which they held themsi'lves l^ound to take care of th(.' good of each other, and of the whole ; and that it was not with them as with other men whom small things could discourage, or small discontents cause, to wish themselves at home again. Though their agents found the company very desirous of pro- moting the projected settlement in their territory, and willing to grant them a patent with as ample privileges as it was in their power to convey, they could not prevail upon the King to give them a public toleration for their dissent, and they re- turned greatly disconcerted to their sorrowing friends. The following year they determined to take their chance for toleration, judging very wisely that distance was a sufficient ijuarantee for their safetv, and accepted the patent without pressing their petition to the King for his protection. It was t- ! ii 'il I I ! il ]\ m ii 1 1 i! I''i :'!i :1 22 THE ENGLISH therefore agreed that a portion of them should proceed to America, and make preparations for the reception of tiie rest. Tiie parting; scene is de- scribed as an affecting one. Their clergyman, Mr. Robinson, was a pious and exemplary man, and his correspondence with this little body of pioneers shows how much the causes to which I have alluded had softened the feelings and lowered the extravagant language to which they had been accustomed. These letters, wdiich are still extant, do equal honour to his head and heart. His last words of advice to his departing flock prove how deeply he was mortified by the desertion of their leader, and how much opprobrium and ridicule must have attached to them arising from his return to the Established Church, and his conforming to its doctrines and discipline. " I must advise you," he said, " to abandon, avoid, and shake oif the name of Brownists : it is a mere nickname and a brand for making religion and the professors of it odious to the Christian world." Several of their number now sold their estates and made a common bank, which, together with money received from other adventurers w4io entered into the joint stock speculation, enabled them to emigrate and commence a plantation in due form. On the 10th day of November 1 620, the Ley den adventurers anchored in America, and, late in December, having found a convenient hrirbour and a suitable spot for settle- IN AMERICA. 23 ment, landed and commenced building a village which, in token of their gratitude for the hospitality extended to them by their friends at the last j)ort of embarkation, thev called Pl\ mouth. Finding this place to be beyond th(^ limits of the Virginia Company, they perceived at once that their patent was useless ; symptoms of faction, at the same time appearing among the servants on board, who imagined that when on shore they should be under no government, it was judged expedient that before landing they should form themselves into a body politic, to be governed by the majority. After solemn prayer and thanks- giving, a written instrument was drawn up for that purpose, and subscribed on board the ship on the 1 1 th of November 1()20. This contract was signed by forty-one of the emigrants w^ho, with their families, amounted to 101 persons. This singular document is as follows : — " In the name of God. Amen. We, whose names are undersigned, the loyal subjects of our Sovereign Lord King James, &c., &c., having undertaken, for the glory of God and advancement of the Christian faith and honour of our King and country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern part of Virginia, do, by these presents, solemnly and mutrally in the pre- sence of God and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body politic for our better ordering and preservation, and fur- i) m i I I'M iji ill m til' ' i5! ,; pi ! iii;;i 24 THE ENGLISH thcranco of the ends aforesaid, and by virtue hereof do enact, constitute, and frame such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions and offices, from time to time as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the colony, unto which we promise all due submission and obedience." They then proceeded to elect a Governor and choose subordinate officers. Thus did these people find means to erect th(;mselves into a republic, even though they had commenced the enterprise; under the sanction of a charter. In the true spirit of separatists they founded their Commonwealth in disobedience or defiance of Royal Authority, for they were expressly denied a guarantee for the toleration of sectarianism, and they commenced their plantation at a place which they knew belonged either to the King or another company. It was a self-created, independent, democratic government. The office of governor was annual and elective, but their pastor at Leyden very prudently advised them, as their number was so small, to entrust the w^iole power at first to that functionary, until they were populous enough to add a council and constitute a legislature, quaintly observing : " that one Nehemiah was better than a whole Sanhedrim of mercenary Shemaiahs." Their patent gave a title to the soil, but prerogatives of government according to the ideas of the English lawyers could only be exercised under a charter IN AMERICA. 1:5 from the Crown. A considcrahle sum was spent in the endeavour to obtain such a Charter, hut without success. Relying, however, upon their original compact, the colonists gradually Jissumed all the prerogatives of government, even the power, after some hesitation, of capital punishment. No less than eight offences are enumerated in the first Plymouth Code as punishable with death, including treason or rebellion against the colony, and " solemn compaction or conversing with the devil." Trial by jury was early introduced, but the penalties to be inflicted on minor offences remained for the most part discretionary. For eighteen years all laws were enacted in a general assembly of all the colonists. The Governor, chosen annually, was but president of a council, in which he had a double vote. It consisted first of one, then of five, and finally of seven members called assistants. So little were political honours coveted at New^ Plymouth, that it became necessary to inflict a fine upon such as, being chosen, declined to accept the office of Governor or assistant. None, however, were obliged to serve for two years in succession."^ They were often not only destitute of money, but equally devoid of credit; for in 1686 having occasion to borrow one hundred and r I' 11; Hildrith. VOL. I. i 26 THE ENGLISH fifty pounds, the risk was considered so great that they could only procure it at the enormous interest of fifty per cent. Nor did the town flourish as was expected from one erected in a country like Canaan. At the end of four years, one hundred and eighty persons inhabited a village composed of thirty-two dwelling-houses where there " strayed some cattle and goats, but many swine and poultry." This was doubtless owing to the uninviting character of the country, and the repul-^ sive austeritv of manners of the first settlers ; but more than all, to the mistaken policy of holding their property, not in severalty, but as joint stock. Their poverty however eventually proved their best security, by procuring for them a contemptuous neglect, that left them the uninterrupted enjoyment of their little democratic commonwealth until 1 692, when' it was absorbed by the second Charter of Massachusetts, which annexed it to that populous and flourishing province. I! I! IN AMERICA. 27 CHAPTER III. i( Inducements to settle Massachusetts — Puritans prevail upon the King to give them a Charter, under the idea that they were churchmen — Some account of it — Endicott settles Salem — Disturbs Morton, cuts down Maypole, and calls the place Mount Dragon — Founds a Church on Congregational principles — Arrests and transports Epis- copalians — Intrigue for removing the Charter to America and discussion thereon — Reasoning of the emigrants on the subject of allegiance — Removing of Charter — Large immigrations — Cost of outfit — Address to the clergy of England — Character of the Puritans. The settlement at Plymouth, and the exagger- ated accounts of its condition and prospects spread by the emigrants, to induce others to join them, attracted universal attention. Puritanism had not then assumed a distinct form, although its rami- fications were widely spread beneath the surface. It was not deemed safe by that party openly to connect themselves with people, who had com- c 2 ! r I if All ■ ll ,1 11 i ■ill iilliil! m j, I -; M ij* i 74 m m '••\ m 28 THE ENGLISH menced their settlement without a title, and were avowedly separated from the Church. It was left, therefore, to its natural increase, and to uncon- nected and individual emigration. But the leaders of this discontented party saw that something of th(5 kind could he eifected upon a large scale, if their real intentions were properly masked in the first instance. There were at that time three ob- jects that occupied men's minds in connection with emigration. First, to avoid ecclesiastical control ; secondly, to spread the Gospel among the savages ; and thirdly, to aid and further commercial pur- suits. Each had its advocates, and for each, men were willing to advance the requisite funds, and incur the inevitable risk. The most able, artful, persevering and influential of these parties were the Puritans. Calling themselves churchmen, they eulogized the liberality, and encouraged the ardour of those who, in attempting to employ a trading company to convert the heathen, exhibited more zeal than knowledge. To those who were inclined to seek their fortunes in the New World as husbandmen, they praised t^e soil, extolled the climate, and dw^elt on the advantage of living in a country exempt from taxes, in the capacity of pro- prietors, and not as tenants. To merchants who regard trapping beavers with more interest than taming savages, it was only necessary to mention the advantage navigation would derive from a port IN AMERICA. 29 In a distant land, where provisions could be pro- cured and ships repaired, or laid up in safety in winter. It was one of the best veiled, deept^st laid, and most skilfully executed schemes to b(; met with in history. After these three parties were en 54 THE ENGLISH I I \x' ''I If" ■ mm ■i :!•]! and assistants were chosen by the freemen, all power centered in the people, and the moment the Government was organized, it naturally, and of necessity, became a republic. Whatever authority the General Court exercised, was delegated by qualified voters, and the officers they appointed received their commissions from those whom they empowered to issue them. The fundamental principle, therefore, of this little commonwealth was originally the same as that which now distinguishes and animates the individual states and great federal republic of the present day — namely, that the people are the source of all power. At first, little could be done in matters of legislation, when the individual wants and general weakness of the whole community required the personal and continued exertion of all its members. The Governor, his deputy, and four assistants, were appointed justices of the peace, with the same powers exercised by persons holding similar situa- tions in England. A court of civil and criminal jurisdiction was also created, consisting of the higher officers of the corooration. In the absence of all statute law, the Bible was substituted as a model and guide. In organizing t.ie judiciary, a difficulty arose as to the nature of the oaths. The customary form of acknowledging the royal authority was evidently inapplicable, for the people, and not the King, was supreme, and IN AMERICA. 55 his name, therefore, was very quickly dispensed with. The oath of allegiance required some con- sideration, not whether it should be adopted, for that was not to be thought of, but whether it could be so qualified as to consist with their own in- dependence, or be made contingent on residence and protection. "^ Sins of omission are so much safer than sins of commission, so much more difficult of detection, and so much more capable of explanation when discovered, that it was deemed prudent to omit it altogether, and to substitute one of fidelity to the local government inst(^ad. The King's arms were not only liable to the same objections, but had no warrant in Scripture ; and a tender conscience supplied a better reason for declining to set them up, thnu the silence of the charter, or their own repugnance. The royal colours were no less exceptionable. To substitute new ones would be to hoist a flag of independence, v^hich it was far more prudent quietly to maintain than openly proclaim, but there was no valid objection why they should not be altered in such a manner as to retain their form and general appear- ance, and yet destroy their identity. Their ministers suggested a mode of mutilation that would effectually answ^er their purpose, and a reason for their conduct which rendered it an * See an abstract of laws prepared for Massachusetts^ by Mr. Cotton. 1 11 ■ i r Kii' iW m III' ''I I'' i! ',1 II ;ilMI I ill m 56 THE ENGLISH imperative duty. They told them the cross was a relic of Romish superstition, and as such must he removed, if they were desirous of securing a hlessing on their undertakings. The iniinitiated militia at first refused to muster under this " new- fangled flag," hut when its unscriptural character was pointed out to them, they admitted the pro- priety of the alteration, aid the cross was accord- ingly condemned as unlawful. Foreign gold and silver coins marked in a similar manner could not be so conveniently defaced, and w(;re suifered to pass current without objection. They were unobtrusive, and, humanly speaking, merited toleration by their intrinsic value, but when weighed in the balance with political and religious principles, were found wanting, and treated as mere dross, unworthy of the consideration of a people who had forsaken Mammon, and crossed the Atlantic, to preserve and perpetuate the true faith. Thus we see how carefully they abstained at the very outset, from all recognition of the power of the Crown, either directly or indirectly. Drink- ing to the health of each other at table, as it was followed by toasts, and long usage had sanctioned the priority of the King's name, with the usual benediction of " God bless him," it was thought advisable to abolish, as it would, as a matter of course, cause a discontinuance of the other practice, which might be a snare to those whose ' 1 1! IN AMERICA. 57 intimate associates in England thought no harm in usurping his authority, and could see no sin in compassing his death. They were now a sovereign people, hut the exercise of such unlimited power was new to them, and this novelty, as yet wholly unrestrained hy constitutional checks, increased their impatience of individual resistance, which is at all times the natural tendency of a democracy,* and made them both arbitrary and vindictive in their conduct. An English Dissenter of the name of Blackstone, whom they found living at Boston, and claiming it by virtue of his discovery and possession, was soon made to feel the difference between republican and royal compulsion ; and on quitting the community, remarked, in the bitterness of disappointed feeling, " that he had left England because he did not like the Lord's Bishops, but that he should now leave them, for he could not stsmd the Lord's Brethren." The first emigrants who had a community of feeling both on political and religious matters, were resolved that their country should not merely be independent, but that its government should be freed from the interference of any new-comers who entertained different opinions from themselves. Dissent they knew they could deal with, but they knew also, that members of the Church of Eng- * Hubbard's New England, Chap. xxvi. Wonder Working Providence, 39. Mm i:0 58 THE ENGLISH land, if allowed to obtain a footing among them, would, as a matter of course, acknowledge the King to b(^ their sovereign, keep him informed of their usurpations, and be protected in their worship. They therefore at this early date, 18th of May, 1631, enacted in " order that the body of th(5 commons might be preserved of good and honest men," that no person should be admitted to the fnicdom of the company, but such as were members of some of the churches establislied by law. So effectually did this check the introduction of Episcopalians, that during the whole continuance of the Charter, not a single congregation was collected in all Massachusetts. This bold attempt at exclusive sovereignty, is thus lamented by Leechford : *' None may now be a freeman of that company unless he be a Church member among them. None have voice in elections of Governor, deputy, and assistants, none are to be magistrates, offi('ers or jurymen, grand or petit, but freemen. The ministers give their votes in all elections of magistrates. Now the most of the persons at New England are not admitted of their Church, and therefore are not freemen, and when they come to be tried there, be it for life or limb, name or estate, or whatsoever, they must be tried and judged too by those of the Church, who are in a sort their adversaries. How equal that hath been or may be, some by ex- IN AMERICA. 59 poricTifo do know, others may judjro." Another law was passed in the year 1767, having in view the same ohjeet : " That none should he received to inhahit within th(; juristhetion, hut such as should he allowed hy some of the magistrates," and it was fully understood, that differing from tiie churches cstahlished in the country, was as great a disqualification as any political opinions. In defenct! of this order, it is advanced that the apostolic ruh; of rejecting such as hrought not the true doctrine with them, was as applicahle to the commonwealth as the Church, and that even the profane were less to he dreaded than the ahle advocates of erroneous tenets.* Complaints they could not prevent, nor could the right to petition the Crown he openly impugned but hy creating a new offence, that of accusing the brethren ; no one could pc^tition without being guilty of this crime;. They therefore forbore to press a man to trial for memorializing the King in council, but they charged him with slandering the brethren, and held him liable to fine, imprison- ment, or corporal punishment, or all three, for this petit treason. Tlie intercourse with Europe was thc^n so limited, and the distance so appalling, that public attention in England was not attracted for some time to this glaring usurpation. Morton, * See Mkiot Hist. Mass., vol. i, p. 29. i i I 1| ii I ■t! ; I ) ;i ;i I ilW Bill : m' I'^v I'll iiil i ' m 60 THE ENGLISH who had tho tomority to oroct his May-polo afjain on land, not within tho jurisdiction of Massa- chusetts, was seized hy the Governor soon after his arrival, put into the stocks, and transported to his native country, when^ we are very jj^ravely inform(^d hy Prince, " he was not even rebuked." He was imprudent enough to return after his property had thus been invaded, and himself imprisoned and exiled, hut was soon made sensible of his rashness. The Governor affecting to espouse; the; cause of an Indian, who disputed his right to the possession of a canoe, arrested him, burned down his establishment, and confiscated his estate, to pay for the expense of conveying him to England. In London he was joined by two other victims of their cruelty and oppression — Sir Christopher Gardner and Philip Ratcliffe, who united with him in petitioning the King for redress. The former had been sent out by Sir Ferdinando Georges, as his agent, for the protection of a large territory he had purchased, adjoining that of the colony of Massachusetts. Whatever his religion may have been, one thing was certain, he was not a Puritan. As a stranger wholly unconnected with the colony, it was not a question for their consideration whether he WMS a Romanist or a Churchman ; but they as- sumed the fact that he was a Papist, and ordered him to be arrested. Knowing their cruelty, and IN AMERICA. 61 fearing the result, ho preferred tr\istlng to the hospitiility and protection of the savaj^es, and arm- ing himseh', fled into the wilderness. The Indians, not without some ditReulty, were brihed to give up to his \mrelenting pursuers their eonfiding guest, and seizing an opportunity, wlien deprived of his sword and his gun, hy the upsetting of his canoe, they attacked him while in the water, and with long poles heat him so severely over his hands and arms that he was compelled to relinquish the hold of his dagg(T (which was his only weapon) and surrender himself a prisoner. He was first taken to the gaol in Plymouth, and then removed to that of Boston, from whence he was sent to Eng- land. In the meantime his papers were seized and examined, and such of them as were thought of service in developing the plans of his employer, Sir Ferdinando Georges, were retained. The other complainant was Philip Ratcliflfe. He h;id been a servant of Craddock, the first charter Governor, and falling ill in his employ, on his recovery demanded wages from the agent of his master for th(? time he had been disabled. Disappointed in his expectations, he made some disparaging remarks, about a people whose conduct so little comported with their professions. For this offence he w^as fined forty pounds, severely whipped, shorn of his ears, and banished forthwith out of the jurisdiction. i I ! ,: m ■ r ■ fA 'I (1 V i'\ !l 62 THE ENGLISH On the complaint of th(*so people, an order in council was issued for an investi^^ation, but the inquiry was deferred for tiie time, by the artful management of the })rincipal associate, and by the secret assistance of some of the council, who were favourable to the cause of Dissenters. Tiie com- mittee of inquiry were informed that the company ought not to be punished for the conduct of some of its members ; that if there were any causes of complaint, they could only be proved or explained by witnesses from the; colony, but as they were at that time sending them some indispensable addi- tional supplies (three Nonconformist ministers''^) any suspension of the operations of the company would be attended with the most disastrous conse- quences. Strange to say, this reasoning prevailed at the time to defeat the just claim of the petitioners for redress. The success of this deceptive? conduct astonished evervbodv, and none more than the Governor and Assistants themselves ; for they were not only honourablv acquitted, but actually applauded. They wen; assured by the King's government they might go cheerfully on with their present unf'.'rtaking, and, " if things wenu^arried on as iras pretended when the charter was (jranted, his Majesty would maintain the liberties and ])rivi- * John Cotton, Thomas Hooker, and Samuel Stone. IN AMERICA. 63 n logos of tho company." Morton appoalod froni the King in council to the public. Ho ])ul)lishc(l at Amsterdam in 1637, a work entitled " New Eng- lish Canaan," in which, with more elegances of composition than was usual in those days, he ridiculed the Separatists with a severity that bespeaks the extent of the injury he had sustained at their hands. He is also said to have furnished Butler with the anecdote he has so inimitably told in Hudibras,"^ of the people of Plymouth having * Iludibras, Part ii. Canto 2. '• That sinners may supply the place Of suffering saints, is a plain case, Justice gives sentence many times, On one man for another's crimes; Our brethren of New l^ngland use Choice malefactors to excuse, And hang the guiltless in their stead. Of whom the Churches have less meed. As lately 't happen'd : In a town There lived a cobble- and but one, That out of doctrine could cut use, And mend men's lives as well as shoes. This precious brother having slain. In times of j)eiice, 5ui Indian, The mighty Tottijiottymoy Sent to our Elders an envoy, Who called upon the saints to render Into his hands, or hang th' offender. But they maturely having weighed They hud no more but him o' th' trade, [Resolved ■ I HI ow to that source of power. The natural order of society is soon reversed: officials first become courtiers to the ."iiiiiiyiiijiri- m i'.L.]',n m ill ili!!i il I lit 70 THE ENGLISH people, and then are degraded to a meniid depen- dence on their masters. This universid law of politics was now made palpable to the founders of the republic. One of the first a(;ts of the rcpnjsentativcs was to impose a tint; on the Court of Assistants for having presumed, during the preceding year, in the exercise of tluir discretion, not to act in con- formity to an order of tht; General Court. The Governor, a most able, zealous, liberal and laborious officer, who had discharged all the guber- natorial duties gratuitously for several years, was quietly passed over without any reason whatever that can be discovered, beyond the vile and con- temptible propensity of democrats to humble and degrade to their own vulgar level all that are distinguished among them for character or talent. Not content with this unprovoked and unmerited ingult, he was coarsely interrogated as to the receipts and disbursement of the public money during his administration, as if he had been a defaulter, and enriched himself with the spoils, instead of exhausting his means, and impoverishing his family, by private charities and public benefac- tions, as was well ki.own to be the case. At the termination of this ungrateful and humiliating proceeding, he handed in the following dignified and temperate protest : "In all these things which I offer, I refer myself IN AMERICA. 71 to the wisdom and justice of the roiirt, with this protestation, that it rcpcntcth me not of my cost or lahour hcstowed on this commonwealth, hut do heartily hless the Lord our God that He hath pleased to honour me so far as to call for anythinj^ He hath hestowed upon me for the service of His Church and people here : the prosperity whereof, and His gracious acceptance, shall he an ahundant recompense to me. I conclude with this one request (which in justice; may not he denied me), that as it stands upon record, that upon the dis- charge of my othce I was called to account, so this my declaration may he recorded also, lest hereafter, when I shall he forgotten, some hlemish may lie upon my posterity, when there shall he nothing to clear it. *' John Winthrop." September 4th, 1034. It is a painful, but instructive page of history. The colony was founded by Mr. Winthrop, in a spirit of defection to his Sovereign and his Church. The first act of the legislature, a child of his own creation, was a rejection of himself as their Governor, the imposition of a fine and censure upon his Court of Assistants, and an accusation against both having as little foundation in truth as those he had himself so lightly adopted, and so little examined, against his King and his Primate. 1 ! i i m I I -;il r'l 72 THE ENGLISH IV:' ^ 'i 111 '1,. Slifiil The establishment of a representative body was a bold exercise of indiipendence, but it completed and consolidated the power of the slate, which being based altogether on the elective system, was purely republican. This iiniovation created an inquiry into th(; nature of the liberty and nrivileges of the j)eopl(!, which threatened to convulse the colony by the numerous abstract questions to which it gave rise. Among others was a dispute as to the veto of the Assistants, both as regarded its existence and its limits. A number of persons having memorialised the Court for leave to remove out of the jurisdic- tion, the Assistants refused their assent, assigning, among other reasons, one that in modern times would expose them to much sectarian abuse. "The removal of a candlestick," they said, " is a great judgment, which ought to be avoided." By far the greater part of the delegates were for granting the prayer of the petitioners, and nu- merically they formed a majority of the whole Court. The dispute on this contested point was very warm, and the session was adjourned. What they refused to grant to the assumptions of the magistrates, they yielded to the fervid elo- quence of Mr. Cotton, who preached before them, when they reassembled ; " for it pleased the Lord so to assist him, and to bless His own ordinances that the affairs of the Court went on cheerfully." IN AMERICA. 73 At this time was first introduced the custom, now so prevalent in America and the British provinces, of paying the members of the Legisla- ture. It was ordered that the charge of dieting the assistants and delegat(!S during the General Court be paid out of the jniblic treasury. About the same period the vote by ballot for the delegates was established. The aid of the ministers, and some of the ablest men in the province, was now requested, to compile a uniform order of discipline for all the churches in the colony. ^ r 0- re i ft )n VOL. I. E M ^>. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) ii^ <^w ^ 1.0 I.I |«5 2.0 1.8 1.25 1.4 1.6 ^ 6" ► m M 80 THE ENGLISH hi! ''11'' ]^'1 !T!ll!i mm ,,,■(. been adopted by the diplomatists* of modern times, and the surrender of fugitives from justice, and unrestrained free-trade, though apparently equally beneficial to both from their reciprocal character, concealed, under specious terms, the self- ishness that dictated them ; for the grave offered to the savage an asylum infinitely preferable to the abodes of the white man, and free-trade was only beneficial to those who desired the advantage of tempting the cupidity, or over-reaching the simpli- city of their customers, by giving them in exchange for their furs, superfluities, of the value or use of which they w^ere equally ignorant. A few years * The following is the treaty alluded to : 1. A firm and perpetual peace betwixt them and the English. 2. Neither party to make peace with the Pequods with- out the consent of the other. 3. That Narragansetts should not harbour any Pequods. 4. That they should put to death, or deliver up any murderers of the English. 5. That they should return fugitive servants. 6. The English to give them notice when to go out against the Pequods, and the Narragansetts to furnish guides. 7. Free-Trade to be carried on between the parties. 8. None of the Narragansetts to come near the English plantations during the war with the Pequods, without some Englishman or Indian known to the English. — Hutch. vol. I, p. 591. IN AMERICA. 81 afterwards an army was raised to proceed against these same allies, who had subsequently become refractory and turbulent ; but so imposing a force awed them into submission, and a renewal of com- mercial intercourse. In this democratic body the companies usually chose their own officers, and the executive contented itself with appointing a commander-in-chief to direct its operations. The commonwealth then, as at the present day, was substituted for the royal autho- rity ; and the revolution of 1783, instead of des- troyingold institutions, was conservative in its charac- ter, and merely restored the ancient order of things. The spirit of independence and equality was as deeply rooted then as now in Massachusetts, and an offer of hereditary rank, when tendered to the principal inhabitants by Lord Saye and Sele, if they would join him in colonizing the Bahamas, was peremptorily and decidedly ref" .;d. Hereditary authority, they said, had no warr. at in Scripture, and any civil power whatever, not based on church membership, was equally repugnant to the will of God. They assured his Lordship that it was their conscientious conviction, that it was *' a divine ordinance (and moral) that none should be appointed and chosen by the people of God, magistrates over them, but men fearing God,''^ chosen out of their ii 1 * Exodus xviii, 21. E 3 'Iff i*;i, J» !::■!:■ 82 THE ENGLISH brethren,* Saints.f That the Apostle makcth it a shame to the Church, if it be not able to afford wise men from out of themselves, which shall be able to judge all civil matters between their brethren-l And Solomon maketh it the joy of a commonwealth when the righteous are in authority, and the calamity thereof when the wicked bear rule.§ It was not to be supposed, however, that this exclusive claim of the Church, to confine all affairs of trust and emolument to its own members, would be submitted to without a struggle, by those who were debarred of the right of becoming freemen under the terms of the Charter. The object of it was well known to have been to dis- courage Episcopalians from settling in the State, and to preserve the ascendancy of the Puritans ; but as it did not answer the purpose as fully or as promptly as was expected, another Act was passed of a more stringent nature. A penalty was laid upon all persons who should entertain in their houses a stranger who came with an intent to reside in the colony, or should allow him the use of any habitation, or lot of land, for a longer period than three weeks, without permission from the magistrates. The fine on individuals was twenty pounds, and a like sum for every month * Deut. xvii, 15. X I. Cor. vi, 5. t I. Cor. vi, 1. § Prov. xxix, 2. ! IN AMERICA. 83 that the offcn(;c was persisted in. One hundred pounds was also imposed upon any town, for either giving or selling land to any such unlicensed person. Under the pretence of guarding their chartered rights, and preserving the purity of their religion and morals, they thus managed to introduce laws that effectually converted those who professed any other creed than their own into aliens, and ren- dered them liahle to all the disabilities and all the inconvenience of being subjects of a foreign realm. Obstinacy is not confined to any class or sect, but is a peculiarity of our national character ; and if the Puritans had the courage to claim the country as their own, and disregard or deny the supremacy of the parent State, there were not wanting those who questioned their right, and were d(^termined at all hazards to demand an equal share of the privileges and advantages conferred upon all by the patent. Among these were several persons of character and property, who, as a preliminary step, petitioned the General Court, or local assem- bly. In their memorial, which was couched in firm hut respectful language, they complained: 1st. That the fundamental laws of England were not owned by the colony, as the basis of their government, according to the Charter. 2nd. The denial of those civil privileges which the freemen of the jurisdiction enjoyed, to such as were not y J'' ■' I' I. I 84 THE ENGLISH '.rii ii-'i ''[!' t J 1l:y '1 '^umi members of churches, and did not take an oath of fidelity, devised by the local authority, although they w(ire free-born Englishmen of sober lives, conversation, &c. 3rd. That they were debarred from Christian privileges, viz., the Lord's Supper for themselves, and baptism for their children, unless they were members of some of the parti- cular churches in the country, though otherwise sober, righteous, and godly, and eminent for knowledge, nc^t scandalous in life and conversation, and members of churches in England. They prayed that civil liberty and freedom might forthwith be granted the inhabitants, and that all members of the Church of England or Scotland, not scandalous, might be admitted to the privileges of the churches of New England, or, if these civil and religious liberties were refused, that they might be freed from the heavy taxes imposed upon them, and from the impresses made of them, their children, or servants in the wars. They further stated that if they failed of redress, they should be under the necessity of making ap- plication to Parliament, who they hoped would take their sad condition into consideration, provide able ministers for them. New England having none such to spare, or else transport them to some other place, their estates being wasted, where they may live like Christians. Such a bold and decisive measure at once IN AMERICA. 85 awakened the fears of the GovtTnor, and aroused the anger of the elergy. The former sumnioncd them to appear and answer for this eontumaeious conduct, at the har of the court ; the latter, with their usual zeal and intolerance, invoked the judg- ment of God upon the malignants, who dared to impugn the saints, and threatened to slander the elect hy appealing to an English trihunal, the members of which were under a covenant of works. The inveteracy of both justified the proceedings of the petitioners, and confirmed them in the course they had resolved to pursue. The thunders of the pulpit and the threats of the executive, though not equally formidable, were both sufficient to terrify men of ordinary nerves. The denuncia- tions of the ministers were equivalent to excom- munication among a people who believed that salvation was not to be obtained beyond the pale of Puritanism ; and the frowns of a court that held irresponsible power over life and propcirty, and believed it was doing God service in freely exer- cising it, were not to be encountered without terror. Instead of receiving redress,, they were required to answer for their own conduct. They humbly sub- mitted that they had preferred no charges, but had merely solicited a change, and requested a reform. The right to petition was freely conceded by their rulers, with a mildness and meekness that did honour to their Christian humility, but they were ■'y I I ! m > 1 r 86 THE ENGLISH informed with great sternness that they had ex- ceeded the bounds of that invaluable privilege, and endangered the liberty of the people by a licentious use of a constitutional right, and were accordingly heavily fined in proportion to their ability. They then claimed an appeal to the Commissioners for Plantations, bv.t they were told that was an aggra- vation of their offence, inasmuch as it had a tendency to lower the character of the court among the people, and were therefore ordered to find securities for their future good behaviour. To submit to authority is the duty of all good subjects, but to obey without a murmur, when it is abused, is more than can be expected from the infirmity of human nature. In the ir itation of the moment, some of the petitioners . mounced their intention of proceeding to Englai 1, to lay their complaint before the Imperial G irernment. This fresh offence called for furd r coercive measures, and a search- wai rant W3 issued to seize and examine their private "papers. A me- morial was found addressed to the Earl of Warwick and the other members of the board, signed by twenty-three non-freemen, for themselves and many thousand more,"^ in which they stated, that from the pulpit they had been reproached, and * It is probable that the words '* many thousand more," are about as accurate as numbers, when spoken of in peti- tions, usually are. IN AMERICA. 87 branded with the names of destroyers of churches and commonwealths, called Hamans, Judases, sons of Korah, &c., and the Lord entreated to confound them, and the people and magistrates stirred up against them, by those who ./ere too forward to step out of their callings — in consequence of which some of them had ewa been committed for refusing to give bonds for two hundred pounds, to abide by the sentence of the court ; when all their crime was to petition, and they had publicly been treated as malefactors, &c. They then proceed to pray : 1. For settled churches in Massachusetts ac- cording to the Reformation of England. 2. That the laws of England may be estab- lished. 3. That all English freeholders may enjoy such privileges as in England, and the other plantations. 4. That a general Governor, or some Commis- sioners may be appointed, &c. 5. That the oath of allegiance may be taken by all, and other covenants which the Parliament shall think most convenient. To this petition were appended certain queries : Whether the patent of Massachusetts was con- firmed by Parliament, and whether it was not necessary it should be ? Whether the court may forfeit their Charter, &c. ? Whether, if treason be uttered in the pulpit, or iCi . ii; 88 THE ENGLISH iii" . ■H :^ii- in the court and not questioned, the court do not consent, &c. ? Whether it be not high treason, as well in New England as in Ireland, to endeavour to subvert the fundamental laws of England, to take away the liberties of the English nation, to say that Massa- chusetts is a free state, &c. ? Whether the oath of allegiance and the cove- nant be not binding there ? Whether all English inhabitants having lands, are not freemen ? Whether the court hath power to confine to prison, banish, impose censures, impress persons and goods for an offensive war, &c. ? Whether the ministers may publicly vilify the English nation, laws, &c. ; and not be ques- tioned ? Whether the petitioners ought to be hindered settling in a church way, according to the churches in England, &c. ? Good behaviour is a term of extensive significa- tion, and at that period petitioning Parliament, whose jurisdiction was not admitted, was evi- dently a violation of the duty of an obedient subject. The fine which had already been exacted from them, and the dread of forfeiting the bonds into which they had entered, deterred them from further prosecuting their appeal until a more favourable opportunity. Resistance to constituted IN AMERICA. 89 authority, when effectually defeated, necessarily strengthens the Government it was designed to overthrow ; and one successful exercise of arbi- trary power naturally leads to another. Having re- peatedly stifled remonstrance within, the Puritans could not endure open defiance without their bor- ders. Several of the inhabitants having removed to Weathersfield, a place beyond the limits of Mas- sachusetts, it was deemed prudent to assume jurisdiction, in order to avoid the contamination of bad neighbours. At first some scruples were entertained as to the legality of thus appropriating territory to themselves, to which they admitted they had no right, but a little reflection soon enabled them to overcome this difficulty. It was thought advisable, if any objection should hereafter be made by England to this presumptuous assump- tion of power, to apply to her her own reasoning on the subject of fealty, by which they would have the advantage of both sides of the argument. When they left the mother country, they main- tained that allegiance was local and not general, obedi- ence and protection being reciprocal ; while, on the other hand, the Crown lawyers held that a man never could divest himself of this obligation, which accompanied him to the most remote parts of the earth. Now protesting in their own case against this doctrine of the English jurists, still it was fair, they said, to apply it to those who believed it, for no one can be injured by submitting to a law I « ' m ' r 'If: ; t :Ji". 90 THE ENGLISH which he attempts to force on others, and which he asserts to be obligatory on all. Assuming, therefore, that the emigrants who had been inha- bitants of the colony, and had taken the oath of fidelity to the commonwealth, were still bound by it, though not residing within its limits, it was but right and proper, that the State should on its part extend to them its protection and support. They accordingly very quietly and complacently, assumed jurisdiction over the country, and issued the neces- sary commissions for its government and internal management. The Puritans, who were subtle casuists, having authorised a forcible entry into land that did not belong to them, and thus enlarged their hmits, soon found arguments for a similar extension, by seizing upon the possession of others on the ground that they were intruders on the heritage of the Lord. A number of persons, among whom was an obnoxious schismatic called Gorton, holding different religious opinions from themselves, and disliking the tyrannical form of government at Massachusetts, purchased lands from the Indians, beyond the boundaries of the colony, and com- menced a settlement, where they hoped to enjoy unrestricted liberty of conscience. Possessing and enjoying, though usually coupled together, are by no means synonymous terms. Fanaticism is seldom enjoyed, but amidst opposition or in the face of danger. When unnoticed, it becomes IN AMERICA. 91 torpid, and expires for want of sufficient excitement to preserve vitality. It is generally a compound of ignorance and vanity ; one fades from view in the light of knowledge, and neglect is a sure and certain specific for the other. The Government were not willing to await the natural death of this ephemeral heresy. It was deemed necessary to crush it in its infancy. The limits of the State to which they had adhered with such pertinacity when threatened with encroach- ment, proved no protection to those who lived beyond them. A party was sent against the emigrants, who carried them all prisoners to Boston, drove off their cattle, w^hich they sold to pay the expense of the expedition, and effectually destroyed the settlement. When brought before the court, it was in vain the captives pleaded to its jurisdiction, and maintained that not being inhabit- ants of Massachusetts, they were not amenable to its authority. The justices informed them that they had violated the Divine law, though they did not condescend to produce the commission that authorised them to punish its infraction ; they contented themselves with ordering them to plead instanter to the following extraordinary accusation: " Upon much examination, and serious considera- tion of your writings, we do charge you to be a blasphemous enemy of the true religion of our Lord Jesus Christ, and His holy ordinances, also l:LSm in ' .H 1 92 THE ENGLISH of civil authority among the people of God, and particularly in this jurisdiction/' They were all found guilty, and sentenced to be dispersed in the several towns, and to be well ironed and set to work. It was further ordered, if any of them attempted to escape, or repeated, either verbally or in writing, their heretical doctrines, or reproached the Church or the Civil Government, upon proof thereof they were to suffer death. Now that intercourse between the mother country and the colony had become so frequent (two hundred and ninety-eight ships having arrived since the first settlement), these violent proceedings could not long remain concealed. Vigorous measures were immediately adopted for reducing the people to subjection, and preventing disorderly emigra- tion. Orders were issued to the Wardens of the Cinque-Ports, not to allow any subsidy men to embark for the plantations without licence, nor any persons under that degree, without proper evidence that they had taken the oaths of supre- macy and allegiance. The Grand Council of Plymouth, from whom Massachusetts had derived its title, was called upon to explain its conduct relative to the transfer of territory it had made to the colony of Massa- chusetts. This association, consisting of the first nobility and gentry in England, immediately re- signed its Charter, declaring, " that the Puritan IN AMERICA. 