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YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

THE PURITAN REPUBLIC

THE

PURITAN REPUBLIC

of

IN NEW ENGLAND

By
DANIEL WAIT HOWE

5/ Monumentum Requlrls, Circumsplce

INDIANAPOLIS
THE BOWEN-MERRILL COMPANY
PoblisLets

Copyright 1899
The Bovcfi-Mcrzill Gompinx

Eraunworth, Mimn & Barber,
Printers and Bookbinders.
16 Nassau Street, Brooklyn, N. Y.

TO THE MEMORY OF
JOHN HOWE
OF SUDBURY AND MARLBOROUGH, MASS.
AND HIS
ASSOCIATES OF THE PURITAN COMMONWEALTH
OF MASSACHUSETTS BAY
THIS VOLUME IS
INSCRIBED

PREFACE
No period in the history of this country is more interest
ing than that covered by the Puritan commonwealth of Mas
sachusetts Bay. About no other, not even the revolution
ary period, has so much been written. That interest in it
does not flag is evidenced by the great number of books and
magazine articles relating to that period which have been
published in recent times. Every phase of life in the Puri
tan age has received minute investigation and critical dis
cussion. Old records and documents have been searched,
and a vast flood of light has been turned upon the religious,
the political, the economic, the industrial, and the social life
of the early Puritans. Merely to indicate the bibliography
relating to that period would require much space.
The so-called Theocracy of the Massachusetts common
wealth has been a fruitful theme, and the discussion of its
religious intolerance seems to be as earnest, and almost as
rancorous, today as it was at any former period.
Up to the year 1856, there had been a great deal written
by the historians designated by Mr. Fiske as "ancestor-
worshipers," who found little to condemn in the Puritans
of the commonwealth period. In that year Mr. Peter Oliver
published a volume entitled "The Puritan Commonwealth."
It is written in keen, vigorous and classic language, but no
attempt is made by the author to conceal his prejudices. His
vindictive feeling against the early Puritans is so manifest
on every page as naturally to excite distrust of every state-
(vii)

viii PREFACE.
ment he makes, and to suggest the answer to all his argu
ments. In 1886, Mr, Brooks Adams published a volume entitled
"The Emancipation of Massachusetts." The chief differ
ence between Mr. Oliver and Mr Adams is, that the former
hated all the Puritans alike, while the latter's animosity is
directed principally against the ministers, whom he styles the
"priests." Many of Mr. Adams's deductions from historical facts
seem to be as far-fetched as those which he tells us he has
drawn from Mr. Frank Cushing's "unpublished results" of
his researches among the Zuni Indians of New Mexico and
Arizona, which, as Mr. Adams afi&rms, "seem to lead to
well-defined conclusions when applied to New England his
tory." The published results of these researches are val
uable and interesting, but it is only by the aid of a very vivid
or eccentric imagination that we can find in them anything
throwing any light upon New England history or upon the
religion and character of the Puritan ministers.
Mr. Hallowell has also appeared on the field with a book
about "The Quaker Invasion of Massachusetts," and shows
by the vigor with which he espouses their cause that time
has not abated either the zeal or the resentment of the Quak
ers against their ancient Puritan persecutors. Charles Fran
cis Adams, in 1893, contributed a volume entitled "Massa
chusetts, Its Historians and Its History," relating chiefly
to what he terms the "theologico-glacial" period, or "ice
age," in Massachusetts. He, too, takes issue with the "an
cestor-worshipers" — the historians of what he calls the
' ' filio-pietistic' ' school .
It is against the Theocracy that the most malignant at
tacks have been made by modern writers ; and when we
read the maledictions which they hurl against the old Puri
tan ministers indiscriminately, we can not avoid thinking-
that they have improved but little on the pirate of whom the

PREFACE. IX
Story is told that, having caught a New England fisherman,
he compelled the poor man, as a grim joke, to jump up and
curse Cotton Mather three times.
Mr. Palfrey, the great historian of New England, has
written a history of the Massachusetts Puritans that will
stand as an enduring monument to himself as well as to
them; and Dr. Ellis, in "The Puritan Age in Massachu
setts" (1888), has said in a dispassionate and candid way
about all that can be said in behalf of the Puritans against
the charge of religious intolerance.
From the standpoint of an Englishman, writing at the
close of the nineteenth century, we have the recent work of
Mr. Doyle (published in 1889), "The English Colonies in
America — The Puritan Colonies." It is manifest that his
work was very carefully prepared after an exhaustive study of
all the attainable authorities, and probably no other author,
English or American, has given the subject of the religious
and political policy of the Massachusetts Puritan common
wealth more careful study, or has discussed it more dispas
sionately, or has expressed his conclusions with more judi
cial fairness. Still it is doubtful if any American writer
would agree with all of Mr. Doyle's conclusions.
There seems to be no end of the books, magazine articles,
pamphlets and addresses relating to the Theocracy, and the
diversity of opinion manifested after so great a lapse of
time goes to prove that, try as we may, we can not wholly
divest our minds of the influence of inherited ideas, trans
mitted from generation to generation. These, even after the
lapse of more than two centuries, still retain vitality and
force enough to mold the opinions of men, and to cause
them to travel apart, in a more orderly way, it is true, but
still on much the same old lines on which our ancestors sep
arated from each other.
Indeed thevery subject seems to breed a contagion of dis
sent, so that, in discussing the religious and political policy

X PREFACE.
of the Massachusetts Puritan commonwealth, modern com
mentators seem to have reached the point at which the early
Puritans themselves at one period arrived — when no one
agreed with any other in any opinion whatever. It is not
probable, therefore, that there will soon be an end of books
about the Puritan commonwealth, or an end of differences of
opinion among men who write about them.
The difficulty of finding out the truth in regard to any
matter that was the subject of controversy in the early days
of the commonwealth is forcibly expressed by one of the
correspondents of Mr, Savage, as appears in a note to his
edition of Winthrop's History of New England (Vol. I, p.
59): "I have," says this correspondent, "lost nearly all
confidence as to the truth of what is related. I see in my
own times that I can not get at the truth of what passes be
fore my own eyes. How, then, can I know what took place
two hundred years ago, when I have no evidence but that
which is distorted by the worst passions."
Where so much has been written, it would be presumption
to lay claim to great originality in either material or thought.
What I have aimed to do is to bring together, in a volume
of moderate size, some of the features in the history of the
government and people of the Massachusetts Puritan com
monwealth, that I thought would be most interesting to the
people of today, and especially to those who are descend
ants of the early Puritans. I have attempted to describe the
public and the private life of the early Puritans, their cus
toms, their characteristics, their struggles to establish and
maintain themselves against so many odds in "this remote
corner of the earth." In doing this, I have endeavored to
portray the early Puritans as they would have wished to be
portrayed; as Cromwell wished to be portrayed when he
said to the painter: "Paint me as I am, warts and all."
I have essayed the still more difficult task of tracing the

PREFACE. XI
evolution of a commonwealth from a colony, of a constitu
tion from a charter, of a republic from a corporation.
No inconsiderable part of the labor in the preparation of
this volume has been devoted to an attempt to show the de
velopment of republican ideas and institutions. This sub
ject could not conveniently, in accordance with the plan of
the volume, be treated separately, but the main purpose of
ChaptersXII to XVII, inclusive, isto illustrate it. References
to all portions of the volume which help to an understand
ing of it are grouped together in the index, under the title
"Republic." I do not believe in all the beliefs of the Puritan Fathers,
but I thoroughly believe in them — in their manhood, their
fortitude, their patriotism, their integrity, their devotion to
duty, their reverent recognition of God in all their public
and private affairs — the qualities that have made them pre
eminent as the most striking figures in all the history of
American civilization.
I can say with the great historian. Palfrey, that "with
the belief which I entertain, I could not have been admit
ted to any church established by the Fathers, if, indeed
an attempt to propagate my belief would not have made
me an exile from their society, ' ' I can also say with him
that, while endeavoring to be veracious and just, "I should
have been neither if I had affected to conceal my venera
tion for the founders of New England,"
Some things they did that we can not justify, and for
which it is difficult to find even a reasonable excuse, but
they did a great deal more, for which their posterity must
be forever grateful.
I am indebted for kindly aid in the preparation of this
volume to many persons, but to no one more than to Mr.
Charles R. Williams, for his patient oversight and valuable
suggestions. Daniel Wait Howe.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER I

THE BEGINNING
The village of Scrooby i
The Scrooby congregation of Separatists i
Persecutions of the early Puritans in England i
Efforts to escape from England 2
Emigration to Holland 3
Condition of the emigrants there 3
Emigration of Leyden congregation to America 4
The Plymouth colony 4
Continued persecution of the Puritans in England 5
Archbishop Laud and his persecution of the Puritans 5
The Star Chamber and the High Commission 7
Subserviency of English courts and judges in reign of Charles I 7
Inhuman punishment of the Puritans 8
Difficulty of escaping from England 8
Rev. John White of Scrooby 10
His life and character 10
His efforts to establish a colony in America 12
Motives of him and of his aiders in the enterprise 12
A grant of land obtained and Endicott goes to America 15
Charter procured for "the governor and company of the Massachu
setts Bay in New England " 16
Transfer of charter to America 16
John Winthrop chosen governor 17
Address issued by colonists prior to their departure from England 17
Their designs as to future government 18
Winthrop and company sail from Yarmouth 18
Colonists gathered from all parts of England 19
Character of the early colonists 19
Character of John Winthrop 20
Character of John Endicott 21
Situation of colonists upon their arrival in America 24

(xiii)

xiv TABLE OF CONTENTS.
White predecessors of colonists in Massachusetts 25
Establishing settlements ^S
Sufferings during first winter 26

