Chapter VI: The Tyranny of Andros (2)

In view of this new state of affairs, it was thought desirable to unite the northern English colonies under one head, so far as possible, in order to secure unity of military action. But natural prejudices had to be considered. The policy of James II. had aroused such bitter feeling in America that William must needs move with caution. Accordingly he did not seek to unite New York with New England, and he did not think it worth while to carry out the attack which James had only begun upon Connecticut and Rhode Island. As for New Hampshire, he seems to have been restrained by what in the language of modern politics would be called "pressure," brought to bear by certain local interests. [39] But in the case of the little colony founded by the Pilgrims of the Mayflower there was no obstacle. She was now annexed to Massachusetts, which also received not only Maine but even Acadia, just won from the French; so that, save for the short break at Portsmouth, the coast of Massachusetts now reached all the way from Martha's Vineyard to the Gulf of St. Lawrence. [Sidenote: Plymouth, Maine, and Acadia, annexed to Massachusetts]

But along with this great territorial extension there went some curtailment of the political privileges of the colony. By the new charter of 1692 the right of the people to be governed by a legislature of their own choosing was expressly confirmed. The exclusive right of this legislature to impose taxes was also confirmed. But henceforth no qualification of church-membership, but only a property qualification, was to be required of voters; the governor was to be appointed by the crown instead of being elected by the people; and all laws passed by the legislature were to be sent to England for royal approval. These features of the new charter,--the extension, or if I may so call it, the _secularization_ of the franchise, the appointment of the governor by the crown, and the power of veto which the crown expressly reserved,--were grave restrictions upon the independence which Massachusetts had hitherto enjoyed. Henceforth her position was to be like that of the other colonies with royal governors. But her history did not thereby lose its interest or significance, though it became, like the history of most of the colonies, a dismal record of irrepressible bickerings between the governor appointed by the crown and the legislature elected by the people. In the period that began in 1692 and ended in 1776, the movements of Massachusetts, while restricted and hampered, were at the same time forced into a wider orbit. She was brought into political sympathy with Virginia. While two generations of men were passing across the scene, the political problems of Massachusetts were assimilated to those of Virginia. In spite of all the other differences, great as they were, there was a likeness in the struggles between the popular legislature and the royal governor which subordinated them all. It was this similarity of experience, during the eighteenth century, that brought these two foremost colonies into cordial alliance during the struggle against George III., and thus made it possible to cement all the colonies together in the mighty nation whose very name is fraught with so high and earnest a lesson to mankind,--the UNITED STATES! [Sidenote: Massachusetts becomes a royal province]

For such a far-reaching result, the temporary humiliation of Massachusetts was a small price to pay. But it was not until long after the accession of William III. that things could be seen in these grand outlines. With his coronation began the struggle of seventy years between France and England, far grander than the struggle between Rome and Carthage, two thousand years earlier, for primacy in the world, for the prerogative of determining the future career of mankind. That warfare, so fraught with meaning, was waged as much upon American as upon European ground; and while it continued, it was plainly for the interest of the British government to pursue a conciliatory policy toward its American colonies, for without their wholehearted assistance it could have no hope of success. As soon as the struggle was ended, and the French power in the colonial world finally overthrown, the perpetual quarrels between the popular legislatures and the royal governors led immediately to the Stamp Act and the other measures of the British government that brought about the American revolution. People sometimes argue about that revolution as if it had no past behind it and was simply the result of a discussion over abstract principles. [Sidenote: Seeds of the American Revolution already sown]

We can now see that while the dispute involved an abstract principle of fundamental importance to mankind, it was at the same time for Americans illustrated by memories sufficiently concrete and real. James Otis in his prime was no further distant from the tyranny of Andros than middle-aged men of to-day are distant from the Missouri Compromise. The sons of men cast into jail along with John Wise may have stood silent in the moonlight on Griffin's Wharf and looked on while the contents of the tea-chests were hurled into Boston harbour. In the events we have here passed in review, it may be seen, so plainly that he who runs may read, how the spirit of 1776 was foreshadowed in 1689.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE.