93 patentees having surreptitiously obtained from the Crown a confirmation of their grant of the soil, had not only excluded them from the public government of the corporation, but had made themselves a free people, and for such held them- selves at present, framing new conceits of religion, and a new form of ecclesiastical and temporal government, punishing divers that would not approve thereof, some by whipping, and others by burning their houses, and some by banishment, under other pretences indeed, yet for no other cause, save only to make themselves absolute masters of the country, and uncontrollable in their new laws."* Such were the reasons which * Such a serious charge has great names to sustain it : Lord Georges, President. Captain Mason, Vice President. Marquis of Hamilton. Earl of Arundel and Surrey. Earl of Southampton. Earl of Lindsey. Earl of Carlisle. Earl of Stirling. Lord Maltravers. Lord Alexander. Sir Ferdinand Georges. Sir Kenelm Digby. Sir Robert Mansel. Sir Henry Spelman. Sir James Baggs. Mr. Montague. m 94 THE ENGLISH »'?; iiil 1 ' ■ ' *l* ffli''!'K f|l!f; ■ii' ' , ■' ii :> ''■ ii.-. /I ■J i^'ti >■ ■; :!;■" fi ; ■i ■'! -■; i-'iV, - 'i*'! 'j' ■ -,; ., ■ 'ii i: 1 ili i!: reduced the Council of Plymouth to the necessity of requesting " their Sovereign" to take the whole business into his own hands. An order also was issued to the Attorney-General to bring a Quo Warranto against the corporation of Massach isetts. An enlarged plan for a general government of New England was devised, and as a preliminary step, Sir Ferdinando Georges was nominated to the supreme command. As soon as the colonists were apprised of this measure, they prepared to counteract it. The ministers, whom no test could bind, and who were ever foremost in opposing the King's authority, were convened by the magistrates, and appealed to for advice, under the endearing appellation of the Fathers of the Country. They accordingly assem- bled at Boston from all the various townships, and the question was formally submitted to them : *' What is to be done if a Governor-General be sent over?" They unanimously advised that the colony ought not to accept him, but to defend its lawful possession, if able ; otherwise to avoid or protract. To have ensured obedience, would have required an army, and the King now needed all the forces he could muster to defend himself. The plan therefore failed for want of means. During all this time, Massachusetts was herself convulsed with religious differences, which, like Tself like IN AMERICA. 95 those in England, led to the planting of new colonies. Connecticut, Providence, Nevvhaven, and other settlements, were founded by those who complained of persecution for conscience sake. It is not my intention to give any account of these controversies, nor of the principal actors in them, as they do not legitimately fall within the scope of this work ; but their migrations are re- markable as emanations from the parent colony, the people of which, though differing in matters of faith from the refugees, agreed with them in political opinions. Following the example of Massachusetts, they all formed constituencies for themselves, based on mutual compact, and the broad foundation of popular rights. Each estab- lished a little separate republic. Thus their dissensions, no less than their concert, tended to spread their democratic principles; which were so soon to be adopted by the whole population of the Continent. Extending their settlements, however, temporally exposed them to new danger, by bringing them in contact with distant and hostile tribes of Indians, which compelled them to unite in a general confederation, and attack their enemies in their own country. Contests with the savages, like their intestine disputes on points of doctrine, I must also pass over, for the same reason. But it is important to note, that in the Pequod campaign, they exercised one of the highest p\ 96 THE ENGLISH ii j;hJ"i i! ■■ ■::*:; acts of sovereign power, that of making war, as they had previously done by entering into a treaty of alliance and commerce with another people. The expedition commenced with senseless bigotry, and terminated with unrelenting cruelty. When the troops were mustered, a most alarming discovery was made, that a great many, both of the officers and men, were under a covenant of works, and it was necessary to delay operations until the army could be purified from the pollu- tion arising from such unsanctified and desperately wicked heretics. The promise which was given them of old in Scripture, and especially referred to by the Puritans of New England, *' Ask of me, and I will give thee the heathen for thine in- heritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession," could not, they said, be deemed to include men so lost in error as these Anti- monians and Familists. After much fasting and prayer, and some expulsions and admonitions, the preachers pronounced them in a fit state to pro- ceed, and foretold the result with that confidence with which victory may always be predicted, when the bow and the arrow alone are opposed to fire- arms. They were accompanied by a minister who was desirous of preserving that purity of doctrine he had so much difficulty of infusing into them, and of " rejoicing his heart," as he said, " by IN AMERICA. 97 ■'i seeing those that dwell in the wilderness how before him, and his enemies lick the dust." It is a great relief to he spared the task of recording the details of this dreadful massacre of a whole tribe, that mustered a thousand warriors, equal to the best and bravest of the whole American continent. Bancroft, who seems proud of the prowess of thi^ Puritans, thus sums up this " glorious exploit." After describing in glowing colours the defeat of the main body, he says : " The rest were pursued into their hiding-places.* Every wigwam was burned, every settlement was broken up, every corn-field laid waste ; there re- mained not a sarrup, nor squaw, nor child, nor warrior of the Pequod name. A nation had disappeared from the family of men." The alarm of the colonists, arising from the * In *' Thatcher's History of the Town of New Ply- mouth," p. 65, is an account of a barbarous deed, com- mitted by Captain Standish, under the sanction of the Governor. He and four others fell on an equal number of Indians, whom he had decoyed hito a house, and slew them all. Cutting off the head of the chief, and carrying it back in triumph, he set it up on a pole in the town as a terror to this people, whom they were pleased to call savages. When their worthy pastor, whom they had left at Leyden, heard of it, he wrote to the Church, ** that he doubted whether there was not wanting that tenderness of the life of man, made after God's image, that was meet,'* adding, " it would have been happy if they had converted some before they had killed any." VOL. I. P I 98 THE ENGLISH interference of the King and his Governor-General, and their fears relative to their Charter, soon gave place to hopes that Royalty and Episcopacy would ere long cease to exist in England. The unfortunate monarch had now to struggle for his life and his throne, and Massachusetts was suffered to enjoy her independ(;nce undisturbed, and lay the foundation of those institutions which in time to come were to support and maintain the great American republic. The cost of New England colonization so far has hvxn estimated at two hundred and fifty thousand pounds, a great sum for those times, but probably short of the truth. Already thcTc existed, east of the Hudson, twelve independent democratic communities comprising not less than fifty towns, or distinct settlements ; but a consolidation took place soon after, by which the inconvenience resulting from so many separate jurisdictions was remedied by reducing them to six. i\ IN AMERICA. 99 CHAPTER VI. The colony exercises sovereignty in external nflfairs— Confederates with Connecticut, Nevvhaven, and Ply- mouth — Terms of Confederation — Effects of it iu America — Commissioners of the united colonies receive a diplomatic agent from Acadie, and the Governor- General of Canada sends an envoy to the Swedish Governor on the Delaware, and negociates with the Dutch on the Hudson — Massachusetts coins money — State of the colony — Parliament exempts New England from taxes — The people resolve not to ask favours of Parliament — Decline to send delegates to the Assemhly of Ministers at Westminster — Sir Harry Vane advocates their cause — Parliament exempts them from certain duties — Prerogative claims sole control of colonies — Sketch of its origin — Idea of navigation laws, suggested by James I. — General Court calls in the aid of the elders, and deliberates on the subject of parliamentary control, and refuses to submit — They remonstrate with the House of Commons, and obtain a favourable answer. We have now arrived at a period in the history of this little commonwealth in which we may clearly F 2 y '■■'■f #:■(■,' 100 THE ENGLISH trace the origin of the federal union of the several states of the great republic. We have shown that the people maintained that their institutions were established by the free consent, and for the benefit of all ; that the country was their own, and that no man had a right to enter it without their permis- sion ; that they had full and ample power of govern- ing, by men chosen from among themselves, according to such laws as they should see fit to enact, provided that they were not repugnant to those of England ; that they held the kf^ys of the territory ; were entitled to prescribe terms of naturalization to all noviciates ; and further that they were only subject to the King according to the Charter, and not otherwise. In short, they insisted that to all intents and purposes they were independent, except as restrained by the terms of their compact. This claim was illustrated by their acts ; hitherto they had sustained it by the manner in which they managed their internal aifairs. In one or two instances, as we have seen, they showed a disposition to exert external sovereignty also. This intention was now boldly avowed and openly acted upon; Massachusetts this year (19th May, 1643) entered into "a firm and perpetual league," otfcnsive and defensive, with the provinces of Plymouth, Connecticut, and Newhaven, under the designation of the United Colonies of New England. All these were rigidly Puritanical. f ir:l i ''■iV IN AMERICA. 101 Rhode Island was rejected under the plausible pretext of being within the jurisdiction of Plymouth, but in reality because she indulged the inhabitants with more toleration in religious opinions than Massachusetts approved. The substance of the agreement is as follows :* " Each colony to retain a distinct and separate jurisdiction ; no two to join in one jurisdiction with- out the consent of the whole ; and no other to be received into the confederacy without the like consent. " Upon notice from three magistrates of any colony of an invasion, the rest shall immediately send aid — Massachusetts one hundred, and each of the rest forty-five men ; and if a greater number be necessarv, the Commissioners to meet and deter- mine upon it. Two delegates from each Govern- ment, being Church members, to meet annually the first Monday in September, the first meeting to be held at Boston, then at Hartford, Newhaven and Plymouth, and so yearly, in that order, saving that two sittings successively be held at Boston. All matters wherein six shall agree to be binding upon the whole j but if the majority be under that number, the matter in question to be referred to the General Court, and not to be obligatory unless the whole agree to it. I * See Hutchinson, toI. i, p. 124. ■■I'!;! «! :' 'M 102 THE ENGLISH " A President for preserving order to be chosen by the Commissioners annually out of their number. " The Commissioners shall have power to es- tablish laws or rules of a civil nature, and of general concern for the conduct of the inhabitants, viz., relative to their behaviour towards the Indians, to fugitives from one colony to another, and the like. " No colony to engage in war, except upon a sudden exigency, and in that case to be avoided as much as possible, without the consent of the whole. " If a meeting be summoned upon any ex- traordinary occasion, and the whole number of Commissioners do not assemble, any four who shall meet may determine upon a war, when the case will not admit of a delay, and send for the proportion of men agreed upon out of each juris- diction, but not less than six shall determine the justice of the war, or have power to settle bills of exchange, or make levies for the same. ** If a colony break an article of the agreement, or any way injure another, the matter shall be . considered and determined by the Commissioners of the other provinces." The unity of action obtained by this treaty, the respect the Court of Commissioners maintained and enforced, not only within their own juris- li:/HU IN AMERICA. 103 lent, be iners the lined iris- diction, but with their French, Dutch, and Indian neighbours, and the weight and Influence they enjoyed among all the inhabitants of this con- tinent, first suggested the Congress, and then the Federal Government of the present day. It was a bold step to take without the assent of a higher authority, but the intestine troubles of England left her buf little time to inquire into matters that sank into insignificance, when com- pared with the momentous struggles in which she was engaged, and it was suffered to pass either without notice or without rebuke. This union subsisted until 1686, and presented a great obstacle in the way of adjusting every dispute between the mother country and the colonies, as the Commissioners ever counselled a firm opposition to what they called prerogative encroachment. When disobedience was unsafe, they recommended delay ; and when remonstrance was unavailing, they advised resistance. But they never ceased to deny the rights, and impugn the motives of the parent State, ungraciously regarding concessions as marks of weakness, and perversely constructing every refusal into an act of despotism. It mainly contributed to foster the feelings that subsequently ripened into rebellion. It illustrated the vast power of numbers and unity, the advantage that disaffection derives from centralization, and the easy and simple ^1 ii I- 104 THE ENGLISH :>'v« ,..i ' 'V; manner in which a federal comhination of a few plantations may be made to adapt itself to any given number of states. A similar institution is recommended for the remaining British provinces. It is easy to foresee that a repetition of the experiment will produce a like result. The very extensive powers thus assumed by the confederation, placed the united colonies in the situation of a sovereign and inde- pendent nation. One of its first acts was to receive a diplomatic agent from the French Governor of Acadie, a district of New France that comprised the territory now subdivided into Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, with whom they entered into a treaty of peace and commerce, which was executed and ratified with the usual formalities. A charge d'affaires was also received and accredited by the republic from the Governor- General of Canada on behalf of the King of France, and negociations were entered into for reciprocal freedom of trade, and for an offensive and defensive alliance between the two high contracting parties, which alone failed of success from a dread on the part of Massachusetts of drawing down upon her the resentment of the Indian tribes. They also sent an envoy to the Swedish Commandant on the Delaware, and opened a correspondence with the Dutch settle- ment on the Hudson. IN AMERICA. 105 Nothing now remained but to exercise the prero- gative of an independent mint to complete the usual attributes of sovereignty, and this was ven- tured upon without hesitation in 1652, when three sorts of silver coins, severally of the value of a shilling, sixpence, and threepence, were ordered to be struck off in large quantities. This money bore on the face of it no reference whatever to the mother country, and no recognition of the ruling power there. It was essentially American. By order of the Court, each piece was encircled by a double ring, having the inscription, Massachusetts, with a native tree (pine), emblematical of the country on one side, and the words " New Eng- land" and the year of our Lord on the other.''*' A [high ^cess of the the and Ittle- * The excuse for this coinage was even more modest tlian the act itself. Sir Thomas Temple, who had resided several years in New England, and was himself a Puritan, gave the King a most extraordinary version of it. After the Restoration, when he returned to England, the King sent for him, and discoursed with him on the state of Massachusetts, and discovered great warmth against that colony. Among other things, he said they had invaded his prerogative by coining money. Sir Thomas, who was a real friend to the colony, told his Majesty that the colonists had but little acquaintance with law, and that they thought it no crime to make money for their own use. In the course of the conversation, Sir Thomas took some of the money out of his pocket, and presented it to the King. On one side of the coin was a pine-tree, of that kind which is thick and bushy at the top. Charles F 3 IT.:: 106 THE ENGLISH r' I. ; \^H\ large sum was thus struck off and put into circu- lation, and the right was exercised for a period of thirty years, although the coins, for an obvious reason, bore the same date. The change that had now taken place in the affairs of the King damped the ardour of emigra- tion, in proportion as the prospect increased, that the whole nation would shortly be subjected to the rule of the saints. But enough had been done to lay the foundation of a poweriul republic. After the first indispensable wants of the people had been attended to, industry was directed to commerce and navigation, and a very profitable exchange took place, between the traders of Massa- chusetts and the planters of the West Indies, of the productions of their respective countries. In little more than ten years, fifty towns and villages, and between thirty and forty churches had been built, and some attempts had been made in manu- facturing cotton. If they had reason to be gratified at the contemplation of their affairs at home, they saw with undisguised delight the triumph of their party in England. The Parlia- :i .: ■; . i ■ . V^V m asked what tree that was ? Sir Thomas informed him it was the royal oak, which preserved his Majesty's Hfe. This account of the matter brought the Kin[i into good humour, and disposed him to hear what Sir Thomas had to say in their favour, caUing them a '* parcel of honest dogs." — Hist. Col. vol. vii, p. 229. UU IN AMERICA. 107 of In lim it life. good had lonest merit contained many friends who were most anxious to further their vie \'s in any way in their power. Nor was it long heto^e they received a substantial mark of its favour, iii j ^42 it passed an ordinance for their encouragement, by freeing them from " taxation either inwards or outwards, in this kingdom or America, till the House take further order thereon to the contrary." During the same session it established a council for the colonies, similar to that of 1 635, w^hich entered immediately on its duties, and uniting Providence and Rhode Island into one government, gave it a patent of incorporation containing the usual clause, that its enactments should not be repugnant to the laws of England. These favours they were willing to receive whenever they could be granted unasked, or at all events not openiy solicited, so much appearance of reserve did they think it necessary to maintain, in order that the dependence on the Imperial Legislature, or its right to control them, could not be inferred from their acts. " Upon the great liberty," says Winthrop,"*^ " which the King had left the Par- liament, some of our friends there wrote to us advice to solicit for us in Parliament, giving us hopes that we might obtain much. But con- sulting about it, w^e declined the motion for this * Winthrop, vol. ii, p. 25. !l' ,'l ,1.4 I, ^'-'^.l^ ifi ,■ i '!,, 108 THE ENGLISH consideration, that if we should put ourselves under their protection, we must then be subject to all such laws as they should make, or at least, such as they might impose upon us." So anxious were they to keep themselves totally distinct from the jurisdiction of any exterior tribunal whatever, that when the assembly of preachers at Westminster sent for three of their ministers to join them in their deliberations, they declined the invitation on the ground that " if the churches of New England appeared there by their representatives, great exception might be taken to the building after a model of their own making." Among their friends in the House of Commons, was Sir Harry Vane, who some years previously had visited Massachusetts, and from his sanctified manner, high professions, and demure appearance, was elected Governor, but his intriguing disposition, and fondness for theological controversy, soon involved him and the whole community in violent altercation. Hutchinson calls him an inexpe- rienced but obstinate and self-sufficient man, and the people became so dissatisfied with his conduct, that they not only refused to re-elect him the following year, but would not even choose him as an Assistant, and passed a law that no man should be eligible in future for the office of chief magis- trate, until he had resided at least twelve months in the countrv. IN AMERICA. 109 iths Notwithstanding the disgust he felt at his dofeut, as he was not very cordial with those with whom he was now acting (for his temper was so intract- able as to render his support and his opposition equally precarious and dangerous) he procured for the colonists, at the intercession of some of his old adherents in Boston, what protection he could. It was probably owing to his influence that the Com- mons again in 1645 and 1646 extended to them relief from imposts for three years, provided their productions were transported in English ships, and in the following year exempted all goods that should be exported to the plantation from custom duties. The weakness of the Sovereign, and the import- ance of the interests at stake, now invited the interference of Parliament in the affairs of the colonies. Originally the King had claimed the exclusive right to legislate for them. One of the earliest acts in reference to America was passed in the reign of Edw^ard VI. relating to Newfound- land, but this was not suffert'd to operate as a precedent. Queen Elizabeth, ever watchful of her prerogative, claimed the exclusive right to all countries discovered by her sui)jects. The first Charter conferred upon an English colony was granted to Sir Humphrey Gilbert, and its ample powers disclose the ideas of the age, with respect to the nature of such settlements. She vested in h ,',i K , ■:! PM 110 THE ENGLISH him in perpetuity the full right of property in the soil of those countries of which he should take possession, to he held of the Crown of England hy homage, or payment of one-fifth of the gold and silver ore found there. " She conferred upon him the complete jurisdictions and royalties, as well marine as other, within the said lands and seas thereunto adjoining ; and as the common safety and interests of the people would render good government necessary in thc^ir new settlements, she gave him, his heirs and assigns, fiiU power to convict, punish, pardon, govern and rule, as well in causes capital or criminal as civil, both marine and other, according to such statutes, laws and ordinances, as shall he by him, his heirs and assigns, devised and established for their better government.*' She declared thav " all who settled there, should have and enjoy all the privileges of free denizens and natives of England, any law, custom, or usage to the contrary, notwithstanding ; and finally she prohibited all persons from attempt- ing to settle within two hundred leagues of any place which Sir Humphrey Gilbert or his asso- ciates should have occupied during the space of six years." James, pursuing the same course as his predeces- sor, took the whole management of American affairs into his own hands. In 1621, when the Commons introduced a bill for a free fishery on the coast of IN AMERICA. Ill Virginia and New England, thoy were informed, "that those countries ought to be regarded as the King's, since they were acquired by conquest, and that not being yet annexed to the Crown, his Majesty may govern such new plantations as he shall see fit." To which it was answered, " that th(^ royal prerogative is not impeached by the present mea- sure, since what is done here is done by the King himself, who hath a negative ; that those territories being holden of the Manor of East Greenwich arc as much annexed to the Crown as it ; and we may make laws here for Virginia and New England, because if the King and Lords assent to the act it will control the patent." The royal prerogative in matters of trade, aided and enlarged the power assumed and possessed over plantations. To the exclusive right to give a Charter, therefore, was added a discretionary powder to license emigration, to permit the exportation of merchandise, and to grant exemption from imports for a limited time. It was in the exercise of this authority that James I. laid the foundation of the celebrated navigation act, by trying the experiment of its principle on a small scale in the trade of Virginia. The planters, having in 1621, sent their tobacco to Flushing and other ports, the King issued an order " that no tobacco or other productions of the colonies shall be carried into foreign parts, till they are first landed in England, and the customs I ■ $ , n'i r '■1 112 THE ENGLISH paid ; for to suffer a traffic of that kind is as inconsistent with the view of settling Virginia as with the honour of the State." But the House of Commons, whose power was daily increasing, having tak(;n upon itself to inter- fere in the affairs of the AmcTican provinces, a new source of dread arose in the minds of the emigrants ; for to their apprehension of the King and the hierarchy, was now added that of the Parliament. Still they could not hut congratulate themselves (if such a control were inevitahlc^"* on their good fortune in having escaped from its effects until the present most auspicious time for its exercise. It was very far, however, from their intention to acquiesce in the right, for they equally denied the jurisdiction of all three. Among the innovations that were contemplated, was a proposi- tion to recal the old and grant a new and more perfect Charter. The General Court met for the purpose of considering the subject, which was deemed of such vital importance as to call for the aid of the Elders, who were accordingly convened to assist in their deliberations. The result of their conference was, as Parliament claimed *' a supreme power in all things," not to accept a new patent ; for that would imply a resignation of the old one, and they resolved ; " if they shall be less inclinable to us, we must wait upon Providence for the preservation of our just liberties." IN AMERICA. 113 " . a 'nee «! At th;it time it was the creed of every Puritan in t\n' colony that it* " the Kin^j: or any party from him, shsill attempt nnythin^ ajijainst the common- wealth," it was the duty of the people " to spend estate, and life and all, witliout scmple, in its defence ; that if the ParHament itself should here- after he of a malignant spirit, then, if the province have sufficient strength, it may withstand any authority from them to its hurt." Massachusetts W(^nt even so far as to call herself Repuhllca Per- fecta, " a perfect rep-ihllc." Acting under thes(^ strong impressions, they remonstrated in most decided terms with thc^ H^mse of Commons (which had under its consideration the appeal of the petitioners I ref(Tred to in the last chapter) against any power of supervision. An order from England they say, is " prejudicial to our chartered liherties and to our well-being in this remote part of the world. Times may be changed, for all things here below are subject to variety, and other princes and parliaments may arise. Let not succeeding generations have cause to lament and say : ' Eng- land sent our fathers forth with happy liberties which they enjoyed many years, notwithstanding all the enmity and opposition of the prelacy and other potent adversaries, and yet these liberties were lost at the season when England itself recovered its own.' We rode out the dangers of the sea, shall we perish in port ? We have not admitted IJ 114 THE ENGLISH i\ fn tma ■mi:: appeals to your authority, being assured they cannot stand with the liberty and power granted us by our Charter, and would be destructive to all govern- ment. ** These considerations are not new to the High Court of Parliament, the records whereof bear witness of the wisdom and faithfulness of our ancestors in that great Council who, in those times of darkness, when they acknowledged a supremacy in the Roman Bishops, in all causes ecclesiastical, yet would not allow appeals to Rome. The wisdom and experience of that great Council, the English Parliament, are more able to prescribe rules of government, and judge causes, than such poor rustics as a wilderness can breed up, yet the vast distance between England and these parts abates the virtue of the strongest influences. Your councils and judgments can neither be so well grounded, nor so seasonably applied, as might either be useful to us, or safe for yourselves, in your discharge in the great day of account. If any miscarriage shall befall us when we have the government in our own hands, the state of England shall not answer for it. " Continue your favourable aspect to these infant plantations, that we may still rejoice and bless our God under your shadow, and be there still nourished with the warmth and dew of Heaven. Confirm our liberties, discountenance our enemies, IN AMERICA. 115 the disturbers of our peace, under pretence of our injustice. A gracious testimony of your wonted favour will oblige us and our posterity." The Committee of the House was favourable to them. They felt a lively interest in New England, not merely on account of its being the first-fruit of Puritanism, but because in the eventful times in which they lived it was not impossible it might yet become an asylum for themselves. " We encourage," they said, " no appeals from your justice, we leave you all the freedom and latitude that may in any respect be duly claimed by you." f <■ ■:<■ if .11 iili Bll' HnpBI^ Ppil'i i illSr ' ;|||||H' ;!{ :l ,(1 1 j'H i'^Ff^i'''' '' |l if' ^' '1 j ■i 1 1 (^ ., ' 'E ' ■ MM|. , ;» 1 i^l'fift' ' 1 1 1 • ' ' , , 4^"i! '1 i ; 1 ' ■ ' " 1 ' ■:', ., ' ' ] . ■ ''rf'V;''j 41 1 [ '■ i't . ■i;/Vi In 1 '^ lit i^iiin 1 t '■ ' 1 "i'l ' : !1 i';ip'^i 1 i LljNCferi'^ i' 'iB i 1 1 i ;,.:j:i'^Mi 1 ! ' -iiilii-'''' ( V> ll:; ' ihi. ' i i 11 i:; 1 H' ilivf'' ^ '.; j fel:! i ' ' 1 1 ' 'S if' W'' 1 1 ( ■■> SU:. - 1 : i i ; i If IK 1 S- HH^H i 1 ,■1'! P^j™H i 1 iiiti 'kIRI 1 ■ 1 t,' 1 1 i i 1 i 1 JBi 1 ||Hnl '< j r .j i'jSI s?^' "' 1 !' ! :,-f'i-i. i'li; 1 j ■£■- " ■> ■'" ' '■ s i 'Sir ' Si' i i !!j: m 1 ?.,-i'f ■ ' , ; !i , 116 THE ENGLISH CHAPTER VII. Massachusetts, with the rebels in England— Proclamation against the King's party — Hugh Peters sent to England to urge on the rebellion — Cromwell appoints him his chaplain, and presents him with a commission of a Colonel in the armv — His favourite text on execution — The Provincials decline to use the names of the keepers of the liberties of England in official papers, or to renew their Charter — They also refuse to take part in the war between England and Holland — Conduct of the Vir- ginians after the King's death, contrasted with theirs — Trade with Virginia forbidden — Admiral Ascue sent to reduce the loyalists to obedience — Puritans of Massa- chusetts flatter the Parliament, and approve Cromwell's share in the death of the King — He offers them Jamaica, or confiscated estates in Ireland — Reasons for declining — Arrival of the regicides, Goife and Whalley — Their reception and history — Pretended search for them — Conduct of Virginia at the death of Cromwell, contrasted with that of Massachusetts — Extraordinary letter of the General Court to Charles II. — The King proclaimed — People forbidden to drink his health. Throughout the whole period of the Civil War, which finally ended in the captivity and •1 IN AMERICA. 117 )ivil and death of Charles I., the colonists warmly and deeply sympathised with the Puritan rebels and saintly murderers of the unhappy monarch. Some of the more zealous and active spirits returned to their native land to join in the work of the brethren, and those who anxiously watched the progress of events at a distance, gave consolation and encou- ragement to the volunteers who departed in this holy cause. " If thy brother entice thee to serve other gods," they said, " thou shalt surely put him to death." " For speaking lies in the name of the Lord, his father shall thrust him through when he prophesieth." But the issue of human aifairs is in His hands, who alone directs them, and as no one can tell what a day may bring forth, prudence dictated a simulated neutralitv of conduct in their public acts. Accordingly, the following extraor- dinary procl .mation was issued by the Governor : " Whereas the civil war and dissensions in our native country, through the seditious words and carriages of many evil-aifected persons, cause divisions in many places of government in America, some pro- fessing themselves for the King, and others for the Parliament, not considering that the Parliament themselves profess that they stand for the King and Parliament against malignant Papists and delinquents in that kingdom : It is therefore ordered, that what person soever shall by word, writing, or action, endeavour to disturb our ■ff ri>i'i f 1 1 ■ 'l'<>i in-, !;ii '.m 118 THE ENGLISH peace, directly or indirectly, by drawing a party, under pretence that he is for the King of England and such as join with him against the Parlia- ment, shall be accounted as an offender of a high nature against the commonwealth, and to be proceeded with either capitally or otherwise, accord- ing to the quality and degree of his offence. Provided always that this shall not be extended against any merchant strangers and shipmen that come hither merely for matters of trade or merchan- dize, albeit they should come from any of those parts that are in the hands of the King, and such as adhere to him against the Parliament; carrying themselves here quietly, and free from railing or nourishing any faction, meeting, or sedition amongst us as aforesaid." Nothing can be more impartial than the recital, which applies to both sides, and nothing better calculated to effect its object, than the enacting clause, had it not been for a slight omission of one of the contending parties. Had this document ever been called in question in after days, no doubt it could easily have been shown to have originated in a nnistake of the clerk, or in an error of the press. , While the civil war was in full progress, a parliamentary ordinance appointed the Earl of Warwick " Governor in Chief and Lord High Admiral of all those islands and plantations in- IN AMERICA. 119 habited, planted, and belonging to any of his Majesty's the King of England's subjects, within the bounds and upon the coast of America," to be assisted by a council, composed of five peers, the Earls of Pembroke and Manchester, Viscount Saye and S^^le, Lords Wharton and Roberts, and twelve members of the House of Commons, among whom were Sir Harry Vane, late Governor of Massachusetts, Samuel Passall, one of the original patentees of that colony, Hazelrig, Pym, and Cromwell. This Board, a pretty close imitation of the late royal commission, of which Laud had been the head, was authorized " to provide for, order, and dispose all things which they shall from time to time find most fit and advantageous to the well-governing, securing, strengthening, and preserving of the said plantations, and chiefly to the preservation of the true Protestant religion among the said planters and inhabitants, and the further spreading and advancement of the Gospel of Christ among those that yet remained there in great and miserable blindness and ignorance." They were also authorized to appoint, at pleasure, " all such subordinate governors, counsellors, com- manders, and officers as they shall judge to be best affected, and most fit and serviceable." But, as to any particular plantations, they might, if they saw fit, depute to them any or all of the above granted powers. (in 4 hi ■■ ?x'r ■"'•'I'li'lL ,..„ MM :':;''»l ■mM i», ;.i J.: fwt 120 THE ENGLISH Republicanism was still further advanced in the colonies by this Board. They gave to the noted Roger Williams a charter, including the shores and islands of Narraganset Bay, west of Plymouth, and south of Massachusetts, as far as the Pequod river and country, to be known as Providence Plantation, with authority to the inhabitants " to rule themselves" as they shall find " most suit- able." This patent was, to all intents and pur- poses, a grant of independence. Similarity of religious and political sentiment, as well as grati- tude for favours received, and hopes for the future, led the General Court to aid the revolutionary party in every way that w^as compatible with the possible contingency of a restoration. They accordingly set apart a day nominally for prayer, but, in fact, for thanksgiving, for the glad tidings from England. Three agents, at the head of whom was the notorious Hugh Peters, the pastor of Salem, were sent there *' to promote the interest of reformation, by stirring up the war, and driving it on." For this task, no man could be better quali- fied than Peters. Having been expelled from Cambridge, for irregularity of conduct, he became a constant frequenter of the theatres, and led a dissolute life among the actors. Mistaking dis- gust and satiety — the inevitable consequence of debauchery — for repentance, he reformed his habits I IN AMERICA. 121 applied himself to theological studies, and was ordained hy the Bishop of London. But such is the effect of early dissipation, that the temptations of the town, increased hy ahstinenoc, overpowered him again ; and, having heen detected in a most iiasfitious offence, he fled to Holland, to avoid the punishment of the Civil and Ecclesiastical Courts. He did not quit the Church from conscientious scruples, but because he had violated his vows, and offended figainst the laws of both God and man. Like many others in all ages, he resorted to hypocrisy as a cloak for his guilt, and was re- ceived 1)y the Puritans as a " brand plucked from the fire." The buffoonery of his manner, and his singular power of modulating his voice, which he had acquired on the stage, rendered him a most popular preacher.* To these qualifications he added another of no less importance — a thorough hatred of royalty and episcopacy. His instructions from the General Court w^re either verbal, as being too dangerous to be recorded, or pur- posely destroyed after the Restoration, as they cannot now be found ; but tlieir sanguinary natun^ I 11 **' In those days the hour-glass often found a place in the pulpit. In a likeness of him, prefixed to his life, he is represented as turning one, and saying to his congrega- tion, "I know you are good fellows^ stay and take another glass." VOL. I. G vu ■lS'il;2«>r 'i !i ,up;:;;,:iili!*j;: 4 m ''^. m 'VJI, . ,. tllil 1-1' I m i: 122 THE ENGLISH appciars abundantly in his trial. Such being his popular talents, and such his errand, he was welcomed by Cromwell with open arms, who created him his own chaplain, and presented him with the commission of a Colonel in the army, say- ing, at the same time, that he always found those who excelled in prayer made the best soldiers. The favourite text of the colonial delegate and divine but too plainly indicated the object for which he crossed the ocean : " With high praises in our mouths, and a two-edged sword in our hands, we are to execute judgment upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people ; to bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron."* When the unhappy monarch was brought a prisoner to London, Peters was his gaoler, for which office his savage temper and offensive man- ners were considered as the best qualifications. Whether he was one of the masked headsmen is involved in some obscurity. Mr. White Kennet says, that he was generally suspected to have been one, and a man of the name of Hulet the other. * For want of excitement, Peters' zeal among his parishioners at Salem was observed to have greatly cooled before he sailed on this mission. He had suppressed the weekly lecture there, to enable him to prosecute schemes for the fisheries, and for ship -building. I being IN AMERICA. 123 In publicly returning thanks for being permitted to share in the awful scene, he exulted, as he said, with Simeon: "Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation." His conduct at his own execution has been variously represented. Burnet, in his " History of his Own Times," says : " That he was the most sunken in spirits of any of the regicides. He had not the honesty to repent, nor the strength of mind to suffer for his crime. He was observed to be constantly drinking some cordial liquors to keep him from fainting." Equally respectable authorities say, that he met his fate with firmness and resolution. The former version has probability to recommend it. Harrison and others were en- thusiasts, who thought they were acting in obedi- ence to the will of Heaven, of which they believed that they were the chosen instruments. However much they deluded themselves, it was at all events their firm conviction, and they had the honest support of a misguided conscience to sustain them in their last moments, while their courage as men had too often been exhibited to admit of a doubt. Peters, on the other hand, so far from having been trained in the rigid school of Puritan morals, was nurtured in profligacy, and adopted the tenets of the Congregationalists, not because he believed them, but that they afforded him an asylum when expelled from all respectable society. It is not G 2 ■Mb' i il^S Vi'V'tJl ■'Hi?:'! ;i iii; I >^ I'fliii ii|! 1-24 THE ENGLISH improbable, therefore, that like most ruffians lio was a coward.* But much as the Provincials sympathized with the Parliament, and firmly as they believed that Providence had sanctioned their undertaking, and crowned their arms with success, they thought their own prayers had been equally heard, and their cause no less blessed, and that their littlr republic was as much their own, as the greater one was the heritage of the transatlantic saints. Ac- cordingly, when admonished that all process in the local courts should be in the name of the keepers of the liberties of England, and that the powers then in being should be acknowledged by a renewal of their Charter, they adopted the pi-udent course of maintaining silence and delay, as better suited to their purpose than open defiance ; and continued the forms to which they had been accustomed, without too broadly asserting their rights on the one hand, or apologising for their disobedience on the other. They observed the same reserve after- wards, when Cromwell transmitted a ratifiefl treaty with Holland as to the boundaries of New England, and the Dutch colony on the Hudson. They declined to exchange it with the Governor of that province, informing him that such ji * His widow, who remained in New England, was allowed a pension of thirty pounds per annum from lii.-^ friends and admirers in Massachusetts. IN AMERICA. 12: .) ians lie ^d witli ed that ng, and thought rd, and sir littlr iter one s. Ac- s in the epers of rs then lewal of ourse of lited to ntinued stomed, on the tnce on e after- ratifiefl f New udsoii. jvernor such :i ad, was rom h\> formality was unnecessary, as the line indicated on it was oh^ which they had always held, and by which they were still willing to abide. Shortly afterwards they assumed a still more decided attitud<\ When a rupture took place in Europe between England and Holland, they in- formed Cromwell that they did not consider it necessary for them to embroil themselves in hostilities as a necessary consequence of European wars, and very quietly continued to maintain, as before, friendly relations with their Belgic neigh- bours. Upon being again pressed upon the subject, and requested to join in an expedition he had sent for the reduction of the Manhattaw settlements, thi y pleaded scruples of conscience as to embarking in foreign wars, and stated it was more agreeable to the Gospel of Peace, which they professed, and safest for the provinces, to forbear the use of the sword ; but to show their respect for his Highness the Protector, and their gratitude to God for having raised him to supreme authority, that all the Churches may find rest, they gave permission to the commanders of his forces to enlist five hundred volunteers within the State, provided the said recruits were severally free from legal disabilities. Although they had thus artfully evaded compliance with his order in a matter that would have established a dangerous precedent, they cheerfully admitted the lawfulness of his i i mi 126 THE ENGLISH " iSifi r Im i'i !'i power in the mother country, and a day was set apart for public thanksgiving to Divine Providence " for the hopeful estsvblishment of a government in England." Much stress has been laid in this work on the importance; to be attached to the character and feeling of the early settlers of a country, and the necessity of giving due weight to such a con- sideration is well illustrated by the different conduct at this critical period of Massachusetts, which was peopled by Puritans, and Virginia and other colonies, to which churchmen and the friends of the monarchy resorted We have seen that the former discountenanced the royal partizans within her borders, and sent agents to England with secret instructions to forward the rebellion. The latter, together with Barbadoes, Antigua, and Bermuda, adhered to the King, even while in exile. Virginia had a population of twenty thousand, and was determined to resist the usurpa- tion of the rebel forces. Observing that wherever the Independents settled, they sowed the seeds of republicanism, they passed severe laws against them, in order to rid themselves of such trouble- some inmates. Driven from thence, they settled in Maryland, which had soon reason to repent of her hospitality. "They were as much refreshed with their entertainment in Maryland," quaintly observes a contemporaneous author, " as the snake %\ IN AMERICA. 