CHAPTER II
MAKING A GOVERNMENT
Founded upon the charter 27
Question as to right to transfer the charter to America 27
Why charter was prized by the colonists 28
Proprietary rights granted by charter 28
Power granted to elect governor and other officers 29
Power to make laws, etc. 29
Power to make war 29
Limitations upon powers granted 30
Implied powers 31
Sovereign control not relinquished 32
Large jurisdictional territory left undefined 32
Construction of charter by the colonists 33
' Powers of the governor 34
Establishing a seat of government 34
First meeting of court of assistants 34
Providing for the ministers 34
Appointing justices 34
Admission of new freemen 35
Efforts of assistants to perpetuate their power 35
None but church members admitted freemen 36
Freemen resume exercise of right to elect governor, etc. 36
Restriction of right of suffrage to freemen 36
Oaths of fidelity and allegiance 36
Exercise of legislative power 38
Establishing courts 38
Exercise of taxing power 38
Military measures 38
Other steps taken to establish a government 39
First matter attended to by General Court 39
How General Court enforced respect for its authority 39
Enforcing respect for the ministers .q
Surveillance over strangers .j
Banishment for immoral conduct and for religious opinions 41
Strict laws against strangers , j
Law as to excommunicated persons . j

TABLE OF CONTENTS. XV
Progress in establishing a government in first ten years 42
Inconveniences resulting from absence of a code of laws 43
Rules for administering justice in the absence of laws 43
Further evils resulting from absence of a code of laws 44
* Efforts to establish a code of laws 45
Committee appointed to draft code 45
Rev. John Cotton's " Moses, His Judicials " 45
Another committee appointed 46
Body of Liberties adopted 47

CHAPTER III
PURITAN LAWS, LAWYERS AND COUKTS *^'

,0-'/

Study of their laws essential to understanding history of the Mas
sachusetts Puritans 48
Explanation of delay in adopting code of 48
Rev. Nathaniel Ward's work in framing Body of Liberties 49
Why Body of Liberties so called 49
Protection of life, liberty and property under 49
Rights of foreigners 50
Trial by jury secured 50
Torture and inhuman punishment forbidden 50
Slavery and villeinage, provisions as to 50
Refugees from other countries protected 50
Crimes punished capitally 50
Scriptural authority for capital punishment 51
Transmission of property 51
Re-enactment of English statute of amendments and jeofails 51
. Monopolies forbidden 51
Libel and slander 51
Revisions of 1649, 1660 and 1672 52
Whitmore's edition of colonial laws 52
Illegal voting 52
Revenue laws 53
Tenure of lands defined 53
Indian titles recognized 53
Towns authorized to dispose of their lands 54
Law of descents 54-
Divorces 55
Husband's authority over wife 55
Parents and children 55
Servants 55

xvi TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Slavery 55
Various other laws 5"
Penalties inflicted for violations of laws S6
Laws rigidly enforced 5^
Enforced impartially 5^
Extensive scope of legislation 59
Examples of early laws and punishments 59
Great number of local officers 6o
How Puritan laws should be judged 6i
Comparison of -Puritan laws with those of England 6i
Comparison with those of other American colonies 62
Law against witchcraft 62
Body of Liberties contained essential principles of Magna Charta 63
Courts in early period of commonwealth 63
Forms of judicial proceedings 65
Jurors permitted to consult ministers 65
Deficiency in records 65
Law books in commonwealth period 66
Lawyers during that period 66
Professional lawyers ignored 67
Legal documents drawn by justices and ministers 68
No fees allowed lawyers 68
Prejudice against the lawyers 68
Lawyers ineligible to seat in General Court 69
Patrons as substitutes for lawyers 69
Lechford's attempt to practice law 69
Lack of learned judges 70
Judge Samuel Sewall 71
His education and conscientiousness 71
His advice to Justice Davenport 72
His opposition to slavery 73
His diary and letters 72
No development of law as a science 74
Evil results of want of learned lawyers and judges 74
Absence of influence of lawyers in restraining the Theocracy 75
Conservative tendency of the legal profession 75
CHAPTER IV
THE PURITANS AND THE INDIANS
Plague among the Indians prior to arrival of the colonists 77
No semblance of organized government among 77
Their title to land recognized by the colonists 77

TABLE OF CONTENTS. XVII
Uncontrollable appetite for intoxicating liquor 78
Efforts to civilize and convert them 78
The " Praying Indians " 78
Troubles with the Pequots 79
Efforts of Sassacus to unite Pequots and Narragansetts against
the colonists 79
Precarious situation of the colonists 79
Defeat and extermination of the Pequots 80
The alternative presented to the colonists 81
Indians continue to be hostile 82
Claims of the Indians 82
Claims of the colonists 82
Indians become better prepared for war 83
Appearance of King Philip as a leader 84
Injustice of Massachusetts historians to King Philip 84
His abilities as a leader 85
The master spirit of the Indian coalition 86
His untiring efforts to form such coalition 8S
Beginning of King Philip's war 87
Its sanguinary character 88
Attack upon Canonchet and his defeat 90
Canonchet captured and Philip slain 91
Effects of the war upon the colony 91
Effects of the war upon the Indians 92
Puritan ideas of the red man 93
CHAPTER V
DOMESTIC AND SOCIAL LIFB
Large Families 94
dwelling-houses 94
Their construction 94
How heated and lighted 95
Glass and oiled paper in windows 95
The kitchen 95
Furniture 96
Winthrop's reproof of deputy for extravagance in household
furniture 96
Improvement in houses and furniture 96
Apparel 97
Styles of women's dresses 97
Laws against extravagance in dress 98
ii — Pur. Rep.

xviii TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Rev. Nathaniel Ward's sermon against ungodliness of female
attire 99
Debate between Rev. Roger Williams and Rev. John Cotton
on women's veils loo
Punishment for wicked apparel loi
Protests against men wearing long hair 102
Food and Drink 103
Thanksgiving dinners 103
Increase of intemperance and laws to restrain 104
Tea 104
Tobacco ; Laws Against Use of 104
Inns and Ordinaries 105
As news centers 105
Governmental supervision of 105
Celebrated colonial inns 107
Roads and Travel 108
Old colonial roads 108
Modes of travel 108
Public Days, Holidays, Etc. 109
Celebration of Christmas and other English holidays prohibited 109
Fast and Thanksgiving days 109
Thursday lecture days 109
Election days no
Amusements, Games, Etc. no
Laws against no
Theatrical entertainments and singing schools no
Hunting parties, house raisings, etc. lii
Courtship and Marriage hi
Opportunities for and restrictions upon " courting " 112
Laws as to marriage 112
Marriage etiquette 113
Judge Sewall's courtships 113
Marriage portions and bridal outfits 120
John Hull's daughter's marriage portion 120
Judith Sewall's marriage outfit 121
Beulah Howe's marriage portion 122
.,;¦ Curious experiment of General Court to compel husband and
wife to live together 123
Suits for breach of promise of marriage 124
Doctors j2^
Punishment of quacks jj/
Funerals jj.
How conducted ,2.
Early burying grounds ,2,;

TABLE OF CONTENTS. XIX

Monuments and tombstones

126

Giving presents at funerals

126

Expenses of funerals of widow of Rev. John Norton and of Rev.

John Cobbett

127

Law restraining extravagance at funerals

127

Rank

127

Early distinctions

128

Titles

128

Family arms

129

CHAPTER VI
INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL LIFE
-Laws Against Idleness 130
Single persons disposed to service 130
Parents required to put children to work 131
Tithing-men required to put idlers to work 131
Agriculture 131
Fertility of soil 131
Domestic animals 132
Agricultural implements 132
Laws for benefit of farmers 132
Fishing i33
Mechanical Trades 133
Manufactures i33
Mills 133
Tanneries 133
Salt manufactories 133
Pottery at Salem 133
Iron works at Lynn I33
Encouragement of spinning 133
Weaving at Rowley 134
Commerce with other Colonies and Countries 134
Currency i34
Scarcity of money 134
Wampum currency I3S
Musket balls made legal tender 13S
Barter currency authorized 135
Mint established 13^
Pine tree shillings 137
No banks nor paper currency 137
No "fiat" money 137

XX TABLE OF CCNTENTS.
Wages and Prices 138
Regulation of by law I38
Trial of Robert Keayne for extortion 140
Rev. John Cotton's rules for trading 142
Inability to enforce laws regulating wages and prices 143

CHAPTER VII
FRONTIER LIFE
Differences between urban and rural life 145
Settlement of Watertown 145
Settlement of Sudbury 146
Permission of General Court necessary to establish a settlement 146
Laying off the boundaries 147
Purchasing the Indian title 147
Allotment of lands 147
Military features prominent in frontier life 148
Organization of the militia 148
Enforcing attendance on military exercises 148
Infantry, cavalry and artillery organizations 148
Forts and garrison houses 149
Military watches and sentinels 150
Training fields 150
Muster days 150
Indian attack on Marlborough 151
Apprehension of Indian wars 151
Public enterprises 152
Few artisans 152
Occupations of the settlers 152
Staple crops 152
Almost everything made by hand and at home 152
"An Evening at Home " on the frontier 153
How monotony of work was relieved 155
Growth and prosperity of frontier settlements prior to King Philip's
war 156
Inventory of a prosperous farmer icy
Settlers not injured by lack of dissipation and amusement 158
Recuperation of frontier towns after King Philip's war 158
Attention of settlers to moral and intellectual needs of community 159
Settlers continually pushing out the frontier ijg
Settlement of Marietta, Ohio jcq

TABLE OF CONTENTS. Xxi

CHAPTER VIII
THE PURITAN SABBATH
Began on Saturday night i6o
Similarity to Scotch Saturday night i6o
No "courting" on Saturday night allowed in commonwealth 163
Laws enforcing observance of Sabbath 163
Strict enforcement of these laws 164
The meeting-house 165
How heated 165
Interior arrangement 166
Seating and dignifying the meeting-house 167
The minister and the visiting minister 167
The tithing-man's duty at the church services 168
Puritan boys in church 168
How the congregation was summoned 169
Order of exercises 169
Instrumental music 170
Hymn books used 170
Setting the tune 171
The noon-house 171
Taking up the collection 172
Close of services and dispersing of the congregation 172