An interesting account of the Barons' War and the meeting of the first House of Commons is given in Prothero's _Simon de Montfort_, London, 1877. For Wyclif and the Lollards, see Milman's _Latin Christianity_, vol. vii.

The ecclesiastical history of the Tudor period may best be studied in the works of John Strype, to wit, _Historical Memorials_, 6 vols.; _Annals of the Reformation_, 7 vols.; _Lives of Cranmer, Parker, Whitgift, etc._, Oxford, 1812-28. See also _Burnet's History of the Reformation of the Church of England_, 3 vols., London, 1679-1715; Neal's _History of the Puritans_, London, 1793; Tulloch, _Leaders of the Reformation_, Boston, 1859. A vast mass of interesting information is to be found in _The Zurich Letters, comprising the Correspondence of Several English Bishops, and Others, with some of the Helvetian Reformers_, published by the Parker Society, 4 vols., Cambridge, Eng., 1845-46. Hooker's _Ecclesiastical Polity_ was published in London, 1594; a new edition, containing two additional books, the first complete edition, was published in 1622.

For the general history of England in the seventeenth century, there are two modern works which stand far above all others,--Gardiner's _History of England_, 10 vols., London, 1883-84; and Masson's _Life of Milton, narrated in connection with the Political, Ecclesiastical, and Literary History of his Time_, 6 vols., Cambridge, Eng., 1859-80. These are books of truly colossal erudition, and written in a spirit of judicial fairness. Mr. Gardiner's ten volumes cover the forty years from the accession of James I. to the beginning of the Civil War, 1603-1643. Mr. Gardiner has lately published the first two volumes of his history of the Civil War, and it is to be hoped that he will not stop until he reaches the accession of William and Mary. Indeed, such books as his ought never to stop. My friend and colleague, Prof. Hosmer, tells me that Mr. Gardiner is a lineal descendant of Cromwell and Ireton. His little book, _The Puritan Revolution_, in the "Epochs of History" series, is extremely useful, and along with it one should read Airy's _The English Restoration and Louis XIV_., in the same series, New York, 1889. The best biography of Cromwell is by Mr. Allanson Picton, London, 1882; see also Frederic Harrison's _Cromwell_, London, 1888, an excellent little book. Hosmer's _Young Sir Henry Vane_, Boston, 1888, should be read in the same connection; and one should not forget Carlyle's _Cromwell_. See also Tulloch, _English Puritanism and its Leaders_, 1861, and _Rational Theology and Christian Philosophy in England in the Seventeenth Century_, 1872; Skeats, _History of the Free Churches of England_, London, 1868; Mountfield, _The Church and Puritans_, London, 1881. Dexter's _Congregationalism of the Last Three Hundred Years_, New York, 1880, is a work of monumental importance.

On the history of New England the best general works are Palfrey, _History of New England_, 4 vols., Boston, 1858-75; and Doyle, _The English in America--The Puritan Colonies_, 2 vols., London, 1887. In point of scholarship Dr. Palfrey's work is of the highest order, and it is written in an interesting style. Its only shortcoming is that it deals somewhat too leniently with the faults of the Puritan theocracy, and looks at things too exclusively from a Massachusetts point of view. It is one of the best histories yet written in America. Mr. Doyle's work is admirably fair and impartial, and is based throughout upon a careful study of original documents. The author is a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, and has apparently made American history his specialty. His work on the Puritan colonies is one of a series which when completed will cover the whole story of English colonization in America. I have looked in vain in his pages for any remark or allusion indicating that he has ever visited America, and am therefore inclined to think that he has not done so. He now and then makes a slight error such as would not be likely to be made by a native of New England, but this is very seldom. The accuracy and thoroughness of its research, its judicial temper, and its philosophical spirit make Mr. Doyle's book in some respects the best that has been written about New England.