127 was set v^idence cient in on the er and nd thf a con- IfFerent lusetts, lia and friends lat the within with The and lile in wentv surpa- erever eds of gainst ouble- ettled nt of eshed aintly snake in the fable was with th(^ countryman's breast, for winch they were equally thankful." They began to pick quarrels first with th<' Papists, next with the oath of fidelity, and lastly, they declared their averseness to all comformity, wholly aiming, as themselves since confessed, to " deprive the Lord proprietors of that countr)', and to make it their own." Virginia also offered at the same time an asylum to the loyalists who fled from th(; proscrip- tions and unrelenting cruelty of the republican forces. They went so far as to propose to their exiled Prince to take refuge among them, instead of seeking protection from a foreign power. Charles II., on his part, sent from Breda a new commission to the faithful Governor of that true- hearted people, in which he declared it to be his purpose to rule them according to the laws of England. At the same; time, he n^commended them to build forts for jneventing internal re- bellion or foreign aggression. Enraged at th(; devotion of these loyal colonies, an order was passed by the Parliament, empowering the Council to reduce the refractory plantations to obedience, and enacting that foreign ships should not trade at any of the ports of these four malignant provinces — Barbadoes, Antigua, Bermuda, and Virginia. Massachusetts on this occasion exhibited her usual skill. She re-enacted the law against the 128 THE ENGLISH !>'t '"IF ;M i? I'sl malignants, and prohibited all intercourse with Virginia until she acknowledged the supremacy of the Commonwealth. This was done with the double view of gratifying the Protector, and of escaping from the inference that any legislation was binding upon her but that of the General Court. Cromwell was not a man to content himself with a paper war. In the ordinance relative to the prohibition of their trade, he used language which showed how deeply he felt the opposition of the loyalists, and gave a sure presage of vigorous measures. In that extraordi- nary act, he calls them notorious robbers and traitors, and adds that as the colonies were settled by and at the cost of England, they ought to obey her laws. To enforce a submission which threats could not extort, he despatched Admiral Ascue with a powerful armament. He was instructed to use in the first instance peaceable means to bring the people to obedience, but if they should prove unsuccessful, to employ hostility, setting free such servants and slaves as would fight against their masters, and causing justice to be administered in the name of the Commonwealth. The force thus sent against the royalists was too powerful for the undisciplined planters, and when the Governor Berkeley, who had made every possible exertion to defend the country, capitu- lated, it was upon very favourable terms, that m ■« I IN AMERICA. 129 were as satisfactory to his Sovereign, as they were honourable to his own skill and courage. A variety of circumstances now contributed to the adoption of a policy, and the passing laws in pursuance thereof, which has exercised a most powerful influence on the fortunes of the mother country, whether for good or for evil, statesmen are not yet agreed, and mainly contributed in various ways to produce the American Revolution. It was the era of the navigation laws. Alarmed ut the diminution of English commerce, and the great increase of that of the colonies as well as of the north, while Cromwell protected his own and humbled a rival, he managed to punish the loyal plantations, and make them pay tribute for dis- obedience. With this view two acts vv'cre framed, one of which expressly prohibited all mercantile intercourse between the transatlantic provinces and foreign states, and the other ordained that no pro- duction of Asia, Africa, or America, should be imported into the dominions of the Commonwealth but in vessels belonging to British owners, or to the people of the colonies, and navigated by an English commander, and by crews the greater part of whom were to be subjects of the realm, for foreigners were also precluded from bringing to England anything but the produce of their own respective countries, or those of which they were the staples. At first this created more alarm than G 3 Ui :'.IK\ 1 :^:^i .pi- MM ;::«• m' . 130 THE ENGLISH Jinnoyance. As far as the Provincials were con- cerned, they evaded or disregarded it, while it increased their carrying trade by transferring to them a part of that enjoyed by the Dutch. The groundwork, however, was securely laid for the vast superstructure erected upon it after the Restoration. Although the colonial Puritans had never yielded that submission, either to the Parliament or to Cromwell, which the Protector thought was due from all parts of the empire, they nevertheless managed to keep on the best possible terms with them. They omitted no occasion of soothing their vanity, for which they had an insatiable appetite. To the former they said, (and I insert their own words as their participation in the rebellion is now stoutly denied) — " And for our carriage and de- meanour to the honourable Parliament, for these ten years, since the first beginning of your diffe- rences with the late King, and the w^arre that after ensued, we have constantly adhered to you, not withdrawn ourselves in your weakest condition, and doubtfullest times, but by our fasting and prayers for your good success, and our thanksgiving after the same was attained in dayes of solemnity set apart for the purpose, as also by our sending over useful men {others alsoe going voluntarily from us to help you), who have been of good use and done good and acceptable service to the IN AMERICA. 131 army* declaring to the world hereby, that such was the duty and love we beare unto the Parliament, that we were ready to rise and fall with them, for which we have suffered the hatred and threats of other English colonies now in rebellion against you, as alsoe the loss of divers of our shippes and goods taken by the King's party that is dead, by others commissioned by the King of Scotts, and by tlie Portugales." They had heard from Cromwell's officers that he had a sore spot on his conscience, and they knew how to soothe, if they could not heal it. They were aware from the agitation of mind that he occasionally suffered on the subject of the King's death, that nothing was so acceptable to him as to hear others, whose judgment he respected, approve of the deed as a necessary act of justice. Availing himself of these scruples, which at times threw him into the deepest gloom "-he Puritan divines of New England occasionally gratified him with an epistle, expressive of their entire concur- '•' These italicised words refer to the mission of Peters and others. Besides many who served as soldiers, and several who attained subordinate comn^nnd, the following- names of colonial officers who fought under Cromwell have survived:— Colonel Cook, Lieutenant-Colonel Stoughton, Major Bourne, Captain Leverete, Ensign Hudson, and Dr. Liol, who acted as regimental surgeon. Winthrop says they did good service, and were well approved. ^'!^^i M:^ 132 THE ENGLISH rence in the reasoning that led to that foul murder. Mr. Cotton, one of the most distinguished ministers, thus addressed him, in a letter dated Boston, *28th day, 5th month, 1657. " There are three or four principles on which you have acted, wherein my judgment hath been fully satisfied. 1st. The con- cessions of the late King never were such as to insure a safe peace either to Church or Common- wealth. 2nd. When the Parliament, assisted by the Commissioners from Scotland was iuU, and agreed that the King could not be restored to his former estate, if it afterwards voted contrary, it was prevarication, and therefore I know not how the army could have better proved its faithfulness to the State and cause, than by purging it of such corrupt humours, and presenting the King to public trial. Joab, the General of David's host, though he went beyond his commission in putting Absalom to death, yet he went not beyond his fidelity. These things arc so clear to my apprehension that I am fully satisfied that you have all this while fought the Lord's battles. In like frame are the spirits of our brethren, the elders and churches in these parts." For this he evinced the warmest gratitude, and offered to give them Jamaica, and transport them thither, or settle them all in Ireland on confiscated estates. In his turn he flattered their sectarian pride. He represented to them what a blow it '.m IN AMERICA. 133 would be to the '* Man of Sin," to have a pure- minded and holy body of men like them established in such a country as the former, where his sway had been so great. He told them the children of the Lord were entitled to a paradise for their abode, like that beautiful island, and drew a glowing picture of the fortunes people of their habits of sobriety and industry would derive from a change of residence. In Ireland he promised them the lands of the heathen for an heritage, and in either or both his continued patronage and support. They had, however, other and more practical views. They dreaded, not only the unwholesome- ness of a tropical climate, but its inevitable effect in the course of time on the morals and manners of the people. If they were to accept Ireland they would have to surrender their independence, and by returning to the undoubted jurisdiction of the supreme power in England, they might bo again called upon to conform, to suffer, or to migrate. They felt safe in their distant flight, and were un- willing to move. But perilous times now^ aw^aited the republic. There were strong indications, it was said, of a reaction in England. Their fi'iend and advocate Oliver Cromwell was dead, and his son gave no evidence of sufficient vigour to fill the place of his father, either in the eyes of the nation or the estimation of Europe. Cant was fast going out f I I • ■ 1) I, vi ;ti iirii si'ii Ml M; 134 THE ENGLISH of fashion, and mankind had learned the useful lesson, that he who has ever religion in his mouth has seldom much of it in his heart. Those who were sincere in their convictions, and had abstained from deeds of violence, looked on the coa'ng change with the calmness and firmness of true courage, while such as had been hurried by their zeal into criminal acts, or had concealed rapine and murder under a cloak of hypocrisy, fled in terror and dismay. Among those who sought shelter and oblivion in the wilds of America, were two of the regi- cides, Goffe and Whalley. Finding the restora- tion inevitable, they left London early in May, and arrived in Boston in the month of July following, in the full expectation of being either protected or concealed among the brethren, who in general agreed with them in opinion that " killing was no murder," when the person to suffer was a tyrant who thought Romanists were entitled to as much indulgence as themselves, and chuchmen, as members of the established religion, to more favours than either. Nor were they disappointed in their reasonable expectations. They were cordially received and hospitably entertained uy the Governor, the officers of the State, and the principal inhabitants ; and on one occasion, when a royalist dared to apply to them the homely epithet to which they had so well entitled themselves :t IN AMERICA. J 35 the by their atrocious crime, the magistrates bound the offender over to keep the peace, and severely reprimanded him for insulting their distinguished visitors, by imputing to them as an offence that which, if not a virtuous and patriotic dei^d, was at least a stern necessity. The meeting-houses were everywhere opened to thorn, and they attended divine service on Sundavs, and observed the fasts and public thanksgiving as established by law. The sacrament was administerc^d to them as worthv communicants, and the saints were edified by the exercise of their great gifts in praying and lecturing, as they raised their hands, dyed with the blood of their Sovereign, and enlarged on the necessity of forgiveness of sins, broth(Tly love, and good- will to all men. The King's proclamation exempting these criminals from the amnesty, though it did not disturb the consistency of the Puritans, aw^akened their fears lest their contumacy in harbouring traitors might draw down upon them the forfeiture of their Charter, which of all their earthly posses- sions, had the greatest hold on the affection of their hearts. Intimation was therefore given them to withdraw from view for the present, till the storm of popular indignation in England should blow over, and instructions were privately fiu-nished them to proceed to the minister's house at Newhaven, while diligent search would be made for them in It' I I 136 THE ENGLISH such places as it was well known tliey would not be found. After a suitable time for escape had been allowed to elapse, the colonial rulers preserved appearances by effecting great zeal for captui'ing them, and a warrant was accordingly issued for their apprehension. To avoid even the semblance of partiality, instead of entrusting it to their own officers, who might be supposed willing to favour their concealment, it was directed to two English-^ men,* recently arrived from Europe, zealous loyalists and rank Episcopalians, who only required a knowledge of the country, and the sympathy of the population in tlieir errand, to have succeeded in their enterprise. Duped by the apparent earnestness of the Governor, and the full and minute directions they received as to the l)est route to adopt in their search, and misled by the well-feigned ignorance and astonishment of every one to whom they addressed themselves for infor- mation ; they prosecuted their fruitless errand, to the inexpressible amusement of the court, to whom a practical joke, from the gravity of manner they were continually compelled to observe, was a luxury which they rarely had an opportunity of enjoying.! i * Thomas Kellond and Thomas Kirk, whom tlicv not inappropriately called Tom fools. i' Now and then a little dry humour would leak out in spite of themselves. A mechanic, having charged the IN AMKRICA. 137 Having travelled as far as the Hudson, they relinquished the pursuit as hopeless, and returned to report their failure to the Governor, who veiy gravely informed them that they had heen seen near Newhaven ; from which he infen'ed that they must have entered the Manhattaw settlement, and escaped to the Low Countries ; and riiconi- mended them hy all means to go to Holland, and continue their search, which, as the country was not covered by an interminable forest, like Ameri(;a, (•ould scarcely fail of being crowned with success. During aU this time, the fugitives were minutely informed of all that took place ; and, in order to relieve their hospitable friend, the Rev. Mr. Da- venport, from any imputation on their account, they prepared a cave in the side of a hill, having a small aperture to admit air and light, and so con- trived as to be effectually concealed by the thick brushwood that overhung its precipitous banks. To this they gave the name of Providence Hill, and resorted to it occasionally in times of danger, when a resMence among their friends was either inconvenient or unsafe. At last, a party of Indians * having accidentally discovered their retreat, they removed to a town (;alled Hadley, about a hundred miles distant, resting Government £2 13s. 4rf. for a pair of stocks, was ordered to be put into them himself for an hour, to test the strength of his work, and was fined ^65 for extortion. it if 138 THE ENGLISH i' by day, and travelling by night, in order to avoid being traced thither. They were received at this place by the minister and continued there fifteen or sixteen years, or until their decease, enjoying the sympathy of such of the inhabitants as were entrusted with their secret, the liberal contributions of their friends at home and abroad, and on one occasion the guilty pleasure of the society of another of their asso- ciates in crime. Colonel Dixwell, who, having been less obnoxious than them, and more fortunate in his disguises, had not only avoided detection, but had wholly escaped suspicion, and was at large under the assumed name of Davis. A singular incident, connected with Goffe, has been traditionally preserved in the family of Go- vernor Leveret, and is thus quaintly related by an historian of this early time : " The town of Hadley was alarmed by the Indians, in 1575, in the time of public worship, and the people were in the utmost confusion. Suddenly a grave, elderly person appeared in the midst of them. In his mien, he differed from the rest of the people. 'He not only encouraged them to defend themselves, but put himself at their head ; rallied, instructed, and led them on to en- counter the enemy, who in this way were re- pulsed. As suddenly the deliverer of Hadley dis- appeared. The people were left in consternation, IN AMERICA. 139 ;he ;he jm eir 5n- -e- is- utterly unable to account for this strange pheno- menon." It was not probable (the apologists say) that they were ever able to explain it. If Goflfe had there discovered himself, it must have come to the knowledge of those persons who declared by their letters that they never knew what became of him. Both these men were of low origin and mean education, and emerged from obscurity only by their daring courage, and their unscrupulous obe- dience to the bidding of the Protector. Whalley had risen to the rank of Lieutenant, and Goffe to that of Major-General in the rebel army,** and upon the latter devolved the task of expelling the mem- bers of Parliament fron> the House, and of execut- ing commands of a c^milar violent character. They died as they lived, in the full belief of that fatal doctrine, that the end justifies the means ; and afforded by their crimes, their cruelty, and their impenitence, an instructive lesson to fanatics that the religion of the head but too often hardens the heart ; that speculative theories have a natural tendency to obliterate the distinctions between right and wrong, by withdrawing our atten- tion from the practical obligations of life ; and * The well-known Richard Baxter was chaplain to Whalley' s regiment. 11 ii^i J ! : (k 140 THE ENGLISH that the stern virtues inculcated by Scripture are accompanied, surrounded and supported by the Christian graces of mildness, meekness and charity, and a numerous train of social and relative duties. As at the fall of Charles I. the conduct of the Puritans of Massachusetts differed widely from that of loyal Virginia, so did the death of Cromwell also affect them in an equally opposite manner. In the latter place, as soon as they had heard of the decease of the usurper, without waiting for news from England of their Sovereign's movements, they immediately proclaimed him, subverted the authority, to which they had so reluctantly sub- mitted, and recalled from retirement their former Governor, and invested him with the chief com- mand, thus securing to themselves the double honour of being the last to lay down their arms, and the first to re-assume them, in the defence of their King. In the former colony they would not or could not believe that Providence would ever suffer him to sit upon the throne of his ancestors, even after they received a copy of his proclamation. A motion for an address to him was put and lost in the General Court. When they called to mind the part they had taken in the rebellion, and the infamous conduct of their agent, Peters, their official and private letters to Cromwell, their own M' (.iV IN AMERICA. 141 ind the \vi\' j)roolamation against t\w King's adherents, thir nets against Virginia, their continual disobedience and disloyalty to his royal father, the reception and protection they had '^iven the regicides, they were overwhelmed with doubts and fears as to thi; future. The resistance which their ministers had recommended to them on a former occasion, thev knew would be unavailing against so powerful a monarch as Charles II., tliey therefore resorted to the other alternative, " evasion and delay." T\\v\ first ventured to feel their way by an address, con- taining the following extraordinaiy passage : " Sir, we lie not before your sacred Majesty. The Lord God of Gods knoweth, and Israel he shall know, if it were in rebellion or in schism that we willingly left our dwellings in our own country for dw^ellings in this strange land, save us not this day. Royal Sir, your just title to the crown (^nthroneth you in our consciences, your graciouness in our affections; that inspires unto duty, this naturalizeth unto loyalty. Hence we call you lord, licnce a saviour. Mephibosheth rejoices that the King hath come again to his house. The truth is, such were the impressions upon our spirits as transcends the faculty of an eremitical scribe. A desert condition in some sense is an object fittest to magnify princely radiance, inferior whereof cannot make the wilderness rejoice. Opaque bodies occasion the most luculent reflections. * 111 9H • n n^^^^^^^D ' h J^H^^^u 1 ^^^Hi y ^H l> 142 THE ENGLISH Affection makes u rhetorician Croesus' dumb son speak to prevent misery, and Zedekiah's tongue breaketh loose to acknowledge mercy. Warm with the influence of your royal favour, we by way of congratulation, comforted ourselves that the breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the Lord hath escaped : of whom we begin to say, under his shadow we shall live among the heathen." The absurdity and extravagance of this language is thus gravely defended by Bancroft : — " The spirit that breathes through it is republican. The style of hyperbole is borrowed from the manners of the East, so familiar from the study of the Hebrew Scriptures." The truth of these protestations, so solemnly made, was well attested by the manner in which Charles was proclaimed. This ceremony had been deferred, from a natural repugnance to acknowledge him at all; but, in August, 1661, the aspect of affairs was so alarming, it was thought prudent to propitiate him, by complying wdth this usual and constitutional practice. To the act itself there could be no objection ; the difficulty lay in so carefully conducting their proceedings, and in so wording the public document, as not to admit him, in express language, to have any authority in Massa- chusetts, beyond that of a temporal prince, with whose ancestors they had entered into a compact, whereby, for himself and his heirs, he had sur- th jet, ir- IN AMERICA. 143 rendered the territory, comprised within certain specified limits, on the nominal condition of re- ceiving a fifth of the produce of all silver and gold mines. Accordingly, a number of forms were proposed and discussed, but were severally rejected, as admitting too much by words or by implication, until, at last, the following extra- ordinary one was adopted, as the shortest, simplest, and safest that they could suggest : — " Forasmuch, as Charles II. is undoubtedly King of Great Britain, and aU other his Majesty's territories and dominions, thereunto belonging, and hath been some time since lawfully proclaimed and crowned accordingly ; we therefore do, as in duty we are bound, own and acknowledge him to be oiu* sovereign Lord and King ; and do, therefore, hereby proclaim and declare his sacred Majesty, Charles IL, to be lawful King of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, and all other the terri- tories thereunto belonging. God save the King." It is observable that his Majesty is here de- scribed as King of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, and all other the territories thereunto belonging, which term is satisfied by the Orkneys and the Channel Islands ; but no mention is made of America, Massachusetts, or the words colonies or plantations. Brief and cold, however, as this declaration was, it was adopted with great re- ; 11 ''I pi! w J.: [ii ■,:: 3» >mI !■ Si fi 1^^:^ :^|B' '^hI'' i i^MJ'' 1 Ij^H 1 ::, 144 THE ENGLISH pugnancc, and the day passed in ominous gloom. An order of the Court was issued at the same time, and posted up in various parts of Boston, forbidding all disorderly behaviour on the occasion, rritory. But they said, if theni were no Charter, they still owed no obedience ; for the King, in fact, had no '.'f < ■ 156 THE ENGLISH title himself by pretence of discovery, which was a mere Popish doctrine derived from Alexander VI. ; and their own was far better, being founded on prior possession, actual and continued occupation, and improvement, and purchase from the Indian chiefs. Had the habits of the monarch been at all equal to his abilities, and his means adequate to enforce his authority, it is probable he would have taken prompt and efficient measures to ensure their submission. His sagacity penetrated their designs, but his indolence and indecision were unequal to a contest in which there was neither present emolument to reimburse the expense, nor an increase of royal power to add strength or dignity to the throne. He resorted to professions of regard, and was met by such extravagant hyperboles, as to excite the irrepressible laughter of the courtiers. He was less successful in negociation. They were subtle disputants, and having overpowered their own judgment and strong intellects with casuistry, were easily able to vanquish his statesmen, whose minds were more occupied with their own intrigues than the affairs of a distant and refractory colony. In the end, as we shall presently see, he resorted to a court of law, and partially effected his object. Complaints still continuing to be made of their want of toleration, arbitrary conduct, and dis- IN AMERICA. 157 affection, the local government thought it necessary to send two agents to England, to endeavour to meet these charges in the hest manner they could. These gentlemen accepted the trust with the greatest reluctance, and such was their appre- hension relative to their own personal safety, that they first stipulated for reimbursement and in- demnification from the consequences of their de- tention by the Court. They wTre fortified with letters to Lord Save and Sele, who had more Puritanism than was consistent with his cha- racter for good sense, and more sympathy with colonial independence than was compatible with his duty to his Soven%n. Lord Clarendon, Loi'd Manchester, Colonel Temple, and others were also solicited to aid and assist their envoys, w^ho were finally dispatched with especial orders to obtain all they could, and to yield nothing. As the in- structions are very brief, and exceedingly charac- teristic, I insert them. 1 . You shall present us to his Majesty as his loyal and obedient subjects, and not be wanting to instance in the particulars which most and best render us so to be. 2. You shall endeavour to take off all scandal and objections which are or shall be made against us. 3. You shall endeavour the establishment of the rights and privileges we now enjoy. I ^f\^ 158 THE ENGLISH I ^ilv| 4. You shall not engage us, by any net of }'ours, to anything which may be prejudicial to our present standing, according to patent. They met a favourable and, what appeared to them, a gracious reception from the King, who assured them he would confirm the main objects of their Charter, but commanded them immediately to rectify several serious deviations from its spirit and meaning. On their return to their native country, his Majesty delivered to them a letter, addressed to the Government of Massachusetts, containing an amnesty for past offences, but re- quiring that all their laws should be reviewed, and such as were contrary or derogatory to his autho- rity and government annulled and i-epealed ; that the oath of allegiance should be duly observed, that the administration of justice should be in his name, that liberty should be given to all that desired to use the Book of Common Prayer, and perform their devotions in the manner to which tht^y had been accustomed ; that all persons of good and honest lives and conversations, should be admitted to the sacrament of the Lord's supper, according to the service of the Church of England, and their children to baptism ; that in the choice of Go- vernor and assistants, the only consideration to b(^ had should be of the wisdom, virtue, and integrity of the persons to be chosen, and not of any fa(;tion, with reference to opinions and outward profession ; w ': IN AMERICA. 139 that all freeholders of competent estates, not vicious, &c., though of different persuasions, should have their votes in the election of ail officers, (ivil and militarv ; and, finallv, that the letter should he puhlished, &c. However reasonable these things now appear, they were considered at tlie time very detrimental to their rights, by a people who liad hitherto toIcTated no interference in their internal affairs. They d(;emed them subversive of their liberty on the orw hand, and destructive of all true religion and good government on the other. When so many things, howev<'r, were ordered to b(; done, and so many inno\ations required, it was manifest some compliance v,'as necessary, if only for the sake of preserving appearances. The Letter was accordingly published, v.liich was the easiest to be complied with of all the injiUjctions it contained, but th(^ order for its promulgation was accompanied, as usual, with a caution, that no further action was to be taken upon it for the present. '" Inasmuch as it hath influence upon the Churches, as well as civil state, all manner of action, in relation thereto, shall be suspended, until the next General Court, that so all persons concerned may have time and oppor- tunity to consider of what is necessary to be done in order to his Majesty's pk'asure therein." It was also ordered, that all writs and legal pro- ■■ "I I' 160 THE ENGLISH Mw b i cess should thereafter be issued in the name of the Kinf^. To admit it to appear in the judicial pro- ceedings was unavoidable, but to enforce respect for it would be in itself an ael^nowlc^dgment of a foreign power; and the different submission re- quired to local and imperial authority was forcibly illustrated by two contemporaneous suits. A person who had rendered himself (jbnoxious by petitioning against the colony, happening shortly afterwards to be in court, was accused of discourteous conduct, fined £200 for his con- tempt, and ordered to find sureties in a like sum for his good behaviour; while a constable, who refused to publish the King's letter, and a select man, who spoke disrespectfully of it, were both acquitted on an alleged deficiency of proof. Th(^ determination to evade or delav, which had become a fixed rule of conduct on all occasions, exhausted the patience of the English Government. Churchmen, both within and without Massachu- setts, were loud in their complaints, that the colony was rendered intolerable to the one, and practically closed to the other; while those wh(> felt aggrieved at the decisions of the court, ex- pressed, in strong terms, the sense they enter- tained of the hardships they "ndured, in being debarred from a rehearing, and by having an appeal converted into an offence of a very serious nature, that of slandering the Lord's elect. ■i ; ii' ' "!r ■ i'm ^ IN AMERICA. IGl ad tns, nt. Ihu- thc liiid ho sx- ler- Injr Ian us Among others who were aggri(;ved weri^ thc^ Quakers, who stated that their people had suf- fered incredible punishments and persecutions at the hands of the Puritans. Without entering into the heart-rending details of the cruelties practised upon them, it is merely sufficient to state what enactments were made against them. One of the first imposed a penalty of £100 upon the master of any vessel who should bring a known Quaker into any part of the colony, and required him to give security to carry him back again ; in the meantime, the unfortunate man was sent to the house of correction, and whipped twenty stripes, and afterwards kept at hard labour, until transportation. They also laid a fine of £5 for importing, and the like sum for dispensing, their doctrinal books, and for defending their heretical opinions. Th(! next year, mi additional law was made, bv which all persons were sub- jected to the penalty of forty sliillings for every hour's entertainment <>:iven to any known mem- her of the sect ; and any Quaker, after tlu^ first conviction, if a man, was to lose one car, and the second time, the other; a woman, each time to be severely whipped, and the third tim<', man or woman, to have their tongues bored through with a red-hot iron ; and every one who should become a convert in the colony was sub- jected to the li'ce punishment. Afterwards, a fiiic m vm I 162 THE ENGLISH v*?" of t(3n shillings was laid on every pcl'son ])res(!nt at any of their meetings, and £5 upon any one speaking there. "^ * That these poor zealots were superior to the gloomy bigots who persecuted them, appears from the following extract from WilHam Leddra's address to his brethren, written the day before his execution, which, considering the station of the man, and the circumstances under which it was written, is singularly beautiful : " Most dear and inwardly beloved, ** The sweet influence of the morning star, like a flood distilling into my innocent habitation, hath so filled me with the joy of the Lord, in the beauty of holiness, that my spirit is as if it did not inhabit a tabernacle of clay, but is wholly swallowed up in the bosom of eternity, from whence it had its being. *' Alas, alas ! what can the wealth and spirit of man that lusteth to envy, aggravated by the heat and strength of the king of the locusts, which came out of the pit, do unto one that is hid in the secret places of the Almighty, or to them that are gathered under the healing wings of the Prince of Peace ? O, my beloved, I have waited as the Dove at the windows of the Ark, and have stood still in that watch, which the Master did at His coming reward with the fulness of His love, wherein my heart did rejoice that I might speak a few words to you, sealed with the spirit of promise. As the flowing of the ocean doth fill every creek and branch thereof, and then returns again toward its own being and fulness, and leaves a savour behind it, so doth the life and virtue of God flow into every one of your hearts whom He hath made partakers of His divine nature ; and when it withdraws but little, it leaves a sweet savour behind it, that manv can sav thev K^i:;v:''l IN AMERICA. 163 Notwithstanding all this severity, their number, as might well have IxM'n expeeted, increased rather than diminished. When brought up for judg- ment, one of them observed, " For the last man that was put to death here, are fivc^ eome into his room ; and if you have power to take my life from me, God can rise up ten of His servants, and send them among you in my place, that you may have torment upon torment." All these tortures, imprisonments, corporal and and other punishments were inflicted without remorse, and endured without producing any other effect than feelings of horror or pity in the are made clean, through the word that He hath spoken to them. Therefore, my dear hearts, let the enjoyment of the life alone be your hope, your joy, and your consolation. Stand hi the watch within, in the fear of the Lord, wliieh is the entrance of wisdom. Confess Ilim before men ; yea, before His greatest enemies. Fear not what they can do to vou. Greater is He that is in vou, than he that is in the world ; for He will clothe you wiili huniihty, and in the power of His meekness you sliall reign over all the rage of your enemies." — DuvaVs History of Quakers. Mary Dyer addressed from the gaol a remonstrance to the Court : *' Were ever such laws heard of among a people that profess Christ come in the flesh ? Have you no other weapon but such laws to fight against spiritual wickedness withal, as you call it ? Woe is me for you. Yo arc diso- bedient and deceived. Let my request be as Esther's to Ahasuerus, ' You will not repent that you were kept from shedding blood, thouj;]: it w ;is by a woman.' " 164 THE ENGLISH 4,*,' i: beholder. Four of them suiFered capitally. To the positive orders of the King that these dreadful barbarities should be discontinued (after having first satisfied themselves of their inefficiency), they yielded compliance, so far as mutilation and death were (employed, and the persecution of vagabond Quakers dwindled down into mere whipping, with the merciful limitation attached to it, that the (;ulprit should be only flogged through three towns. The Baptists, who had also been treated with great severity, joined in the universal com- plaint against the Puritans. Finally the Lords of the Council, who were daily besought for relief by so many different interests, represented to the King, (January, 1662-3,) "that New England hath in these late times of general disorder, strayed into many enor- mities, by which it appeared that the Government there have purposely withdrawn all manner of correspondence, as if they intended to suspend their absolute dependence to his Majesty's au- thority." Not wishing to proceed to extremities with these intractable people, Charles resolved upon sending Commissioners to report upon the av^tual state of the colonies; and accordingly Colonel Nicholas, Sir Robert Carr, George Cartwright, and Samuel Maverick, were authorised to proceed to i^inerica, " to visit the provinces of New England, hear and HI' 3se of lis, liel IN AMERICA. 165 (Ictorminc all causes of complaint, as well as appeals in matters military, ecclesiastical and civil, and to settle there peace and security." The instructions given them were of a kind well calculated (as far as such a proceeding was capabL ; to maintain no more than the du(; ob- servance of the terms of the Charter on the one hand, and the royal authority on the other. They were particularly charged to encourage no faction, to solicit no present profit, to countenance no change inconsistent with ancient usages, and to do nothing that might be considered an invasion of liberty of conscience. Finally, not to shock their religious scruples beyond all endurance, or to run the hazard of driving a people already highly excited, into irretrievable madness, they w^ere commanded not to suffer their chaplain, when officiating for them, to wear his surplice. As these gentlemen were expected in Boston early in July, a day of fasting and prayer was appointed to be observed throughout the whole province, to implore the mercy of God upon his people under their sore trials and affiictions. As it was thought not impossible some attempt might be made by the Commissioners to seize upon their Charter, it was ordered to be brought into court, when it was formally delivered, together with a duplicate, to four confidential persons, who were empowered and enjoined to deposit them in a place !^» ' if* 1^ i>, ' 'w ■ mil' *i iji 1 1 li! I'! IGG THE ENGLISH of safety iind conccaliiiciit. The Governor and Council then resolved " to bear true allegiance; to his Majesty, hut to adhere to a patent so dc^arly t;arned and so long enjoyed." A conmnitt(M; was also appointed, whose duty it was, immediately on the arrival of tlu^ ships, to present ^heir respects to th(? hoard, and requ(^st that strict orders should hv. given to the suhaltcrn officcTs, sailors, and soldiers, on their coming on shon; for refreshment, to Lmd only in very limited numhers, without arms, and that thev should be admonished to conduct them- selves in a meet, orderly manner, and abstain from giving offence to thi; inhabitants, or violating the laws for the preservation of the peace. Having tnken these; precautions, and mutually encouraged each other to exercisi; great coolness and delibera- tion, in any step it might be necessary to take in this trying cmergencN , they awaited with patience the arrival of the formidable officers of th(; Crown. m ** IN AMERICA. 1C7 CHAPTER IX. 1 ii— Tlip Connnissioners arrive at Boston — Deliver a royal letter to the Government, and j)roeee(l to the Ilndson to attack the Dutch settlements — The General Court in their absence petition for their withdrawal, and solicit the aid of the Puritan noblemen — Answers of the King and Lord Clarendon — General effect of Commissions of Inquiry — The franchise extended — The clergy and demagogues prepare the people for resistance — False rumours put into circulation — General Court refuses to summon the people to assemble — Commissioners inquire whether they admit the King's authority — They decline to answer, and refuse to attend before them, or to sub- mit to an appeal — They summon the Commissioners — Close of the inquiry — Accidents to Commissioners reputed to be judgments of Heaven — The King orders the Governor and other members of the General Court to appear before him — They decline, affecting to doubt the genuineness of the order — Distinction taken between obedience to beneficial and injurious orders — The Xew England colonies renew their confederation — Effect of it — Complaints of English merchants against the infractioa of the laws of trade — The oath of allegiawce ordered to ht taken, and tht? King's arms set up — Ageiit* aient to ' li ! ' 1 ^v-^.. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) ^O ^ «??^ V .V4 1.0 I.I 1.25 KIM 12.5 150 ^^^" MflHB 56 1^ i^ 1.8 Its KS U nil 1.6 V] <^ /] ^i ■a-'^^,^ ..*. ^/^ ^S'l'''^ r '/ Photographic Sdences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 h:- mi i''i 168 THE ENGLISH England, but ordered to yield nothing — A custom-house officer appointed — Opposition to him — He is obliged to return to England — General Court re-enacts trade laws — Its members take modified official oaths — Collector sent out again, but they threaten to execute him — Is obliged to quit the colony — General gloom in Massa- chusetts — People terrified by comets — The credentials of agents found deficient — They offer a bribe of two thousand guineas to the King — Agents return, and are followed by Randolph with the Quo Warranto — General Court refuses to surrender the Charter — Their argu- ments — They again petition and pretend there has been no service of the writ — Judgment given against them — Remarks on their conduct — Natural effects of dissent. The Commissioners arrived at Boston on the 13th of July, 1664, and having laid before the Governor and Council their letters patent, and called their attention to the last mandatorv com- munication from his Majesty, proceeded to the Hudson, for the purpose of reducing the Dutch settlements, that interposed so inconveniently between the English provinces. During their temporary absence, the General Court petitioned the King to revoke their au- thority, and once more besought the aid of all those influential persons in England, who, at oni^ time or another, had shown them anv kindness. To the former thev said, in their usual adulatory language, " As the high place you sustain on earth doth number you among the gods, so you will imitate the God of Heaven, in l)eing ready to IN AMERICA. 169 maintain the cause of the afflicted, and the right of the poor, and to receive their cries and addresses to that end." The rest of the memorial was a lamentation, at once humhle in language, and obstinate in purpose, filled with the most dutiful expressions of loyalty and obedience, but con- taining no pledge of fulfiUing any one of the reasonable conditions, on which alone his Majesty had promised to confirm their patent. To their patrons and friends they represented the com- mission as an attempt to destroy their privileges, to deprive them of liberty of conscience, and to impose burdens upon them that they were unable to bear. The King, who saw through their evasions, assured them that his object was, not to infringe upon their Charter, but to see that its provisions were fully and fairly complied with ; that their neighbours, the inhabitants, and the savages, as well r.s the emigrants, madt' accusations against them, into which it was his duty to inquire ; that they might rely upon the fullest protection and support, that the best sub- jects ever received from the most generous Prince ; and finally, that he w^ould renew the patent for them, but must first insist on a full and free toleration for Churchmen and Dissenters, and a repeal of such laws as were repugnant to those of England. VOL. I. I K ■fi' I ' ^ • u m^n Wyt 170 THE ENGLISH Lord Clarendon, who was ono of the noblemen to whom they had addressed themselves, indig- nantly declined to be the medium of their double- dealing. " I know not what you mean," said his Lordship, " by saying that the Commissioners have power to exercise government inconsistent with your rights and privileges, since I am sure their instructions are to see and provide for the due and full observation of the Charter, and that all the privileges granted by it may be equally en- joyed by all his Majesty's subjects there. I know they are expressly inhibited from intermeddling with, or obstructing the administration of justice, according to the forms observed there ; but if, in truth, the proceedings have been irregular, and against the rules of justice (as in some particular cases, recommended to them by his Majesty, they s^em to be), it cannot be presumed that his Majesty hath, or will leave his subjects of New England without hope of redress by an appeal to him, which his subjects of all his other kingdoms have free liberty to make. I can say no more to you, but that it is in your power to be very happy, and to enjoy all that hath been granted to you ; but it will be absolutely necessary, that you per- form and pay all that reverence and obedience, which is due from subjects to their King, and which his Majesty will exact from you, and doubts 111 IN AMERICA. 