CHAPTER IX
EDUCATION, BOOKS AND LITERATURE
Early laws for education of children and apprentices 174
Only orthodox teachers employed 174
Beginning of Harvard college 174
Early book stores 175
Private libraries 175
Rev. Cotton Mather's library 175
John Winthrop's library 176
Elder Brewster's library 176
Judge Sewall's books I77
Cost of books 178
Governmental supervision over printing 179
Number and kind of early publications 179
Winthrop's History of Netu England 180

xxu TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Johnson's Wonder-'worhing Providence l8o
Mason's History of Pequot War l8o
Gookin ; Historical Collection, etc, l8o
Historical Account, etc, l8o
History of Ne-w England l8l
Higginson's Ne-m England's Plantation l8l
Wood's Neiu England's Prospect l8l
Josselyn's New England Rarities and T'wo Voyages l8l
Anne Bradstreet's Poems l8i
Michael Wigglesworth's Poems 183
Ability to write poetry a necessary accomplishment 183
The ancient "elegies" 184
Charles Francis Adams's criticism of the books of the "Theologico-
Glacial" period 184
Juvenile literature 186
The Bay Psalm-book 186
The New England Primer 186
Early almanacs 187
Religious books, etc. 188
Industry of the Puritan ministers 188
Rev. Nathaniel Ward's writings 189
Rev. John Cotton's writings i8ij
Rev. John Norton's writings 189
Comparison of the religious books and law books of the 17th cen
tury 191
Learning of the early New England clergy ig2
Prodigious influence of their books and sermons 192

CHAPTER X
THE RISE AND FALL OF THE THEOCRACY
Cardinal ideas of founders of the Massachusetts commonwealth 193
Character of their religion jn.
The Theocracy not recognized as a distinct body 105
Composed of a small minority j^c
Learning and industry of the ministers iq5
Their fearless disposition j--
Their religious views in accord with those of the first settlers 197
Isolation of colonies tended to bind them closer to the ministers 197
Great affection existing between ministers and their congregations 197
First care of colonists to provide for ministers 108
None but church members admitted freemen ion
Law as to strangers

TABLE OF CONTENTS. XXUt
Laws against Baptists and Quakers 200
Extension of laws as to blasphemy and heresy 200
Care to see that churches were orthodox 202
Modification of Body of Liberties to prevent organization of any but
orthodox churches 202
None but orthodox ministers allowed to be called to the churches 204
Laws prohibiting building of any but orthodox meeting-houses 204
Closing doors of Baptist meeting-house in Boston 204
Laws enforcing respect for ministers 204
Laws against disturbing church services 204
Laws enforcing attendance on religious services and observance of
the Sabbath 205
Laws for Godly bringing up of the children and servants 205
Teachers in schools and college required to be orthodox 206
Attempts of Theocracy to regulate men's secret thoughts 206
Same men who composed the churches also voters at the town
meetings 207
Power of ministers to exclude from church membership 207
Great influence of the ministers 207
Their power in General Court and in all civil and domestic affairs 208
Intima^te union between church and state 209
Tendency to religious tyranny and persecution 209
Effect of vesting unlimited power in ecclesiastics 209
Power of clergy fully recognized by civil authorities 2og
Opposition to advance of the Theocracy 210
The banishment of the Brownes 210
Contest of Theocracy with Rev. Roger Williams 211
His character 211
His religious views 212
His views of government 212
His banishment 212
Subsequent disputation between him and Rev. John Cotton 212
Modification in later life of Williams of his views as to Quakers,
religious toleration, etc. 213
His affectionate regard for Massachusetts and for Winthrop 213
His services to Massachusetts in the Indian wars 2:4
Shabby treatment of Williams in his old age by the Massachu
setts authorities 214
Antinomian controversy 215
Ann Hutchinson 215
Her teachings 215
Doctrines of her disciples 215
Rev. John Wheelwright becomes a convert 216.

XXIV TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Rev. John Cotton much impressed by her teachings 216
Sir Henry Vane sides with her 216
People and ministers divided 217
Wheelwright tried and convicted of heresy 217
Remonstrance against proceedings in his case 218
Contest for governorship between Vane and Winthrop 218
Rev. John Wilson's "stump speech'' 218
Character of Vane 219
Banishment of Wheelwright 223
Trial of Mrs. Hutchinson 223
Winthrop's conduct upon her trial 223
Proceedings upon her trial 224
Her banishment 231
Her treatment before being sent away 231
Persecution of remonstrants in favor of Wheelwright 232
Rev. John Cotton's narrow escape from condemnation as a heretic 233
He is finally restored to confidence of his brother ministers 233
Petition of William Vassal and others 234
Proceedings against them 235
Persecution of the Baptists; treatment of Clark, Crandall and
Holmes 235
Holmes fined and flogged 236
Presentment of Wm. Witter for being re-baptized 236
Degradation of Henry Dunster 237
Further persecution of the Baptists 237
The Quaker invasion of Massachusetts ¦ 237
Fines, imprisonments and scourgings of no avail to keep them
away 237
They persist in returning after banishment 238
Four of them hanged 238
Danger of uprising of the people against further hangings 239
The message from the king 239
Final triumph of the Quakers 239

CHAPTER XI
RISE AND FALL OF THE THEOCRACY — Continued
Characteristics of some of the dissenting sects in the early period
of the commonwealth 240
The Familists 240
Old-time excuses for hanging Quakers 241
Charter gave no authority to banish them 242

TABLE OF CONTENTS. XXV
Summary of arguments on the question 243
Characteristics and conduct of early Quakers 243
Elements of the Theocracy leading to its destruction 245 .
Disagreements of its members 245
Rise of new doctrines and sects 246
Erroneous opinions discovered at first synod 246
Religious vagaries during the Antinomian period 248
Distractions resulting from religious differences 249
Errors continue to thrive after banishment of Mrs. Hutchinson 250
The Cambridge synod called, and Cambridge platform promul
gated 251
Other synods called to suppress schisms 251
Effect on the Theocracy of the expansion of commerce 252
Effect of the growth of republican ideas 252
Majority of people opposed to religious persecutions 252
Charges of Oliver and Adams against the Puritan clergy 253
Puritan clergy always steadfast for the people under Andros and
in the revolution 254
How the clergy should be judged 254
Puritan ideas as to religious and political toleration 255
They were not hypocrites 256
The heroism of the intolerance of the age 257
Rev. Hugh Peters as a type 257
Religious persecutions in seventeenth century 258
Religious intolerance in other American colonies 258
Samuel Gorton's experience 262
Progress and causes of religious and political toleration in the
United States 262
Persecution of William Lloyd Garrison 264
Quaker persecution of Catholics in Rhode Island 265
Quaker persecution of Abolitionists in Indiana 265

CHAPTER XII
PLANTING THE SEED OF A REPUBLIC — DEVELOPMENT OF
THE TOWN SYSTEM AND LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT.
Idea of local self-government a fixed feature in the United States 269
Settlement of Oklahoma territory 269
Origin of local self-government 269
Origin of New England town governments 270
The Dorchester plan 273
The Charlestown plan 273

XXVI TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Recognition of towns as distinct local municipalities 274
Chief officers of the towns and their duties 275
Town meetings 276
Cardinal idea of the town system 276
Continuance of the town system in New England 277
Its importance as a protection against centralization and jobbery 277
In aid of school system 277
As a political factor 277
Its importance in the revolutionary period 278
Thomas Jefferson's tribute to 280
Kinds of business transacted at early town meetings 281

CHAPTER XIII
HOW THE REPUBLIC GREW — ESCAPE FROM DEMOCRACY
Clergy favored monarchy 282
Freemen did not at first contemplate a republic, but opposed to ar
bitrary power 283
Winthrop's objections to Connecticut government 284
Early usurpations by the assistants 284
Opposition of people of Watertown to taxation without represen
tation 285
Election of deputies to General Court 285
Struggle of people to obtain Body of Liberties 286
Opposition of people to standing council 286
Opposition to electing a governor for life 287
Clashing between deputies and assistants 287
Dispute over a stray pig and its results 288
Winthrop favors claim of assistants 289
Results in establishing right of assistants to sit as a separate legis
lative body and to cast a negative vote 289
Winthrop's trial and speech 290
Deputies in closer touch with the people 292
Deputies oppose giving unlimited power to the clergy 293
Winthrop also opposes claim of clergy 294
Growth of republic retarded by refusal to extend privileges of 297
citizenship to non-church members 297
Commonwealth before its close was essentially a republic 298

TABLE OF CONTENTS. XXvii

CHAPTER XIV
LAYING THE FOUNDATIONS OF A GREATER REPUBLIC —
THE UNITED COLONIES OF NEW ENGLAND
Origin of the confederation 301
Purposes of its formation 301
Preliminary negotiations 304
Shyness of Connecticut 304
Failure of first attempt to form 304
Dissensions between Massachusetts and Connecticut 305
Renewal of negotiations and causes therefor 306
Articles of confederation 307
Why Maine and Rhode Island were excluded 307
Cardinal provisions of the articles 308
Reasons set forth and name adopted 308
Powers and duties of commissioners defined 308
Express prohibition against interference with the local govern
ments 309
Provisions as to war, etc. 309
Legislative powers of commissioners 310
Provisions as to fugitives from justice and fugitives from service 311
Idea of local self-government prominent 311
Articles contained the germ of a greater republic 312
Towns and population in the confederation 313
End of the confederation 314

CHAPTER XV
THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE AND THE REVOCATION
OF THE CHARTER — GENESIS OF A STILL GREATER RE
PUBLIC
Beginning of idea of an independent government 315
No such reasons at first as those stated in the Declaration of Inde
pendence 315
What the colonists apprehended 316
The royal government in Virginia 316
When the idea of an independent government took definite shape 318
Winthrop's statement of grounds for setting up 318
The claims at first based on the charter 318