Among original authorities we may begin by citing John Smith's _Description of New England_, 1616, and _New England's Trial_, 1622, contained in Arber's new edition of Smith's works, London, 1884. Bradford's narrative of the founding of Plymouth was for a long time supposed to be lost. Nathaniel Morton's _New England's Memorial_, published in 1669, was little more than an abridgment of it. After two centuries Bradford's manuscript was discovered, and an excellent edition by Mr. Charles Deane was published in the _Massachusetts Historical Collections_, 4th series, vol. iii., 1856. Edward Winslow's _Journal of the Proceedings of the English Plantation settled at Plymouth_, 1622, and _Good News from New England_, 1624, are contained, with other valuable materials, in Young's _Chronicles of the Pilgrim Fathers_, Boston, 1844. See also Shurtleff and Pulsifer, _Records of Plymouth_, 12 vols., ending with the annexation of the colony to Massachusetts in 1692; Prince's _Chronological History of New England_, ed. Drake, 1852; and in this connection Hunter's _Founders of New Plymouth_, London, 1854; Steele's _Life of Brewster_, Philadelphia, 1857; Goodwin's _Pilgrim Republic_, Boston, 1887; Bacon's _Genesis of the New England Churches_, New York, 1874; Baylies's _Historical Memoir_, 1830; Thacher's _History of the Town of Plymouth_, 1832.

Sir Ferdinando Gorges wrote a _Briefe Narration of the Originall Undertakings of the advancement of plantations into the parts of America, especially showing the beginning, progress, and continuance of that of New England_, London, 1658, contained in his grandson's collection entitled _America Painted to the Life_. Thomas Morton, of Merrymount, gave his own view of the situation in his _New English Canaan_, which has been edited for the Prince Society, with great learning, by C.F. Adams. Samuel Maverick also had his say in a valuable pamphlet entitled _A Description of New England_, which has only come to light since 1875 and has been edited by Mr. Deane. Maverick is, of course, hostile to the Puritans. See also Lechford's _Plain Dealing in New England_, ed. J.H. Trumbull, 1867.

The earliest history of Massachusetts is by Winthrop himself, a work of priceless value. In 1790, nearly a century and a half after the author's death, it was published at Hartford. The best edition is that of 1853. In 1869 a valuable life of Winthrop was published by his descendant Robert Winthrop. Hubbard's _History of New England_ (_Mass. Hist. Coll._, 2d series, vols. v., vi.) is drawn largely from Winthrop and from Nathaniel Morton. There is much that is suggestive in William Wood's _New England's Prospect_, 1634, and Edward Johnson's _Wonder-working Providence of Zion's Saviour in New England_, 1654; the latter has been ably edited by W.F. Poole, Andover, 1867. The records of the Massachusetts government, from its founding in 1629 down to the overthrow of the charter in 1684, were edited by Dr. Shurtleff in 6 vols. quarto, 1853-54; and among the documents in the British Record Office, published since 1855, three volumes--_Calendar of State Papers_, _Colonial America_, vol. i., 1574-1660; vol. v., 1661-1668; vol. vii., 1669--are especially useful. Of the later authorities the best is Hutchinson's _History of Massachusetts Bay_, the first volume of which, coming down to 1689, was published in Boston in 1764. The second volume, continuing the narrative to 1749, was published in 1767. The third volume, coming down to 1774, was found among the illustrious author's MSS. after his death, and was published in London in 1828. Hutchinson had access to many valuable documents since lost, and his sound judgment and critical acumen deserve the highest praise. In 1769 he published a volume of _Original Papers_, illustrating the period covered by the first volume of his history. Many priceless documents perished in the shameful sacking of his house by the Boston rioters, Aug. 26, 1765. The second volume of Hutchinson's _History_ was continued to 1764 by G.R. Minot, 2 vols., 1798, and to 1820 by Alden Bradford, 3 vols., 1822-29. Of recent works, the best is Barry's _History of Massachusetts_, 3 vols., 1855-57. Many original authorities are collected in Young's _Chronicles of Massachusetts_, Boston, 1846. Cotton Mather's _Magnolia Christi Americana_, London, 1702 (reprinted in 1820 and 1853), though crude and uncritical, is full of interest.