171 not but to find from the best of the colony, both in quality and number." Subsequent events ])ut too plainly showed that both were wrong. There was too much hesi- tation and condesce ision on the part of the King, and too much dogg od obstinacy on the side of the people. The whole tenor of the conduct of the colonists, from their first arrival in the country, afforded no reasonable ground for hoping for an accommodation, A commission of inquiry, that does not in the first instance supersede the local government, and assume th(; supreme command, is worse than useless ; on the one hand, it is exposed to legalized obstructions, that it cannot resist ; and on the other, it subverts that re- spect and obedience to constituted authority, which is so essential to the well-being of a com- munity. This was the first time the General Court had ever come in direct conflict with the Crown. It was a diflicult and trying occasion, but they proved themselves equal to the emergency. Their cautious conduct, temperate language, unflinching firmness, and grave demeanour, gave them a de- cided advantage over the Commissioners, who had neither the weight of character, the influence of talent, nor the amount of legal knowledge neces- sary for the successful discharge of their duties, I 2 it'- ■ .:. 1 -.h.'^l «>' J ,1 !i 172 THE ENGLISH while they were wholly destitute of the reciuisite means for enforcing their decisions.* They were equally forgetful of what was due to the high station they filled themselves, and to the rank and power of a local government, the choice of a free people. So far from having a proper consideration for the mortifying and humiliating position in which the General Court was placed, they seemed to regard notiiing hut the exercise of their own authority. The forbearance of the Governor and his coun- cil, under their embarrassments, was more than could have been expected from men who had persuaded themselves they were rather sinned against than sinning. Though indignant at being summoned in the presence of their constituents, to answer to every complaint that could be eli- cited against them, and degraded by being put * Hutchinson (vol i, p. 250) thus describes them : " Colonel Nichols, by his discreet behaviour, gained the esteem of the people, and afterwards, whilst he was Governor of New York, kept up friendly correspondence with the General Court of Massachusetts. Carr and Cartwright were men very unfit for such a trust, and by their violent proceedings rendered themselves odious. Maverick seems to have been appointed only to increase the number, and to be subservient to the others. He had lived in the colony from its beginning. He was always in opposition to the authority." '(. IN AMERICA. 173 put lem : the was ence and dby upon their trial before incompetent, if not preju- diced judges, they nevertheless maintained, with the utmost command of temper, what they affected to call their chartered rights ; asserting their terri- torial supremacy, without recrimination on the one hand, or an open and seditious denial of royal authority on the other. This line of conduct they steadily pursued, as long as it was possible to do so, or until submission or resistance became inevitable. Whatever w' isdom or experience; may be gathered from the pages of history in general, it is certain that the annals of the old provinces, so rich in instiTiction, have imparted but little knowledge to those in England, m whose hands are entrusted colonial destinies. This Commission, as we shall see, was a wretched fiiilure, as every successive one has been, down to that recently sent to Canada. They are necessarily productive of infinite mischief ; they lower the respect of the Provincials for the Imperial Government, induce hasty and incon- siderate legislation, based on reports that are alike distinguished for their incongruity, impracticability, and disingenuousness ; but, above all, they disgust by their reckless attacks (in which they make liberal use of the senseless epithets, " cliques," "family compacts," " obstructives," and " bigoted Tories,") on the loyal gentry of the colonies, who are as superior to those erratic politicians in ability it i ;, M ■.SI M I ■I 174 THE ENGLISH and practical information, as they are in integrity of conduct and consistency of character. The General Court assembled on the 4th of August, when they resolved : " That they would bear faithful and true allegiance to his Majesty, and adhere to their patent so dearly obtained and so long enjoyed by undoubted right, in the sight of God and man." They then repealed the law relating to the admission of frec^men, and, instead of it, provided another, that allowed Eng- lish subjects, being freeholders, rateable to a certain v.ilue, certified by the minister of the place to be orthodox, and not vicious in their lives, to be made freemen, though not members of their Church. In the meantime, the clergy and the dema- gogues prepared the people for resistance ; the former, by haranguing in their pulpits ; the latter, in their town meetings. As the whole population was constrained to attend public worship on Sun- days, one day was sufficient to disseminate sedi- tion through a country predisposed to receive it. Assembling for parish business, afforded favourable opportunities for the inhabitants to discuss what they had heard in their conventicles. The most alarming rumours were artfully put in chculation. It was said that Prelacy was to be established, and tythes set apart for the Episcopal clergy ; that dissolute soldiers were to be quartered upon the elect, and £5,000 a-vear raised for the civil IN AMERICA. 17a list of the Kinji:, beside a tax of twclvo-pcncc per acre ; while offices, witliout number, were to be created for hungry courtiers. The louder, more inflammatory, and bolder, were the harangues of their orators, the more acceptable they became ; and nothing was heard tlirough the whole pro- vince but tyranny and patriotism, liberty and slavery, victory or death. The desired effect was immediately produced. Whoever associated with the Royal Commissioners became the objects of popular ridicule or insult. They were afraid to appeal, lest they should incur the vengeance of their offended countrymen. Th(!y were told, if they acknowledged the autho- rity of the Board, " they would pull down with their own hands the house which wisdom had built for them and their posterity." The Commissioners, desirous of removing the unfavourable impression*' vaised against them by these slanders, requester :iat the people might be convened together to hear their commands ; but the Court, with their usual caution and evasion, dreading the effect of the interview on the firmness of the yeomanry, no less than the precedent of their obeying any one but themselves, replied that they had no objection whatever to their assembling, if they thought proper to do so ; for they were free agents, and could do as they saw fit on this or any other occasion. They professed, however, |-:1|| I' ■ I ■ i 1 1; Jkial^^^B i 'r^^BH li t^A^^^B ifl 1 B hi! ,«.'iii 176 THE ENGLISH their inability to understand how such a general meeting could in any way further the object of their inquiry, as the people were well-informed of all that had taken place, and were faithfully represented by their delegates, who were em- powered to act and to speak in their behalf. Entertaining this view, they said they did not f(^el justitied in commanding their attendance, especially as the season was such as to require tlio utmost exertion of every one, when labour was so scarce and expensive ; and, what was an awful consideration, it would expose the aged and infirm, and the women and children, of every frontier settlement to the fury of the savages, who would doubtless seize the opportunity of wreaking their vengeance by an indiscriminate slaughter of them all. For this reply, which was better calculated to excite ridicule than indignation, they were very coarsely stigmatised by one of the Commissioners as traitors. The Board then sent notices them- selves, to be posted up in different parts of the colony, requesting the inhabitants to meet them, for the purpose of hearing the King's gracious letters, and learning the true object and design of their mission; but they were too much irritated with what they had been told, to pay any attention to them. It is not my intention to enter into any detailed account of the controversy between these function- Hh i . !l!i UN! IN AMERICA. 177 Jiries and the local government, as it would not only not interest the general reader, hut would with- draw our attention from the main ohject of this work. The Court atfect(d to feel and lament the j)ainful dilemma in which they were placed ; to suhmit, they conceived would he to strip them- selves of all their rights ; to refuse compliance, seemed to he attended with odium, and the danger of heing considered in the light of rebels. Tlicy said, " they esteemed it their greatest unhappiness to be held to give up their privileg(;s by charter, and the rights of Englishmen, or (;lse be accounted among such as denied his Majesty's authority." All their replies, therefore, were worded in such general terms, and expressed in such cautious language, that the Commissioners, after much correspondence, and conferences without number, found, to their infinite mortification, that, during the whole period of their rcisidence in the country, they had been travelling in a circle, and had arrived at last at the same point from whence they had started, not much enlightened by their vexa- tious and laborious tour. Loss of time and labour generally produces a corresponding effect on the temper. Irritated at last by the evasions or refusals of the Court, they submitted to them the following question : — " Do you acknowledge the patent, wherein we are appointed, to be of full force to all the purposes therein contained ?" To I 3 f 178 THE ENGLISH ' i' :lii this form of intc^rrogation thi; Govornor and his council objected, saying tlicy chose rath(T to plead their Charter, and the King's special charge, that they should not he (Hsturhed in its enjoyment. This being deemed wholly unsatii^ifactory, they wen; again called upon for a categorical answer ; but they declared it " was enough for them to give their sense of the rights granted to them, and that it was beyond their line to determine the power, extent, and purpose of his Majesty's Commission." Baffled in this attempt to draw them into an admis- sion, so fatal to their defence, or into a contumacious denial of the royal authority, the Commissioners determined to apply to them a most stringent test, by bringing them to their bar, as a court of appeal. They accordingly summoned them to appear before them, to answer to a complaint of a person against wiiom they had some time before pronounced judgment. But they protested against this assumption of power, so inconsistent with their Charter, and refused to attend. At the time appointed, a herald sounded his trumpet, and read a proclamation, which, after a long recital of their own forbearance during the protracted visit of the Commissioners, and the repeated and frequent invasions they made upon their rights, declared, in his Majesty's name, and by the authority committed to them by their patent, that they could not consent to their proceedings, and IN AMERICA. 179 that it was utterly inconsistent with their allegiance to sutler any persons so to contravene the King's instructions. After this they inlbrnied the Board of their earnest desire to give them every satisfaction in their power, and notified them that they should fortliwith proceed to liear the cause themselves, and desired them to ap|)ear and produce their allegations, to which every attention sliould be paid. Tliis unexpected turn of affairs brought the commission to a close in Massacliusetts ; and the oflicers composing it, after })rotesting against tlic General Court taking cognizance of a matter in which they were directly interested, informed them that they should lose no time in such an undigni- fied contest. They were doomed, however, to suffer still further mortification. Tliey liad been in the habit, during their residence at Boston, of entertaining a social party of friends, on Saturday evening, at the hotel where they lodged. Tliis, it appears, was contrary to a local law, which required a strict observance of the afternoon of that day, as a portion of the Sabbath. A con- stable, intruded into their room, ordered them, in the King's name, to disperse, which caused his immediate ejection from the house. Thinking that the insult was an intentional one, premedi- tated and suggested by the magistrates, and fearing a repetition of the outrage, they adjourned vii ,Mil 180 THE ENGLISH to the house of a friend, where they were again visited by another bailiff, who, after adnmonishing them to mend their manners, observed, it was fortunate they had not had him to deal with, as he would assuredly have arrested them all. " What," said one of the Commissioners, " would you have presumed to lay hands on the King's officers ?'* " Certainly," w^as the reply of the democratic and sanctimonious constable, " I would seize the King himself if he were here." Not knowing where this conduct might end, they left Massa- chusetts on a tour to the other New England colonies, in which they experienced much diffi- culty, though more obedience anc' courtesy than at Boston. Like all commissioners of i quiry that have ever been sent to America, they cemcd it requisite to prove the necessity of thr / appointment, by encouraging and graciously i cciving complaints against the local government. That the Charter, which was never designed as a constitution, was too undefined in its terms, and too restricted in its practical operation, and that many beneficial re- forms were required, was beyond all doubt ; but it was equally obvious that respect was due to the station and character of the Governor and Court of Assistants, to the feelings of people of influence and rank in the colony, and to the ministers of the great body of the population. Mankind are IN AMERICA. 181 sufficiently prone to disobedience to their superiors ; but when the organs of imperial authority lend their countenance and afford encouragement to the disaffected, every land, whether it be the barren soil of New England, or the fertile region of Canada, will bear a plentiful harvest of falsehood, misrepresentation, and discontent. One of the Commissioners was captured by the Dutch, on his return to England, and lost all his papers, and another died the day he landed in Bristol ; two accidents, which wen; seized upon by the ministers, with their usual propensity for thc^ marvellous, and declared to be the just judgmeiUs of God upon those who had sought to injure the Lord's elect. Such a signal interposition of Providence '-aised the drooping spirits of those who doubted the propriety of the conduct pursued by the General Court, and confirmed the obstinacy and increased the spirit of resistance in the magis- trates and people. The official narrative, however, of their proceedings reached England in safety ; and, as might have been expected from the treat- ment they had received, was very unfavourable. It disclosed very plainly,'^ how systematically the Provincials had always pursued their darling object, self-government, from their first settlement to the period of the rebellion in England, when they be- * See " Hutchinson's History of the Colonies," vol. iii, p. 412. P -''iSi 1 ;^Hi '■■'1 iff i' 182 THE ENGLISH sought Cromwell to bestow absolute independence upon them, and from thence to the arrival of the Board, whose authority they eluded or denied, calling themselves a state, a commonwealth, and a people, in contradistinction to a colony and subjects. As soon as the result of the mission was known, it occasioned great indignation. A letter addressed in the name, and by the order of the King, and countersigned by Secretary Maurice, was dispatched to Boston without delay, com- manding on their allegiance Mr. Bellingham, the Governor, and Mr. Hawthorne, the Speaker, together with three others, to be chosen by the General Court, to proceed forthwith to London, to answer the various charges which from time to time had accumulated against them. The pe- remptory tone of the order required their imme- diate and serious attention. The Legislature was convened, and six elders successively prayed for a blessing on their deliberations, and the discovery of some practicable mode of escape from their troubles. They were indebted to their ingenuity, for what no one else but themselves would have attributed to their supplications. A slight devia- tion from the truth effectually answered their purpose. They effected to doubt the authenticity of the letter, as they were not familiar with the IN AMERICA. 183 for lave ivia- peir |city Ithe signature of the officer by whom it was signed, and pronounced it a forgery. They therefore agreed upon an answer, in which the genuinenfjss of the royal mandate was questioned, and excused themselves for sending over agents, especially as they said the ablest among them could not declare their cause more fully than it had been done already. An abstract of the debate on this occasion has been preserved,* and exhibits in strong colours their determined purpose to resist the right of supervision or appeal. A very curious and subtle distinction was taken between such commands of the King's as were beneficial to them, and such as were not.f It was argued that the civil magistrate was a minister of God for the good of the people, and so far as his injunctions tended to their advantage, ought to be obeyed for conscience sake, but none would say it was for the benefit of a colony to send away its rulers ! In the meantime the confederation of Massa- chusetts, Connecticut, and Plymouth, was again renewed by commissioners from the respective provinces, who entered into an offensive and defensive alliance. This convention increased the * See the Danforth Papers in vol. xix, Massachu- setts Hist. Col. t See Gobbet's letter, in note to Hutchinson's History, vol. I, p. 253. !• !: HbI i I ^^^^^^^H 'U ■ '-' i -'^^I^B ^ % i IH.^ 1 it 7 1 '^;: 5 i il:i*^ 1:1: E; i I ■ft J: J 184 THE ENGLISH confidence of the people in their own strength, by giving unity to their designs, and vigour to their conduct. When assembled, they represented a very extensive country, and a large population, and naturally encouraged each other in struggling for independence, which was their motive for settling in America, and the inheritance they hoped to leave to their children. A new interest, however, had now sprung up in England, adv(;rse to the pretensions of the colonists, that enlisted the people on the side of the King, which it was easy to foretel would soon overpower tliem. The commerce of the American provinces, as we have seen, had already been regulated and restrained by Parliament. It was now considered a proper object for taxation. Duties were laid ujdou certain enumerated articles, which were to be collected in a new manner. The management of this branch of revenue was com- mitted to local officers, to be appointed by the commissioners of the customs in England. The duties of tonnage and poundage had been extended to every dominion of the Crown at the Restoration, but this was the first act which imposed imports on the colonies alone (1662), to be regularly collected by provincial revenue officers. The former acts had not only been evaded, but openly disregarded by the people of Boston ; and tiio English merchants complained that they traded directly to various ports in Europe, and invited IN AMERICA. 185 ited foreigners to visit them ; that they supplied the adjoining plantations with the productions of other nations, which ought to he sent to Great Britain alone ; that, having thus made Massachusetts the great emporium for America, the commerce of the kingdom was greatly prejudiced, the national resources impaired, and the people impoverished. They also added, that such ahuses would at once destroy th(^ trade of England, and effectually relieve the colonics from any sort of dependence on the parent country. The interest at stake was too vast and too important to he trifled with. The governors were therefore commanded, hy royal authoritv, to enforce a strict obedience to the laws of trade. Commissions were transmitted, em- powering proper persons to administer an oath, framed to secure their strict observance. To add weight to these measures, it was determined " that no Mediterranean passes should be granted to New England, to protect its vessels against the Turks, till it should be seen what dependence it would acknowledge on his Majesty, or whethei his custom-house officers should be received as in other colonies." In order to counteract the effects of the un- favourable report of the Commissioners, and to allay the irritation arising from so many grievous complaints, it was deemed advisable by the General Court spontaneously to make some con- I: J 186 THE ENGLISH cessions, v.'hich, if they did not wholly answer their avowed ])urpose, would at least enable them to procrastinate awhile longer, and retain the ad- vantage that might be offered by time or oppor- tunity. They therefore passed an act to punish high treason with death, and another requiring all persons above sixteen yc^ars of age to take the oath of allegiance, on pain of fine and imprison- ment ; the Governor, his deputy, and the magis- trates, having first taken the same, without reservation, in the words'^ sent them in the royal mandate. The King's arms were also ordered to be carved and put up in the Court-house. Randolph, who had suffered imprisonment with Sir Edmund Andross, and had never forgotten or forgiven the injuries he then received, had carried to England very exaggerated accounts of the wealth and population of Massachusetts, and now returned empowered to administer to the New England Governor an oath to enforce the acts of trade. In Massachusetts it !^'>' ft ! ;1 192 THE ENGLISH :■( ! ' i'i ii'f fi 1 i ! l' ■ 1 : • '•':' "■'\ ' i'l i!) Il 1 1! i i informing the public of his commission as Collector of Customs, that he had opened an office for that purpose, and required all persons interested to comply with the prescribed forms. Tlie Court immediately ordered th(; Marshal to removes the presumptuous advcTtisement, and adopted other measures that effectually defeated all his attempts to exercise his delegated authority. If he prose^ cuted for a penalty, he was compelled to lodge caution-money to respond the costs ; and if it came to trial, he either lost his cause and his deposit, or the penalty was claimed by the local govern- ment. Everybody w^as against him. Strange rumours reached him that were not to be disregarded. His life was threatened. He knew his men ; he felt that they were capable of any acts of violence, when they thought their rights infringed, and that their penal laws were neither obsolete nor dormant, but executed with a vigour and severity wholly unrestrained by considerations of mercy, or fear of consequences. He wns given to understand, if he persevered in seizing vessels, and embar- rassing their trade, he should be apprehended, tried, convicted, and executed, under a local statute, that made any attempt to subvert their chartered liberties a capital offence. He was, therefore, under the necessity of once more with- drawing to England, where he exhibited seven )llector Dr that ted to Court v(^ the other tempts prose- lodge t came Dsit, or jovern- imours His he felt olence, d that mant, wholly fear stand, mbar- nded, local their was, with- seven IN AMERICA. 193 formal articles of high misdemeanors against the General Court. They were brief, pcTspieuous, and capable of pro«)f, and carried conviction on the face (►f them. The King's patience was exhausted ; he tlireatened them, if they did not at once stuul agents duly authorized to act and submit to him, a Quo Warranto should issue immediatelv. It was not now the complaint of Randolph alone that they had to answer, but the remonstrances of tin; whole mercantile and manufacturing interests of th(; kingdom. The just displeasure of an offended monarch, and the well-founded fears of English statesmen that America was aiming at indepen- dence, required the exercise of all their ingenuity and address. Two delegates were sent to Eng- land, commissioned as usual " to avoid or delav," to obtain what they could, but to make no concessions. It was a time of general gloom in the colony. The King's power was increasing in England. He was carrying on a successfid war against charters : even London had lost hers, and how could they suppose they were to escape ? Everything seemed to conspire against them. They were at last some- what divided in opinion among themselves, whether it would not be better to yield ; and their unity, in which had consisted their strength, was shaken. Could it be a judgment from Heaven upon them for their oifences ? Could their recent toleration of sectaries have drawn down on their heads VOL. I. K ■a '^ Y* ¥: M M 194 THE ENGLISH judicial punishment? They were the chosen people of the Lord. In giving way to the wishes of a prelatic King, by adopting human laws in- stead of those of Moses, which they had lately so im- piously repealed, it was possible that disobedience might have deserved and received chastisement. Something very remarkable, it was generally believed, was about to take place, for the air was filled with strange sounds, and the darkness illu- minated with wondrous lights. Two enormous comets had traversed the heavens, and carried terror into every heart, as they were the sure and certain forerunners of calamities to fallen, sinful man. Two of the largest fires ever then known in North America, had nearly consumed Boston ; the first destroying forty-five houses, besides nume- rous large stores and, what showed the Divine vengeance of the devouring flame more than all, a meeting-house ; the second burning up more than eighty dwellings and seventy warehouses, with several vessels and their cargoes. A synod was called of all the clergy of Massa- chusetts. It was an unusual occasion, and the prayers of the whole body were needed. The preachers proved, to the entire satisfaction of the people, that they could expect no blessing if they continued to allow the Lord's heritage to be in- vaded by prelacy and, dissent, or relinquished the privileges of His elect. The drooping spirits of 1 IN AMERICA. 195 the people revived, and they expressed their deter- mination to stand or fall by their Charter, and to make no smTcnder. On the arrival of the agents in England, it was found that their instructions did not contain suffi- cient authority to enable them to treat on behalf of the colony. They were ordered to procure more compreh(,'nsive powers, but the General Court re- fused to enlarge them. Their mission was thus brought to a close, and a Quo Warranto issued in the usual form, for the purpose of putting an end to the Charter. Hitherto the local government had depended upon their allies, the Liberals. The connection had always been one of convenience rather than regard, for they mutually despised each other. The Provincials coalesced with that party, because they had a more republican tendency than the Tories, and courted the support of the enemies of the Church; but they loathed their profligacy, their disregard of all principle, and their readiness to sacrifice patriotism for place, and con- sistency for the emoluments of office. On the other hand, the Liberals knew the importance of so large and influential a body as the Sectarians, and were well skilled in inflaming their passions, pandering to their prejudices, and rendering their discontent and their union subservient to their ov;n K 2 I \.m x: s % 1^1 !■• ;^l m ii MB. 1 I 'f ■i i| 196 THE ENGLISH schemes of ambition. But whilt; they used them, they ridiculed them ; and their ignorant zeal, hypo- critical pretensions, and extravagant language of cant, afforded them inexhaustible subj(^cts for satire. It was an age when the leaders of the two extremes of sanctimonious and dissolute modes found their greatest safety in embracing each other. Knowing that the Liberals were always N'enal, and having succeeded in seducing the clerks of the public offices (if there can be seduction where there is no virtue), and keeping them on pay to betray their trusts, they were always constantly and accurately informed of the secrets of State, and furnished with copies of all Minutes of Coun- cil, memorials, or complaints, aifecting their inte- rests, as well as the names of those members that voted for or against them. They now conceived the plan of concentrating their gratuities and tempting the cupidity of the King, and most unblushingly offered him a bribe of two thousand guineas.* His thoughtless dissi- "m m m * The proofs of these charges are abundant. The fol- lowing will suffice : *' From the Clerks of the Privv Council, who were retained on treacherous pay, they ])rocured the strictest information, and even the State Papers. Perfectly ac- quainted hy this means M'ith European affairs, the ruling men at Boston were able to draw every advantage froff IN AMERICA. 197 ating of the bribe dissi- werf ;rictest Xy ac- ruling froir pation, lavish profusion, and unquenchable thirst for means to gratify his extravagant habits, were well calculated to lower himself and his monarchy to the level of republicans. The agents did not underrate his honour, but they overvalued their ow^n d(3xterity. Had it been delicately managed — for he was fastidious in his appetites — it is to be feared he would have had as little virtue to resist, distractions, either to act with moderation or firmness." — Chbn. Col. vol. i, p. 129. [Chelmus held the important office of Head Clerk to the Committee of the Privy Council, and is therefore good authority.] " Having long corrupted his servants, they now at- tempted to hribe himself by an offer of two thousand guineas." — Chlm. Col. vol. i, p. 133. " Massachusetts was willing to bribe the Monarch into clemency towards its liberties." — Ban. Hist. vol. ii, p. 123. "Cranfield ad- vised tendering two thousand guineas for the King's private service. The Court agreed to the proposal, and showed him the letter they had written to their agent thereon." — Hutch. Hist. vol. i, p. 337. " Major Thompson would make better use of your funds for your advantage. His employment in the East India Company gives him frequent access to Court, where he hath opjjortunity to give a feeling to such classes of the Council as may serve you with true intelligence. They have been there two years raising money upon the poor inhabitants to make friends at Court. Certainly they have some there too nigh the Council Chamber, otherwise they could not have copies of my petition against the Govern- ment, my articles of high misdemeanors, and now of Cran- field's histructions." — Letter of Randolph to Clarendon, June lAth, 1682. ■I , J-: il ■ill Ii i !i HI ii' 198 THE ENGLISH 5f ■ '\: hi i i; us they had honesty to offer the temptation ; but the coarseness of the execution, if possible, Surpassed the baseness of the design, and it failed of success as much on account of its grossness, as its immorality. It was a great mortification to both. The King concealed his chagrin under a well-turned point. He said the Puritans were unrelenting foes, they had deprived his sainted father of his life, and now they would rob him of what he prized more highly, his honour. The agents w^ere covered with shame, and were pointed at wherever they went as hypocrites, who had the depravity of courtiers, without their practical adroitness, or polished manners to conceal it.''*' Thcv returned as soon as possible to Boston from their fruitless mission, and arrived on the 23rd of October, and the same week were followed by the indefatigable Randolph, with the Quo Warranto. At the same time his Majesty made one effort more to bring this protracted contest to an end, and condescended again to entreat them to submit, promising at the same time to make as few altera- tions in their patent as possible, consistently with the support of a royal government. In this des- perate situation the question was debated, both in * Truly, Sir, if you could see how wc are ridiculed by our best friends at Court, it would grieve you. — Dudley^ s Letter to Bradsireet, February y 1G82. IN AMERICA. 199 effort end, ibmit, iltera- with des- )th in led by idley's the General Court, and among the inhabitants at large, whether it were better to make ample sub- mission to the King, or suffer matters to take their course. The Government, however, and the people, true to the principles they had ever professed, determined it was better to die by the hands of others, than to commit a suicidal act themselves, by surrendering a Charter, under which they had, for a period of fifty years, enjoyed internal and external independence. The General Court as- sembled and debated the subject for a fortnight. The upper branch was divided in opinion, but moderate counsels prevailed, and the majority passed a resolution not to contend with his Majesty at law, but rather throw themselves on his mercy, and to send agents to receive the royal commands. This vote was sent to the Chamber of Deputies, according to the usual form, for their concurrence."^ The clergy took the alarm and * The vote was as follows : " The magistrates have voted that an humble address be sent to his Majesty by this ship, declaring that, upon a serious consideration of his Majesty's gracious intimations, in his former letters, and more particularly in his late declaration, that his pleasure and purpose is only to regulate our Charter in such a manner as shall be for his service, and the good of this his colony, and without any other alteration than what is necessary for] the support of his government here ; we will not presume to contend with his Majesty in a court of law, but humbly lay ourselves at his Majesty's feet, in a sub- M 200 THE ENGLISH il^ li! li ! 1 lifFectually prevented its passage through the Lower House. It was the last time they were ever able to exert the same influence.* The arguments on this occasion (though not in the shape of modern reports) are preserved in the valuable and interesting collection of the Massachusetts Historical Society: the substance I find elsewhere thus condensed : " Ought the government of Massachusetts (thus it was argued) submit to the pleasure of the Court, as to altera- tion of their Charter? Submission would be an offence against the majesty of Heaven. The religion of the people of New England, and the Courts pleasure cannot consist together. By submission, Massachusetts will gain nothing. The Court designs an essential alteration, destructive to mission to his pleasure so declared, and that we have resolved by the next opportunity to send our agents, empowered to receive his Majesty's commands accordingly. And, for saving a default of non-appearance upon the return of the writ of Quo Warranto, that some meet person or persons be appointed and empowered, by letter of attorney, to appear and make a defence, until our agents may make their appearance and submission as above. The magistrates have passed this with reference to the consent of their brethren and the deputies hereto. "Edward Rawsg^, ^VcreZ«ry." * ** The clergy turned the scale for the last time. Th( balance which they had held from the beginning, they were allowed to retain no longer." — Hutchinson* 1:1 Lower er able ;h not ved in of the )stance ht the Tgued) altera- ild be The nd the . By . The tive to •esolved ^ered to [nd, for of the Isons be appear their istrates If their vV- Th( L they IN AMERICA. 201 the vitals of the Charter. The corporations in England that have made an entire resignation, have no advantage over those who ha\'e stood n suit in law. But if we maintain a suit, though we should be condemned, we may bring the matter to Chancery or to Parliament, and in time recover all again. We ought not to act contrary to that way in which God hath owned our worthy prt^de- eessors, who in 1638, when there was a Quo Warranto against the Charter durst not submit. In 1 664 they did not submit to the Commissioners. We, their successors, should walk in their steps, and so tmst in the; God of our fathers, that we shall see His salvation. Submission would gratify our adversaries, and grieve our friends. Our enemies know it will sound ill in the world, for them to take away the liberties of a poor people of God in a wilderness. A resignation will bring slavery upon us sooner than it otherwise would be, and will grieve our friends in other colonies, whose eyes are now upon New England, expecting that the people there will not through fear give a pernicious example unto others. Blind obedience to the ])leasure of the Court, cannot be without great sin, and incurring the high displeasure of the King of Kings ; submission would be contrary unto that which has been the unanimous advice of the ministers given after a solemn day of prayer. The ministers of God in New England, have more K 3 if; ?;' I m m IM.- § M * H '■fi 202 THE ENGLISH nk '»;' Pi I I'l of the spirit of John the Baptist in them, than now, when a storm hath overtaken them, to he reeds shaken with the wind. The Priests were to he the first that set their feet in the waters, and there to stand till the danger be past ; of all men they should be an example to the Lord's people, of faith, courage and constancy. Unques- tionably if the blessed Cotton, Hooker, Davenport, Shepherd, and Mitchell, were now living, they would, as is evident from their printed books, sa\ , * Do not sin in giving away the inheritance of your fathers.' *' Nor ought we to submit without the consent of the body of the people. But the freemen and Church members throughout New England will never consent hereunto. Therefore, the Govern- ment mav not do it. The civil liberties of New England are part of the inheritance of their fathers, and shall we give that inheritance away ? Better suffer than sin. It is better to ti-ust the God of our fiithers, than to put confidence in princes. Tf we suffer because we dare not comply with thv. wills of men, against the will of God, we suffer in a good cause, and shall be accounted martyrs in the next generation, and at the Great Day." The vote was finallv sent back with the foUowins; decision. " The Deputies consent not." The proprietors resident in England, with one exception only, ashamed of conduct they could not IN AMiaUCA. 203 justify, disclaimed the Uburpation. Craddock, their former Governor, after some httle show of deference, suiFered a default to he entered, and the rest of the patentees stood outlawed. The General Court, consistent to the last, made one more attempt at delay and supplication. In an address, most humhle in language, hut firm in purpose, they excused them- selves from sending home the Charter, on pretence that judgment had heen passed against it, upon a Quo Wa7TantOj and declared if they had heen duly notified, no douht they could have put in a sufficient plea to it ; that if they should transmit it, they would he looked upon as runagates and outlaws ; that the common people would think that his Majesty had cast them off ; and that they would for their safetv confederate themselves wider a nev' Government, which would he of dangerous example to other plantations. " We do not question your proceedings," they said, in conclusion, " we only desire to open our griefs where the remedy is to he expected, and we are told to renew our humhle supplication to your Lordships, that we may he suffered to live here in this wilderness, and that this poor plantation, w^iich hath found more fasour with God tliau many others, may not find less favour with the King." A semi-official reply was returned hy tlie Lords Commisidoners through the mi'diuui of Mr. Craddock. They again called upon the cor- li f"'\i I'r: ■ uiffi ■ i ■ ^ m 'If ». 1 l| 1 :|H liii m ; J; M i Ir ■ t ft ■ 'i ''■ *■ a u !-'jl 204 THE ENGLISH ill poration to send home the Charter ; and, as an earnest of their benevolent designs, authorized its pres(mt Government to continue until a new patent should pass the seals. In addition to this memorial, they availiul them- selves of the want of a formal service of th(^ order, and accordingly voted to take no notice of it ; " for," said the members in their debates, " it in unofficial, and the Lords Commissioners cannot proceed upon it, since they can obtain no proof that it was delivered to the Governor ;'* and, the better to insure this result, they diiected Mr. Craddock's agent, when hi) again wrote to his principal, not to mention the receipt of his last letter. But this technical objection availed not, and a judgment was entered oi: the Quo Warranto , in Trinity Term, 1684, a copy of which reached Boston on the 3rd day of July, 1685, and put an end to the ancient Government of Massachusetts. Thus fell the first American Republic, after an existence of more than fifty years ; " but with it," says a distinguished author,''*' " fell not the habits nor the principles which the settlement of the countrv had engendered. These \vere for a time slightly hidden in its fall, but soon sprang u]) again, more deeply-rooted and renovated with permanent strength ; nor have they ceased to * Minot. IN AMERICA. 205 flourish, till, in their turn, they have ovcrruji, and probably for ever buried, every germ of royal authority in that republican soil." It is not my object to animadvert on the con- duct of the tirst settlers of Massachusetts, hut to record so much of their history as is necessary to establish the proposition I set out with, namely, that American democracy does not owe its origin to the revolution, and to the great statesmen that framed the Federal Constitution ; but that it existed in the country from the earliest period, and tluit a republic de facto was founded at Boston, in 1630, which subsistcul in full force and viszour for more than half a century. After the narration contained in these pages of its rise, progress, and termination, I think no on(5 can entertain a doubt that the independence of the states conferred little or nothing on Massachusetts that sh(5 did not enjoy under her first Charter, unless it Ix" an exemption from the restrictions on her trade, im- posed by the navigation laws. Her internal sove- reignty indeed was more complete than it is now, for all the delegated powers given to Congress, the National Judicatory, and other federal institutions, is so much withdrawn from what she then pos- sessed and retained in her own hands. It is not my province to subject the pretensions of this people to the ordeal of criticism. If it were, however, it would be found that though the .; ki i m I* ll ! ^1 1 V, ' l\ > f( fii ;» V i| ' 1/ '! Hi' t t If ' . ■ K .111 ■'■;J! 206 THE ENGLISH means used for th(Mr (Icfciict' were not Jilwavs such !is could be approved, there is much to admire in their history. Havinp^ removed the Charter to America, and ])()ldly usurped tht^ jiower of inde- pendent self-government, that act must be carefully distinguished from the rest of their conduct, and separately considered with reference to its legality or morality. Their subsequent defence, of what they conceived to have been their chartered pri\'i- leges, was always skilful and persevering, and oft(;n manly. It would be unfair to view them through the medium of loyalist prepossessions. They were not rebels, for they did not profess to ])e subjects. And, be it remembered, the distinction they took between local and general allegiance has the authority of high names to sanction it. They were not at that time so much endeavouring to sever the connection with England, as to protect themselves from aggression. If they were in- tolerant, it was the vice of the age. If their negotiations with the parent country, through the instrumentality of their agents, were sometimes deficient in frankness and sincerity, these are quali- ties which have never been ascribed to diplomacy, and there is no reason to charge them exclusively with faults, from which, unhappily, no people were ever exempt. Nothing could be more natural, nothing more plausible, and, I might almost say, nothing more reasonable, than their claim to the 'ir„ IN AMERICA. 20' trrritory they inhabited. Unlike other colonists of modern times, they hud not received anything: from England that demanded their ji;ratitudc. They made the province themselves. It is culti- vation and population alone that stamp a value on land. The cold, barren, and inhospitable country comprised within their jrrant, was scarcely worthy of acceptance, certainly not of purrliase, at the date of their patent. The fost(!ring hand of the parent state Vvas never extended to them. Thev cleared the interminable forests, thev resist(Ml the assaults of the savajj^es, and the encroachments of the French. They built up their villnges, extended their settlements, erected their fortifi- cations, founded their schools, supported their clergy, and established and maintained thi^ Govern- ment, not only without the aid of England, but under many discouragements, and in the face of opposition. The annals of colonization mav be searched in Vain for an effort so distinguished for courage, industry, perseverance, frugality, and intelligence. Their descendants have reason to be proud of the imperishable monument their ancestors thus erected in the great American wilderness of their own fame. Is it then to be wondered at, if they ioved so dearly, and defended so strongly, a possession so peculiarly their own ? and must we not in fairness admit, if they called sophistry in ",i \wmi \m IT 208 THE ENGLISH i iiid of their claim to independence, that England, to maintain her title by discovery, had not in reality much better or sounder grounds to proceed upon. The right of Europeans to America will not bear a very close investigation, but the pioneers who settled it, under the circumstances I have mentioned, might well be excused, if they thought their pretensions quite enual to those who had first sailed along the coast, and called it their own. Their faults were engendered by the age in which they lived, their seclusion from the world, the severity of their morals, and the confused and imperfect knowledge they had of the relative obligations of the Old and New Testament ; and as it v^ould be manifestly unjust to omit those circumstances that palliated or accounted for their conduct, so, on the other hand, the narrative would be equally incomplete if no mention were made of their glaring inconsistencies. By quitting the reformed and pristine Church of England to wliich they belonged, they gave up fixed principles for the unsettled licence of that unmeaning term, Protestanticm, and decent and necessary cere- monies, for an exemption from all order and established observances. They measured what they were by what they were not; and, as they protested against the errors of Popery, very complacently assumed that the whole i I: IN AMERICA. 