XXVIU TABLE OF CONTENTS.
How the colonists construed the charter 319
Their reasoning in support of their claims 320
Their claims became more manifest in Cromwell's time 320
Why they struggled so hard to maintain their charter 321
Beginning of troubles between colonists and England 322
Demand of Privy Council for production of charter, and refusal
of General Court 322
Institution and failure of quo warranto proceedings in court of
King's bench 323
Further demand for return of charter and technicality by which it '
was saved from revocation 323
Attitude of commonwealth toward Cromwell and the Long Parlia
ment 324
Complaints of Gorton and others 324
Claims put forth by colonists as to the nature of their relations to
England 324
Why they did not petition for enlarged powers 327
Winslow sent as agent to England and his instructions 328
A remonstrance and petition sent to Parliament 328
Failure of complaints of Gorton and others 329
Threat of Long Parliament to recall the charter 329
Petitions to Parliament and Cromwell 330
Cromwell remains steadfast friend of the commonwealth 331
Colonists had no idea of having him rule over them 331
The navigation acts passed in 1651 332
Prosperity of the commonwealth during Cromwell's time 332
Accession of Charles II and the ominous tidings from England 337
The General Court sends more addresses and punishes the apostle
John Eliot for seditious writings 338
Organization of Council of Foreign Plantations 339
Additional navigation acts of 1660 and 1663 330
Renewal of complaints against the colonists and sending of Norton
and Bradstreet as agents 340
Another address and the answer of the king 340
The king's demands ill received 340
Norton made a scapegoat 341
The king sends over commissioners to hear complaints, etc. 342
The reception of the commissioners 343
Action of the General Court after their departure 344
Another address sent to the king and Clarendon's reply 344
¦Action of the commissioners in the other colonies 346
Return of the commissioners and renewal of discussion with the
General Court
Attempt and failure of commissioners to secure an acknowledg
ment of their authority ,47

346

TABLE OF CONTENTS. XXIX
Failure of commissioners to try appeals 349
Commissioners again depart and are recalled by the king 349
The General Court overturns courts established by the commission
ers in Maine and refuses to send agents to England 350
Also calls to account those favoring compliance with demands of
the King 350
But makes the king a present of ship masts 350
The grounds then existing of their claim of right to independence 351
Discussion as to validity of these grounds 352
Governmental powers exercised by them 354
No foundation for them in their charter 355
Denial of English claims of taxing power 356
Lull in efforts of English rulers to subdue colonists and the reasons
for it 356
War between England and the Dutch 356
Condition of affairs in England 357
English rulers not wholly oblivious to affairs in Massachusetts 357
CHAPTER XVI.
THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE AND THE REVOCATION
OF THE CHARTER — GENESIS OF A STILL GREATER RE
PUBLIC — Continued .
Peace declared between English and Dutch 359
Passage of additional navigation laws 359
Renewal of complaints in England against the commonwealth au
thorities 359
Edward Randolph ; his implacable hostility to the commonwealth 359
Refusal of commonwealth authorities to comply with the king's
demands 361
Randolph sent by the king as a special messenger ; his reception
by the governor and General Court 361
Governor Leverett's statement of right of colonists to govern them
selves 362
Stoughton and Bulkeley sent as agents to England and their in
structions 363
Disposition of claims of Gorges and Mason 363
Purchase of Maine by commonwealth and refusal to surrender it
to the king 364
Refusal of agents to answer any complaints except those of Gorges
and Mason 3^4
General Court sends more addresses but refuses compliance with
the king's demands 364

xxx TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Claim of exemption from taxation because not represented in Par
liament 365
Beginning of resistance to arbitrary exercise by England of the
taxing power 365
Return of Stoughton and Bulkeley with a letter from the king
stating his demands 366
Excuses given by General Court for its failure to send other agents 367
Opposition to exercise by Randolph of his office of customs col
lector 367
The king writes another letter andsends Randolph with a commis
sion as customs collector, etc. 368
No respect paid to king's letters or Randolph's commission, and
the king sends another severe letter 368
Dudley and Richards sent as agents to England 369
Answers made by them to the king's complaints and demands 369
Their letters cause dismay 373
The General Court orders days of fasting and prayer and sends
more addresses, but refuses compliance with the king's de
mands 373
Alleged attempt to bribe the king 374
Randolph files articles against the commonwealth of high crimes,
etc. 374
^uo warranto proceedings begun in Court of Chancery 375
Randolph sent to serve the writ with another letter from the king 376
The arguments of the elders against submission to the king's de
mands 376
The situation in England and Massachusetts 377
The assistants vote to submit but the deputies refuse 378
The quo warranto proceedings pushed to a speedy hearing 379
The judgment of forfeiture of the charter and the grounds of it 379
The accession of James II and the issue of the exemplification of
the judgment 380
New and strange sights in store for the people of Massachusetts 381

CHAPTER XVII
THE ANDROS SEQUEL
The authorities continue to carry on the commonwealth for a short
time after revocation of charter 383
Randolph appears with copy of judgment and commission for
organization of a provisional government 383
Last session of General Court 383
Changes between beginning and end of commonwealth 383

TABLE OF CONTENTS. XXXI
Growth of Boston 384
People enjoying comforts and luxuries of wealth 385
Changes in manners and tastes of people 386
Relaxation of Puritan authority 387
Arrival of Gov. Edmund Andros 387
Powers of governor and council 387
Andres's fair professions 387
Tyrannical course of new governor and council 389
The judges selected by Andros 389
Change in great seal 390
Massachusetts helpless 390
Tyrannical rule of Governor Cranfield of New Hampshire 391
Andros deposed 391
The new king of England not favorable to independence of the
colonists 391
Arbitrary and tyrannical acts of his successors 391
The republic continues to grow 392

CHAPTER XVIII
THE PASSING OF THE PURITANS — LOOKING BACKWARD
AND ALSO LOOKING FORWARD
Change in historic style of writers about the Puritans of the com
monwealth 393
Speculation as to what kind of government would have been estab
lished without Winthrop and Endicott 394
The Puritans of the commonwealth believed in morality 394
They also believed in education 395
They were intense lovers of liberty 395
They were economical in public and private expenditures 396
But were not parsimonious in their expenditures in defense of
their country 39^
They have impressed their characteristics on every community
established by them 397
Settlement of Marietta, Ohio 397
Charges which the Puritans might bring against the people of this
age 398
Changes in character of population of New England 398
What has become of the descendants of the old Puritans? 400
Changes in religious character of people 400
The "emancipation" of Massachusetts still going on at a rapid rate 401
The future of Massachusetts 401

NOTE TO CITATIONS

The references in this volume to Winthrop's " History of New Eng
land" are to Savage's edition; those to Hutchinson's " History of New
England" are to the third edition (1795); those to the Massachusetts
Colonial Laws are to Whitmore's edition ; those to the "Andros Tracts''
are to the three-volume edition published by the Prince Society, under
the editorial supervision of Mr. Whitmore ; those to Johnson's "Wonder
working Providence," etc., Hubbard's " History of New England," the
Sewall Papers, the Sewall Letters, and to many other authorities, are
to the reprints contained in the Massachusetts Historical Collections.
The reprints of some of the books and documents referred to are con
tained in Force's "Historical Tracts," Young's "Chronicles of Massa
chusetts," or other volumes usually designated in the citation.
In order to avoid multiplicity of citations many of the quotations in
the text, especially those from the Massachusetts Records and those
from the Massachusetts Colonial Laws, are made without special refer
ences to the volumes and pages from which they were obtained; but in
such cases the source of authority for the particular quotation is gener.
ally obvious, and the volume and page can readily be found. The fol
lowing table includes only the authorities to which special references
are made.

iii— PuR. Rep. ( XXXUI )

TABLE OF CITATIONS
Adams, Brooks. Emancipation of Massachusetts 253
Adams, Charles Francis. Massachusetts ; Its Historians and Its
History 185, 243
Adams, John Quincy. Address toMass. His. Soe. (Mass. His. Coll,,
3d Ser., Vol. 9) 211, 303
Alger. Doctrine of Future Life 195
Amory. Paper, etc. (Mass. His. Soe. Proc.) 389
Andros Tracts 355, 360, 388, 390
Atlantic Monthly Magazine loi, 160, 246
Barrows. Dorchester in Colonial Period (i Mem. His. of Boston) 95. 273
Barry. Histo-ry of Framingham 68,78,157
Barry. History of Massachusetts 390
Bay Psalm Book 170, 186
Blackstone. Comrnentaries 61, 63
Bradford. History of Plymouth Plantation i
Bradstreet (Anne). Poems 181
Bryce. A'merican Commonwealth 75, 277
Buckle. History of Ciidlization in England 6i I93
Bums. Cotter's Saturday Night 160
Century Magazine 131
Chalmers. Annals 301, 314, 33i. 364, 366, 368, 369, 374, 375, 381, 384
Clarke. /// News from New England (Mass. His. Coll., 4th Ser.,
Vol. 2) 237
Coffin. Reminiscences 265
Coke. Comtnentaries on Littleton 191
Cooke. History of Virginia 261
Cooley. Constitutional Limitations 270
Cotton. Spiritual Milk for American Babes 186
Danforth Papers (Mass. His. Coll., 2d Ser., Vol. 8) 349
De Tocqueville. Democracy in America 75
Dickens Tale of Two Cities 62
Dillon, John B. Oddities of Colonial Legislation 63,259,262
Dillon, Thomas. Municipal Corporations 270
Doyle. English Colonies in America 213,218
Drake. Roxbury in the Colonial Period 386
Earle, Costumes of Colonial Times 97
Earle. Customs and Fashions in Old New England 97, 103
Earle. Sabbath in Puritan New England 160, 165
Edes. Charlestowmn the Colonial Period (I M.em,'R\s,Bosion) 386
(xxxv)