Many of the early Massachusetts documents relate to Maine. Of later books, especial mention should be made of Folsom's _History of Saco and Biddeford_, Saco, 1830; Willis's _History of Portland_, 2 vols., 1831-33 (2d ed. 1865); _Memorial Volume of the Popham Celebration_, Portland, 1862; Chamberlain's _Maine, Her Place in History_, Augusta, 1877. On New Hampshire the best general work is Belknap's _History of New Hampshire_, 3 vols., Phila., 1784-92; the appendix contains many original documents, and others are to be found in the _New Hampshire Historical Collections_, 8 vols., 1824-66.

The _Connecticut Colonial Records_ are edited by Dr. J.H. Trumbull, 12 vols., 1850-82. The _Connecticut Historical Society's Collections_, 1860-70, are of much value. The best general work is Trumbull's _History of Connecticut_, 2 vols., Hartford, 1797. See also Stiles's _Ancient Windsor_, 2 vols., 1859-63; Cothren's _Ancient Woodbury_, 3 vols., 1854-79. Of the Pequot War we have accounts by three of the principal actors. Mason's _History of the Pequod War_ is in the _Mass. Hist. Coll._, 2d series, vol. viii.; Underhill's _News from America_ is in the 3d series, vol. vi.; and Lyon Gardiner's narrative is in the 3d series, vol. iii. In the same volume with Underhill is contained _A True Relation of the late Battle fought in New England between the English and the Pequod Savages_, by Philip Vincent, London, 1638. The _New Haven Colony Records_ are edited by C.J. Hoadly, 2 vols., Hartford, 1857-58. See also the _New Haven Historical Society's Papers_, 3 vols., 1865-80; Lambert's _History of New Haven_, 1838; Atwater's _History of New Haven_, 1881; Levermore's _Republic of New Haven_, Baltimore, 1886; Johnston's _Connecticut_, Boston, 1887. The best account of the Blue Laws is by J.H. Trumbull, _The True Blue Laws of Connecticut and New Haven, and the False Blue Laws invented by the Rev. Samuel Peters_, etc., Hartford, 1876. See also Hinman's _Blue Laws of New Haven Colony_, Hartford, 1838; Barber's _History and Antiquities of New Haven_, 1831; Peters's _History of Connecticut_, London, 1781. The story of the regicides is set forth in Stiles's _History of the Three Judges_ [the third being Colonel Dixwell], Hartford, 1794; see also the _Mather Papers_ in _Mass. Hist. Coll._, 4th series, vol. viii.