209 Roman Church was a vast and complicated error, and that whatever she did not beUcvc, practise, or enforce — and that only — was primitive. In their pious horror of its unauthorized assump- tions, they adopted a system that consisted of nothing else but human inventions. They resisted a prelate with disdain, for the Pope was a bishop. They suppressed confirmation, transferred ordina- tion to the brethren, and marriage to the civil magistrate ; and, as prelatic clergy bowed in reverence, and kneeled in supplication, they abolished both as superstitions, and voted to stand up boldh before their Maker, and plead guilty or not guilty like men. They did not think it Scriptural to call the Apostles saints, who were unlettered men like Congregationalists (with no other possible advantage but the accidental one of being inspired), but they thought it by no means superstitious to appropriate the designation to them- selves, or to regard old women as witches, and consistent with religion to execute them. They denied the authority of the General Council, com- posed of learned divines, but they established synods, consisting of men who compensated for their want of erudition by their superior gifts ^f extemporaneous preaching. They maintained the right of private judgment in religion, but they hanged Quakers ; for it was manifest that they who differed from them had no judgment what- ::! i; i i '■I I*tS3' 'i:^ fm' r^ii s ' m 1 1: H 't I .ii"i in ■ J : S^'i' .hI.^^ ■! i'i<- 1(9) ■ 'lA : E^l «| 1 pi's'." '^H m 1 iH s w s r ■'fir ' '■ '' '^ii ;^H Iw ' .''. h: ■! ^H |ffi 7 :■ , ■■■! H '":%■■' '^ '91 m 11 1 J -■V '•4. m]k m ; ■,»( I'll ^1 ; ■', m II i 210 THE ENGLISH ever. Determined to limit the authority of the clergy, they elected and ordained them themselves, and gave them to understand that the same pov;er that made could discharge them. They then, with singular inconsistency, invested them with privileges that made them iniinitely more despotic than those of any Church in the world. They emigrated, they said, to avoid persecution : more than fifty years elapsed hefore the Church of England could compel them to be tolerant. The fact that religious liberty was forced upon them by her efforts, is a triumphant answer to the calumnies that have been so liberally heaped upon her by sectarians and Romanists, at home and abroad. This is the natural effect of schism. But the blame belongs not to the Puritans of Massachu- setts more than to others. Dissent has no resting- place. There are regions yet unexplored, where the adventurers who are in advance of their nation, and dwell on the borders of civilization, may push their discovery, and, like the Mormons, enjoy the revelation of prophets of their own. Although we must now take leave of these republican colonists, we shall stiU continue their history during the interval that elapsed before the arrival of the new Charter, when it will be a more agreeable duty to examine the institutions they planted in the country, the beneficial effects of push the IN AMERICA. 211 which are still felt and acknowledged throughout the United States. I shall next give a brief view of the condition of the other provinces at this period, which forms a great epoch in the history of the country, and afterwards trace ^he progress of democracy in this continent during the existence of the royal government, until it attained that strength and maturity that enabled it boldly to assert, and manfully to achieve, its absolute inde- pendence. >H «'':■' I M i i m these their 5 the more they lis of m ^Hi ■V ,3,', Hi \i |: '^HH'! ''• ill! i^^B> \ • : ::"': mH'^i ■ ^t' wK'l : ■) tfll:;! ' '' ^1 ■ 212 THE ENGLISH BOOK II. CHAPTER I. w^ m Indignation and grief of the colonists at the loss of their Charter — Death of Charles II. — Accession of James II. — Apprehensions of having Colonel Kirke as Governor — Some account of him — Mr. Dudley appointed President, who, with the assistance of six councillors, undertakes the Government — Protest of the Magistrates against the suppression of the Legislature — Unpopularity of the President — Description of the territory within his juris- diction — Some account of Maine and New Hampshire, and the intrigues of Massachusetts to extend its au- thority over them — Desire of Charles II. to confer the former on the Duke of Monmouth, and to establish a Royal Government in the latter — Both comprehended within the Commission of President Dudley — Character of his administration. We have seen in the foregoing chapters how constantly this people asserted and maintained IN AMERICA. 213 their independence fron) the day they first landed in the colony until the Charter was revoked. The loss of their liberty filled them with grief and indignation. They had always dreaded inter- ference, and had hitherto resisted or evaded ever> attempt of the King, the Parliament, or the hierarchy to control them. This continued watch- fulness, and anxious jealousy, had infused into their minds suspicion of the designs, and distrust of the good faith of England ; but the loss of their patent inspired feelings of hatred for what they called the wantonness of invasion, and of revenge for the humiliation of defeat. Unable to defend them- selves, they were compelled to yield to superior power ; but if they could not openly contend, they could at least harass. If they could not recover the country they had cleared and planted, they felt they could make it an uncomfortable abode for their victors. In the age in which they lived, they knew they must have some form of constitu- tional government, and some fundamental rights conceded to them ; and that the exercise of those privileges in a spirit of bitterness, and uncompro- mising obstinac} , must necessarily embarrass any administration, and render the possession of the colony as useless to the English, as their presence and interference were distasteful to them. Thus the republicanism of America may be traced to its first settlement, but tiie intense hatred r;M; !iH::i i; 1 " 1 11 - Ju ; 1, lit i'' •hR '» jM '. ?* 1 ' M H' iH V il m : ^ 214 THE ENGLISH of the Imperial Government, that gave stability and strength to the anti-monarchical principles, and finally led to the overthrow of British rule, must be dated at 1684 (the period when they lost their Charter) . It is not easy, at this distance of time, for persons practically unacquainted with the un- tiring zeal, the malignant revenge, intrepid courage, and martyr spirit of fanaticis n, to com- prehend the full force of the rage and disaffection with which the Provincials were maddened at the overthrow of their little sovereignty. The revoca- tion by Charles II. of the patent of Massachusetts was the first step taken in a great scheme of reform he had conceived for the transatlantic plantiitions. The inconsiderate manner in which he had disposed of a large portion of his American territory, the little control he had reserved to himself in the Charters he had given to several colonies, and the difficulty he found in enforcing obedience to the laws of trade, as well as the increasing growth of democracy among the people, admonished him that they all required remodelling. By commencing with the most refractory, he gave warning to the others, that he had at last become sensible of the error of his past inconsistencies, and was resolved on vigorous conduct for the future. He died before he could put any of his plans into execution, and the task devolved upon his brother, James II. 1 ..Jl IN AMERICA. 215 ability 3S, and , must t their time, le un- itrepid 3 com- Fection at the •evoca- busetts me of itlantic which lerican red to several ■orcing as the 3eople, elling. gave ecome ncies, r the f his upon The first me^asure of the new Monarch was to make a temporary provision for the government of Massachusetts, in order to givc^ him time to matun; and arrange the details of a comprehensive system of colonial policy. His very name inspired terror and dislike into the minds of the Nonconformists. Their fears derived additional intensity from a rumour that reached them, that the noted and detestable Colonel Kirke was to be imposed upon them as Governor. To receive a stranger at all in that capacity from the hands of others, when they had been in the habit of filling the oflice by election themselves, was an intolerable grievance ; but to submit to a man who was only known for his atrocious butcheries required a Christian meekness, for which they could find neither example nor authority in Puritanism. Kirke was a soldier of fortune, who had long served at Tangiers, and had contracted, from his intercourse with the Moors, a taste for executions that astonished and alarmed the inhabitants of England. After the defeat of Monmouth, he gratified his appetite for blood at the expense of the unfortunate and misguided prisoners. At his first entry into Bridgewater, he hanged nineteen prisoners without the least inquiry into the merits of their case. As if to make sport with death, he ordered a certain number to be executed, while he and his company should drink to the health of : i ^1: 'r' t SI i I I % ^il rJ 'a la ■ ■■ I ■: I 'I i ■ m I mi 15;, i; ! * Km ■ m ■ n If '•'? I't' ft 216 THE ENGLISH the King, or the Queen, or that of the Chief Justice Jeffries. Observing their feet to quiver in the jigonies of death, he said he would give them music to their dancing, and immediately ordered the drums to beat, and the trumpets to sound. By way of experiment, he ordered one man to be hung up three times, questioning him at each interval, whether he repented of his crime ; but the prisoner obstinately asserting, that notwith- standing the past, he still would willingly engage in the same cause, Kirke ordered him to be hung in chains. All the inhabitants of the adjoining country, innocent as well as guilty, were exposed to the ravages of this barbarian. The soldiery were let loose to live at free quarters ; and his own regiment, instinicted by his example, distinguished themselves in a particular manner by their out- rages. By way of pleasantry, he used to call them his lamhs^ an appellation which was long remembered with horror in the west of Eng- land. "^^ It was some consolation to them to find that instead of this monster, Mr. Dudley, a native of the colony, who, though now unpopular, had once enjoyed the; confidence of the people, and ser\^ed as their agent in England, had been appointed President, and several members of the Upper * These particulars are extracted from Hume. IN AMERICA. 217 House as councillors. This act relieved their apprehensions, and quieted their fears, but it did not, as it was supposed, win their affection. They were pacified from time to time, but never con- ciliated. They sighed for their past independence, and moaned over their lost republic. They sub- mitted to the English as their masters, but ever evinced a sullen discontent, a refractory stubborn- ness, and an intractable disposition. Mr. Dudley was strongly urged not to accept the office, for he who receives a delegated commission, and acts upon it, tacitly, but assuredly admits the right of the granter. Even his councillors joined in these expostulations, and the Court made the following protest : " Gentlemen, " We have perused what you left with us, as a true copy of his Majesty's commission, showed to us the 17 th instant, empowering you for the governing of his Majesty's subjects inhabiting this colony, and other places therein mentioned. You then applied to us, not as a Governor and a Com- pany, but (as you v re pleased to term us) some of the principal gentlemen and chief inhabitants of the several towns of Massachusetts ; amongst other discourse, saying it concerned us to consider what therein might be thought hard and uneasy. Upon perusal whereof we find as we conceive: VOL. I. h \ i ;i; ^1; I, m r/m \ W f!! ;l 218 THE ENGLISH ,M ■ >■< I- 1st. That there is no determinate rule for your administration of justice; and that which is, seems to be too arbitrary. 2nd. That the subjects are abridged of their liberty as Englishmen, both in the matters of legislation, and in laying of taxes ; and indeed the whole unquestioned privilege of the subject transferred upon yourselves, there not being the least mention of an assembly in the commission, and therefore we think it highly concerns you to consider whether such a com- mission be safe for you or us ; but if you are so satisfied therein as that you hold yourselves obliged thereby, and to take upon you the govern- ment of this people, although we cannot give our assent thereto, yet we hope we shall demean our- selves as true and loyal subjects to his Majesty, and humbly make our addresses unto God, and in due time to our gracious Prince, for our relief. ** May 20th, 1686." It was known that the commission was a tem- porary expedient to give legal sanction to the proceedings of the Government, until a form of constitution could be agreed upon ; but the accept- ance of it by Mr. Dudley was considered an act of treachery, if not of treason to his country, and was punished accordingly by the total and irre- IN AMERICA. 2iy trievable loss of his popularity* and influence, and by the sleepless watchfulness of his offended countrymen, who lost no opportunity during the remainder of his life, either of damaging his re- putation, or thwarting his advancement.f The commission of the President included the Narraganset or King's Province, New Hampshire and Maine, the two last of which had been the subject of much litigation and difliculty for many years. We have already seen how desirous Mas- sachusetts ever was of enlarging her boundaries and of assuming jurisdiction over vacant posses- sions or feeble neighbours. The territory com- t. m ('■■''1 n ■ U' li I ;o tem- the rm of ccept- act of ^, and irre- * An abstract of the Commission may be found in vol. V, Hutch. Col. of Mass., and in Bilknap's History of New Hampshire. f At a subsequent period, when imprisoned, during the rebellion that preceded the proclamation of "William and Mary, there was a strong party for trying and executing him. Fear of consequences alone prevented the people from resorting to these desperate measures. Danforth thus writes to Mather : " Mr. Dudley is in a peculiar manner the object of the people's displeasure, even throughout all the colonies where he sat as judge ; they deeply resent his correspondence with that wicked man, Randolph, for over- turning the Government. The Governor and Council, though they have done their utmost to procure his en- largement, yet can't prevail : but the people will have him in gaol, and when he hath been by order turned out, by force and tumult they fetch him in again," &c. — Hutchin- son, vol. I. L 2 r ■ 5, Mi M tf). fi m h 'IS! h it! 1 1 !' '■ m I* a I 220 THE ENGLISH m. prised within what now forms the States of New Hampshire and Maine, oflfered too great a tempta- tion to her cupidity to be resisted ; and 1 have reserved to this place an account of her aggres- sion at different times to avoid repeated references, and to preserve the continuity of the narrative. The first was granted as early as 1635 to Captain Mason, and the latter to Sir Ferdinando Georges, who severally formed small settlements in them, that derived subsistence from the soil, and somi^ little profit from the fisheries and free-trade. Ten years afterwards, some persons who had adopted heretical opinions, and rendered themselves ob- noxious to the Government of Massachusetts, removed, either under the pretence, or in open contempt of grants of the proprietors, to the banks of the river that divided the two provinces, and associated themselves, as it was then called, by entering into a mutual compact for self-govern- ment. Although differing in many points of doctrine from their friends at Boston, they were united by the common ties of descent and interest. Their more powerful neighbour and parent state, by claims of jurisdiction which they were unable to resist, or promises of protection from the Indians, of which they stood greatly in need, prevailed upon them to place themselves under her control, and by degrees they became both merged in the IN AMERICA. 221 ambitious and growing little republic. Cbarles II. strove in vain to reinvest the heirs of the grantees with the possession. The rule of the " old colony" was more congenial to the feelings of the people than that of a monarch three thousand miles off, who had as little interest in their affairs as power to enforce his authority. The Commissioners to whom I have referred, re-established in 1665 the government of Mason and Georges, but they had no sooner departed for Europe than the General Court invaded the territory, and by force of arms resumed their former jurisdiction. Irritated at this open defiance, Charles II. threatened to re- strain their commerce, and they finally yielded to menace, which they knew he could execute, what they denied to demands unsupported by a military force on the spot. After a vexatious and expen- sive litigation, the claim of the plaintiffs was sanctioned by the decision of an English court, and their opponents were compelled to confine themselves within their original limits. This investigation brought to light a fact not then generally known, that the proprietors of New Hampshire were entitled to the soil alone under the patent to their ancestor, while the heirs of Sir Ferdinando Georges had a right both to the country and the Government. In consequence of this discovery the King was desirous of purchasing Maine for his son, the Duke of Monmouth ; but •! m^';. mm :^l , -'^ 222 THE ENGLISH t'i l( d l\i I I I a . while he was in treaty for it, Massachusetts, in- formed of his intention by the clerks in the public offices, whom they kept in their pay, and having the requisite means at their command, bought it from the owners, whose title had been established by a legal decision. The remonstrance of the Sovereign was as unavailing as all his other ex- postulations and threats. They entered into imme- diate possession, and governed it by officers of their own as a " Colony from the Mother Pro- vince.'* Disappointed in obtaining Maine, the King at- tempted in 1679 to found "a Royal Province in New Hampshire," and appointed a Governor, whom he invested with the requisite powers, but he found it easier to grant a commission than to enforce obedience to it. This was the first constitution of the kind in New England. It contained more essential freedom, though less independence, than the republic of Massachusetts. It consisted of a President and Council, and a House of Assembly, and secured a reservation of the King's negative. The upper house was made a court of record for the trial of all causes whether civil or military, subject to an appeal in all matters above fifty pounds, and was empowered to appoint officers, and take efficient measures for the defence of the country. Liberty of conscience was allowed to all Protestants, but the Church of England was IN AMERICA. 223 especially to be encouraged. Upon this Belknass, in his " History of New Hampshire" (a work written in an able and impartial manner, and in a very agreeable style) remarks, " had such a simple form of government been more generally adopted, and perseveringly adhered to, and administered only by the most delicate hands, it might have served better than any other to perpetuate the dependence of the colonies on the British Crown." The first act of the Legislature plainly disclosed the overpowering influence of Massachusetts, derived from a congeniality of religious and poli- tical opinions. They commenced their labours by an assertion of right " that no act, imposition, law, or ordinance, shall be valid, unless made bv the Assembly, and approved by the people." The ex- periment, as might have been expected, proved abortive. The fanatical preachers, goaded on by their brethren in New England, urged the people first to passive resistance, and then to armed rebellion ; and although the President was able to withstand the first outbreak, he found it necessary to fly for his life from the second. When surrender- ing his commission, he observed that " while the clergy are allowed to preach to a mutinous people, no true allegiance would be found there. On my retirement, the world will see that it is the royal commission they cavil at, and not my person ; and ii ;l^ y** 224 THE ENGLISH 'i,^ f:! f M time will show that no one will be accepted by them who puts the King's commands into exe- cution." The succeeding Governor endured the same insults, and encountered the same defiance, and added his testimony to that of his prede- cessor, " Unless these factious preachers are turned out of the colony, there will be disquiets here, as no Pope ever acted with greater arro- gance ; and without some force to keep this people under, it will be very difficult, if not an impossible thing, to put into execution his Majesty's orders, or the laws of trade." Warned by these failures, both these districts were now comprehended in the temporary com- mission of President Dudley, and long after re- mained united with Massachusetts. Such, how- ever, are the uncertainties which attend human schemes, that now that the Charter was forfeited, the leaders in these intrigues were mortified to find that they had, by their own usurpations and acts, enlarged the limits of a royal colony. The inhabitants of both dependencies were no less humiliated by the reflection, that by lending them- selves to a fraud on individual rights, and regal authority, they had lost the benefit of a local government, while they were too poor and too few in number to have either weight or influence in the one they had struggled to establish. Instead IN AMERICA. 225 of vanquishing the King, they had injured their own cause; and while they were congratulating themselves on the success of their efforts, they made the unwelcome discovery* that victory is sometimes more ruinous than defeat. The administration of Dudley was of short duration. It was not probable, it was ever in the contemplation of James to continue him for any length of time in his office. He was a colonist, and would have been both unfit and unwilling to have become the instrument of his arbitrary measures. It was manifest that he considered it but a temporary arrangement himself. As far as possible, he suffered the old order of things to continue : although in obedience to his commission the House of Representatives was laid aside, the magistrates and select men discharged *"'^eir several duties as heretofore ; and as little was doiie by him as was compatible with the exigencies of the country. He was long enough in office, however, thoroughly to dissatisfy both the King and the people. He had not exerted himself in a manner that w^as agreeable to his royal master in giving effect to the laws of trade, nor had he enforced that prompt obedience to his orders which was ex- pected of him. On the other hand, he had done too much to render himself popular with the people. He was not elected by them, and they regarded him as an usurper. He was a native, L 3 i I ^11 i r r. '* a, m mi kmm ; M 226 THE ENGLISH ,:;!' m aod his acceptance of office under a tyrant was viewed as the act of a traitor. He had subverted their constitution which, by the law of the land, was a capital offence ; and if they had had the power, the inclination was not wanting to have made him undergo the extreme penalty. Such is ever the fate of undecided measures, and of attempts to conciliate the regard of two irreconcilable parties. Each thinks that too much has been sacrificed to the other, and both complain that too little deference has been paid to their respective claims or wishes, while the unsuccessful politician has seldom the approba- tion of his own conscience to sustain him in his miscarriage. " I warned thee," said one of the preachers to Dudley, with that mixture of cant and insolence that always rendered them so intolerable,* " I * The character of the people is not to be sought for in the history of the colony only, for their public aifairs were managed by men of education and experience, but recourse must be had to their correspondence among themselves, and to documents that have merely a local bearing. The primitive manners of the inhabitants of the rural districts may be judged of by the following letter of Captain Chud- wdrth to the Governor of New Plymouth, declining a mili- tary command : " Much honoured, " My service and due respect being presented, yours of the 19th December, 1673, came to my hands the last day )r m [were lurse Ives, iThe Iricts liud- Inili- rs of Iday IN AMERICA. 227 warned thee to be watchful, and strengthen the things that remain that are ready to die, but thou of that month, wherein your honour acquainted me that the General Court, by a clear vote, have pitched upon myself to command an hundred men, in joining with the rest, in prosecuting the expedition against the Dutch. The estate and condition of my family is such as will not admit of such a thing, being such as can be hardly paralleled, which was well known unto some ; but it was not well nor friendly done as to me, nor faithful as to the country, if they did not lay my condition before the Court. My wife, as is well known to the whole town, is not only a weak woman, and has been so all along ; but now, by reason of age, being sixty-seven years and upwards, and nature decaying, so her illness grows more strongly upon her ; never a day passes but she is forced to rise at break of day or before. She cannot lay for want of breath ; and when she is up, she cannot light a pipe of tobacco, but it must be lighted for her ; and until she has taken two or three pipes, for want of breath, she is not able to stir, and she has never a maid. That day your letter came to my hands, my maid's year bei)ig out, she went away, and I cannot get nor hear of another. And then in regard for my occasion abroad, for the tending and looking after all my creatures, the fetching home my hay taut is yet at the place where it grew, getting of wood, going to mill, and for the performing all other family occasions, I have none but a small Indian boy about thirteen years of age to help me. " Your humble servant, "James Chudworth. '• To the much honoured Joseph Winslow, " Governor of New Plymouth, "Situate the iGth of January, 1673." P ■ itty. u H-^'.lijiii,.- ' ■ m m •i. ii 228 THE ENGLISH wouldst not ; and now because thou art lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spew thee out of my mouth." During his short administration, he discover^ ^ that temporary popularity may be acquired by an affability of manner, or the arts of intrigue ; but that character has no sure and solid foundation, but in honesty of purpose, and vigour of conduct. It was a valuable lesson ; and in after days, he had a conspicuous opportunity, as we shall see, to practise successfully what he had so dearly ac- quired. P'J '■r vC Pi Mi IN AMERICA. 229 CHAPTER II. I !'] Arrival of Sir Edmund Andross — Fears entertained of the King — His conduct towards New York — His opinions of popular assemblies — Commission to Andross — Two com- panies of soldiers sent to Boston — Law relative to mar- riages — Manner of imposing taxes — Punishment of those who refuse to pay rates — Episcopal Clergymen prevented by the mob from reading the burial service — Preachers attack the Governor for his toleration, and justify compulsory conformity — Arbitrary conduct of Andross relative to titles of land — Rhode Island, Con- necticut, New York, and New Jersey united to Massa- chusetts — News of the arrival of the Prince of Orange in England — False rumours spread of a general massacre — Insurrection — Capture and imprisonment of the Governor and his Councillors — Conduct of the Magis- trates who resumed the old Government — Sir Edmund escapes, is retaken and sent to England when he is released — Example of Massachusetts followed by the other colonies — Bad effects of so many political changes in England — Remarks on the appointment of Andross to be Governor of Virginia. i ''•'■i"-'t wm ri 4 ■i I ■I remark was so apparent, and so conclusive, that it was felt more than the punishment. To his astonishment, he discovered that with all their boasted love of liberty, the Puritans had reserved this inestimable blessing exclusively for themselves, and he soon found it necessary to continue and preserve another of their institutions, the censorship of the press. But his departure from the fundamental principle of the republic, which i-equircd " Church membership" as a qualification for civil rights, shocked their prejudices more than can be conceived, by a person not conversant with the history of these early times. Although they had themselves affected to concede toleration, they had never practically acted upon their professions, nor had it ever been their intention to do so. So far from considering the liberty of conscience, which the Governor had granted to all, as an act of grace, they loudly complained of it as an open attack, and a direct persecution of themselves. They regarded it as the triumph of Antichrist, and considered that the blessing of God would be withdrawn from a country which admitted the presence of clergymen ordained by a bishop, instead of the more inspired because more ignorant, and more pious because more assuming, lay brethren. It was in vain that they had aided the secretaries in England to sacrifice IN AMERICA. 237 Laud, and to dethrone and slaughter their Sove- reign, if prelacy was to be permitted to have the slightest footing in America ; reason and Scripture alike led to the conclusion, that they who require to be taught are the best able to judge of the qualifications and attainments of the teacher, and therefore most competent to invest him with the character and office. So rigidly had the exclusion of Episcopalians been enforced, that when the Royal Commissioners were at Boston, there were not enough of them in the place to form a congre- gation. We are informed on authority that cannot be doubted, " that most of the inhabitants who were on the stage in 1686 had never seen a Church of England Assembly." In that year there was but one churchman* in the Govern- ment, and one Captain, and three subalterns pro- fessing Church principles in the whole militia of the province. Such being the case, the astonishment of the people was only equalled by their indignation at a wanton outrage on private property. Soon after his arrival Andross caused Divine Service to be celebrated by his chaplain, in the South Meeting- House. In vain was the building claimed by its owners. In vain the sexton refused to ring the * There had been two, but at the date of Randolph's letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury (1685), the other had gone to England. ,.'- i».! i ft • • if 238 THE ENGLISH pi] 8«.: til , If h bell. No tenderness was exhibited similar to that of the commissioners twenty years before. The clergyman came forth attired in the surplice, the very name of which was an abomination to them. The foundation of an Episcopal church was soon after laid, and those who had been heretofore taxed for the support of Puritan preaching, and compelled to contribute to their conventicles, now took a malicious pleasure in soliciting their old oppressors for subscriptions, to build up what they called a house for the true worship of God. This toleration, thus rendered doubly distasteful, was not very easily enforced. Although the people had not the power, through their represen- tatives, to repeal the law or prevent its execution, they had the means of insult, and the opposition and the tyranny of a majority to back them. Upon one of the first occasions, under this edict, that a clergyman in Boston, proceeded in his vestments to the graveyard, to read the burial-service, a crowd of persons led on by an infuriated deacon, drove him from the grave, and loaded him with insult and abuse, calling him " Baal's priest," and his prayers, " leeks, garlic, and Popish trash." Prompt and decisive measures on the part of the Governor prevented a repetition of such disgracefiil scenes. This liberty was not merely deplored by them as a spiritual loss, but was sensibly felt in a IN AMERICA. 239 pecuniary point of view. Although they withheld all civil rights from those who were not Congre- gationalists, they did not exempt them from taxation for the support of their own preachers. " Discouragements upon the hearts of the ministers increase," writes a correspondent of Mather's, " by reason that a licentious people take advantage of a freedom to withhold maintenance from them." His deputies in distant parts of his jurisdiction, and their subordinate officers still enforced these rates where they could do so with safety, and the practice was not finally discontinued, until Andross threatened them if they persisted in assessing Quakers and others for that purpose, he would in like manner, make them contribute to the support of the Episcopal Church. To his Lieutenant Governor at Plymouth he expostulated on this subject, in a letter still extant, which reflects great credit on his judgment and firmness, and showr that in some instances at least, he wr.s capable of impartiality.'**' * " Some years before Andross' s Act of Toleration, one Briscoe, a tanner of Watertown, published a book against the support of ministers by tithes or taxes, and reproached those who received their salary from such a source. The ministers thought a man who denied the authority of the civil magistrate to provide for the support of pastors, fuste potius erudiendum quam argumento, and therefore they left it to the magistrates to defend the cause, who con- ;u. ■]>\. ' ' J M ' f Mi. »"? I'j lU-J I( i: ■*' !'i[ t: ■ ^4 i. m u Si mr''^ 240 THE ENGLISH That James was disposed to carry things with a high hand, where obedience was either reluctant or withheld, that his commission for the Govern- ment of the colony was illegal, and that his repre- sentative was willing to proceed to any length he was desired to go, was so palpable to all, that it is no wonder if the copious vocabulary of abuse which Puritanism had at its command, was exhausted before they expressed all their hatred of Andross and his council. His general conduct was haughty and capricious. Many of his acts were arbitrary, and some oppressive ; but there is one to which I shall presently allude, which was well calculated to excite both their indignation and alarm. And yet it is doubtful whether the loss of legislative power, illegal exactions, or personal injuries, touched them so sensibly as toleration. It was mourned over in private, and preached against in public. One minister in particular, has obtained an imperishable name for his manly patriotism in selecting for his text the following words : " Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin." The clergy everywhere justified that compulsory conformity, which in England they resisted to the death. " Be pleased," says one of their most eminent divines, " to vened the tanner before them, and brought him to an acknowledgment, if not to a sense of his error." — Hubbard. m jed," "to IN AMERICxV. 241 consider this point a little further. You think to compel a man, in matters of worship, is to make him sin according to Rom. xiv, 23. If the worship be lawful in itself, tlie magistrate compelling him to come to it, compelleth him not to sin, but the sin is in his will that need to be compelled to a Christian duty. Josiah compelled all Israel to serve the Lord their God, (II. Chron. xxxiii, 34). Yet his act herein was not blamed, but recorded among his virtuous actions. The Lord keep us," he says, " from this harlot's cup of toleration, lest while we seem to reject with open face of profession, we bring her in by a back door, and so come to drink of the cup of the Lord's wrath and be filled with her plagues." How inconsistent is man, and how easily does he enlist his reason on the side of his wishes or his passions ! What rendered the conduct of the Governor still more irritating was, that he not only placed the clergymen of the Church of England practically on a footing with the Puritan ministers but that in his private intercourse he treated them with much greater respect. Hutchinson informs us, with infinite naivete, that " Sir Edmund actually asserted that he considered the preachers as mere laymen ;" and records this with as great gravity as if he had never heard of such an ideii before, and believed Andross to be the only man in the world that entertained it. It was a remark VOL. I. M I. i. m 242 THE ENGLISH that was tn^asurcd up in the heart and embalmed in its bitterness. Swearing on the Book, as it is called, was intro- duced into the courts of justice, to the horror and disgust of the inhabitants. But the most flagrant and indefensible act of Andross's short adminis- tration was among his last. By the ingenuity of a lawyer, he found a prolific source of emolument, in a forced application of a feudal principle to the titles of land. The people were informed that the Charter having been granted on conditions which had not been performed, all acts under it were rendered invalid, and the soil reverted to the Crown ; and that if a more indulgent construction were adopted, still their grants were not under seal, a defect which no length of time, and no amount of improvement, could rectify. They were, however, very considerately informed, that upon due acknowledgment of the insufficiency of their conveyances, and a humble petition, new patents should be executed for granting them possessions on such moderate terms, as his Excellency should approve. With respect to their deeds from the Indian chiefs, it was observed that the signature of a savage was about as valuable as "a scratch of a bear's paw." In fact, he became the vendor of every man's estate at his own price, for the conciliation fee was always in proportion to its value and extent. IJ It . , IN AMERICA. 243 To exhibit to the people the necessity, as well as the policy of renewing their titles, writs of intrusion were issued against some of the principal inhabitants, which had the eifect of terrifying others into obedience. To prevent the spread of sedition, he forbade aU town meetings, except for the choice of officers, and prohibited any one from leaving the province without a pass from himself. In the meantime, while his orders in Massachusetts were left to be enforced by his subordinates, he pro- ceeded to demand submission of the other New England colonies. He first visited Rhode Island, which, upon a Quo Warranto issued against her, declined to enter into a contest with the King, but appealed to his kindness. Having dissolved the Government, and broken its seal, he appointed five of the principal magistrates members of his council, and issued commissions to all the local officers. Shortly afterwards, he made an excur- sion into Connecticut attended by several of his assistants, and a guard of honour, consisting of sixtv men, and demanded its Charter. The Assembly, which was then in session, reluctant to suiTcnder or even produce it, kept the subject in debate and suspense until the evening, when it was brought forward, and laid on the table. By a preconcerted arrangement, the lights were sud- denly extinguished, but without the slightest appearance of riot or disorder: when they were M 2 ,t '• -^il ^l r i '•'■ 'j : ) i kt 244 THE ENGLISH replaced, it was found (amid the well-feigned astonishment of all present) that the patent was gone. Sir Edmund now assumed the Govern- ment, appointed his councillors, and closed the records of the colony, adding with his own hand the word " finis."* As consolidation appeared to be tlie principle on which James designed to act in America, this immense Government, extending from the Hudson to Maine, was now still further augmented by the addition of the provinces of New York and New * " Captain Wadsworth, of Hartford, silently carried off the Charter, and secreted it in a hollow tree, which, to this day, is regarded with veneration, as the preserver of the constitution of the colony. This oak stood in front of the house of the Honourable Samuel Wyllys, then one of the magistrates of the province. It still remains within the enclosure of the old family mansion, and is in little danger of injury, except from time, while under the auspicious care of his descendants. In reply to an inquiry concern- ing it, I was informed *that venerable tree, which con- cealed the Charter of our rights, stands at the foot of Wyllys Hill. The first inhabitant of that name found it standing in the height of its glory. Age seems to have curtailed its branches, yet it is not exceeded in the depth of its colouring, or richness of its foliage. The trunk measures twenty-one feet in circumference, and near seven in diameter. The cavity which was the asylum of our Charter, was near the roots, and large enough to admit a child. Within the space of eight years that hollow has closed, as if it had fulfilled the Divine purpose for which it had been reared.' " — Homes Annals, vol. i, p. 4/0, in note. ■il IN AMERICA. 245 Jersey ; and a eommission was sent to Andross, appointing him Captain-General and Vice-Admiral over the whole territory. The constitution estab- lished for it was a governor and council, having executive and legislative authority, independent of the expression of popular opinion. The progress of events, however, in Europe was working out a deliverance for the oppressed colonists of Massachusetts. During the spring of 1688, there was a rumour that the Prince of Orange was preparing to make a descent upon the coast of England, and shortly afterwards a Mr. Winslow brought a copy of his proclamation. He was immediately apprehended, for introducing " a traitorous and treasonable libel into the country," and bail, which was tendered to the amount of two thousand pounds, \vas refused. The old magis- trates, and influential colonists, silently wished, and secretly prayed for success to the glorious undertaking ; and determined either quietly to await the event, or privately to urge on the inha- bitants to rebellion. The body of the people, who are easily excited, goaded to madness by the inno- vations with which they were acquainted, and the rumours of still greater chaiiges that were in con- templation by the Governor, whom they accused of being a Papist, were impatient of delay, and resolved to get up a little revolution of their own. Whether Andross was a Romanist, or a Church- I ''I ''If' mi i Ml 'M i:l r; >^'' i^i''i m If il'if '}i;.i.t .• ;i 246 THE ENGLISH .¥ man, cannot now be well ascertained, the best historians of that period differing in opinion on the subject ; and the fact was a matter of little consequence, for in their eyes there was little difference between the two ; and it was currently reported that he had asserted, he considered, as an Episcopalian, the practice of laymen ordaining clergymen, and setting them apart to administer the Sacraments, without any warrant from Scrip- ture, as a most gross piece of presumption. Whether the Puritans, many of whose ancestors came from Holland, to which they had fled for refuge, thought that the congeniality of Dutch Protestantism with the tenets of the Noncon- formists of England, would, by its popularity, prove too strong for the idolatrous King, or whe- ther they believed, as they maintained, that they were the chosen people of the Lord, they arrived at the conclusion that they had a despot in the land ; and that the only law they recognised, that of the Bible, required that he should be dealt with. To raise the popular fury to its greatest height, the people were told that it was the intention of the Governor, in obedience to orders he had re- ceived, to take a favourable opportunity of falling upon the inhabitants of Boston with his garrison, and putting them all to death indiscriminately, in the same manner that the Huguenots had been exterminated in France. To aid this fearful act ■'"tr IN AMERICA. 24' of slaughter, it was said that he Imd arm(d the savages, and kept them in pay to devfistatc the frontiers, and murder the settlers ; and that it was arranged that the French w(T(; to invade the country at the same time, and, as soon as it was depopulated, take possession of it, liaving secretly purchased it from the King of England. Some of their grievances they knew to be real, for they had felt their effects ; and believing both James and his representative to be capable of any act of despotism, no falsehood was too gross for their credulity. Without stopping to inquire into the probability, or even the possibility of a rumour being true, it was a sufficient guarantee for its accuracy if it were marv(;llous and atrocious. The absurd story of two companies of soldiers putting a numerous, hardy, and brave population like that of Boston to the sword, answiTcd the purpose, as well as any other invention, and the rage; of the multitude knew no bounds. Tliey rose en masse. Who originated this movement, and organised the people, is not now known, though Bancroft claims the merit of it, and probably with sufficient reason, for the ministers ; but that it was not, as they represented it to be, an irresistible burst of po- pular feeling is manifest from the cautious mode of their procedure. Men, who were more in the habit of quoting Scripture than acting under its benign influence, were at no loss to find passages to justify 'ii 'I.J' ' -1 1.. i ::'''V ■.''