XXXVI TABLE OF CITATIONS.
Edwards. Works 194
Eggleston. Husbandry in Colony Times (5 Cent. Mag.) 131
Eliot. The Christian Commonwealth (Mass. His. Coll., 3d Ser.,
Vol. 9) 338
Ellis, Pu-ritan Age in Massachusetts 237, 246, 248, 294, 298, 401
Everett. Orations 10
Felt Historical Account of Massachusetts Currency 134,138
First Century of the Republic 259, 263, 384, 400
Fiske. Beginnings of New England 19, 21, 85, 175, 220, 251, 399, 400
Force. Historical Tracts 13, 168, 181, 189
Foote. Rise of Dissenting Faiths {\yi.^'!n.W.\%.cii'S>o%\.QiXi) 254
Goodell. Origin of Towns in Massachusetts (Mass. His. Coll., 2d
Ser.) 271
Gookin. HistoHcal Collection ofthe Indians 180
Gookin. Historical Account of the Doings and Sufferings of ihe
Christian Indians, etc. 180
Gookin. History of New England i8i
Green. Short History of the English People ig
Griswold. Female Poets of A'merica 182
Hale. History of the United States 241
Hallowell. Quaker Invasion of Massachusetts 242
Harper's Magazine 303
Hening. Statutes of Virginia 259, 260, 261, 395
Higginson, Francis. New England' s Plantation 96,181
Higginson, T. W. Puritan Minister (i'l Atlantic Monthly) loi, 160, 246
Hildreth. History of the United States 259,265
Hoshour. Altisonant Letters 189, note
Hotten. Lists of Emigrants to Amc'rica q
Howard. Local Constitutional History of the United States 61, 269, 271, 278
Hubbard. History of New England (Mass. His. Coll., 2d Ser.,
Vols. 7 and 8) loi, 212, 234, 303
Hudson, Alfred S. History of Sudbury 131^ 148, 150, 156
Hudson, Charles. History of Marlborough 58, 91, 106, 146, 151, 163. 168, 196,397
Hume. History of England 222 317 ^78
Hunter. Founders of New Plymouth j
Hunter. Collections, etc. j
Hurst. Religious Development, etc. (First Century of the Republic) 259, 263
Hutchinson. Collection of Papers, etc. 28 376 %6
Hutchinson. History of Massachusetts 19, 58, 81, loi, 167, I75,'i92,'204,
206, 223, 228, 233, 235, 238, 244, 249, 252, 282, 288, 293' 296, 299", 304!
, ,. „•,-,= -. „ ^,.3°^: 3^°' 327. 330, 332. 345. 349. 373/374
Indiana Historical Society Publications 266
Jefferson. Works g

TABLE OF CITATIONS. XXXVU
Johnson. Wonder- Working Providence, etc. (Mass. His. Coll., 2d
Ser., Vols. 7 and 8) 19, 134, 180, 333, 334
Josselyn. New England Rarities 181
Josselyn. Two Voyages 172,181,385
Julian. Rank of Charles Osbom, etc, (Ind. His. Soe. Pub., Vol. 2) 266
Junius. Letters 254
Kent. Commentaries 66, 191
Lechford. Plai7i Dealing, or News from New England 63, 76, 169, 172, 354
Lewis. History of Lynn 127
Lives of Chief Fathers of New England 126
London Quarterly Magazine 183
Lossing. New England Confederacy (25 Harper's Mag.) 303
Macaulay. History of England i
Magazine of American History 204
Mason. History ofthe Pequot War 180
Massachusetts Colonial Laws 48, 51, 52, 74, 78,98, 99, 103, 106, log, no,
112, 132, 133, 136, 140, 149, 150, 160, 163, 164, 174, 199, 200, 201, 202,
203, 204, 205, 206, 274, 275, 276
Massachusetts Historical Collections i, 14, 19, 63, 73, 78, 92, 101, 113,
114, 115, 119, 121, 126, 129, 134, 138, 169, 170, 171, 172, 178, 195, 211,
212, 234, 235, 284, 303, 333, 334, 338, 349, 376, 379, 399
Massachusetts Historical Society Proceedings 176, 271, 389
Massachusetts Records 17, 28, 35, 42, 66, 98, 105, 108, 124, 130, 135, 136,
139, 140, 175, 204, 251, 274, 285, 290, 308, 341
Mather Magnalia 9, 55, 94, 184, 215, 232, 283, 288
Memorial History of Boston 17, 70, 95, 97, 134, 179, 196, 239, 254,273,386
Mill. Representative Govern'ment iji
Morse. Universal Geography 399
Morton, Nathaniel. New England's Memorial 184, 212
Morton, Thomas. New English Canaan 112,168
New England His. Gen. Register loi, 108
New England Magazine 95, 160, 165
New Englander Magazine 183
New England Primer 186
Norton. Orthodox Evangelist 190
Oliver. Puritan Commonwealth 81, 216, 223, 240, 241
Palfrey. Address to Mass. His. Soe, (Mass. His. Coll., 3d Sen,
Vol. 9) 92. 399
Palfrey. History of New England 24, 59, 71, 75, 84, 95, 131, 213, 239
251, 262, 323, 340, 363, 374, 384
Parker. Origin, etc., of the Towns of New England {yi&ss. His.
Soe. Proc, 2d Ser.) 271
Pomeroy. Constitutional Law 269
Poore. Charters and Constitutions 28
Prince. Annals 6, 188

XXXVm TABLE OF CITATIONS.
Ramage. Beautiful Thoughts froin Latin Authors 390
Revolution in New England Justified (Andros Tracts) 388
Savage. Notes to Winthrop's History of New England 210, 232
Scudder. Life in Boston in the Colonial Period (i Mem. His. of
Boston) 70, 97
Sewall. Letters (Mass. His. Coll., 6th Ser , Vols, i and 2) 71, 72, 73, 1 19,
121, 138, 170, 178
Sewall. Papers (Mass. His. Coll., 5th Sen, Vols. 5, 6 and 7) 73, 113, 114,
115, 126, 129, 171, 195
Shaw. Commonwealth vs. Alger (7 Cushing) 33, 49
Sheldon. History of Deerfield 79.85,95,153,167
Smith. Boston and the Neighboring Jwrisdictions (i Mem. His. of
Boston) 134
Sparks. American Biography 219
Spofford. A'merican Almanac 188
Sumner. History of A'merican Currency 134
Tarbox. New England Poetry of the Seventeenth Century (30 New
Englander Magazine) 183
Tyler. History of A'merican Literature 181, l8g, 207
Upham. Life of Vane (4 Spark's Amen Biog.) 219
Walker, Charles. History of Athens Co. (Ohio) 397
Walker, Francis A. Growth and Dist-ribution of Population (First
Century of Republic) 400
Ward. 5z»?/i/i? CodWer q/"yi.g-a:z£/a;« (Force's Historical Tracts) 189
Washburn, fudicial History of Massachusetts 66, 67, 68, 70, 389, 390
Weeden. Econornic and Social History of New England 176
Welde. Short Story of the Rise, Reign and Ruin of the Anti-
riomians 218
Wells. Progress in Mamifacture (First Century of the Republic) 384
White. Planters' Plea (Force's Historical Tracts) 13
Whitmore. Notes to Andros Tracts 300
Whitmore. Notes to Colonial Laws of Massachusetts 52, 189, note
Whittier. The Old Burying Ground 125
Whittier. The King's Missive 230
Wigglesworth. Poems ig,
Willard. New England Meeting House (i New England Maga
zine) i6o, 165
Wilson. Rise and Fall of the Slave Power 265
Winsor. Literature ofthe Colonial Period (i Mem. His. of Boston)
179, 181, 196, 207
Winthrop. History of New England 44, 45, 74, 112, 135, 140, 143, 144,
180, 208, 210, 218, 231, 232, 233, 246, 247, 248, 249, 250, 261, 283, 284,
285, 287.. 290, 294, 295, 304, 306, 307, 308, 325, 326, 328, 329
Wood. New England's Prospect j8[
Young. Chronicles of Massachusetts 13,16 17 181

THE PURITAN REPUBLIC

THE BEGINNING
No Virgil would ever begin a poem with "I sing
of John White of Scrooby." There is nothing poetic
in the man, the place or the associations. But, in a
plain prose account of a plain people, it is proper to
begin with John White of Scrooby. We can not,
however, fully understand why it was that John
White and his associates took such an interest in
planting a colony in America, without some explana
tion of the first exodus of Puritans from Scrooby to
Holland. Scrooby was a village on the river Idle in Notting
hamshire, England.^ Here in 1607 was a congrega
tion of the branch of Puritans called Separatists. They
were, says Bradford,^ "hunted & persecuted on every
' The Rev. Joseph Hunter, in The Founders of New Plymouth, de
scribes the exact location as follows : " Scrooby will be found in
the maps about a mile and a half south of Bawtry, a market and port
town situated on the boundary line between Nottinghamshire and York
shire. It was itself, in the time when Brewster resided there, one of
the port towns on the great road between London and Bostwick," See
also the same writer's Collections Concerning the Early History of the
Founders of Ne-w Plymouth, Mass. His. Coll., 4th Ser., Vol. i, p. 52.
' History of Plymouth Plantation, Mass. His. CoU,, 4th Ser., Vol. 3,
p. 10.
(0

2 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
side"; some "were taken & clapt up in prisons, others
had their houses besett & watcht night and day &
hardly escaped their hands; and ye most were faine
to flie & leave their howses & habitations and the
means of their livelihood." But it was not easy to
escape. " For, though they could not stay, yet were
they not suffered to goe, but ye ports & havens were]
shut against them, so as they were faine to seeke
secrete means of conveance & to bribe & fee ye mar
iners & give exterordinarie rates for their passages."
In r6o7 a ship was hired to transport a company of
them to Holland, but the master of the ship betrayed
them to the "catcpoule officers," who took them off
the ship and "rified & ransaked them, searching
them to their shirts for money, yea even ye women
furder then became modestie and then caried them
back into ye town & made them a spectackle & wonder
to ye multitude, which came flocking on all sids to
behould them . ' ' Some were put in prison and others
were bound over to the next assizes, and so this at
tempt to escape ended in failure.
The next year a Dutch captain agreed to transport
another company, but after part of the men had got
on board the officers swooped down upon the fugi
tives with a " greate company, both horse & foote,
v/ith bills & gunes & other weapons ; for ye country
was raised to take them." The Dutch captain be
came panic-stricken, and swore a great oath and put
off to sea, taking the men already on board and leav
ing the rest and the women and children. Of the
men left on shore some escaped; those who re
mained, together with the women and children, fell