_The Rhode Island Colonial Records_ are edited by J.R. Bartlett, 7 vols., 1856-62. One of the best state histories ever written is that of S.G. Arnold, _History of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations_, 2 vols., New York, 1859-60. Many valuable documents are reprinted in the _Rhode Island Historical Society's Collections_. The _History of New England, with particular reference to the denomination called Baptists_, by Rev. Isaac Backus, 3 vols., 1777-96, has much that is valuable relating to Rhode Island. The series of _Rhode Island Historical Tracts_, issued since 1878 by Mr. S.S. Rider, is of great merit. Biographies of Roger Williams have been written by J.D. Knowles, 1834; by William Gammell, 1845; and by Romeo Elton, 1852. Williams's works have been republished by the Narragansett Club in 6 vols., 1866. The first volume contains the valuable _Key to the Indian Languages of America_, edited by Dr. Trumbull. Williams's views of religious liberty are set forth in his _Bloudy Tenent of Persecution_, London, 1644; to which John Cotton replied in _The Bloudy Tenent washed and made White in the Blood of the Lamb_, London, 1647; Williams's rejoinder was entitled _The Bloudy Tenent made yet more Bloudy through Mr. Cotton's attempt to Wash it White_, London, 1652. The controversy was conducted on both sides with a candour and courtesy rare in that age. The titles of Williams's other principal works, _George Fox digged out of his Burrowes_, Boston, 1676; _Hireling Ministry none of Christ's_, London, 1652; and _Christenings make not Christians_, 1643; sufficiently indicate their character. The last-named tract was discovered in the British Museum by Dr. Dexter and edited by him in Rider's _Tracts_, No. xiv., 1881. The treatment of Roger Williams by the government of Massachusetts is thoroughly discussed in Dexter's _As to Roger Williams_, Boston, 1876. See also G.E. Ellis on "The Treatment of Intruders and Dissentients by the Founders of Massachusetts," in _Lowell Lectures_, Boston, 1869.

The case of Mrs. Hutchinson is treated, from a hostile and somewhat truculent point of view, in Thomas Welde's pamphlet entitled _A Short Story of the Rise, Reign, and Ruin of Antinomians, Familists, and Libertines that infected the Churches of New England_, London, 1644. It was answered in an anonymous pamphlet entitled _Mercurius Americanus_, republished for the Prince Society, Boston, 1876, with prefatory notice by C.H. Bell. Cotton's view of the theocracy may be seen in his _Milk for Babes, drawn out of the Breasts of both Testaments_, London, 1646; _Keyes of the Kingdom of Heaven_; and _Way of the Congregational Churches Cleared_, London, 1648. See also Thomas Hooker's _Survey of the Summe of Church Discipline_, London, 1648. The intolerant spirit of the time finds quaint and forcible expression in Nathaniel Ward's satirical book, _The Simple Cobbler of Aggawam_, 1647.

For the Gorton controversy the best original authorities are his own book entitled _Simplicitie's Defence against Sevenheaded Polity_, London, 1646; and Winslow's answer entitled _Hypocracie Unmasked_, London, 1646. See also Mackie's _Life of Samuel Gorton_, Boston, 1845, and Brayton's _Defence of Samuel Gorton_, in Rider's _Tracts_, No. xvii.

For the early history of the Quakers, see Robert Barclay's _Inner Life of the Religious Societies of the Commonwealth_, London, 1876,--an admirable book. See also _New England a Degenerate Plant_, 1659; Bishop's _New England judged by the Spirit of the Lord_, 1661; Sewel's _History of the Quakers_, 1722; Besse's _Sufferings of the Quakers_, 1753; _The Popish Inquisition newly erected in New England_, London, 1659; _The Secret Works of a Cruel People made Manifest_, 1659; and the pamphlet of the martyrs Stevenson and Robinson, entitled _A Call from Death to Life_, 1660. John Norton's view of the case was presented in his book, _The Heart of New England Rent at the Blasphemies of the Present Generation_, London, 1660. See also J.S. Pike's _New Puritan_, New York, 1879; Hallowell's _Pioneer Quakers_, Boston, 1887; and his _Quaker Invasion of Massachusetts_, Boston, 1883; Brooks Adams, _The Emancipation of Massachusetts_, Boston, 1887; Ellis, _The Puritan Age and Rule_, Boston, 1888.

Some additional light upon the theocratic idea may be found in a treatise by the apostle Eliot, _The Christian Commonwealth; or, the Civil Polity of the Rising Kingdom of Jesus Christ_, London, 1659. An account of Eliot's missionary work is given in _The Day breaking, if not the Sun rising, of the Gospel with the Indians in New England_, London, 1647; and _The Glorious Progress of the Gospel amongst the Indians in New England_, 1649. See also Shepard's _Clear Sunshine of the Gospel breaking forth upon the Indians_, 1648; and Whitfield's _Light appearing more and more towards the Perfect Day_, 1651.