^■ y, >■ .f''1'>- r ''|.ii ij h 248 THE ENGLISH fir* < 1 to their passions thatwhich reason could not approve. Every text that sanctioned rebellion was familiar to the saints, while those that enforced obedience to authority were satisfactorily explained to refer to the support of a true Church like that of the Congregationalists, and a perfect civil constitution like that of their beloved and lamented republic. They were therefore informed, and believed it was the bidding of the Lord : " Smite Ammon, then kill him," said the canting demagogues ; " fear not, have I not commanded you ? be courageous, and be valiant." They were equally happy in their allusion to his fort. " Thy pride hath de- ceived thee, oh thou that dwellest in the cleft of the rock, that boldest the heights of the hill: though thou shouldest make thy nest as high as the eagle, ] will bring thee down from thence, said the Lord." Their first step, as a strategic measure, was to avail themselves of a favourable opportunity, afforded by a visit for recreation or business, to secure the Captain, several of the officers, and the boat's crew of the * Rose' frigate, then riding at anchor in the harbour. The second was a sudden and simultaneous rush of the whole population to the fort, where the Governor and his party were surprised, and made prisoners. In the meantime, the guns in the battery were brought to bear on the frigate, and others were IN AMERICA. 249 taken on board of such vessels as wcro within range, so that at a preconcerted si'^nal she could be disabled, or sunk by ore general discharge of them all. The Lieutenant, who appears to have bei;n a man of courage and conduct, at last surrendered, on condition of retaining possession of his ship, but unbending his sails, and sending them ashore. The magistrates then made their appearance, and with their usual caution interfered, with the bene- volent intention, as they said, of saving the Governor from popular fury, the existence and intensity of which, from their retired habits, was until then wholly unknown to, and deeply regretted by them. So general, howev(;r, was the excitement, and so universal th(; defection, that a large portion of the crowd consisted of boys ; and at the head of the magistrates, was a retired Governor of eighty- seven years of age. Even women participated in the universal enthusiasm, and joined the elders in exhorting the thoughtless multitude to remember that " Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal." They then aided in raising the favourite war-cry of Cromwell : " To your tents, O, Israel." It was a hopeless thing for a few men to con- tend with the whole population of the country, for the alarm-bells had now brought in the inhabitants of the neighbouring townships, and the Governor and his friends surrendered. As soon as he was M 3 ! ( : 'f .v't;' " til ! I 4! iilii 250 THE EN3LISH in custody, the magistrates assembled to offer him their protection, which they ventured to suggest would be infinitely more efficacious, if he would surrender the government into their hands. They accordingly addressed to him the following ex- traordinary letter, exculpating themselves from all participation in the rebellion, assuring him and his friends of their personal safety, and extorting an unconditional abdication under pain of popular vengeance : i|' 1 mi " Sir, ** At the Town-house in Boston, "April 18th, 1689. " Ourselves and others, the inhabitants of this town, and places adjacent, being surprised with the people's sudden taking arms, in the first motion whereof we were wholly ignorant, being driven to it by the present accident, are necessitated to acquaint your Excellency, that for the quieting and securing the people inhabiting this country from their imminent danger, that they in many \va\s lie open and exposed to, and tendering your own safety, we judge it necessary that you forthwith deliver up the government and fortifications, to be preserved and disposed according to order and direction of the Crown of England, which sud- denly is expected to arrive, promising all security from violence to yourself, or any of your gentlemen m IN AMERICA. 251 or soldiers in person, or estate ; otherwise they will, we are assured, endeavour the taking of the fortification hy storm, if any opposition be made." As soon as the request was granted, the justices fulfilled their part of the compact with scrupulous fidelity ; and through the aid of iron bars effec- tually secured Andross from the intrusion or insults of the people, by keeping him in close custody at the fort. A lone; and elaborate declaration was then made from the Town-hall to the inhabitants, in which the part taken by themselves was justified in a manner to conciliate the Prince of Oranire, if he should succeed ; or operate as a defence, it' the King should unhappily maintain his authority in the realm. The extremity of caution betravs a consciousness of guilt. An able state paper like that carries with it internal proof of previous preparation and study, and leaves no doubt on the mind that the insurrection was medi"^ ted and planned, and its justification written before the popular outbreak. It would have b(!en more to their credit, if thev had had the firmness to avow what they had the courage to execute ; and had pleaded s(!lf-preservation as a justification, instead of an asserted regard for the personal safety oi' a Governor, whose imprisonment would have been a poor atonement for his conduct, and whose sai'ety i'lfpF'f fi '^%M M IM .;!,;: 1' . ,1 i 1 ■ i ■■! '■■' U ,i|. 252 THE ENGLISH 5! ' m would have been too dearly purchased by a false- hood. Usurpation is at all times a dangerous thing, but when it is the act of a whole people, it is difficult to be dealt with, as there is alwavs a certain degree of impunity in numbers. The magistrates therefore deemed it prudent to procure a written approbation of their conduct from the principal inhabitants, and then assumed the title of ** a council for the safety of the people, and con- servation of the peace," and filled up the offices vacated by the imprisoned councillors and friends of the Governor. A convention of delegates was also called from the several townships, sixty-six of whom assembled at Boston, and requested the board to continue in office until a general election should take place. As soon as a House of Representatives was chosen, the members induced the council to re-establish the old order of things, until a new Charter should be procured, or another form of Government be settled for them in Eng- land. While the attention of the magistrates was directed to their own safety, that of the Governor was not so well attended to, and he managed to effect his escape. The regicides were men aftei* their own heart, saints and personal friends, and they had professed themselves unable to trace them to their place of concealment. Hatred, however, is IN AMERICA. a more active principle than duty. Sir Edmund was a Churchman or, something worse, the servant of a tyrant ; and, what was more to be dreaded, an injured man. No friendly hand was extended to aid, and no hospitable door was opened to receive him. Every inn had its curious questioner, and every village its constable. The manners of a courtier, and the language and accent of fashionable life betrayed him. He had neglected, or was unable to assume, the demure look, nasal drawl, and sleek looks of the Puritan; and when the hue and cry was raised, he was apprehended on suspicion, and detained till identified, when he was escorted back to prison by a party whose numbers showed more respect for his prowess than reliance on their own. Admonished by this occurrence, they forthwith dispatched him, together with his predecessor, Mr. Dudley, who in the acceptance of office, as has been previously observed, had rendered himself the most unpopular man in the place,^ and several other persons to England to take their trial. f * Bancroft calls him "a degenerate son of New Eng- land." 'j- The inhumanity with which they wTre treated in prison, appears from their letters to their friends. The ex-President Dudley thus writes : " After twenty weeks' unaccountable imprisonment, and many barbarous usages oflfered me therein, the last seven weeks of which are upon \y It r t i M li ■.i i 254 THE ENGLISH The charges against them, howevsr, were not reduced to form, nor didy signed, by the local authority, and they W(;re accordingly released soon after their arrival. The effect of the revolt was electrical among the other colonies. At Plymouth, as soon as they heard of the insurrection in Boston, the people secured the deputy of Andross, and imprisoned him. The old Pilgrim fathers were now all dead, but they had transmitted their gloomy religion and democratic spirit to their children. They reinstated the Governor, who had been superseded by Sir Edmund, and renewed the constitution which, more than seventy years before, had been signed on board the ' May Flower.' In Rhode Island they assembled on the day of election in great numbers, and unanimously replaced their old officers, and resumed their former patent. New York under- went a violent change also. One of the lowest of the people, a bankrupt trader, of small capacity, but great boldness, (a class of persons generally account of your letters to mv, I have now to complaiu that on Monday, the whole day, I could he allowed no victuals till nine of the clock at night, when tlie keeper's wife offered to kindle her own fire to warm something for me, and the corporal expressly commanded the fire to be put out. I may be easily oppressed to death. G<>d will hear them that complain to Ilim." The complaints of Mr. Randolph, tlie dreaded custom-house officer, shows that his treatment was both cruel and indecent. IN AMERICA. 255 conspicuous in revolutions) urged the inhabitants to depose the Lieutenant-Governor, and authorise him to assume the administration of affairs until the Prince of Orange should send them one duly commissioned. Maryland ejected its proprietor, Lord Baltimore, and proclaimed William and Mary. Thus did the revolution extend from Boston to the Chesapeake, and from the Atlantic to the fron- tiers of the French and the Indians. The dethrone- ment, however, and murder of Charles L, the overthrow of the Protectorate, the Restoration, the fall of James IL, and the changes that preceded and followed the arrival of William and Marv, succeeded each other in such rapid succession, that men's minds in all the colonies became unsettled; and from the period of this spontaneous domestic revolution, a marked alteration was perceptible in the tone of feeling throughout all British America. People began to talk and act in a spirit of total independence of England. The power to control was much doubted, and the right utterly denied. Scotch Covenanters, English Independents, and Dissenters of every variety were fast covering the land, and although these fanatics differed more or less on doctrinal points, they all agrei-d in politics, for they were all republicans. Shortly after Andross was released, he was appointed Goverr'.or of Virginia, as a reward for iH 256 THE ENGLISH a' •i: II-': III I .« !^ I exasperating the people of Massachusetts, and exciting them by his illegal conduct and oppressive measr.cs into open rebellion, a precedent, the valu(3 of which may be estimated, from the uni- formity with which it has been observed from that early date to the present period. Whatever changes may have taken place in other colonial usages, this has been generally adhered to; and from Andross, who caused a revolution in 1688, th(^ effects of which are still felt in North America, to him who recently assented to an act rewarding those who plunged their country into a civil war, imperial honours but too often await the man who signally fails of success in his administration, pro- vided he obeys his orders ; while he who preserves prosperity in the province committed to his charge, is as frequently left to enjoy in obscurity the approbation of his own conscience, unless military rank or parliamentary influence are sufficient to supply the want of such a total absence of genius. IN AMERICA. 257 *1. CHAPTER III. Representatives meet at Boston, and induce the Governor and Magistrates to continue in office — King and Queen proclaimed — A general gaol delivery — Orders received from England for the local authorities to retain the Government \mtil further instructions — Anxiety in America as to the convention of Parliament — Doubts of the Tories and scruples of the Prelates — Conduct of the Whigs — Macaulay's definition of the " essence of politics" — The report of the Commons, and the declara- tion of rights read with great interest by Provincials — Political influence of the commercial party in England — Its conduct towards the plantations — The prerogative described — Its effects in America — Blackstone's defini- tion and Bacon's views of it — Local assemblies imitate the declaration of rights — Cause of the loss of the old colonies. The representatives of fifty-four towns met at Boston, on the 22nd of May, and induced the Governor and magistrates, chosen in 1686, to occupy Lgain the position they formerly held according to the rules of their patent ; but these »' li:.1 ' iA- i' .1 m i 258 THE ENGLISH g(;ntlemcn qualific^d thcar acceptance with a decla- ration that they did not wish it to he understood they intended to reassume the Charter Govern- ment. As soon as this was agreed upon, the " Council of Safety" retired from their provisional office. During all this time they had neglected to proclaim the King and Queen, heing more con- cerned for their own liherties than those of England. At last they endeavoured to compensate in parade and processions for any deficiency in promptness, and the ceremony took place with more than usual regard to effect. On the accession of Charles II., every person was strictly forbidden, under penalties for disobedience, to drink his health. Wine was now served out to the soldiers, and they were encouraged to vociferate, on the joyful occasion, their benedictions on loyalty in the heart of the little republic. The death of a democratic usurper like Cromwell was no subject for rejoicing, for they were permitted to participate in his oppression. The expulsion of a royal despot like Jauies deserved celebration, for they were the victims of his tyranny. As soon as a new House assembled, the representatives declared that the Council ought to assume its proper share in the Legislature, accor- ding to the Charter, and unless they did so, they should decline to take any part in public affairs. 11'.' IN AMERICA. 259 Being thus compelled to accede to what they so much desired, the restoration was fully effect(;d. The change from the unhmited power of Sir Edmund Andross and four councillors, to the old Governm'^nt, which had subsisted for such a length of time, was most acceptabli; to the Pro- vincials ; but for want of confirmation from home, it did not acquire that weight and authority that was expected. Th^ General Assembly, however, feeling that it rested on the voice of the people, the only source of power it recognised, entertained no doubts of the legality of its own acts ; and direct- ing the Supreme Court to proceed to the trial of several criminals then in gaol, upon their conviction ordered them to be executed. They justified their conduct by saying, that " since the method lieth wholly with the freeholders, the re- establishment of patent privileges was correspon- dent to the late settlement of affairs in England." Of the petty intrigues of their agent in London, Mr. Mather, relative to the restoration of the old order of things, I shall not stop to give the par- ticulars, as it is beside the object of this inquiry. The General Court, however, prepared an address to the throne, couched in the usual language of flattery, but with their characteristic caution, avoided the admission of imperial authority. In return, they received directions to continue the exercise of those powers of government they had 1 II u- y mm I;,; -it 'i-:'^ M ¥ II i i 260 THE ENGLISH usurped, and to proceed as they had heretofore done, until time could be afforded for taking the whole subject into consideration. The period that intervened between the arrival of the Prince of Orange and the '^(ittlement of the crown upon him, was one of intense interest and anxiety throughout New England. They were aware that any protracted delay in the proceedings of Parliament, or disagreement between the two branches, or refusal of the Prince to accept the terms on which it should be offered, would inevit- ably throw the whole kingdom into confusion; and it was just possible royalty might again cease to exist, and dissent be triumphant. As it was anticipated, serious difficulties did arise, which seemed at first almost insurmountable, and we are indebted to the Liberals of that day for a speedy solution of them. The Tories questioned the pos- sibility of an abdication, or of the throne being vacant for a moment, and maintained that if the King's conduct could be considered as a demise, Mary was ipso facto Queen. They felt the objec- tion pressing upon them with irresistible force, that if the principles of their opponents were once (!stablished, it necessarily followed that the monarchy was elective. The Prelates, besides these ques- tions of law, entertained conscientious difficulties with respect to their oath of allegiance. The Liberals were neither obstructed by the doubts of IN AMERICA. 261 th(? one nor scruples of th<' other. The former were abovi; their comprehension, the latter l)eneath their notice. Their idea of tht; British i-onstitution may be summed up in a few words, *' might makes right," a maxim that lies at the root of all monarchical and republican tyranny. Wlien an- nounced by a King like James, these consistent politicians denounced it as despotism ; when pro- claimed by a Government, founded on popular suffrage, they called it " the voice of the people." When might was deficient, parliamentary skill was recommended. Macaulay, who, from co-operation with them, is familiar with their principles, says the essence of politics is compromise. Modern history may be searched in vain for such an avowal as this, a maxim that substitutes expediency for principle, and party ascendancy for integrity. In this case compromise was not needed ; they had the might and they used it. They called up the "spirits of the vasty deep." Thev sounded the alarm in the citv, and sum- moned their old allies. The conventicles poured out their saints, and the pot-houses their sinners, and a mixed and motley crowd filled and sur- rounded the Palace Yard, alarmed the friends of order, overawed the timid, and emboldened their party leader to call for a speedy decision. Such^n assemblage had never before been seen in England, Larger and noisier masses, mobs more l; <• \:-\ i. ' .*t- : ,.^.. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) ^^^<^4i. 1.0 I.I 11.25 1^ .2 IIS ■ 40 125 2.2 2£ 1.8 ^Uig V] m m excited and bent on mischief, had been known, but such an incongruous and heterogeneous body as this was a new element in the aimals of parlia- mentary legislation. The disgusting mixture of obscene oaths with texts of Scripture, as they alternately proceeded from the thoughtless vaga- bonds of the town, or canting republicans of the old school, soon convinced, as it was intended they shoidd, a majority of both Houses, that there was no time to lose. "I am instructed," said Lord Lovelace to the Peers, " to present a petition immediately, to proclaim the Prince and Princess of Orange to be King and Queen.'* When asked by whom he was deputed to do so, he hesitated a while, for he had no such memorial, but " the essence of politics," a slight " compromise" of truth with falsehood, enabled him to answer, " There are no hands to it yet, but when I bring it here next, there shall be hands enough." This attempt at coercion was indignantly re- sented, but the party had carried their point, and affected to repress what natiu-ally subsided of itself when not agitated from beneath. This menace of Lord Lovelace, says Macaulay, disgusted his own associates. The promoters of the riots, he calls " the fiercer and lower class of Whigs, the old emissaries of Shaftesbury, the supporters of College." He says the Whigs were even more desirous than the Tories that the deliberations of y re- t, and ed of This rusted riots, s, the TS of more Dns of IN AMERICA. 263 the Convention should be perfectly free. A com- promise means to yield something, to retain what Ls left, or to procure an advantage in exchange for one surrendered. True to their principles, they " compromised." They disavowed their agents, in which they exhibited more judgment than gratitude, for in truth they were associates whose support conferred no particular honour upon them ; and they claimed, in return, tiic credit of obtaining by argument, that which they alone owed to com- pulsion and terror. This revolution had a surprising effect in Ame- rica, even more perhaps than in England. The re- port of the Committee of the House of Commons was read throughout the colonies with the deepest interest. Although it contained recommendations as the ground-work of future legislation, there not being time to mature and pass so many important laws as would be required to give them effect, yet viewed merely as declarations of opinions on sub- jects of vital interest, the Provincials studied them with the most critical attention. Among other things, it was suggested for future deliberation, that the Judges should hold their places for life ; that the mode of selecting juries should be altered in such a manner as to exclude partiality or cor- ruption; that the Court of Chancery should be reformed; that the fees of public functionaries I'i '■'li! ■' w li???t si' M Mi ■ 264 THE ENGLISH should be regulated, and that the law of Quo Warranto should be amended. The declaration of right recapitulated the offences and illegal conduct of the King. It stated that he had invaded the province of the Legislature ; had treated modest petitioning as [a crime ; had oppressed the Church by means of an illegal tribunal ; had, without the consent of Par- liament, levied taxes, and maintained a standing army in time of peace ; had violated the freedom of election, and perverted the course of justice. Proceedings which could be questioned only in Parliament had been made the subject of prose- cution in the King's Bench ; partial and corrupt juries had been returned ; excessive bail had been required from prisoners, and disproportioned fines imposed ; barbarous and unusual punishments had been inflicted, and the estates of accused persons had been granted away before conviction. Finally, it assumed that he had abdicated the government. It went on to declare that the dispensing power, lately assumed and exercised, had no legal ex- istence; that without grant of Parliament, no money could be exacted by the Sovereign from the subject, and that without the consent of the Legislature, no standing army could be kept up in time of peace. The right of subjects to petition — of electors to choose representatives freely — of U¥Ai IN AMERICA. 265 Quo I the . It 3f the ; as [a of an f Par- anding •eedom justice. )nly iu prose- corrupt id been d fines its had persons inally, nment. power, gal ex- nt, no from of the it up in ition — ely — of Parliament to freedom of debate — of the nation to a pure and merciful administration of justice, according to the spirit of its own mild laws, was solemnly affirmed. All these things the Conven- tion claimed in the name of the whole nation as its undoubted inheritance. This declaration did not so much make new laws as clear the old from obscurity. It rendered that certain which illegal practice had involved in doubt. The fundamental principle asserted for the last time, and now for ever established by the Revolution, viz., that no taxes could be levied on the people but by their own consent or that of their representatives, while it secured the liberties of Englishmen, paralyzed the hold of tyranny in the provinces. Truth is eternal and immutable. That which is founded on reason, and the rights of freemen in Britain, cannot be otherwise in America. The doctrine that representation was necessary to legalize taxation had always been held in Massachusetts, and in almost every other colony, from their earliest settlement. Their first resolve and their last declaration were assertions of this natural right, which, though not so boldly maintained, so far as the regulations of the commerce of the empire extended (although this was protested against), was claimed in the fullest and most unhmited manner in their internal affairs. VOL. I. N m '•Alt ■ r I ■ ) ' . ; i; m '1 Mil;:'; ' V r ■■/>k m 266 THE ENGLISH There was .1 latent element, however, in this revolution, doomed to exercise in after times a powerful and l^aneful influence in America. The commercial interest of the kingdom, by its enor- mous and increasing wealth, emerged from the humble condition it had hitherto occupied, and soon made itself f(;lt and considered, if not respected. An incipient national debt, occasioned by an expenditure that exceeded income, required a loan, and the coffers of the tradesmen were opened to the needy Government, until the creditor was enabled to make his debtor sensible of his depen- dence. The sea-ports and the manufacturing towns rapidly encroached on the influence of the landed aristocracy, and boldly demanded a portion of power. This new class of aspirants for political influence, with the usual selfishness of trade, nurtured a jealousy of colonial commerce, and sub- sequently manifested a zeal in restricting it in a manner most beneficial to itself. It affected to see nothing in the transatlantic possessions but a market for English goods. Restriction and mono- poly soon engendered a desire for taxation, and that, contrary to their narrows-minded calculations, not only failed in producing a revenue, but, by its ruinous expenses, nearly caused a national bankiniptcy. True to their cold and selfish maxims, they regarded their balance-sheet as their only sure guide, which, however accurate it may Vf. ■■ IN AMERICA. 267 be in a counting-house, is worse than useless to a statesman, who knows that it can never represent any theory more than the account of one branch of a vast, complicated, and dependent system, of which figures can convey no adequate idea whatever. In their policy towards the old provinces, the (•ommercial classes imagined they saw prodigious gain in perspective, and flattered themselves that compression alone was necessary to cause a constant stream of wealth to flow into England. In grasp- ing at the shadow they lost the substance. The same sort of " ready-made" politicians now despondingly announce that they have discovered in their tabular accounts, that the cost of protection exceeds the value of the return, and propose to abandon colonies altogether. These results of the great Revolution of 168S, were not only not dreaded, but not even suspected at the time on either side of the water. The Provincials, engrossed by its more immediate ope- ration, saw their own emancipation from uncertain authority, and nothing more. The limitation of the prerogative was held by them as equally applicable to the regal power in America. Its (^xercise had been made even more perplexing and oppressive towards them than towards the English. Theory and practice had hitherto been so much at variance, that thev scarcely knew N 2 ■y'\ mm, 1 1' 'In'''!! 'IJ'Iflj;':!: hi m i :f " 1 r, 268 THE ENGLISH I Ml il i.i il s;5 tr I < ^'i il where it would reach, or what it would subvert. What opinions eminent lawyers held on the subject was of little consequence to them, the practice had ever continued the same ; and alth(^ugh Parliament, to make these new restrictions less obnoxious to royalty, asserted that they only declared what the law always had been, it was manifest that if it had been so plain it did not require repetition, and that Westminster Hall was not so unanimous as had been represented. The very word " prerogative" was one of terror, for it was synonymous with a despotic power above the law, making or dispensing with laws at pleasure. Whichever way a colonist turned, he was met by it. It was invisible and intangible, but neverthe- less it was omnipotent. It claimed the whole country, the right of taxation, of government, of regulating commerce, controlling the militia, of pressing sailors and billeting troops, of making war and peace, of constituting courts, and adminis- tering justice in matters civil, military, or eccle- siastical, of monopolies, of coinage, and in fact, in and over all things. It had a jargon of its own, not very intelligible to the hardy but unlettered fishermen of the sea-coast, or the inhabitants of wigwams made of the bark of trees. When they heard of floatsam, jetsam and ligan, treasure-trove, deodands and waifs, bonavacantia, ne-exeats and nonobstantes, and asked what these IN AMERICA. 269 mysterious and unpronouncable words meant, they were told they were prerogative rights ; and when they demanded what prerogative was, the best informed man could only reply in general terms, that " it is that special pre-eminence which the King hath over and above all other persons, and out of the ordinary course of the common law, in right of his royal dignity. It signifies in its etymology (from prae and rogo) something that is required or demanded, before, or in preference to, all others. And hence it follows, that it must be in its nature singular and eccentrical, that it can only be applied to those rights and capacities, which the King enjoys alone, in contradiction to others, and not to those which he enjoys in common with any of his subjects ; for if once any one prerogative of the Crown could be held in common with the subject, it would cease to be prerogative any longer. And therefore Finch lays it down as a maxim, that the prerogatl o is that law in the case of the King which is law x'. no case in the subject." This was the best description Blackstone could give of it at a later period. To a professional man, already practically acquainted with its opera- tion, it may suffice, though not very perspicuous or precise, but ordinary men will rise from its perusal, not much enlightened by the definition of the learned Judge. Lord Bacon, when coloniza- il •I'j M t ;.'P •270 THE ENGLISH tion was first seriously thought of, instructed James I. in a very explicit manner on this subject. He maintained: 1st. That the King mvy con- strain the person of his subjects not to go out of the realm. 2nd. That he may forbid the exporta- tion of commodities.* Srd. He may forbid the importation of any commodities into this realm. 4th. He may set a reasonable impost upon any foreign wares that come into the same ; and so on native wares that go out of the realm. The law being thus understood by Crown lawyers, the colonial charters of that reign were drawn in conformity with their opinions. We now perceive the reason why there were inserted in every patent, " a licence to emigrate, a permission to export merchandize, and exemption from impost during a limited term ;" and also similar provisions which were framed according to the prevailing no- tions of the times. " It is curious," says Chalmer, " to remark that it should seem, not only from the passage above cited, but from the argument of Bacon in the House of Commons, in support of the same doctrine, that there once existed in the law of England a principle, perhaps a practice, analogous to the internal and external taxation of the colonial controversy, since he contended that the King might establish an impost on exports * Sec Chalmcr's Introd. to Hist., p. 3 Notes. I '!< x.< AMERICA. 271 and imports, though he; admitted that tho prero- gative could not impose a domestic tux on lands or on polls." Thus, though the petition of right had determined, with regard to England, the; law, against the opinion of Bacon, hefore recited, Charles I. continued to lay imposts on her de- pendent territories. The precedent for this had been established in Ireland. After its subjugation by Henry II., it was treated as a colony. Thi^ change made in its laws was not effected by any English Parliament, but by the charters of its conqueror, and other subsequent Sovereigns, who considered it a dependent conquered dominion, and, as such, possessed a legislative power over it.* We have already observed that the repeated changes in the government of England had a very deleterious effect on the plantations. The popular cause in the colonies was alwavs in advance of the parent country ; and as soon as the Parliament obtained any new security for liberty, it was seized upon by the local legislature as their joint property, and their outposts were pushed on further into th(; royal territory. As soon as the report of the committee of the Commons, containing recom- mendations, reformatory laws, and the declaration \i iv ' * Black. Com. vol. i, p. 99. Cowper's Reports, p. 210, Prynn. Inst. vol. iv, p. 294. 272 THE ENGLISH U of rights arrived in America, the Assemblies everywhere passed fundamental laws, asserting their privileges, and what they conceived to be their liberti(;s ; and although these were very pro- perly rejected in England, on the ground that it was absurd for such dc^pcndent colonies to designate the terms on which they would alone admit their subjection, still they afforded a convincing proof of the growth of democratic principles, and by the discussion to which they led, added life and strength to disaffection, which was now propagated with the utmost zeal by fanatics and demagogues. This encroaching disposition originated in an early and long-continued neglect of the colonies by England. When their importance began to de- mand attention, it was strengthened by an equally flagrant mismanagement ; and when they became populous and obedient, it ripened into rebellion by an unjust and illegal claim of taxation, in the support of which the reasoning of English states- men afforded topics of ridicule in the town meet- ings, and the conduct of the troops an easy triumph to the undisciplined levies of the agricul- tural districts. It would be unavailing now to blame those who severed the connection, although, if there had been real affection on their part, the separation would not have been final. How much or how little censiu*e they deserve, is not at the present time IN AMERICA. 273 the question. What wc owe to ourselves is a rigid self-examination. Wc should not shrink from laying bare our own faults, that wc may avoid similar errors in future. If wc yielded indi^pen- dence by not retaining sufficient control over the form of their constitutions, let us be more careful of concession. If we interfered with their just rights, let us respect those of the remaining colonists. If w^e tried responsible government, as we shall presently see we did, denuded the Governor of his power, and invited r(»sistance by our own weakness, let the salutary lesson not bo lost upon us. In short, having once made ship- wreck, let us survey the coast, and take the bear- ings of the rocks and shoals, and shape our course accordingly. It must be admitted, that it is difficult for loyal colonists to look back upon the annals of those revolted provinces, without the deepest regret, and the most humiliating mortification. That the task of reviewing a series of absurd, negligent, and illegal acts of needy governors and ignorant boards of control, all terminating in discreditable miscarriages and defeats, is too painful even to be attempted by English statesmen, is manifest from the fact that it has given neither prudence to their measures, wisdom to their councils, nor vigour to their conduct. When the independence of the old colonies was acknowledged, an im- N 3 'I ! K 'I I ^f: 1 274 THE ENGLISH ;■! ? Ei mense number of despatches from several Governors were found in the public archives unopened. The pen had been laid aside in despair for the sword, and both were disgraced by imbe- cility. It is to be feared that the provincial history, every page of which is filled with valuable instruction, has shared the same fate as the official correspondence, and remained unread. A natural or accidental defect of vision is an infirmity well entitled to commiseration, but a statesman who disdains the labour of research, and remains wilfully blind, is a criminal on whom expulsion or censure impose no adequate punishment. Unhappily merit is not always the passport to office. Party convenience or family intere,' ., par- liamentary influence or successful intrigue, tc * often elevate men to important stations, whc from vanity, ignorance, or want of principle, ar utterly unable to discharge their duties. Sad adeed is the condition of a people when such is ( e temper of those who govern them. This, however, is an evil that no revolution can ever cure ; and it would seem to be a law of our nature, that we must depend on the lottery of life for the selection of our rulers. It has indeed become a parliamentary maxim, that Provincials must be content to have their work " coarsely and roughly done ;" inas- much as a colonial minister, who has never crossed the Atlantic, cannot, in the nature of things, be IN AMERICA. 275 several •chives lespair imbe- vincial iluable official natural ty well Q who emains sion or port to ., par- ' often from utterly leed is temper •, is an would must ion of lentary have inas- jrossed gs, be supposed to know much about the young and vigorous empire committed to his charge. It is difficult to pronounce our opinion on the state of an invalid without visiting him. But when not only the disease, but its seat and its symptoms aro differently represented, he who ventures to pre- scribe is generally found to be bold in proportion to his ignorance. Empirics invariably proclaim that they have discovered a medicine applicable to all ages and persons, and all cases and diseases. Political jugglers, who, in integrity and knowledge are not inferior to their medical brethren, possess similar powers of invention and deception, and have ever on hand some nostrum of universal application. Of these, the last and most valuable specific for constitutional infirmities, bears the captivating title of " Responsible Government." When the world is overrun with credulity, ought we not to cease to wonder at the number of knaves who gathej the harvest ? The sanatory state, however, of the colonial empire, fortunately for those en- trusted with its care, furnishes abundant material for exculpation. The people will not follow the regimen ordered for them, or previous practi- tioners have mistaken their complaints. Their constitutions are naturally feeble, or it is an epi- demic under which they suffer, that will soon pass away, or there is a complication of disorders — •!■, ; !i ' ■, i I Al: iW' I'i ; ■■ 7 I)- I -.rtii \: 276 THE ENGLISH they are too much reduced for active measures — or their nervous temperament is difficult to ma- nage. But who can doubt that their treatment has been both judicious and successftil, when we have been so fortunate as not to have lost one of our numerous dependencies since the great pesti- lence of 1783, in which no less than thirteen fell victims to the ignorance and neglect of our ancestors. Warned by their failure, we have wisely avoided the route they travelled. Let us be careful that the road we have chosen does not lead to the same termination. IN AMERICA. / / CHAPTER IV. Effect of toleration on the Ministers — Cotton Mather's attempt to raise a revival of bigotry, by spreading alarm about witches — His books and sermons — Preface by Richard Baxter — Exorcises a child at Boston — Salem delusion — Special Court, its proceedings — Executions — Case of the Rev. Mr. Burrows — Sudden change of public opinion — Mather falls into contempt — Decline of Con- gregationalism—Arrival of Sir William Phipps with the new Charter. The summary manner in which the State prisoners were released on their arrival in Eng- land, and the favourable reception Sir Edmund Andross met with from the Court, together with the continued delay their agents experienced in obtaining a renewal of the old, or the issue of a new Charter, filled the people with the greatest anxiety and alarm. Having no representation in Parliament, and neither Court nor party influence in England, beyond the sympathy of the sectaries, m 278 THE ENGLISH K<^.-P they had everything to fear from royalty, to which they had always manifested a determined opposi- tion, and nothing to hope from Episcopalians, whom they had ever oppressed and persecuted, while the service they claimed to have rendered to the puhlic hy enlarging the hounds of the empire, merited and received the answer, that their settlement was undertaken for their own advantage, and not the henefit of the State ; and if their endeavours had heen successful, they had them- selves reaped the reward of their enterprise. This state of uncertainty as to the form of their future government, weakened the hands of their local authorities, while toleration equally dimi- nished the influence of the ministers. It is not easy for any person, not thoroughly versed in the history of these people, to comprehend the vast extent of power w^ielded hy the clergy during the existence of the first Charter. They were not only councillors by an unwritten law, hut also tlie autliors of State papers, often employed on embas- sies abroad, and at home speakers at elections and in town meetings. " New England," says Cotton Mather, " being a country where interests are remarkably enwrapped in ecclesiastical circum- stances, ministers ought to concern themselves in politics." They were invested with civil and spiritual authority ; there was no escape from their grasp, and never could have been, had it not been IN AMERICA. •279 for the toleration granted, or rather forced upon the people, hy the Church of England. Religious liberty struck at the very foundation of their power, for emancipation of the mind and freedom of action arc inseparable. We have seen that the Puritans, in flying to the wilderness to obtain exemption from ecclesiastical control, with sin- gular inconsistency, claimed that privilege exclu- sively for themselves, making chur(;h member- ship the qualification for the right of citizenship. To uphold this spiritual domination, the aid of the civil power was called, in return for which assist- ance the clergy lent their powerful support to the Government. By their united efforts, all dissent was banished or extirpated from the colony, and at the time that they were inveighing against the persecution of the Episcopalians, they themselves made liberal use of mutilation, whipping, banish- ment, and even the gallows, to preserv^e conformity. The moment religion was left unfettered, there w^as an immediate reaction in public feeling. Un- restrained liberty as usual produced licentiousness. The people had been governed by their fears, no less than by their aff'ections, and the clergy lost their authority. New sects sprang up, with ii zeal and vigour that ever attends novelty ; and, as usual when many kinds of dissent are found in the same field, they produced hybrid varieties of the same species in abundance, imtil the ground was mm l./i| ■ t(. ,- ' »: N!!i-|J IJ :■; :! 280 THE ENGLISH m '■ijri i:<\ m .t m overrun with their exuberance, and every whole- some and sound plant was smothered by their rapid growth and coarse foliage. The ministry felt it to be their duty, as they knew it was their interest, to recal men's minds from these numerous errors. The difficulty of the attempt lay in the selection of the means. After cool reason, and exciting declamation had been severally tried and failed, recourse was had to superstition. The Puritans had ever esteemed themselves a chosen people, and were fond of com- paring New England with Canaan, of tracing a resemblance in their flight to the wilderness to that of the Israelites, and of assimilating their laws to the Mosaic Code. In every piece of good fortune they saw an especial answer to their prayers, and in every mortification and calamity the direct personal malice of the Devil and his agents. This vanity and credulity their preachers had always encouraged, as their own influence necessarily kept pace with the superstition of the people. They now fell back upon it as their last resource to check the inevitable consequences of the late act of tole- ration. Among this numerous and powerful class, there was one man. Dr. Cotton Mather, admirably well qualified to preach up a crusade. He was more distinguished for subtle reasoning, and a deep knowledge of human nature, than any of his con- IN AMERICA. 281 temporaries, and was less obstructed by scruples, or restrained by consequences. Extremes meet. The Puritans abhorred anything that bore the slightest resemblance to Popery, or reminded the beholder of its abominations. In their ceremonies and doctrines they succeeded as well as they could have desired in producing a contrast, but in conduct and principle, in which power rests, they were identical with one of the most able and artful of the Romish sects. Ultra-Puritans like Dr. Cotton Mather, and extreme Romanists like Ignatius Loyola, bear so striking a resemblance to each other, that they may be both classed as members of the same school. The non-conforming remnant of the former body still remaining in the Church of England, who call themselves, with no little modesty. Evangelicals, but are known to others by the more appropriate name of Low Churchmen, are alike distinguished for their violent denun- ciations against Popery, and their decided par- tiality for and open practice of Jesuitical principles. Dr. Mather in order to promote a revival in religion, and restore the lost authority of the clergy, alarmed the fears and awakened the super- stition of the whole people by diliberately planning and promoting the witchcraft delusion, which inflicted such an indelible disgrace on his country. He aspired to be considered the great champion of the Church, and the most successful combatant I in I ' mm Mm """ i-:^^' ill . I . ii ill A If \ ft'x. \-';a ?IM ii iff 282 THE ENGLISH against the Prince of Darkness. Eager to signalize himself in this particular kind of warfare, he seized upon every occurrence that could be represented as the result of diabolical agency, circulated in his numerous publications as many talcs of super- natural wonder as he could collect, and at last got up the delusion he so much desired in Boston. Having found a fitting instrument for his purpose, in a young girl of remarkable quickness and versatility of talent, he took her into his house for the purpose of exorcising her. Among many proofs she gave of being possessed of a devil, one was that she was very fond of the Book of Com- mon Prayer, which she called her Bible, while she could not decypher a syllable of the Assembly's catechism. At the same time she exhibited such a tendency to heresy, she ^vas often permitted to utter words of consolation and truth, and she would sometimes stand on the threshold of the Rev. Doctor's library and say : " They can't come in, God wont suffer them to enter into thy pre- sence." The Doctor published a narrative of her diabolical performances, together with a sermon, which was circulated through the country and reprinted in England under the superintendence of his patron and friend, the noted Richard Baxter, who, in a recommendatory preface of his own, affirmed, " that he who would not be convinced by all the evidence Dr. Mather presented that IN AMERICA. 