THE BEGINNING. 3
a prey to the officers. " Pitiful! it was to see ye
heavie case of these poore women in this distress ;
what weeping & crying on every side, some for their
husbands, that were caried away in ye ship as is be
fore related: others not knowing what should become
of them & their litle ones ; others againe melted in
teares, seeing their poore litle ones hanging aboute
them, crying for feare, and quaking with could."
The officers did not know what to do with them. It
would not do to imprison so many women and inno
cent children; those whose husbands and fathers had
gone could not go with them; " and to send them
home againe was as difficult, for they aledged, as ye
trueth was, they had no homes to goe to, for they
had either sould or otherwise disposed of their howses
& livings." So, after they had been turned over by
one constable to another, all became glad to get rid
of them on any terms, "for all were wearied &
tired with them."
Finally some of the Scrooby congregation, and
some of the neighboring congregation of Gainsbor
ough, succeeded in getting to Holland. They re
mained about one year at Amsterdam and about
eleven years at Leyden. But, while they enjoyed
in their new home the religious freedom they sought,
their lot was a hard one. " For, though they saw
faire & bewtifull cities, flowing with abundance of
all sorts of welth & riches, yet it was not longe be
fore they saw the grime & grisly face of povertie com
ing upon them like an armed man, with whom they
must bukle & incounter, and from whom they could
not flye." They were poor and had to work hard,

4 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
so hard that all were bowed down under the weight
of their labors and growing prematurely old ; even
their children "became decreped in their early youth;
the vigor of nature being consumed in ye very budd
as it were." But this was not all. They were un
der a foreign rule; they could not adapt themselves,
with their ideas, to the ways and customs of their
Dutch neighbors ; their children were going off on
long voyages, and they were being tempted and led
astray from the faith of their fathers, and were inter
marrying with their neighbors. The direful pros
pect was presented to Puritans there of losing their
nationality, their faith, their very language, and of
being swallowed up and lost sight of among a for
eign people.
So the Leyden congregation, the one which com
prised those who had originally come from Scrooby,
and of which John Robinson and William Brewster
were members, began to cast about for some new
place of settlement. They finally concluded to go to
America, and this was the beginning of flie move
ment which culminated in the settlement of the col
ony at Plymouth in 1620.
The Plymouth colony was the first in America
which had been prompted by a desire for greater re
ligious freedom. But it did not greatly flourish.
Eleven years after it was founded it had only about
500 population, and it never became an important
factor in American colonial history. It did not form
even a nucleus about which to gather the great Puri
tan immigration, which, a few years later, sought

THE BEGINNING. 5
refuge in America, and which founded the Massa
chusetts commonwealth.
It is probable that no such immigration would have
come, and that the Puritan commonwealth never
would have been founded, if the persecutions of the
Puritans in England had ceased. But they did not
cease. James I died in 1625, and was succeeded by
Charles I. The advent of the new monarch and his
despotic course intensified the great struggle of the
English people, begun in the reign of his predeces
sor, to establish constitutional limits which would pre
serve the liberty of the people against the aggressions
of arbitrary power. With Charles I came Laud.
He had given proof of his persecuting spirit before he
became archbishop. While Bishop of London he
had begun the work of purging his diocese of Puri
tans. An example of his hatred of the Puritan min
isters is seen in his treatment of the Rev. Thomas
Shepard, a young Puritan minister who was com
pelled to flee from England and who afterwards be
came eminent in America. When summoned before
Laud Shepard found him in a towering rage. Laud
told him that he had been " more cheated and equiv
ocated with by some of my malignant faction than ever
was man by Jesuit. At the speaking of which words he
looked as though blood would have gushed out of his
face, and did shake as if he had been haunted with an
ague fit, to my apprehension, by reason of his extreme
malice and secret venom." He railed at Shepard,
calling him a "prating cox-comb," and accusing him
of belonging to " a company of seditious, factious, bed
lams," and forbade hira to exercise any ministerial

6 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
functions under the threat that if he did "I will be
upon your back, and follow you wherever you go, in
any part of the kingdom." The conclusion of the
interview, as given by Shepard, was as follows: "I
prayed him to suffer me to catechise on the Sabbath
days in the afternoon ; he replied, ' Spare your breath,
I will have no such fellows prate in my diocese ; get
you gone, and now make your complaints to whom
you will.' So away I went, and blessed be God that
I may go to him."^ In 1633 Laud was made Arch
bishop of Canterbury and became one of the chief
favorites of the king. His subsequent career has
earned for him the distinction of being one of the
most infamous prelates in the history of England.
" His memory," says an historian, of his own coun
try,^ "is still loathed as the meanest, the most cruel,
and the most narrow-minded man who ever sat on
the episcopal bench." Macaulay^ describes him as
follows :
"Of all the prelates of the Anglican Church, Laud had
departed farthest from the principles of the Reformation,
and had drawn nearest to Rome. His theology was more
remote than even that of the Dutch Arminians from the
theology of the Calvinists. His passion for ceremonies,
his reverence for holidays, vigils and sacred places, his ill-
concealed dislike of the marriage of ecclesiastics, the ardent
and not altogether disinterested zeal with which he asserted
the claims of the clergy to the reverence of the laity, would
have made him an object of aversion to the Puritans, even
if he had used only legal and gentle means for the attain-
' Prince's Annals, p, 33S.
^Buckle, His, of Civ. in Eng., Vol. i, p. 251.
» His. of Eng., Vol. i, Chap. i.

THE BEGINNING. 7
ment of his ends. But his understanding was narrow, and
his commerce with the world had been small. He was by
nature rash, irritable, quick to feel for his own dignity, slow
to sympathize with the sufferings of others, and prone to
the error, common in superstitious men, of mistaking his
own peevish and malignant moods for emotions of pious
zeal, Und^r his direction every corner of the realm was
subjected to a constant and minute inspection. Every little
congregation of separatists was tracked out and broken up.
Even the devotions of private families could not escape the
vigilance of his spies. Such fear did his rigor inspire that
the deadly hatred of the church, which festered in innum
erable bosoms, was generally disguised under an outward
show of conformity. On the very eve of troubles fatal to
himself and to his order, the bishops of several extensive
dioceses were able to report to him that not a single dis
senter was to be found within their jurisdiction,"
The Star Chamber and the High Commission, tri
bunals unknown to the old English constitution, de
fied all law, and their usurpations, exactions and
excesses have no parallel in English history.
The people found no relief in the common law
courts. These would have been powerless, even if
the judges had been inclined to grant relief. But
many of them were obsequious and servile syco
phants, anxious to hold their places and eager to de
base the courts and themselves in order to please
those in authority. It is only by comparing the
judges of the reign of Charles I with those in the
reign of James II, that anything can be found to the
advantage of the former, and all that can be said in
their favor is, that they did not quite reach the low-
vs^ater mark of judicial depravity to which their sue-

8 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
cessors sank in the reign of James II. By compari
son with the infamous Jeffreys and Scroggs the worst
of their predecessors seem to be somewhat respectable.
The civil and the ecclesiastical authorities vied with
each other in their contemptuous disregard of the
liberties of the people and in prostituting the proc
esses of the law to oppress and plunder them. For
writing or speaking against the usurpations of either
civil or ecclesiastical officers, the most inhuman pun
ishments were inflicted. For such offenses enormous
fines, imprisonment, standing in the pillory, whip
ping, branding, cropping the ears, and slitting the
nose were the common punishments.
The redeeming feature in this dark picture is, that
all these persecutions were unavailing to quench in
the English people the love of liberty or to subdue
English manhood.
Under such galling tyranny we may well suppose
that many of the Puritans in England began to think
about imitating the example of their countrymen,
who had sought refuge in other lands. The experi
ence of the Puritans in Holland had not been such
as to induce those left in England to follow their ex
ample and seek homes among the Dutch. And so
they began to turn their eyes toward America. But
getting away from England was no easy matter.
Those who left were required, before going, to ob
tain permission; and to ask permission was to excite
suspicion and to run the risk of the vengeance of
Laud, the Star Chamber, and the High Commission.
Besides this, none could obtain permission without

THE BEGINNING. 9
taking the oaths of allegiance and supremacy and
also an oath that they were no subsidy men.
In reference to the absence of any record of many
of the emigrants who left England and came to
America during this period, Mr. Hotten^ gives us an
explanation, which shows how difficult It was for
Puritans to escape from England. He says :
"Further it should be borne in mind that only the names
of those were taken who legally left the shores of England.
At page 142, for example, and elsewhere throughout the
book, we find that the passengers were examined by the
minister touching their conformity to the church discipline
of England, and that they had taken the oaths of allegiance
and supremacy; elsewhere (p. 106, etc.) we find it certi
fied that they were no subsidy men, that is, men liable to
the payment of a subsidy to the crown. Among the thou
sands who emigrated to New England it can not be doubted
but that a very large number left to avoid payment of the
hateful subsidy, and that they would not take the oaths of
allegiance and supremacy. Those, therefore, must have
left secretly, and of such no record would exist."
Cotton Mather tells us^ : "There were many
countermands given to the passage of people that
were now steering of this western course; and there
was a sort of uproar made amongst no small part of
the nation, that these people should not be let go,''''
Cromwell, himself, it is said, once attempted to
emigrate, but was unable to elude the vigilance of
the authorities, and so he remained, to become the
central figure of English history.
'^Lists of Emigrants to America, 1600-1700, Introduction, p. xxxi.
'¦Magnalia, Vol. i, p, 79.