The principal authority for Philip's war is Hubbard's _Present State of New England, being a Narrative of the Troubles with the Indians_, 1677. Church's _Entertaining Passages relating to Philip's War_, published in 1716, and republished in 1865, with notes by Mr. Dexter, is a charming book. See also Mrs. Rowlandson's _True History_, Cambridge, Mass., 1682; Mather's _Brief History of the War_, 1676; Drake's _Old Indian Chronicle_, Boston, 1836; Gookin's _Historical Collections of the Indians in New England_, 1674; and _Account of the Doings and Sufferings of the Christian Indians_, in _Archchaeologia Americana_, vol. ii. Batten's _Journal_ is the diary of a citizen of Boston, sent to England, and it now in MS. among the _Colonial Papers_. Mrs. Mary Pray's letter (Oct. 20, 1675) is in _Mass. Hist. Coll._, 5th series, vol. i. p. 105.

The great storehouse of information for the Andros period is the _Andros Tracts_, 3 vols., edited for the Prince Society by W.H. Whitmore. See also Sewall's _Diary, Mass. Hist. Coll._, 5th series, vols. v.--viii. Sewall has been appropriately called the Puritan Pepys. His book is a mirror of the state of society in Massachusetts at the time when it was beginning to be felt that the old theocratic idea had been tried in the balance and found wanting. There is a wonderful charm in such a book. It makes one feel as if one had really "been there" and taken part in the homely scenes, full of human interest, which it so naively portrays. Anne Bradstreet's works have been edited by J.H. Ellis, Charlestown, 1867.

For further references and elaborate bibliographical discussions, see Winsor's _Narrative and Critical History of America_, vol. iii.; and his _Memorial History of Boston_, 4 vols., Boston, 1880. There is a good account of the principal New England writers of the seventeenth century, with illustrative extracts, in Tyler's _History of American Literature_, 2 vols., New York, 1878. For extracts see also the first two volumes of Stedman and Hutchinson's _Library of American Literature_, New York, 1888.

In conclusion I would observe that town histories, though seldom written in a philosophical spirit and apt to be quite amorphous in structure, are a mine of wealth for the philosophic student of history.

NOTES:

[1] Milman, _Lat. Christ._ vii. 395.

[2] Gardiner, _The Puritan Revolution_, p. 12.

[3] Green, _History of the English People_, iii. 47.

[4] Steele's _Life of Brewster,_ p. 161.

[5] Gardiner, _Puritan Revolution_, p. 50.

[6] It is now 204 years since a battle has been fought in England. The last was Sedgmoor in 1685. For four centuries, since Bosworth, in 1485, the English people have lived in peace in their own homes, except for the brief episode of the Great Rebellion, and Monmouth's slight affair. This long peace, unparalleled in history, has powerfully influenced the English and American character for good. Since the Middle Ages most English warfare has been warfare at a distance, and that does not nourish the brutal passions in the way that warfare at home does. An instructive result is to be seen in the mildness of temper which characterized the conduct of our stupendous Civil War. Nothing like it was ever seen before.

[7] Picton's _Cromwell_, pp. 61, 67; Gardiner, _Puritan Revolution_, p. 72.

[8] Quincy, History of Harvard University, ii. 654.

[9] C.F. Adams, _Sir Christopher Gardiner, Knight_, p. 31.

[10] The compact drawn up in the Mayflower's cabin was not, in the strict sense a constitution, which is a document defining and limiting the functions of government. Magna Charta partook of the nature of a written constitution, as far as it went, but it did not create a government.

[11] See Johnston's Connecticut, p. 321, a very brilliant book.

[12] See the passionate exclamation of Endicott, below, p. 190.

[13] Excursions of an Evolutionist: pp. 250, 255.