283 this child was bewitched must be a very Sadducce." Time had not softened the cruel disposition of this persecuting English Dissenter, nor age mitigated his ferocity. He exulted in the part he had him- self taken during the Commonwealth in urging on Hopkins, the Puritan witch-finder, in his murde- rous occupation. Alluding with unfeeling bitter- ness to the execution of an aged clergyman on a similar charge, who had read his own funeral service at the gallows, and whom he called '* the reading parson," he encouraged Mather to pro- ceed in his glorious career. The work of the Rev. Doctor, entitled " Memo- rable Providences, relating to Witchcraft and Possessions," received the sanction of the other Puritan divines of Boston, who declared that the author had clearly proved " There w^as a God, and a devil, and witchcraft. The old heresv of the; sensual Sadducees denying the being of angels either good or evil, died not with them nor will it, whilst men abandoning both faith and reason count it their wisdom to credit nothing but what they see and feel. How much this fond opinion hath gotten ground in this debauched age is awfully observable, and what a dangerous stroke it gives to settle men in atheism it is not hard to discern. God is therefore pleased, besides the witness borne to this truth in Sacred Writ, to suffer devils some- times to do such things in the world as shall stop i!i I •I I 1 111 ,i '^^ ■ i ll,. i 111 lit ii! i: hi.fi i'Af ;'-S\ m f m 284 THE ENGLISH the mouths of gainsayers, and extort a confession from them." This sermon affords a curious specimen of fanatical declamation. "Witchcraft," says the author, " is a renouncing of God, and the advancement of a filthy devil into the throne of the Most High ; witchcraft is the renouncing of Christ, and pre- ferring the communion of a loathsome, lying devil, before all the salvation of the Lord Redeemer; witchcraft is a siding with Hell against Heaven and Earth, and therefore a witch is not to be endured in either of them. It is a capital crime and is to be prosecuted as a species of devilism that would not only deprive God and C hirst of all His honour, but also plunder man of all his comfort. Nothing too vile can be said of it, nothing too hard can be done to such a horrible iniquity as witchcraft is." The favourite texts on the subject were, " Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live," and " Have I not chosen you twelve, and one is a devil." Such a fearful subject, handled in such an exciting man- ner, easily prepared the way for the tragedy that followed. While this delusion, so wickedly devised and so artfully sustained, was thus spreading over the metropolis, its operations were going on with tremendous efficacy in Salem and the neighbouring towns. Additions were continually making to the fession en of luthor, [it of a High; i pre- : devil, jemer ; leaven to be crime ivilism irst of all his of it, orrible Thou I not uch a man- y that md so the with During to the IN AMERICA. 285 number of accusers by voluntary accessions and by those who, having been charged themselves, to save their lives, confessed and became witnesses against others. The prisons in Salem, Cambridge, and Boston, wore crowded with supposed witches, and all the securities of society were dissolved. Every man's life was at the mercy of his neighbour. Fear, says the historian of this period, sat on every countenance. Terror and distress were in all hearts, and silence pervaded the streets. Many of the people left the country, all business was at a stand ; and the feeling, dismal and horrible indeed, became general, that the providence of God was removed from them, and that they were given over to the dominion of Satan. To meet the extraordinary crisis a special commission was issued to several of the principal citizens and jurists of the colony, constituting them a court, to try accused persons at Salem. They assembled by particular appointment at the Court- House on the 2nd June, 1692. The first victim, an old woman, was executed on the 1 0th of June. The Court then adjourned. The Government during the recess consulted several of the Congre- gational ministers of Boston and its vicinity, respecting the prosecutions, who, while they urged the importance of caution and circumspection in the method of examination and admission of testi- mony, at the same time decidedly and earnestly H m 1 i 1 j i i 1 .1 i ( 1 • t 'i 1 !i 1 ! 1 i 1 . ; 1 1 1 ]'' 1 1 1 ( 1 1 1 9 I i 1 \ H WH % if t 'f.t« 28G Till-: ENGLISH rccommcndrd that thr proceedings should bo " vigorously carried on." The Court sat again on the 3()th of June, and five more old women wen; put to death on the 19th of July. It opened again August the 5th, and on th(^ 19th of the same month, four men and one woman were executed ; and on the 22nd September, two men and six women were hanged. Eight more were condemned, but these were the last that suffered capitally, at that time. One man refusing to plead to the indictment, was pressed to death as a punishment for his (contumacious silence. The principal immediate effect of these summary ;;nd sanguinary proceedings, was to render the accusers more bold, confident and daring. They began to feel that the lives of the people were in their hands, and seemed at last to have experienced a liendlike satisfaction in the thought of bringing infamy and death upon the best and most honoured (.'itizens of the colony. Among those who suffered was the Rev. Mr. Burrows, of Salem, whose fate struck a horror through the community, which it required all the art and sophistry of the board of ministers to calm. He was a w^U-educated man, had received the honours of Harwood Universitv in 1676, of a spotless life, and no charge of incon- sistency as a minister had ever been attempted to be brought against him. On the day before his execution, the imfortunate woman, Margaret Jacobs, IN AMKUKA. 287 i^%^ Irl bo ;jiin on n vverr 1 again ; same cuted ; nd six cmncd, ally, at to the shmcnt mmary ler the They were in ienced inging >nourcd uffered »se fate hich it oard of d man, iversitv incon- )ted to are his Jacobs, who appeared as witness against him, obtained permission to visit him, when she made a full acknowledgment of her perjury, and entreated him for his forgiveness. This he freely gave her, and spent some rime in prayer with her. When (he hour arrived for his execution, he was carried in a cart, with other convicts, from the gaol to Gallows Hill, about an eighth of a mile towards Danvers. While Mr. Burrows was on the ladder, Ji contemporary writer observes, " lu' mad(; a speech for tlu! clearing of his innocency, with such solemn and serious expressions as were thi^ admiration of all present. His prayer was so w(!ll worded, and uttered with such composc^dness and such fervency of spirit, as was very atfecting, and drew tears from many, so that it was apprehended the spec- tators would hinder the execution. To meet and turn back this state of feeling, the accusers cried out that they saw the evil being standing btihind him in the; form of a black man, and dictatini^ every word he uttered ; and the infamous Cotton Mather hurried roinid among the crowd on horse- back, haranguing the people and saying that it w;is not to be wondered at that Mr. Burrows appeared so wx^U, for that the Devil often transformed himself into an angel of light. This artful declaration, together with the outcries and assertions of thc5 accusers, had the intended eifect upon the fanatical multitude. When the body was cut down it was U »J 1 I. i B<, 't' !' i m:^ .'J K M t ii- ; ^<, m (■ \] 288 THE ENGLISH dragged by a rope to a hollow place excavated between the rocks, stripped of its garments, thrown with two others into the hole, trampled down by the mob, and finally left uncovered. Nor did Mather forget those whose orthodoxy was doubtful. The religious toleration granted and enforced by Andross, disclosed the fact that there were some of the Baptist heresy still dwelling among the faithftJ. When positive proof could not be obtained against the delinquent, spectral evidence was admitted, a term then in use to desig- nate information exhibited to the eyes or conveyed to the ears by spirits or ghosts. These irre- sponsible informers soon gave notice that the Devil was at work among the people in the shape of a Baptist preacher, making them renounce their baptism, and be dipped anew by him, and reviling and ridiculing the lawftd ministers of the elect. The absurdity of these charges naturally led people to inquire if there were not fraud in others. Alarmed at the magnitude of the evil, they paused and conferred with each other on the subject ; but that which finally overthrew the power of the informers, was the increasing number of persons of character, station, and influence among the accused. They repeatedly charged the Rev. Mr. Willard, the author of the " Body of Divinity," one of the most respectable ministers of the time. They accused a member of the immediate family lavated thrown 3wn by hodoxy granted ict that iwelling f could spectral desig- onveyed ;se irre- ;hat the le shape ice their reviling e elect, people others, paused ct; but of the 1 persons pg the icv. Mr. jty," one le time, family IN AMERICA. 289 of Dr. Increase Mather, who had recently returned from a special embassy to the English Court respect- ing the Charter, and was then the President of Harwoud College, the man whom EUiott calls the " Father of the New England Clergy." A writer of that period also intimates that they lodged information against the wife of the newly-arrived Governor, Sir William Phipps, and implicated one of the Judges of the Court. Their last accusation (which was preferred against Mrs. Hale, the wife of the minister of the first Church in Beverly) was in the opinion of the public, the most false and wicked of all, and effectually broke the speU by which they had held the minds of the whole colony in bondage. Her genuine and distinguished virtues had won for her a reputation, and secured in the hearts of the people a confidence which superstition itself could not sully nor shake. Mr. Hale had unhappily been active in all the previous proceed- ings, but knowing the innocency and piety of his wife, he stood forth between her and the storm he had himself helped to raise. In denouncing Mrs. Hale, the whole commimity was convinced that the accusers had perjured themselves, and from that moment their power was destroyed. The awfiil delusion ceased, and a close was put to one of the most tremendous tragedies in the history of real life. There are few if any other instances on VOL. I. O m liW" m '1.^1 B.V'"!! f W 'i ■■■ r: 290 THE ENGLISH record of a revolution of opinion and feelings so sudden, so rapid, and so complete. During the prevalence of this fanaticism, twenty persons lost their lives by the hand of the execu- tioner, fifty-five escaped death by confessing themselves guilty, one hundred were in prison, and more than two hundred others under accusa- tion. Immediately upon the termination of the excitem(,'nt, all who were in gaol were pardoned. Nothing more w^as heard of the afflicted, or thecon- fessors. They were never called to account for their malicious impositions and perjury. It was appre- hended that a judicial investigation might renew the delusion, and all were anxious to consign the whole subject as speedily and as effectually as possible to oblivion. The state of things which Cotton Mather laboured to bring about, in order that he might increase his own influence over an infatuated people, by being regarded by them as mighty to cast out and vanquish evil spirits, and as able to hold Satan himself in chains by his prayers and his piety, brought him at length into such disgrace, that his power was broken down, and he became the object of public ridicule and open insult. The excitement that had been produced for the purpose of restoring and strengthening the in- fluence of the clerical and spiritual leaders, resulted lit ; IN AMERICA. 291 ngs so twenty execu- ifessing prison, accusa- of the rdoned. thecon- or their ; appre- t renew iign the lally as 5 which n order over lem as :s, and by his th into down, lie and for the ;he in- esulted in effects, which reduced it to a still lower point. Congregationalism then received a shock from which it never afterwards fully recovered. The intelligence of the ministers, if not their integrity, was questioned, and doubt, distrust, and infidelity soon stinick root amid the ruins of superstition. While their fearful proceedings wTre in progress, Sir William Phipps arrived with a new Charter, the nature of which we shall describe hereafter, and thus were terminated aU hopes of the restora- tion of the old order of things. It forms an important era in colonial history. Hitherto, the people had governed themselves without the con- trol of England. They still continued to do so, as we shall see, in spite of her interference. They grew up in neglect ; when restraint was attempted, they resisted; and the moment they were able, they severed the connection. The Whigs reversed this policy for the remaining colonies ; they began with restraint, and ended with neglect and fatal indulgence which are likely to produce a similar result.* * Whoever is desirous of further information on this suhject, will find ample details in Hutchinson, and the CoU lection of the Massachusetts Historical Society, but the best account is by the Rev. Mr. Upham, from whom I have drawn largely. o 2 ■h *1mM TTT w) f 292 THE ENGLISH iPil^ If J fe- te .i ff'l "Pi K I ^0 !' CHAPTER V. REVIEW. The two most interesting periods of American history ex- tend, 1st. From the settlement of Massachusetts to the English Revolution of 1 C88 ; 2nd. To the independence of the colonies in 1783 — Review of the first period — Numher and names of colonies then settled — Their popu- lation and commerce — Account of the different forms of Government then established there — Great increase of democratic opinions — Change in tone of feeling in Virginia — Some account of the Church there — Loyalty of Churchmen — State of Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York — Effect of the conduct of New England upon them. The two most interesting periods of the colonial history of America extend from the first settlement of Massachusetts to the great English Revolution of 1688, and from thence to the peace of 1783 that insured the independence of the revolted provinces constituting the United States. tory ex- s to the endence leriod — ir popu- brms of rease of ;ling in Loyalty lia, and id upon )f the le first English peace of the States. IN AMERICA. 293 We have now arrived at the termination of the first, and must pause to review and contemplate it. It is by far the most curious and instructive, inasmuch as during that time the colonies were planted, their constitutions, after various alterations, assumed a definite form, and they were sensibly affected by every change which the innovations of those days introduced into the parent country. If we except Georgia, afterwards planted, and Florida, subsequently conquered, the continental colonies were now fiimly established, and consisted' of Massachusetts, including Plymouth and Maine, Rhode Island (embracing Providence), Con- necticut, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and the two Carolinas, and contained about two hundred and fifty thousand inhabitants, of which at leasi seventy-five thousand were settled in New England. Their commerce was carried on by twenty-five thousand tons of shipping, which was navigated by two thousand six hundred seamen. No regular plan of colonization had ever been adopted. Settlements formed by accident or caprice were left to languish or flourish, as the character of the people, or the nature of the soil or climate, happened to operate. They were not trained up, they grew up ; and being beyond the reach of parental control, governed themselves in theu' own way. Many constitutions were drafted ill: M ii' •|:. s tr. «'-(l t^ I' , .ft 'I: >4 294 THE ENGLISH and proposed for adoption ; the most arbitrary, impracticable and absurd of which emanated from men like Locke, whom England delights to honour as her most distinguished sons. It may be some consolation to the admirers of that great man to know that modern statesmen, with a wider experience and infinitely increased means of infor- mation, have exhibited as little skill in legislating for colonists as he did. Several of these forms were tried in different places with more or less success, but at the time we are now speaking of, though varying from each other in many respects, they may be classed under three heads : — Charter, Proprietary, and Royal Governments. Of the first were Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Con- necticut ; of the second were New Jersey, Pennsyl- vania, Maryland, and Carolina ; and of the third New York, Virginia, and New Hampshire. The origin of those charter governments, as we have seen, was the surreptitious removal to America, by the Puritans, of a patent granted to certain of their number as a trading company, whose court was to meet and act in London, and the attempt to adopt this incomplete and incom- patible instrument to the purposes of civil government. Subsequently other charters, equ^lW inapplicable, were granted, in w^hich not even the unsul)stantial appearance of sovereignty w^as re- served to England. They were pure derriocracies. I I ♦l IN AMERICA. 295 They elected every one uf their officers from the highest to the lowest, and displaced them at pleasure, while the laws they enacted went into operation without transmission to England for approval. The main object in devising a con- stitution for a dependency is, or ought to be, as has been very well expressed by an author of great weight on this subject, *' to make the new establishment as useful as possil)le to the trade of the mother country ; to secure its depcnchnce, to provide for the ease, safety and happiness of the settlers ; to protect them from their enemies, and to make an easy and effectual provision to preserve them from the tyranny and avarice of their governors, or the ill consequences of their own licentiousness; that they should not, by growing into an unbounded liberty, forget that they arc subjects, or lying under base servitude, have no reason to think themselves British subjects." This is all that colonies, according to the present and best ideas of them, can* or ought to be. The second form in use was the proprietary. It was not then difficult for a person who had interest at court to obtain large tracts of land not inferior in extent to many kingdoms, and to be invested with a power over them very little less than regal, to govern by what laws, and to form what sort of constitution he pleased. A de- pendence upon the Crown of England was shown itfl :: .m 1 lii; I) . I] 1 I: 1 ' ' ■ ■ h 1. A y f 4 ^^. • 'i « t' r' - V i ■ A' i 1, ' V .iXi^ IS *J ' .•! «; 296 THE ENGLISH only by the payment of an Indian arrow, a few skins, or some other trifling acknowledgment of the same nature. In these the lords of the soil, having denved from the same source the regal rights that Counts Palatine enjoyed, stood in the place of the King, who possessed within their limits neither the means of effectually executing what the supreme legislature had enacted, nor the undefined authority which superintendence may claim. Of these, by far the most important were Maryland and Pennsylvania. In the former the constitution consisted of a Governor and Council appointed by the proprietors, and an assembly elected by the people. The reservations of the Crown amounted only to a negative on the nomination of the Governor, the appointment of the officers of the customs, and their independence from local control. In Pennsylvania the pro- prietary was under the same restrictions that limited that of Maryland, but was more restrained by the people, for their legislature had but two parts, the assembly of the delegates and the Governor. The latter wanting the great influence which the council gave in other places, found himself engaged in a very unequal contest when- ever his sentiments diff'ered from those of the House. In the royal provinces of Virginia, New York and New Hampshire, the Governor, the Council IN AMERICA. 297 and the Delegates formed a miniature of the King, the Lords and the Commons. The Governor had the honour of representing the hody poHtic of the King ; the members of the Upper House awkwardly discharged the twofold duty of the peers by acting as a sort of privy council, and as senators in the making of laws. The delegates engagi;d the submission of the people to what all had assented, since they were chosen by themselves. As the House of Assembly w^as the guardian of the privileges of the subject, the council was con- stituted chiefly to preserve the prerogative of the Crown, and to secure the dependence of the colony, and the more effectually to answer these ends, they were appointed during pleasure only. When any bill passed the two houses, it came before the Governor, who declared or withheld his assent as he thought proper. If approved by him, it then acquired the force of a law, although still liable at any period within three years to be annulled by the royal veto. The local legislature, whether of the charter, the proprietary or the royal govern- ment, had but little similarity to the parliament, because the one was merely that of a district, the other of an empire. The former was, therefore, provincial and subordinate; the latter was universal and sovereign. Such were the forms of Government that then prevailed, and the result was, pure democracy in o 3 i\ ii a \ii •! 1 i;ij ^kc I ■■' r-,. ■.-■ t ■ :• i. ':' ^1 *, 298 THE ENGLISH the Charter Governments. There was but a shadow of a shade of royalty in the proprietary provinces in the person of a Governor who rei)re- sented, but disobeyed the palatine, who himself acknowledged the supreme rank, ])ut disowned the authority of the King. Royal Governments were distinguished for turbulence and disaffection. In all of them a refractory people ruled, overawed or bribed the needy representative of royalty, whose silence they knew how to secure, as he was dependent on their bounty for his support, i.nd whose removal they could always obtain by loud and hollow professions of loyalty, accompanied by protestations, that he alone was the cause of their distractions. The exemption from all control enioyed by the people of New England at once excited the envy, the admiration, and the disobedience of the other colonists, while the democratic opinions of her sectarian population, now fast extending them- selves into the other parts of the continent, effected a rapid change in the sentiments of the provin- cials. Virginia, which had been originally settled by members of the Church of England, and sub- sequently peopled by the Cavaliers, had ever been distinguished for its loyalty. Ic had been divided into parishes at an early period, and supported a regular ministry. By the law of the land there was to be a room or house in every plantation IN AMEIUCA. 299 " for the worship of God, secjucstcrcd iind set apart for that purpose, and not to he for any temporal use whatever : also a })lace of burial." Absence from public worship " without allowable excuse" was punishable by the forfeiture of a pound of tobacco, or fifty pounds if the neglect was con- tinued for a month. The celebration of divine service was to be conformable to the Church of England. No minister was to be absent from his parish more than two months, under pain of losing half his salary, or the whole of it, together with his cure, if his non-residence extended to four months. He who disparagiid a clergyman with- out proof was to be fined five hundred pounds of tobacco, and to beg his pardon publicly before the whole congregation. Their salaries were to be paid out of the first gathered and best tobacco and corn, and no man w^as to dispose of his crops before paying his dues, under a penalty equal to the full amount of his tax. It was not then known that a Bishop should be the first, and not the last to land on tlie scene of missionary labour; and the clci'gy, often badly selected, always poorly paid, and far removed from ecclesiastical control, were gradually overcome by the intrigues and misrepresentations of non-con- formity, by the want of proper protection from the home government, and the grovv'ing licentiousness of a people, whom the climate, the bounty of 1 1... ' ' '' iilii .li :: :'!! ^ r.i] IK 1 ■f \ i' ti 1 1 " 1, 'i ,'l ; ■,'\ ' 1 ' i 1 |[ ' '( , J t' i ?l 300 THE ENGLISH nature, and tho facility of acquiring wraith, in- clined or seduced into indulg(!nce. Amid all the temptations as well as thv, difficulties of their situation, the long struggles the inhahitants made against the spread of democracy, and the warm attachment they evinc-ed to their King, and tho institutions of the mother country clearly prove how loyal and dutiful is the teaching of the estab- lishment, how important it is to further her ex- tension, and assist in the endowment of her parish churches, not only in America, but in all the British possessions abroad. At a still more recent period, it was a most consolatory fact, that in the late rebellion in Canada, there were no Churchmen among the traitors who have been so mercifully compensated for the inconvenience they suifered by imprisonment or exile. Neglected as the clergy were in Virginia, and unmindful as they themselves sometimes were of their duty, their labours were not without their effect. Spotswood, wTiting to the Bishop of London, says : " I will do justice to this country : I have observed here less swearing and profane- ness, less drunkenness and debauchery, less un- charitable feuds and animosities, and less knaveries and villanies, than in any part of the world where my lot has been." But at the same time he remarked and lamented the growth of republican principles : " The inclinations of the country," he IN AMERICA. 301 said, " arc rendered mysterious by Ji new and unaccountable liumour, which liad obtained in several counties, of exciudinji; the gentlemen from being burgesses, and choosing only persons of mean figure and character." The people of Pennsylvania, a mixed race of Germans, Swedes, Dutch, and English adventurers, had no innate sense of loyalty, and no common feeling of religious attachment to th** church of the mother country. Calvinists, Lutherans, Minists, Moravians, Independents, An.ibaptists, Socinians, Dumplers, and Churchmen lived in singidar har- mony together, because the wants of nature h^ft them but little time for the indulgence of theo- logical discussions ; but they all, with the exception of the last, agreed in the opinion that occupancy gave a title to land, and that a laborious popula- tion had a better right to the soil than a speculating proprietary. The Quakers, who boasted of their peaceful disposition and habits of submission, though not turbulent, became troublesome sub- jects by their passive resistance to all measures that they disapproved of, and impeded the; machi- nery of government by refusing to aid in its defence, or contribute to its support. Maryland, originally settled by Papists, regarded the Revolution with dread, and had more sympathy with Rome than England, a feeling not a little increased by the contagious disloyalty, as well as n ''i; ,i. Ik V H't' 'i W- ■h.r ,i'i „ !i . ■ 1,1 -.?■■ i . .'( • .;M 1 j' '. ■ "i ,'i ■■■■ w '■'^ :?5i 5 Mi ; ■,;« 302 THE ENGLISH the unjust and ungrateful persecution, she expe- rienced from the Protestant sectaries, whom she had received and tolerated within her limits. With regard to })oth these ])rovinces, as w(.'ll as Carolina, the Lords of the Committee of Colonies represented to the King, that " the present circum- stances and relation they stand in to the govern- ment of England is a matter worthy of the consideration of Parliament, for hringiiig these proprietaries and dominions under a nearer de- pendence on the Crown, as his Majesty's revenue in the plantations is very much concerned herein." New York, distracted by the contentions of two parties for supremacy, which England could neither compose nor redress, partook of the general conta- gion. The Council reported to the Lords of the Committee of Colonies, in July, 1691, " that New England had poisoned those Western parts, formerly signal for loyal attachment, with her seditious and anti-monarchical principles ;" while Grahame, the Attorney-General, informed them that " the principles of loyalty and good affection to the Crown, which were inherent to the people of New- York, are now extinguished." The contagion soon overspread the remaining colonies, because " pre- disposition of habit naturally attracts infection." Guarry, whose office of Surveyor-General of the Customs enabled him to know the genuine prin- IN AMERICA. 303 prc- ciples and practice of every province, represented officially to the Board of Trade, " that this malig- nant humour is not confined to Virginia, formerly the most remarkahle for loyalty, but is universally diffused." Very shortly after this period, so rapid had been the spread of these anti-monarchical opinions, that the Governor wTites from New York: " Now the mask is thrown off. The delegates have called in question the Council's share in the legislature, trumped up an inherent right, declared the powers granted by letters patent to be against law, and have but one short step tu make towards what I am unwilling to name. The Assemblies claiming all the privileges of a House of Commons, and stretching them even beyond what they were ever imagined to be in England, should the coun- cillors by the same rule lay claim to the rights of a House of Peers, here is a body co-ordinate with, claiming equal powers, and consequently independent of, the great council of the realm ; yet this is the plan of government they all aim at, and make no scruple to own. But as national and sovereign empire is to be exercised by thcni that have the balance of dominion in the nation, so provincial or dependent empire is not to be exercised by them that have the balance of domi- nion in the province, because that would bring the Government, from being subordinate, to be nationiil and independent." i i .i.r I i I'^i) \m ifiS 304 THE ENGLISH As no consistent or well-digested plan was pre- pared to remedy these evils, recourse was had to expostulation, to issuing peremptory orders to governors, and to threats of involving parliamentary interposition. These measures only aggravated the evils they were intended to repress, for commands and menaces were alike disregarded where it was well known there was no power whatever to enforce them ; and the authority that was at first evaded or disobeyed, at last became everywhere the subject of ridicule or contempt. Si' 1!' IN AMERICA. 305 j ;: Ii< ■i. i ;~ 'i ' " .■ '■^•ili' CHAPTER VI. POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS UNDER THE CHARTER. Office, duties, and modes of appointment of the Charter Governors — Court of Assistants — Origin and growth of the House of Delegates — Jealousy of the people as to power of Governor and Magistrates — Code of laws described — Specimens of the sentences of the courts — Perfect equality secured by their laws and institutions — Account of townships and town meetings — Counties, towns, and General Court present a miniature of a great Republic — Union of the colonies, the foundation of the federal union of the States — General system of popular education prepares the people for self-government. We have seen in the foregoing chapters, that in civil and ecclesiastical matters, Massachusetts, and the other adjoining colonies, known as New England, asserted and maintained total indepen- dence. An attentive consideration of these institu- tions leads us to the conclusion that they had ever I ^1 * 1 I ■::-'' |i 306 THE ENGLISH 'iK m in view the project of adhering as nearly as possible to a democratic form of government. From the moment of their landing in America, and taking possession of the country, though they preserved a friendly intercourse with England, the colonists extinguished all obedience, and severed all political connection with it. They set up a Govern- ment of their own, based on popular election, and, as freemen under the Charter, claimed and enjoyed the right of modelling their constitution in their ow^n way, and appointing their own officers, to exercise for a limited period executive and legisla- tive functions. Their republicanism was not theo- retical, but practical; not having a predominant character of self-government, but possessing no other ingredient but the will of the people. Jealous of gubernatorial influence, they delegated as small a share of authority to the Governor as possible, who was chosen annually, and was little more than chairman of the assistants. He had the power of convening the Legislature upon urgent occasions ; but this he only enjoyed in common with the Deputy-Governor, and the majority of the councillors, either of whom could command their attendance if he negbcted, or did not see fit to do so. He voted with the assistants, but merely as a member of the Court, his opinion having no more weight necessarily attached to it than that of another individual, unless there was an equal divi- IN AMERICA. 307 :gent sion, which entitled him to a casting vote ; but he could not adjourn, prorogue, or dissolve them, acts which were reserved for the majority only. He issued commissions to civil and militarv otfi- cers ; but the former were appointed by the Court, and the latter generally elected by their companies or regiments. The oldest dispute in the colony related to the grounds and limits of the Governor's authority. At Boston, on occasions of dividing the town lands, " men of the inferior sort were chosen." The doctrine of rotation was asserted, even to the neglect of Winthrop, " lest there should be a Governor for life." When one of the elders pro- posed that the office should be held in that man- ner, the deputies immediately resolved that no magistrate of any kind should be elected for more than a year. The justices once assembling, in a sort of aristocratic caucus, nominated several per- sons for the choice of the people, but they took care to neglect every one of the candidates thus proposed. On the other hand, when one of the ministers attempted to dissuade the freemen from selecting certain persons who were obnoxious to the clergy, they disliked the interference of the adviser, more than they approved of the doctrine of frequent change, and returned them almost without an exception.''^ So deeply rooted and * Bancroft. Winthrop. iil li:! mm !' «!' ,< ./ •- '1 'l^ 1 '■ if ^i I .t 3 308 THE ENGLISH widely spread was the prejudice against a life tenure, that it may be said to have prevailed throughout New England. Connecticut, by a dis- tinct declaratory clause in its fundamental consti- tutions, carefully guarded against any such result. The advantage that democracy gains by making provision for public officers annually, and not attaching fixed salaries to their situations, was very early perceived. In a contested election for Governor, in the year 1 64 1 , Mr. Bellingham was chosen over his rival Winthrop, by a majority of six votes. The result was not agreeable to the General Court; and the first order they made, after proceeding to business, was to repeal a standing law, allowing him a yearly salary of £100. This preceaent they afterwards adopted, as we shall presently sec, with great success in embarrass- ing all the subsequent representatives of royalty, until the actual breaking out of hostilities. The Assistants or Councillors were annually chosen by the whole body of freemen in the colony. They constituted, with the Governor, at the first settlement, the whole, and subsequently one of the two branches of the Legislature, and were also the Supreme Court in all civil and criminal causes, except in those instances in which an appeal was allowed to the General Assembly. When the Lower House came into existence, the members chose the Speaker, and proceeded to IN AMERICA. 309 business, not only without presenting him to the Governor for his approbation, but without evc^n acquainting him with the result of their election, or the name of the person whom they had selected. In the first little republic, everything was based, as far as the freemen were concerned, on general and often recurring elections. It was a fresh and young shoot from the tree of liberty, and grew with all the vigour of youth into wild luxuriance, that defied alike the pruning knife or the training hand of cautious experience, until it overran the whole country. By a natural consequence of causes, the operation of which was not then at all understood, the Upper House became more dependent on the popular voice than the lower branch, inasmuch as it was chosen by the freemen of the whole commonwealth, and the other by those resident in the several districts. The As- sistants, therefore, had a larger constituency to conciliate and represent, and were consequently more under observation, and more exposed in the conflicts of party, to the ingratitude of unstable friends, or the rancour of inflamed opponents. As sanctity of manners and soundness of doctrine were strong recommendations to popular favour, they became every day more expert in the language of cant, and more obsequious to their partizans the ministers, until at last they were unable to !''l'l ! i! I -.-(I l| I 111 ■ :il i'ffl ii!f SI !S iii« ■ 'I k\ m 310 THE ENGLISH If 'I- ■:y M' m ft"-' ': stom the torrent of fanaticism, whoso channels they had so industriously widened and deepened themselves. Stripes, confiscations, banishment, and death, were liberally awarded to heresy, to gratify the ignorant zeal of the mass, and the vindictive malice of the clergy, who considered dissent from their opinions as far more criminal than rape, burglary, or highway robbery — the one being punishable, if persisted in, with death ; and the others entitled to those lesser penalties that were awarded to offences not capital. Men who fail in obedience themselves, generally compensate for the defect by extorting it from others. A stubborn, unyielding temper is the cause of these peculiarities. While the Puritans of New England made the world ring with their accusations against the tyranny of Laud, they did not disdain to make use of the instruments of despots, to enforce conformity to their own views. For this purpose, they passed a law on the sub- ject of torture, which, though nominally pro- hibiting, authorises its application, and regulates its use. It begins by forbidding recourse to be had to it generally, but excepts any case in which the criminal is first fully convicted by clear and sufficient evidence ; after which, if it be apparent, from the nature of the case, that there are con- federates with him, he may be tortured; yet not with such instruments as are barbarous and inhuman. IN AMERICA. 311 lannels opened bment, Bsy, to id the sidered riminal he one i; and 3S that nerally t from is the Liritans ti their ey did nts of views, e sub- pro- 2;ulates to be which ir and 3arent, e con- )t with nan. The rigour of justice extended Itself as well to the protection of tlie rights of property as to the moral habits of the people. A remarkable in- stance of this is shown in the power given to creditors over the persons of their debtors. The law admitted of a freeman's being sold for ser- vice to discharge his liabilities, though it would not allow of the sacrifice of his time by being kept in prison, unless some estate was concealed. It was owing to a jealousy of magisterial author- ity that a compilation of the laws was sought for with avidity by the people. They were disin- clined to invest the justices with any discretionary power whatever, in apportioning punishments to the circumstances of each particular case, and required an exact penalty to be attached to every offence, preferring to lose the benefit of mitigation to incurring the dangers of arbitrary decisions. In order to appease the murmurs of dissatisfac- tion, the work was undertaken in earnest, and after fourteen years of deliberation of committees formed of magistrates, ministers and elders, a code was produced and ratified by the Legislature. These laws, ninety-eight in number, were named " fun- damentals," or " body of liberties." This curious compilation commences with a general statement of the rights of the inhabitants in seventeen articles, of which several mav now be found em- bodi^^d in the Constitution of the Great Republic, Ma iilili ! ^i;Vi| 312 THE ENGLISH and the States Bills of Rights. Next follow " rights, rules and liberties in judicial matters," forty-one in number; "liberties concerning freemen,*' twenty in all, and chiefly referring to the civil polity of the colony. Tvs'i are devoted to the liberties of women. Liberties of children, and of servants, arc each contained in four articles. Liberties of foreigners and strangers occupy three additional ones, and the " brute creation" is protected by two. Capital laws inflict the punishment of death on twelve offences, and the whole concludes with an account of the liberties the Lord has given His churches. It is a most extraordinary production, and will well repay the labour of perusing. That it was unwillingly compiled and published is well known ; but this compulsory task was so adroitly per- formed, that most clauses contain some qualifica- tions to render them inoperative. Thus every church may choose its minister, provided he be able, pious and orthodox. Private meetings are allowed to aU sorts of Christian people, " if they be without offence as for number, time, place, and other circumstances." " There shall be no cap- tivity among us," but the slave-trade is established by the exception, unless it be captives taken in just wars, those who sell themselves, or such as are sold to us. Liberty and hospitality is granted to all foreigners who profess the true Christian IN AMERICA. 313 religion. No inhabitants to !)e compelled to go beyond the jurisdiction in any offensive, but only in vindictive and defensive wars, and so on.* It contains not the most distant allusion to the laws of England, since it was compiled chietiy from the Jewish system, which was adopted because it had I * Apparel was regulated by these rigid magistrates as well as morals. In the year I G-1 1) the following circular was sent through the country hy the magistrates : " Foras- much as the wearing of long hair, after the manner of the Russians (Cavaliers ?) and harbarous Indians, has begun to invade New England, contrary to the rule of God's word, which says it is a shame for a man to wear long hair, as also the commendable custom generally of all the godly of our nation, until within this few years. We, the magis- trates who have subscribed this paper (for the showing of our own innocency in this behalf) do declare and manifest our dislike and detestation against the wearing of such long hair, as against a thing uncivil and unmanly, whereby men do deforme themselves and oifend sober and modest men, and doe corrupt good manners. We doe therefore earnestly entreat all the elders of this jurisdiction, as often as they shall see cause, to manifest their zeal against it in their public administrations, and to take care that the members of their respective churches be not defiled there- with ; that so such as shall prove obstinate, and will not reform themselves, may have got God and man to witness against them. ** Jo. Endicott, Governor. "Thos. Dudley, Deputy- Governor. " And others. " The .3rd month, 6th day, 1649.'* VOL. I. P If 1 1,] lillii \^. ' ,' ' 314 THE ENGLISH \t ) ' 'l? h ;i H ;i * 316 THE ENGLISH This fundamental law in a country where people generally marry early and have numerous children, eifectually destroys the natural tendency of pro- perty to accumulate in the hands of a few. Here- ditary claims were also rejected, their public officers being all annually chosen from the body of free- men without regard to distinctions. Old associa- tions and early prejudices in favour of rank and fortune, though theoretically disclaimed, were not inoperative at first in the choice of the Governor and Assistants ; but they gradually gave way to the principles they had laid down for themselves, and in time, station or family connections were found to be aristocratical barriers to public favour. At an early date perfect equality was aimed at. Not more than half a dozen gentlemen took the title of Esquire, nor more than four or five out of a hundred freemen that of Mr., although they were, in general, men of substance. Goodman and Goodwife were the common appellation. Destroying the distinctions of rank, conferring equal rights on all the freemen, and sanctioning a distribution of real estates among the children of intestates, were the foundation and support of the first, as they now are of the second, American Republic. Their militia service, though regulated by law, was enforced by officers chosen by the Companies, and placed under the command of a General IN AMERICA. 