ID THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
Such was the situation when the Rev. John White,
of Scrooby, began his efforts to establish a colony in
America. We do not know very much about him.
He was a Puritan clergyman, but not a nonconform
ist. It does not appear that he was a profound phi
losopher or a far-seeing statesman. We have no
reason to believe that he himself had the slightest
conception that the movement he was starting was
destined to so marvelous a development; that the lit
tle stream so feeble at its rising was to gather volume
and force till it became one of the world's historic
currents, marking the beginning of a new nation on
a new continent.
Edward Everett, In his oration on Dorchester,^
gives the following account of Mr. White :
" He was a Puritan in principle and feeling, but not deem
ing the ceremonies of vital importance, he adhered to the
church. But in periods of great excitement, moderation is
an offense in the eyes of violent men. The cavalry of Prince
Rupert sacked his house and carried off his library. This
drove him to London. He was a man of most excellently
tempered qualities, ' grave, yet without moroseness, who
would willingly contribute his shot of facetiousness on any
just occasion.' He was an indefatigable preacher, and
' had an excellent faculty in the clear and solid interpreta
tion of the Scriptures.' His executive talent was not less
remarkable, and he administered the secular affairs of his
church so as greatly to promote the temporal prosperity of
the city. Of two things not easily controlled he had, ac
cording to Fuller, absolute command, ' his own passions and
the purses of his parishioners, whom he could wind up to
what point he pleased on important occasions.' A gener-
' Orations, etc., Vol. 3, pp. 307-309.

THE BEGINNING. II
erous use of his own means was the secret of his command
of the means of others. ' He had a patriarchal influence
both in Old and New England.' I find no proof that this
influence ever ceased over the hardy young men who, by
his encouragement, had settled this American Dorchester;
but at home his old age was embittered by factions and the
• new opinions which crept into his flock.' A generation
arose which slighted the crown of his old age ; and of this
he was ' sadly and silently sensible ' ; sadly, as was natural
in a man who had reaped ingratitude where he sowed bene
fits; silently, as became the self-respect of a proud, good
conscience. He was one of the most learned and influen
tial of that famous assembly of divines at Westminster,
whose catechisms, after two centuries, remain accredited
manuals of Christian belief to millions on millions in the old
world and the new. The biographer of the ' Worthies of
England,' after sketching his admirable character of our
ever-memorable founder, expresses the hope that Solomon's
observation of the poor wise man who saved the little city,
¦ yet no man remembered him,' will not be verified of ' Dor
chester in England, in relation to this their deceased pastor.'
He lies buried, without a stone to mark the spot, in the
porch of St. Peter's church; and if the good old patriarch
should be forgotten in the Dorchester of Old England, let
it be some atonement to his memory that here in New
England, after a lapse of two centuries and a quarter, he is
still held in pious and grateful remembrance.
" Mr. White's connection with New England preceded
by several years the settlement of our ancient town. He was
the chief promoter of the attempt to establish a colony at
Cape Ann under Conant ; and after its failure there, his en
couragement and aid caused the transfer of what remained
of it to Salem, where it became the germ of a permanent
settlement. It was Mr. White who brought the adventurers
of the west of England into connection with the men of in-

12 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
fluence in London, in Lincolnshire, and the other eastern
counties, and formed with them the ever-memorable com
pany, which, under a charter from Charles I, ingrafted En-
dicott's settlement at Salem upon the languishing enterprise
of the single-hearted, persevering, and ill-rewarded Conant;
and finally fitted out that noble expedition in 1630, under
the great and good Winthrop, which put the finishing hand
to the work, and consolidated the foundation of Massachu
setts. In all the labors and counsels tending to this end,
John White, of Dorchester, appears to have been the person
of greatest activity and infiuence ; and when all was pre
pared for the expedition, and the Arbella and her chosen
company were ready to set sail, the ' Humble Request,' as
it is called, addressed to the churches of England, setting
forth, in language which can scarcely yet be read without
tears, the motives and feelings which influenced the pious
adventurers, is ascribed to his pen,"
It occurred to Mr. White to establish a settlement
in America, whereby the planters already there and
the sailors who went there, some of whom were his
parishioners, should not want for orthodox religious
instruction. To carry out this scheme a company
was formed and a small colony was sent to America;
but discouragement and failure followed, and in a few
years the settlement went to pieces. Some of the colo
nists, however, who had settled at what is now Salem,
said that they would remain if they could get help
from England, and, hearing this, Mr. White promised
that, if they would remain, he would send them needed
supplies and "provide a patent for them, "and he im
mediately went about the business with renewed zeal.
We can not, of course, tell just what ideas were in
the minds of the men who now lent their aid to the

THE BEGINNING. 1 3
enterprise. The account which the pious Mr. White
has given us does not throw a great deal of light upon
the subject. Perhaps he had no other motives than
those expressed by him In the "Planters' Plea." Inthis
he emphatically asserts that "the suspicious and
scandalous reports raysed upon these gentlemen and
their friends (as if, under color of planting a colony,
they intended to rayse and erect a seminary of faction
and separation) are nothing else but the fruits of
jealousie of some distempered minde, or, which is
worse, perhaps savour of a desperate malicious plot of
men ill-affected to religion, endeavoring, by casting
the undertakers into the jealousie of State, to shut
them out of those advantages which otherwise they
doe and might expect from the Countenance of Author-
itie." Thomas Dudley, in his letter of March 12,
1630, to the Countess of Lincoln,^ gives this account
of the origin of the founding of the Massachusetts
colony: "Touching the plantation which wee here have begun, it
fell out thus. About the year 1627 some friends, beeing to-
geather in Lincolnsheire, fell into discourse about New Eng
land and the plantinge of the Gospell there; and after some
deliberation we imparted our reasons, by letters & mes
sages, to some in London & the west country, where it
was likewise deliberately thought upon, and at length with
often negotiation soe ripened that in the year 1628 [1629]
wee procured a patent, etc."
In the same letter he also denounces as " false and
scandalous" the reports that the colonists were " 111-
1 Force's His. Tracts, Vol. 2; Young's Chronicles of Massachusetts^
P- 303-

14 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
affected to our state at home." To emphasize this
he adds:
' 'And for our further cleareinge, I truely afifirme, that I know
noe one person who came over with us the last yeare to bee
altered in his judgment and affection, eyther iri ecclesiasticah
or civill respects, since our comeinge hether. But wee doe
continue to pray dailey for our sovereaign lord the Kinge, his
Queene, the Prince, the royal blood, the counsaile and whole
state, as dutye binds us to doe, and reason persuades others
to believe. For how ungodly and unthankfuU should wee bee,
if wee should not thus doe, who come hether by vertue of his
Majesty's letters-patent, and under his gratious protection,
under which shelter wee hope to live safely and from whose
kingdome and subjects wee now have received and hereafter
expect relief e."
The most charitable explanation of this letter is that
it was written with many mental reservations and
under the conviction that it was not prudent to dis
close fully all the motives of the colonists, as this
would be certain to Invite the persecution here which
they had left England to escape. That many of the
emigrants were in haste to get away, and that they
deemed it the wiser course not to avow all the ob
jects they had in view in leaving. Is apparent from
Johnson's "Wonder-working Providence."^ "And
now I could wish," he says, " our brethren in England
would not be angry with us for making such haste.
Brethren you know how the case stood with our
Ministers, as it was with GIdion, who could thresh
out no Corne, but he must doe it seci-etly to hide it
from the Midianites, who spread the land like Grass-
'Mass. His. Coil,, 2 Ser,, Vol, 4, p, 23.

THE BEGINNING.

15

hoppers; no more could they thresh and clean up
any Wheate for the Lord's Garner, but the Prelates
would presently be upon their backs and plow long
furrowes there."
At any rate "the business came to agitation afresh
in London," and soon other men appeared upon the
scene, some of whom are historic figures, who began
to Interest themselves in the furtherance of Mr.
White's scheme, and who, It Is pretty certain, had
other aims In view than the conversion of the savages
in America, or that the planters there and the sailors
who went there might not want for orthodox religious
instruction. In casting about to find persons willing to go, "it
fell out that, amongst others, ihey lighted at last on
Master Endicott, a man well knov/n to divers persons
of good note." A grant of some kind was procured
on March 19, 1628, from the Council for NewEngland
which had a prior right to the land whereon it was
desired to plant the colony, and Endicott, with a few
others, went over, arriving in America in September
following. Precisely by what means the grant was obtained
from the Council we do not know. No separate record
of it Is extant, and we know what It was only from
the recitals in the charter granted by King Charles I,
and that the date of it was March 19, 1628. The
grant was made to six persons. Including Endicott.
But the Council had met with continued disaster
in its attempt to carry out the purpose of its organiza
tion and was on its last legs. Some better author
ity was desired than the grant already obtained, which

1 6 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
could not transfer any governmental powers. To
obtain these it was necessary to get a charter. Coke
and others opposed the one first proposed, as grant
ing a monopoly. It is said that the charter granted
cost two thousand pounds, besides the use of all the
influence that the most potent of the Puritans in Eng
land could bring to bear. Finally an acceptable
charter was prepared, and on March 4, 1629, it re
ceived the royal signature. The charter was granted
to twenty-six persons, named therein, incorporating
them into a company under the name of ' ' The Gov
ernor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay in
NewEngland." In anticipation of getting it, Endi
cott and a party of emigrants had already gone to
prepare the way and had established a settlement at
Salem, The next question was, whether the charter could
legally be transferred to America. On August 26,
1629, Richard Saltonstall, Thomas Dudley, John
Winthrop and other men of fortune and distinction
had bound themselves by an agreement made at Cam
bridge that if before the last of the following Sep
tember an order of court could be procured legally
transferring "the whole government, together with
the patent for the said Plantation," they and their
families would "embark for the said Plantation by
the first of March next, at such port or ports of this
land as shall be agreed upon by the Company, to the
End to pass the Seas (under God's protection) to in
habit and continue in New England. "^ But no
order of court was obtained. What le^al advice
^ Young^s Chronicles of Mass.^ p. 279.