[14] A glimmer of light upon Gorton may be got from reading the title-page of one of his books: "AN INCORRUPTIBLE KEY, composed of the CX PSALME, wherewith you may open the Rest of the Holy Scriptures; Turning itself only according to the Composure and Art of that Lock, of the Closure and Secresie of that great Mystery of God manifest in the Flesh, but justified only by the Spirit, which it evidently openeth and revealeth, out of Fall and Resurrection, Sin and Righteousness, Ascension and Descension, Height and Depth, First and Last, Beginning and Ending, Flesh and Spirit, Wisdome and Foolishnesse, Strength and Weakness, Mortality and Immortality, Jew and Gentile, Light and Darknesse, Unity and Multiplication, Fruitfulness and Barrenness, Curse and Blessing, Man and Woman, Kingdom and Priesthood, Heaven and Earth, Allsufficiency and Deficiency, God and Man. And out of every Unity made up of twaine, it openeth that great two-leafed Gate, which is the sole Entrie into the City of God, of New Jerusalem, _into which none but the King of glory can enter_; and as that Porter openeth the Doore of the Sheepfold, _by which whosoever entreth is the Shepheard of the Sheep_; See Isa. 45. 1. Psal. 24. 7, 8, 9, 10. John 10. 1, 2, 3; Or, (according to the Signification of the Word translated _Psalme_,) it is a Pruning-Knife, to lop off from the Church of Christ all superfluous Twigs _of earthly and carnal Commandments_, Leviticall Services or Ministery, and fading and vanishing Priests, or Ministers, who are taken away and cease, and are not established and confirmed by Death, as holding no Correspondency with the princely Dignity, Office, and Ministry of our _Melchisedek_, who is the only Minister and Ministry of the Sanctuary, and of that true Tabernacle which the Lord pitcht, and not Man. For it supplants the Old Man, and implants the New; abrogates the Old Testament or Covenant, and confirms the New, unto a thousand Generations, or in Generations forever. By Samuel Gorton, _Gent._, and at the time of penning hereof, in the Place of Judicature (upon Aquethneck, alias Road Island) of Providence Plantations in the Nanhyganset Bay, New England. Printed in the Yeere 1647."

[15] Father of Benedict Arnold, afterward governor of Rhode Island, and owner of the stone windmill (apparently copied from one in Chesterton, Warwickshire) which was formerly supposed by some antiquarians to be a vestige of the Northmen. Governor Benedict Arnold was great-grandfather of the traitor.

[16] _Gorton, Simplicitie's Defence against Seven-headed Policy_, p. 88.

[17] De Forest, _History of the Indians of Connecticut_, Hartford, 1850, p. 198.

[18] Doyle, _Puritan Colonies_, i. 324.

[19] See below, p. 222, note.

[20] See my _Excursions of an Evolutionist,_ pp. 239-242, 250-255, 286-289.

[21] Gorton's life at Warwick, after all these troubles, seems to have been quiet and happy. He died in 1677 at a great age. In 1771 Dr. Ezra Stiles visited, in Providence, his last surviving disciple, born in 1691. This old man said that Gorton wrote in heaven, and none can understand his books except those who live in heaven while on earth.

[22] Doyle, _Puritan Colonies_,: i. 369.

[23] Doyle, i.: 372.

[24] Milman, _Latin Christianity_, vii. 390.

[25] Doyle, ii. 133, 134; Rhode Island Records, i. 377, 378.

[26] Colonial Laws of Massachusetts, pp. 14-16; Levermore's Republic of New Haven, p. 153.

[27] See my remarks above, p. 145.

[28] The daring passage in the sermon is thus given in Bacon's _Historical Discourses_, New Haven, 1838: "Withhold not countenance, entertainment, and protection from the people of God--whom men may call fools and fanatics--if any such come to you from other countries, as from France or England, or any other place. Be not forgetful to entertain strangers. Remember those that are in bonds, as bound with them. The Lord required this of Moab, saying, 'Make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts; bewray not him that wandereth. Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; be thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler.' Is it objected--'But so I may expose myself to be spoiled or troubled'? He, therefore, to remove this objection, addeth, 'For the extortioner is at an end, the spoiler ceaseth, the oppressors are consumed out of the land.' While we are attending to our duty in owning and harbouring Christ's witnesses, God will be providing for their and our safety, by destroying those that would destroy his people."