317 1 i.r. nominated by the freemen, but approved and ap- pointed by the Com't. The principle of self-government was claimed and exercised by the inhabitants of townships, sub- divisions of counties corresponding in some re- spects to English parishes. These little local communities possessed certain corporate rights. The people assembled together, and voted sums of money to pro\dde for the poor, the support of religion, the erection of public buildings, the repair of highways, the maintenance of police, and similar objects ; and also for the purpose of electing assessors, collectors, justices, and select men. The duty of these last officers was to see the law of the land observed, and especially to enforce the orders of the people in all mnttcrs relating to the good government and int(!rnal management of the township. They were also charged with the direction of the education of the rising generation, the support of the ministers, and the mode of apportioning and collecting the sum ordered by the General Court to be raised within their jurisdic- tion for State purposes. ''^ A law, passed at a very early date (about 1 636), gave a peculiar character to these townships. It prohibited the erection of dwelling-houses in any new town at a greater distance than half a mile * See "Wonder Working Providence, Sion's Saviour, p. 191. •I'i'i I ' ^ 318 THE ENGLISH i. '. !)d »,! u from the church. Lands, in consequence, were seldom granted to individuals, but only to com- panies, associated together for settling a plantation. The New England rural districts were thus made villages, diifering in that respect from those of Virginia, whence resulted a concentrated population. This arrangement was originally made for the religious organization of the settlers ; but as it produced combination, it effected in the end most important political as weU as social results. The town meeting was a place where matters were publicly discussed, whether they related to the votes and conduct of representatives in the General Court, or were only of parochial interest. They were normal schools for politicians, where aspirants for popularity railed against the salaries and extravagancies of the Commonwealth, de- claimed on the rights and privileges of freemen, extolled the value and importance of the Charter, drew frightful pictures of the profligacy of princes, and their wicked attempts to enslave the people, and by their pompous orations encouraged their countrymen to prefer death to dependence. Ques- tions of privilege, that occasionally arose between the different branches of the legislature, were here most learnedly discussed, as well as matters of doctrine and discipline, that sometimes disturbed the Churches. Points that have puzzled divines and philosophers, were disposed of with great ease IN AMERICA. 319 and fluency, and the applicability of texts of Scrip- ture to every imaginable case most clearly demon- strated. '*'' The expediency of uniting with the oth(T colonies, and the plans of attack and defence in the French and Indian wars, being of more interest, were treated with less cant, and more knowledg(i and discretion. In short, in those little democratic assemblies were trained the men, who were after- wards to maintain their rights in the General Court. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, therefore, was a miniature of the great confederation. The General Government and Supreme Judicial Estab- lishment, having jurisdiction over the whole coun- try, centered at Boston, as those of the United States now do at Washington.! Every township * The General Court being much agitated on the ques- tion of the right of veto in the Assistants, called upon Mr. Cotton, the great divine of the day, to preat on the subject. He chose the following most pertinent text (2 Hag. II, 4) : " Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, said the Lord ; and be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedcch the High Priest ; and be strong, all ye people of the land, and work : for I am with you." — Hub. Hist, of Neiu England. f Under pretence of choosing a geographical centre for Congress, American statesmen very poorly provided against the danger of being overawed or even influv-nced by the mob of a large city. Washington is little more than a small town, composed of public buildings and hotels — a simple arrangement that would strip Paris of its variety and insecurity. 320 THE ENGLISH im W i W- B as we have seen, was, to a certain extent, for all internal matters, independent, made bye-laws for its own inhabitants, regulated its own fiscal and territorial affairs, and was represented in the State legislature at the capital. Massachusetts was, in fact, an union of many little Sovereign Communities, with a Federal Government, com- posed of district delegates, with the power of enacting laws for all, in those matters in which the co-operation of all was necessary, and without which authority could neither be respected nor maintained. The supreme power of the Common- wealth, whether for defence, revenue, or legislation, was indispensable for the welfare, if not for the ex- istence, of the state. The uncontrolled manage- ment of their local affairs was not less essential to the freedom and the independence of the town- ships. It was a spirited and able sketch, which the masterly hand of modern politicians have filled up, without destroying the likeness, and its features are all discernible in the inimitable Constitution of the United States. The resemblance is most striking in the Confederation entered into in 1643, already described under the designation — " The United Colonies of New England," consisting of delegates from Massachusetts, Plymouth, Con- necticut, and Newhaven, the prototype of the great American Legislature of the present day. I hi IN AMERICA. 321 It suggested the idea of all those Conventions, whether provincial or continental, that preceded the war of independence, as well as th< Congress. It even contained some articles, now to he found in the American Constitution; namelv, the deli- very of ininaway slaves and fugitives, and the pro- vision that judgments of courts of Luv and pro- bate of wills in each colony, should have full force and effect in all the others. It carefully guarded the separate privileges of each contracting pro- vince; and thus the doctrine of state rights vras first broached and acted upon two hundred years ago. But the first settlers of Massachusetts laid the basis of their freedom on a broader, bett(T, and surer foundation, than anv of those institutions to which I have referred — on a well-regulated, well- proportioned, and general education. Montes- quieu, in his " Spirit of the Laws,"''^ says that the principle of a republic is " virtue," w^hich he defined politically, to be " respect for the laws, and a love for our country." In this sense, virtue is found nowhere so strong as in the United States. The frightful tales related by travellers, of lynching and summary justice inflicted by excited mobs, are occurrences peculiar to- terri- tories bordering on civilization. In all ages, and I i '; !i li i '11 :''■'■' u * Spirit of Laws, Vol. i. Book 4, Chap. 5. p 3 322 THE ENGLISH \V}^ i 1 in all countries, barbarians and outlaws resort to fastnesses, or dwell on the confines of the desert, in the inaccessible depths of the wilderness. In America, these regions are the resort of their own criminals, and the refuse of Europe ; but it would be the height of prejudice, or injustice, not to give the population at large the credit they deserve, for respect for the laws.* They are a sensible and practical people, and feel that the safety and dura- bility of their institutions depend upon this sub- missive obedience. They are aware that they are their own laws, enacted by themselves, and that if they disappoint their expectation, they have a better remedy in repealing, than in violating them. They know instinctively, what that great philo- sopher had discovered by reasoning and research, that, in a Republican Government, the whole power of education is required. Most nobly has this duty been discharged. Scarcely had the ground in the neighbourhood of Boston been cleared, when the General Court founded a college, which they afterwards called * Something very like Lynching was attempted in London lately, at Barclay's brewery, on Marshal Haynau ; and although hundreds were concerned in it, the Government were unable or unwilling to bring the offenders to justice. It is not the fashion in England to hang traitors. Loyalty is becoming a rare offence, and excites the irrepressible ire of the " most enlightened citizens" of the greatest city in Europe. IN AMERICA. 323 Harvard, in token of gratitude to a clorgjman of that name, who bequeathed a considerable sum of money to it. The town of Newtown in which it was situated, was denominated Cambridge, the name of the alma mater of many of the principal people in the colony. In this respect, they showed a far greater knowledge of the world, and of the proper course of education, than the inhabitants of the present British colonies. They first established an university, and then educated downwards to the conimon schools, as auxiliary seminaries, which were thus supplied with competent teachers ; while duly qualified professional men and legislators, were simultaneously provided for the state. In Canada, there is an unfriendly feeling towards these institutions, which people, who play upon popular prejudice or ignorance, endeavour to foster, by representing them as engrossed by the sons of the rich, who are able to pay the expense of their own instruction, without assistance from the public treasury ; and that all that is thus bestowed, is so much withdrawn from the more deserving but untrained children of the poor. Six years after the arrival of Winthrop, the General Court voted a sum, equal to a year's rate of the whole colony, towards the erection of this college. The infant institution was a favourite. Connecticut and Plvmouth, and the towns in the east, contributed little offerings to promote its ill ill I !! ill i I" ■! i I !i.i n '::•! 1; 'A' '■',:. ■ >'• 1 ; H' kr li:; 1 iHi;: 1) itil ' i A 324 THE ENGLISH ri-u I It 11 success. The gift of the rent of a ferry was a proof of the care of the State ; and once at least, every family in each of the colonies gave to the c()ll(!ge at Cambridge twelve-pence, or a peck of corn, or its value in unadulterated wampumpeag,'* while the magistrates and wealthier men were pro- fuse in their liberality. The college, in return, exerted a powerful influence in forming the early character of the country. As soon as this institu- tion was fairly in operation, provision was made, by the allotment of land, local assessment, and otherwise, for elementary schools ; " it being one chief project of that old deluder Satan," says the preamble to this venerable law, " to keep men from the knowledge of the Scriptures, as in former times keeping them in an unknown tongue ; so in these latter times, by persuading men from the use of * "Wampum was considered as the Indian money, one fathom was worth five shillings. Their white money they called wampum, which signified white ; their black suckaw- hock sukif signifying black. A traveller thus describes it : " In my way I had opportunity of seeing the method of making wampum. It is made of clam-shell, containing within two colours, purple and white, and in form not unlike a thick oyster-shell. The process of manufacturing it is very simple. It is just clipped to a proper size, which is of a small oblong parallelopiped, then dulled, and after- wards ground to a round smooth surface and polished. The purple wampum is much more valuable than the white, a very small part of the shell being that colour." — Thatcher's History of Plymouth. IN AMERICA. 325 tongues, so that at least the true sense and mean- ing of the original might be clouded with false glosses of saint-seeming deceivers, and that learning may not be buried in the graves of our fatlu^rs." It was ordered in all the Puritan colonies, " that every township, after the Lord had increased them to the number of fifty householders, shall appoint one to teach all children to WTite and read ; and where any town shall increase to one hundred families, they shall set up a grammar-school, the masters thereof being able to instruct youth so far as they may be fitted for the University." The joint operations of both gave a pre-eminence to the people of Massachusetts, which they maintain to this day. At a later period, this laudable example was followed in almost every part of the country, now called the United States ; and in no respect is their wisdom more conspicuous than in thus fol- lowing the example of their forefathers. Here it may be both convenient and useful to pause, and compare the Constitution of the first New England Republics, and that of the great Federal Government of the present day. The introduction of democracy was the work of the Puritans. It went infinitely fiirther than that of the revolutionists. The latter was Conserv^ative. The admirable Constitution of the United States is less simple in its structure, but safer in its ope- ration; less democratic in its form, but confers 111 „ u 1 ?l 1;" [■ '! I l^|! 326 THE ENGLISH and ensures more freedom, and is better provided with appropriate checks to guard the independence of the people, and protect it from its own excess. It echoes public sentiment, but the tone is subdued and softened by repetition. The unmistakeable voice of the people is heard; but the medium through which it passes, mitigates its overpowering sound, and it is so modified that it can be distin- guished with ease, and listened to with safety. The statesmen who drew up that masterpiece of wisdom, were, however, greatly indebted to their ancestors, for exhibiting to them their imperfect experiment in self-government, for all oi' the greater part of their institutions may be traced to those of the first settlers. Universal suffrage, annual Par- liaments, and yearly Governors, are more democra- tical than the practical, rational, and enlightened descendants of the New English thought conducive to the deliberative character of Congress, or com- patible with the peace and harmony of the people. The first idea of a Congress was suggested, as we have seen, by the Confederation of the united colonies of New England, which was in existence for about forty years. It consisted of delegates from the associated provinces, formed but one assembly, and was presided over by one of their number, chosen by themselves. With the records of this body before them, and a Legislature in the old Puritan plantations, consisting of a Governor, IN AMERICA. 327 Assistants, or Second House, and an Assembly, all chosen annually, it is natural that they should adopt one or the other as their model. Perceiving the defects of each, they blended the best parts of both, and made such improvements as were neces- sary. It was for the wisdom of these additions, not the invention, that they are entitled to the gratitude of their countrymen, and the admiration of mankind. The Governor, when elective in the old colonies, was chosen directly by the people. The framers of the Constitution adopted the principle of popular choice ; but to avoid danger, vested it in electors chosen by the inhabitants, under the direction of each State. A very wise and salutary measure. This body is again secured against corruption by being chosen only within thirty-four days of the election. In the old provinces, the Governors were annual officers, but they had no foreign policy to pursue, and their territorial jurisdiction was small. To preserve the principle of fresh appeals to the people, and at the same time insure con- sistency in the councils of the nation, the Presi- dent's period of service was extended to four years. In New England, the Governors were often constrained to yield to the House of Delegates, because they had the power to give, increase, diminish, or withhold their salary. The new IV i i'i:j I t;::|! !:,i ill III 328 THE ENGLISH J I iff >' Constitution provides that he shall receive a stated sum, that can bo neither auji^mcnted nor reduced during his term of office. To make him a consti- tuent bran(;h of tlic Legislature, and give him a voice e(|ually potential with either or both of the other two Chambers, was not only incompatible with their ideas of equality, but did not appear to be demanded by any indispensable necessity. It was obvious, however, that he ought to possess the means of defending the executive department, as well as the just balance of the Constitution against usurpation. He was therefore invested with a qualified negative. When a bill has passed both Houses, that he disapproves of, he returns it, with his objections, to the Chamber in which it originated. If both Houses, after reconsideration, adhere to their bill, by a vote in each, of two- thirds of its members, it then becomes law, the qualified veto notwithstanding. In the old compact of " Confederation of the United Colonies," under the first Republics of New England, we have seen that there was but one chamber, as now subsists in France. The experience of mankind"*^ has unequivocally con- demned the practice of leaving all legislation in the hands of any one uncliecked body of men. The hasty violence and constant instability of their * See Adams's Defence of the American Constitution, Tol. Ill, p. 502. Also Kent's Commentaries. IN AMERICA. 329 proc'Tflings have evor shown that th^y are unsafe depositories of power. Warned hy the failures of the Italian Repuhlies, 'vhich wen; all thus eon- stituted, and having hefore them the exami)le of the Royal Provincial Governments, in which there were two hranches, they very wisely mad(^ Cong^ress to consist of two chamhers, the Senate and House' of Representatives. Based on popular election, and adhering as closely as possihle to the principle th;it the people were the sources of all power, the Senate was so constructed as not to he a mere duplicate of the lower chamher. It consists of two members from each state, chosen, not by the people at large, but by the legislature for six years, and, by an admirable arrangement, one third vacate their seats biennially, by which means no very violent or sudden change can take place, and a large number of experienced men are always retained, well versed in the policy of the country, and the forms of the House. The conduct, dignity, knowledge, and authority of the Senate are the best evidence of the skill of those who made the salutary regulations that have produced this result. The power to make treaties is lodged jointly with the President and the House. Better coun- cillors it would be impossible to select for him. They possess the advantage of being easily assembled, and governed by steady, systematic 1 ,1 iili'i, III . , irli;:. II iij.' li'^ i. I. ill; Mill ■'■4 'ii ,:tli 330 THE ENGLISH \ \v\ views, feel a due sense of national character, and can act with promptitude and firmness. In the old Republic all officers were elective. In an immense country like the United States, it was obvious that to have recourse to the whole people on every occasion of a vacancy, if not im- practicable, would be attended with ruinous delay, and greatly embarrass public business. The difficulty lay in knowing to whom to give this vast patronage. To place it in the hands of the President alone, would necessarily give him the means of corruption ; to entrust it to the Senate, would render him contemptible, as he could have no voice in the selection of those officers, for the performance of whose duties, as the head of the executive, he was responsible. They obviated both objections, by giving him the sole power of nomination, and the right of approval or rejection to the Senate. Nomination is, for all practical purposes, equivalent to appointment ; but the revision to which it is subject imposes on the President the necessity of avoiding favouritism, intrigue, and a careless use of patronage. In no case, perhaps, is the advantage of this system more perceptible than in the judiciary of the United States. It is impossible to conceive a more admirable mode of selecting judges. In England the appointment rests with the minister of the day, and the choice is not always such as , IN AMERICA. 331 meets the approbation of the bar or the public. In Canada the general rule used to be, cccteris 'paribus, that the senior member of the profession was held to possess the best claim to preferment. Even that mode is open to serious objections, but the present practice is beyond comparison the worst to be found in any country. A seat on the bench is now a political prize, and the dominant party claims it for partizans. None of those high qualifications so essential to the efficient and respectable discharge of judicial duties, neither talent, learning nor integrity are recommendations equal to political services. High and honourable as the office of judge is in England, it is infinitely more so in the great Republic, The commission is awarded neither by the personal friendship nor political sympathy of the President, but by the deliberate choice of that officer and the con- currence and approbation of all the States in the Union, as expressed by the collective voice of their senators. Well may that country be proud of its judiciary, when so constructed ; and the judges of an appointment that rests solely on great abilities, undoubted rectitude of conduct, and universal respect. The House of Representatives is composed of delegates of the several States. In the old Republic the elections were annual ; an improve- ment has been made in the new by extending the ill 11' ! I I !j.% :J ;■'!, !■ »!■' I ii^'' I: ': i» ' -il!! I' M — 5i 332 THE ENGLISH P^ term to two years; a period which the best informed men in the country think still too short. As this is called the popular branch, its members being chosen directly by the people, while the Senate is the result of a double election, and less under their immediate control, it possesses the exchisive right of originating all bills for raising revenue, which is the only privilege it enjoys in its legislative character not participated in by the Senate, and even money-bills can be amended by them. The two Houses are an entire and perfect check upon each other, and one of them cannot even adjourn, during the session of Congress, for more than three or four days, without the consent of the other, nor to any other place than that in which both shall be sitting.* It is not within the scope of this work to enter more at large on this subject. It was stated, in an early part of this volume, that republicanism in America was not the result of the revolution, but that it existed there from its first settlement. The whole of this historical narrative clearly proves that assertion. It was subsequently said, that in its original form it was infinitely more democratic than the present constitution of the United States ; and to illustrate that position I have drawn up the foregoing brief comparison of the leading features * See Kent's Commentaries, vol. i, p. 223. IN AMERICA. 333 of each. In the course of our examination, suc- cinct as it necessarily must be, enough appears to exhibit the deUcate skill, consummate knowledge, enlarged views, and patriotism of the statesmen who framed the federal constitution. Nothing by any possibility could be devised more suited to the situation, feehngs, wants, habits, and preconceived opinions of the people. It has conferred happiness and safety on many millions : may it ever continue to do so. Esto perpetua. ■p. (ii; l! Hi:, ! 1' Ik' 1 Mi! ^M ■I i ■■! 334 THE ENGLISH Ml CHAPTER VII. DEMOCRATIC FORM OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT- ITS EFFECTS ON POLITICAL OPINIONS. m Different course pursued by the Church and Dissenters at the Keformation — Difference between Presbyterians, Independents, and Puritans — Three kinds of Puritans — Their doctrines and form of ecclesiastical government — Singular valedictory address of the Puritans to the members of the Church of England — Extraordinary union of Church and State among the former — Cause of present political unity of action between Dissenters and Romanists W'iv While the people on the continent of Europe were engaged in the work of reformation, the Church of England, with equal zeal and more discretion, set herself about the great task of restoration. She had never voluntarily submitted to Rome, nor fully admitted her authority over her. She had been previously encroached upon from time to time, owing to the imbecility or IN AMERICA. 335 contentions of her princes, but had never failed either to resist or protest, to assert her exclusive jurisdiction, or to claim the exercise of her ancient usages. Jf not anterior to that of Rome, the Anglican Church was at least coeval with it, being founded, as there is substantial ground for believing, by one of the Apostles. At a very early date, it had its orders of bishops, priests, and deacons, and sub- sisted, as independent in its action as it was isolated in position, for a period of nearly six hundred years, before the grasping and aspiring spirit of Rome attempted to seduce or force it into an acknowledgment of her supremacy. At the close of the sixth century, about the year 596, Gregory I. sent Augustine the monk to demand the submission of the English prelates, who, with their flocks, had gradually been driven westward by the barbarians that had invaded the island ; and as these successful emigrants were heathens, he was at the same time insti-ucted to Christianize them, if possible. In the first object of his mis- sion he wholly failed, having received a decided refusal from the seven bishops, who assembled in Worcestershire to hear his proposition. In the latter (the conversion of the conquerors) he was more successful, and immediately assumed juris- diction over his proselytes. The Papal power having thus obtained a footing, never afterwards li I : l| 'H I. !! 336 THE ENGLISH ccused its endeavours to enlarge it upon every practicable occasion, or plausible pretence.* To shake off the errors and corruptions of Romanism, and preserve what was sanctioned by the usage of the apostolic age, was a work of great labour, and at the same time great delicacy. The task of the Church, unlike that of the impetuous and headstrong body of innovators who called themselves Protestimt Reformers, was not to puU down and reconstruct, but thoroughly to repair and completely restore the ancient edifice in all its beauty, simplicity, and proportion. Nobly was this arduous and important duty performed. Search was made for the forms of the olden time, before the irruption of the Roman priesthood, for the prayers in all the ancient sees were not alike, as each bishop had, according to primitive custom, the power of regulating the liturgy of his own diocese. From these authentic sources was com- piled with great labour and infinite patience the Book of Common Prayer, w^hich has extorted from one of the most learned and eminent Dis- senting divines of this century this extraordinary eulogium : " That it is by far the greatest unin- spired work extant."! Romanists themselves, when permitted to exer- * Bennet on Common Prayer. Theophilus Angli- canus. t Hall. ' ■t;!' IN AMERICA. 337 cise an independent judgment, admitted its unexceptionable character and great beauty, and joined in its use for more than twelve years. Two of the Popes, Paul and Pius IV., went so far as to offer to sanction it if Queen Elizabeth would acknowledge the supremacy of the Pope. Upon her refusal she was excommunicated, in 1569, and from that period British Papists became schisma- tics. The English Dissenting Reformers, though not so ignorant as those of the continent, were, with some distinguished exceptions, in general violent and vulgar fanatics. They were but little ac- quainted with the history or antiquity of their own primitive church, and cared still less about it ; all they knew was, that even when purified and restored, it still resembled that of Rome too much to please them. As they had rejected the Pontiff, they saw no reason to obey a bishop ; and it was obvious to the meanest capacity, that if the regular clergy were abolished, tithes would necessarily cease also. So convenient and so unscrupulous a party were soon seized upon by politicians to advance their own ends. They were told then, os their descendants are informed to this day, by the leading Liberals of England, who view with no friendly eye such a Conservative body as the Church, that it w^as the child of the Reformation, the offspring of chance, and the result of a com- \]^' '\f I ^ ilii I I I ' '■ VOL. I. Q 338 THE ENGLISH promise between Royal prerogative, Papal preten- sion, and popular rights ; that it had neither the antiquity of the old nor the purity of the new faith, and that it w^as behind the enlightenment of the age. In fact, it was stigmatized as deriving its origin from no higher authority than an Act of Parliament. Macaulay has lent his aid to per- petuate this delusion, and the innovating propen- sities of the Whigs may well be imagined from the fact, that even history is not safe in the hands of a reformer. As this dissentient body, at a subsequent period, furnished the pioneers who settled in New Eng- land, it is necessary to take a cursory view of their position, divisions, and political and religious principles, that we may understand the character and temper of the people we have been treating of. There were at that time three great parties of Nonconformists in the parent country — the Pres- byterians, the Independents, and the Puritans. There were some points in which they all agreed, but there was a broad line of distinction among them in others. They concurred in a thorough hatred of Popery and prelacy, which they effected to consider nearly synonimous terms, and united in a desire to restrain the regal authority, but different in degree. The Presbyterians, from th(^ habit of mingling politics with their religious discourses, often gave vent to violent and seditious IN AMERICA. 339 rrcs- thc ious ious language. A preacher at St. Andrews, called Monarchs " Beelzebub's children," and not long after, another at Edinburgh, said the King had been possessed of a devil, and that one being ex- pelled, seven more fierce and unclean had entered in his place, and wound up by declaring that the people might lawfully use and take the sword out of his hand. But, notwithstanding these ebuUitions of vulgar abuse and priestly insolence, th(; party in general, both in England and Scotland, were de- sirous of going no farther than reducing the King to the simple station of first magistrate. The Independents wished to abolish the mo- narchy altogether, as well as the aristocratic order, and projected an entire equality of rank, and the establishment of a free and independent republic. At the same time they differed from the other two in upholding toleration; and it has often been remarked as a singular fact, that so rational a doctrine did not emanate from reason, but from the heicrht of extravagance and fanaticism.''^ They neglected all ecclesiastical establishments, and would admit of no spiritual courts, no government among pastors, no interposition of the magistrate in religious concerns, and no fixed encouragement annexed to any system of doctrines or opinions, According to their principles, each congregation * Hume. 'I ii! I !^ 1 ''I Q 2 340 THE ENGLISH united voluntarily, and by spiritual ties, composed within itself a separate church, and exercised a jurisdiction destitute of temporal sanctions over its own pastor and its own members. The election alone was sufficient to bestow the sacerdotal character; and as all essential distinctions were denied between the laity and the clergy, no cere- mony, no institution, no vocation, and no imposi- tion of hands was, as in all other churches, supposed requisite to convey a right to holy orders. The enthusiasm of the Presbyterians led them to reject the authority of prelates, to throw off the restraint of liturgies, to retrench cere- monies, to limit the riches and power of the priestly office. The fanaticism of the Independ- ents, exalted to a higher pitch, abolished eccle- siastical government, disdained creeds and systems, neglected every pre-existing form, and confounded all ranks and orders. The soldier, the merchant, the mechanic, indulging the fervours of zeal, and guided by the impulse of the spirit, resigned himself to an inward and superior direction, and was consecrated, in a manner, by an immediate intercourse and communication with Heaven. The Puritans again, were divided into three classes, which, though commonly united, were yet aptuated by different views and motives.* First — * See Neal's History of the Puritans. IN AMERICA. 341 There were the politiccol Puritans, who maintained the highest principles of civil liberty. Secondly — The Puritans in discipline, who were averse to the ceremonies and episcopal government of th(^ church. Thirdly — The doctrinal party, who rigidly de- fended the speculative system of the first re- formers. Tliese subdivisions are not very inteUi- gible nor interesting to the general reader, and subsequent events have rendered them of less importance*. The despised and persecuted Epis- copal Church of England has, by the blessing of God, taken deep root in America : the uniformity of its practice, the simplicity and beauty of its ceremonies, the fixed and established principles of its creeds and doctrines, have survived the factious or prejudiced sects that opposed it ; many of whose adherents, have at last found rhelter and repose in its bosom from the doubts, contentions, and schisms in which they had been involved. The rest have changed with the mutations of times ; for dissent carries within it the seeds of its own dissolution. The Puritans have declined into Uni- tarians. The Presbyterians of the States are becoming Anabaptists, Socinians, or Churchmen, more than three hundred of their clergy having recently sought episcopal ordination ; while tolera- tion or neglect, fashion, or ridicule, have nearly !;^ « * See Hume, from whom these distinctions have been freely extracted. 342 THE ENGLISH Hi •iff',!'? u vanquished the Quakers. The Baptists apun have separated into an endless variety of sects.* It is * They are thus described by a recent traveller in the Western States. He informs us, "that he saw on one occasion about a thousand men and women in a grove, rolling hoops, flying kites, playing ball, shooting marbles, leaping, running, wrestling, boxing, rolling and tumbling in the grass ; the women caressing dolls, and the men astride of sticks for horses, and the whole company intently en- gaged in all the sports of childhood. At last he ventured to ask what it meant. They told him they professed to be little children, to whom the Lord had promised his king- dom, and affected some surprise that he seemed not to have known that it was written, * Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall in no case enter the Kingdom of God.' He told them that that was true; that it was very well to imitate the virtues of infancy, but not its foibles ; that the Apostle had said : ' In malice be ye children, but in understanding be men ;' and this extra- ordinary conduct was the folly of childhood, without its immaturity to excuse it. • "We are not at all surprised that you think so,' they replied, * for we are a reproach unto our neighbours, and they of our acquaintance do hide themselves from us ; but we are willing to suffer persecu- tion for the kingdom of heaven's sake ; for these things are hidden, as it is written, from the wise and prudent, and are revealed unto babes.' " The reader may see in the histories of the Reformation, and even in D'Aubigne himself, that this sect is the genuine successor of the original Baptist body in Germany, Switzerland, and England, who ran many of them naked, in the pretended innocence of childhood, vociferating through the streets, rolling and tumbling, and affecting all the sports of children, believing that the truth is revealed ■t-ii' yi I* IN AMERICA. 343 1 not vtTv probsiblt? that th(; Puritans of Massa- chusetts had agreed upon their ***rm of eccle- siastical government before th(;y left England , but they concurred in their dislikt; to the ceremonies and do(;trines of the church. Their last act, when em- barked and ready for sea, was to s(;nd the following (circular to the cltTgy of thc^ Established Church. It is a long document; but it is such a remarkable piece of insincerity, that is impossi})le to rise from its perusal, without feeling that it justified all the doubts that were subs(?quently entertained of their attachment to the parent state. Th(5 only way that it can be accounted for is, by supposing either that they were labouring under conscious terror at the breach of faith they had committed, in surrep- titiously removing the Charter to America, and feared that they might be pursued and punished, or that they dreaded, from the size of the fleet, and the number of emigrants, if they were constrained, by stress of weather, to put back into an English port, they might be prevented from withdrawing from the kingdom ; but neither expediency on the one hand, nor apprehension from danger on the other, offer any palliation for such a wide departure from the truth : — " The humble request of his Majesty's loyal sub- by the Spirit to babes ; throwing the Word of God into the fire, exclaiming, says D'Aubigne, *'that the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life." m 344 THE ENGLISH ri U-' 10 t''\h ■J 1 't- Hi ■ I , i5 ' ; i: jects, the Governor and Company late gone for New England, to the rest of their brethren in and of the Church of England. " Reverend Fathers and Brethren, " The generall rumour of this solemne enterprise, wherein ourselves and others, through the providence of the Almightie, are engaged, as it may spare us the labour of imparting our occasion unto you, so it gives us the more encouragement to strengthen ourselves by the procurement of the prayers and blessings of the Lord's faithful ser\'ants. For which end we are bold to have recourse unto you, as those whom God hath placed nearest his throne of Mercy; which, as it affords you the more opportunity, so it imposeth the greater bond upon you to intercede for his people in all their straights. We beseech you, therefore, by the mercies of the Lord Jesus, to consider us as your brethren, stand- ing in very great need of your helpe, and earnestly imploring it, And howsoever your character may have met with some occasion of discouragement, through the misreport of our intentions, or through the disaffection, or indiscretion of some of us, or rather amongst us, for we are not of those who dreame of perfection in this world, yet we desire you would be pleased to take notice of the prin- ciples and body of our company as those who esteeme it an honour to call the Church of Eng- IN AMERICA. 345 land from whence ive rise, our deare Mother^ and cannot part from our native countrie, where she specially resideth, without much sadness of heart, and many tears in our eyes, ever acknow- ledging that such hope and part as we have obtained in the common salvation, we have re- ceived in her bosome, and suckt it from her breast. We leave it not, therefore, as loathing that milk wherewith we were nourished then, but blessing God for the parentage and education, as members of the same body, and shall always rejoice in her good, and unfainedly grieve for any sorrow that shall ever betide her, and while we have breathy syncerely desire and indear over the continuance and abundance of her welfare^ with the enlarge- ment of her bounds in the Kingdom of Christ Jesus. " Be pleased, therefore. Reverend Fathers and Brethren, to helpe forward this workc now in hand, which, if it prosper, you shall be the more glorious, howsoever your judgment is with the ! ord, and your reward with your God. It is an usual and laudable exercise of your charity to recommend to the prayers of your congregation the necessities and straights of your private neighbours. Doe the like for a Church springing out of your own bowels. What we intreat of you, that are the ministers of God, that we crave at the; hands of nil the rest of our brethren, that they would at no time forget us i II 1 346 THE ENGLISH I'* in their private solicitations at the throne of Grace. And so commending you to the Grace of God in Christ, we shall ever rest, " Your assured friends and brethren,* " Jo. WiNTHORPE, Gov. " and others. " From Yarmouth, ** Aboard the 'Arabella,' ••April 7th, 1630." Notwithstanding the affectionate language of this valedictory address, it appears that they knew what measures had been adopted by the first portion of the adventurers, under their agent Endicot, for establishing Congregationalism at Salem, and were fully informed of what the in- habitants of Plymouth had done. In one short month after their arrival, they commenced to lay the foundation of a church, as dissimilar as possible from that to which they had so recently called God to witness they were so warmly attached. Sub- sequently their principles were formally developed and were distinguished by Mr. Cotton, their lead- ing divine, at Boston. First. The subject matter of the visible Church, viz., saints by calling. Such as are acquainted * Some portion of the address, imploring the prayers of their dear brethren, is omitted. 'B < tJ IN AMERICA. 347 of with the principles of religion, and who profess their faith, and the manner how thev were broup-ht to the knowledge of God, by faith in Christ, either viva voce, or else by a public declaration thereof, made bv the elders, as it has been delivered to them in private, although if such profession be scan- dalized by an unchristian conversation, it is not to be regarded. Secondly. The constitutive part of a particular visible Church ought to be a re-stipulation or natural covenantry to walk together in their Christian communion, according to the rule of the Gospel. Thirdly. No Church ought to be of a larger extent, or greater number, than may ordi- narily meet together in one place, for the enjoy- ment of all the same numerical ordinances, and celebrating divine worship, nor fewer ordinarily, than may carry on Church work. Fourthly. That there is no jurisdiction to which particular Churches arc or ought to be sul)ject, by way of authoritative censure, nor to any other Church power, extrinsical to such Churches, w^iich they ought to depend upon any other sort of men for the exercise of. By the three first of these fundamental doc- trines voluntary combination was established as the principle of action ; by the last total independ- ance of the English, or any other ecclesiastical establishment, was secured. When a sufficient number of persons were gathered together, they 348 THE ENGLISH M i j |r .( :it of their own free will and accord combined, and formed a church, and by a majority of votes elected, and in the same way dismissed their minister. There were regularly two pastors to each congregation; a teacher " to minister a word of knowledge," and another " to minister a word of wisdom," a distinction which soon terminated in the appointment of one only, who was sup- ported in some places by voluntary offerings, and in others by rates ; which latter was subsequently adopted and finally enforced by law. They were sometimes designated as " teaching elders" to dis- tinguish them from " ruling elders." The latter were, " ancient, godly experienced Christians, of lion-like courage when the sound and wholesome doctrines declared by pastor or teacher are spoken against by any one." ' There were also deacons,' "plain-dealing men endowed with wisdom from above to manage the Church treasury." The synods were recognised as merely auxiliary bodies of advice ; but were not allowed to exer- cise any authority or jurisdiction over particular churches, nor pronounce censures or enforce dis- cipline. They were said to be in their own lan- guage, " consultative, decisive and declarative, but not co-active," and the union of lay and church members was thought to be typified by Moses and Aaron meeting on the Mount and kissing { f IN AMERICA. 349 each other. A miracle (which thov ridiculed when claimed by Romanists), attested the divine approbation of such institutions. On one occa- sion, when they were all assembled, a snake sud- denly appeared near the seat occupied by the Elders. Many of them shifted from it, but Mr. Thompson, of Breamtree, " a man of much faith," trod upon its head, and so held it with foot and staff till it was killed. " This being so remarkable," says Winthrop, " and nothing fall- ing but by Divine Providence, it is out of doubt, the Lord discovered somewhat of his mind in it. The serpent is the Devil, the synod the representative of the Churches of Christ in New England. The Devil had formerly and lately at- tempted their disturbance and dissolution ; but their faith in the seed of the woman, overcame him, and crushed his head." But although both the civil and religious bodies severally disclaimed all control over each other, they soon found it convenient to give and receive mutual assistance. As both belonged to the same Church, this reci- procal accommodation, it was thought, would be attended with little or no danger ; while each in its turn derived additional weight from the inter- change of protection. It is not necessary to pursue this subject into detail. Sufficient has been said to show that 350 THE ENGLISH ■I !'ij) Church and State were based on Republican prin- ciples. The intimate connection subsisting be- tweer the form of an ecclesiastical establishment, and the political opinions of its members, is mani- fest to all those acquainted with the practical working of elective institutions, In England, Dissenters almost universally support the Whigs not from love or respect, but because they are less disposed than the Tories to uphold the Church ; and are more pliable and latitudinarian. In utter ignorance that they owe their safety from persecu- tion, and, indeed, their very existence, to the shelter afforded to them by the Establishment against Popery, they idly suppose if it were prostrated, they would be advanced both in power, wealth and station. In like manner the Romanists also coalesce with them ; and notwithstanding the present outcrj^ about Papal aggression, will continue to do so, not only on similar grounds, but on a certain conviction, that if the Church of England be essentially crippled by the State, the only shield to Protestantism in Europe is destroyed, and Popery will not only be again triumphant, but universal. It is this similarity of object that has effected a political union of action between the two most irreconcilable and impracticable bodies in the world. In nothing, perhaps, is the knowledge, skill, foresight, and untiring perseverance of Rome, IN AMERICA. 351 or the ignorance and infatuation of dissent, more conspicuous. Nor is this remarkahle elective sympathy confined to England : it is exhibited in every part of the British empin; where constitu- tional government exists. END OF VOL. I. ion, >led in be 'ft LONDON: Printed by Schulze and Co., 13, Poland Street.