[29] Palfrey, _History of New England,_ in. 138-140.

[30] See Parkman, _Conspiracy of Pontiac_, i. 80-85.

[31] De Forest, _History of the Indians of Connecticut,_ pp. 252, 257.

[32] The story rests chiefly upon the statements of Hutchinson, an extremely careful and judicious writer, and not in the least what the French call a _gobemouche_. Goffe kept a diary which came into Hutchinson's possession, and was one of the priceless manuscripts that perished in the infamous sacking of his house by the Boston mob of August 26, 1765. What light that diary might have thrown upon the matter can never be known. Hutchinson was born in 1711, only thirty-six years after the event, so that his testimony is not so very far removed from that of a contemporary. Whalley seems to have died in Hadley shortly before 1675, and Goffe deemed it prudent to leave that neighbourhood in 1676. His letters to Increase Mather are dated from "Ebenezer," i. e., wherever in his roamings he set up his Ebenezer. One of these letters, dated September 8, 1676, shows that his Ebenezer was then set up in Hartford, where probably he died about 1679 In 1676 the arrival of Edward Randolph (see below, p. 256) renewed the peril of the regicide judge, and his sudden removal from his skilfully contrived hiding-place at Hadley might possibly have been due to his having exposed himself to recognition in the Indian fight. Possibly even the supernatural explanation might have been started, with a touch of Yankee humour, as a blind. The silence of Mather and Hubbard was no more remarkable than some of the other ingenious incidents which had so long served to conceal the existence of this sturdy and crafty man. The reasons for doubting the story are best stated by Mr. George Sheldon of Deerfield, in _Hist.-Genealogical Register_, October, 1874.

[33] If Philip was half the diplomatist that he is represented in tradition, he never would have gone into such a war without assurance of Narragansett help. Canonchet was a far more powerful sachem than Philip, and played a more conspicuous part in the war. May we not suppose that Canonchet's desire to avenge his father's death was one of the principal incentives to the war; that Philip's attack upon Swanzey was a premature explosion; and that Canonchet then watched the course of events for a while before making up his mind whether to abandon Philip or support him?

[34] A wretched little werewolf who some few years ago, being then a lad of fourteen or fifteen years, most cruelly murdered two or three young children, just to amuse himself with their dying agonies. The misdirected "humanitarianism," which in our country makes every murderer an object of popular sympathy, prevailed to save this creature from the gallows. Massachusetts has lately witnessed a similar instance of misplaced clemency in the case of a vile woman who had poisoned eight or ten persons, including some of her own children, in order to profit by their life insurance. Such instances help to explain the prolonged vitality of "Judge Lynch," and sometimes almost make one regret the days in old England when William Probert, after escaping in 1824 as "king's evidence," from the Thurtell affair, got caught and hanged within a twelvemonth for horse-stealing. Any one who wishes to study the results of allowing criminality to survive and propagate itself should read Dugdale's The Jukes; Hereditary Crime, New York, 1877.

[35] Weeden, _Indian Money as a Factor in New England Civilization_, Johns Hopkins University Studies, II. viii., ix. p. 30.

[36] Doyle, ii. 253.

[37] Doyle, _Puritan Colonies_, ii. 254.

[38] The quotation is from an unpublished letter of Rev. Robert Ratcliffe to the Bishop of London, cited in an able article in the _Boston Herald_, January 4, 1888. I have not seen the letter.

[39] Doyle, _Puritan Colonies_, ii. 379, 380.

End of Project Gutenberg's The Beginnings of New England, by John Fiske