THE BEGINNING. 1 7
was secured is not known, but It is certain that
the parties interested were not then entirely clear
in their own minds about their right to transfer the
government and charter to New England, for, at one
of their meetings, it was resolved "to carry this busi
ness secretly that the same be not divulged, "^ After
further discussion general consent was given "by
erection of hands."
It was next determined that the government of
persons should be held in New England, that it
should be continued there by Capt. Endicott, and
that the government of trade and merchandise should
be in London.^
An Inventory was made of things "to provide to
send for NewEngland," including " ministers" and
"patent under scale. "^ Endicott had gone on June
20, 1628, On March 25, 1629, the second expedi
tion set sail from England, conveying 300 passengers
and two ministers,* Before going John Winthrop
was chosen governor of the company with a deputy
governor and eighteen assistants.
An address,^ published by the emigrants on the
eve of their departure, in which they referred to the
Church of England as " our dear mother," has been
sometimes quoted as proof of hypocrisy on their part,
and of their intention to conceal their design to
secede from it on their arrival in America, but It is
susceptible of a different construction.
' Mass. Rec, Vol. i, p, 49.
2 Mass. Rec, Vol. i, p, 56.
•Mass. Rec, Vol. 1, p. 24,
^Mem, Hist. Boston, Vol. i, p. 98.
¦* The Humble Request, Young's Chronicles, 293.
Pur. Rep. — 3

1 8 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
The religious views of the emigrants must have
been well known, and It would have been useless to
attempt to conceal them. It is far more reasonable
to infer that, with all Its faults, the church of their
ancestors was still dear to them, and that. In the sad
moments of parting from home and kindred, the
harsh recollections of former persecutions gave way
to tender memories. The address has even given
rise to some question as to whether the colonists were
of the Church of England or not. But, as stated by
Hutchinson, "however problematical it may be what
they were while they remained in England, they left
no room for doubt after they arrived in America."
It has been conjectured also that the emigrants, be
fore leaving England, had formed the design of set
ting up in America a government of their own, and,
on this assumption, some have accused them of
craftily concealing their design, while others have
supposed them to have been very far-seeing. Both
conclusions are probably erroneous. Undoubtedly
the emigrants anticipated that it would be necessary
for them to have some kind of civil government in
their future home. To enable them to establish such
a government was one of the objects for which the
charter was asked and granted. But there is no evi
dence that they themselves contemplated in the be
ginning such a government as was afterwards de
veloped. That was the outgrowth of circumstances
and opportunities not then foreseen by any one.
Winthrop sailed from Yarmouth In the Arbella on
April 8, 1630, and reached Salem on June 12. Some
of the company's emigrants had already arrived and

THE BEGINNING, 1 9
others came later, so that, before winter, over one
thousand in all had come.^ It Is estimated by Mr.
Fiske that two-thirds of these were from the eastern
portion of England,^ Some came, as appears from
the "Planters' Plea," from the west of England, John
son^ says that "the Wonder-working Providence of
Sions Savour appears much in gathering together the
stones to build up the walls of Jerusalem (that his
Sion maybe surrounded with Bulwarkes and Towers)
and that with a whispering word In the eares of his
servants he crosses the Angles of England from Corne-
wall to Kent, from Dover to Barwick, not leaving
out Scotland and Wales," Of those that came, not
more than twenty were members of the company.
What an English historian* says of the character of
the immigrants who had exchanged the pleasant fields
and homes of England for these wild shores will surely
not be regarded as "ancestor- worship," "They
were not," he says, "broken men, adventurers,
bankrupts, criminals, or simply poor men and arti
sans. They were, in great part, men of the profes
sional and middle classes ; some of them men of large
landed estates ; some zealous clergymen, * * *
some shrewd London lawyers, or young scholars
from Oxford * * * driven forth from their father
land not by earthly want, or by the greed of gold, or
by the lust of adventure, but by the fear of God and
the zeal for a godly worship,"
Among those thus gathered in the New World
' Hutchinson says " above 1,500 passengers.''
''Beginnings of New England, p. 63.
' Wonder-working Providence; Mass. His. Coll., 2 Ser., Vol. 4, p. 23.
-* Green, Short History of the English People, p. 498.

20 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
¦were men noted in Its history. There were women
also worthy to be remembered. Some of them
"came from a paradise of plenty and pleasure" in
Engfland " into a wilderness of wants," There were
others too who had been accustomed to the comforts
and luxuries of English life, and who were worthy to
be the wives and mothers of the men whose names |
have been so deeply graven in history.
But in this historic group there are two figures
standing out in bold relief. One is Winthrop, wise,
conscientious, often honored by his fellow-citizens, al
ways discharging his duties with dignity and scrupu
lous fidelity. He had been trained in England as a
lawyer ; when he left there he was forty-two years
old. Through all its troubles, while he was at the
helm, he guided the ship of state with consummate
skill. There 'was In his character not the least trace
of dissimulation or demagogy. Though never ag
gressive, he was resolute in maintaining his convic
tions of right. When the freemen clamored to strip
the assistants of their right to cast a negative vote, he
stood out against them, without regard to the effect
upon his own popularity with them. When the
clergy sought to shake off responsibility to the civil
magistrates, he was as firm and unyielding In resist
ing their demands as he was in resisting the demands
of the freemen.
Once, and only once, he was called upon by the
General Court to render an account of his receipts
and expenditures as governor. He did so, showing
that he had expended for the commonwealth more
than a thousand pounds in excess of his receipts, and,

THE BEGINNING. 21
¦with modest dignity, he added this conclusion to his
report :
" I conclude with this one request, which in justice may
not be denied me, that as it stands upon record that upon
the discharge of my office I was called to account, so this
declaration may be recorded also, lest hereafter, when I
shall be forgotten, some blemish may lie upon my posterity,
when there shall be nothing to clear it."

'ta

More than two hundred and fifty years have rolled
by since this declaration was made, and yet Win
throp is not forgotten, nor has any blemish been
found upon his record for his posterity to clear away.
The other figure is that of Endicott. Bold, Im
petuous, of unflinching convictions and indomitable
will, he too was destined to wield great influence In
the colony.
Mr. Fiske,^ coupling him with Norton, styles them
"two as arrant fanatics as ever drew breath " ; and Mr.
Brooks Adams, describing him as he sat at the trial
of Wenlock Chrlstison, smiting the table in anger
and upbraiding the judges for their timidity and urg
ing them to pass the sentence of death, gives us the
grim picture of a man wearing a harsh face, looking
down from under a black skull-cap, with determined
mouth and massive jaw, "almost heroic in his fero
cious bigotry and daring."
This Is not a pleasant picture to look upon. One
who has read the "Emancipation of Massachusetts"
can not help feeling that the artist who drew the pict
ure was not less ferocious than the figure he paints for
^Beginnings of New England, 179,

22 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
US. Still, no matter how we draw the picture — how we
arrange the colors and dispose the lights and shades —
¦we can not make a picture of Endicott as lovable, as
pleasant to look upon, as that of Winthrop; the two
v/ere of altogether different types. But surely we
can find In Endicott' s character something to relieve
the harshness of the portraits which Mr. Fiske and
Mr. Adams have given us.
No one ever questioned Endicott's honesty, his
courage, his frankness, or his unselfish devotion to
public Interests as he understood them. These are
among the noblest of manly qualities.
It is quite easy, looking back over two hundred
years, with the increased knowledge acquired in that
time, to pick out the faults and mistakes of men then
on the stage, and it is not very difficult to persuade
ourselves that some of them were "fanatics," And
yet it is not always so easy to determine whether the
world would have been better off without them than
with them.
In ordinary times, when the affairs of state are
moving along smoothly, men like Polonlus seem to
be most popular with the people. But there are times
when men of intense convictions, great courage, un
tiring energy, and resolute determination are the
leaders most needed. In their excess of zeal they
sometimes do things that more amiable men would
not do. But when great reforms are to be pushed,
when great revolutions are to be fought out, such men
achieve results which would be impossible without
them. The emergencies which call such men to the front

THE BEGINNING. 23
usually require them to decide promptly and to act
boldly, and the men we want in such emergencies
are very apt sometimes to act arbitrarily. Grant did
not hesitate when he banished the Jews from his mil
itary department ; neither did Endicott when he sent
the Brownes back to England.
We should not, in this age, like to see another
Cromwell in England turning parliament out of
doors at the point of the bayonet. But without
Cromwell and his psalm-singing hosts at Marston
Moor, English history and English liberty would
probably be far different from what they are to-day.
John Brown at Harper's Ferry seems to be a typ
ical fanatic, wasting human life in a hopeless and id
iotic undertaking. But who can say now how much
he did toward a^wakenlng the nation out of its leth
argy and breaking the spell In which slavery had
bound it.?
Endicott, tearing the cross from the British flag
because It was a symbol of Popery, may seem to us
now to have acted very foolishly and fanatically.
That he and his fellow Puritans committed a griev
ous mistake in their persecution of the Baptists and
the Quakers, most of us will freely admit. But, after all
these concessions, the question remains, whether the
commonwealth would have been better off without
Endicott than with him.
He had gone with the first little company sent by
John White to America before Winthrop had
thought of going. It may be doubted whether Win
throp would have undertaken what Endicott did.
During Endicott's life, the little colony was men-

24 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
aced with great dangers and difficulties within and
without. It was torn with Internal dissensions.
There were bloody conflicts with the Indians who
stood on the borders, ever threatening slaughter and
desolation. Powerful foes in England were con
stantly scheming for the destruction of the infant
commonwealth. One after another of the Ameri
can colonial governments went down. The Massa
chusetts commonwealth alone faced the King of
England to the last and yielded only to overpower
ing force.
In all these conflicts and dangers It is easy to see
the figure of Endicott, to discern the influence of his
iron resolution and dauntless courage, and, despite
all his faults, to perceive his utter abandonment
of all thoughts of self-interest, and his unselfish and
untiring devotion to what he sincerely considered the
welfare of his fellow-colonists. The secretary of
state, under King Charles II, wrote a letter In which
he said, " the King would take it well if the people
would leave out Mr. Endicott from the place of Gov
ernor," It may be that, without Endicott, a repub
lic would have come sometime — but when.? And
what kind of republic would have come.? So that,
after all, perhaps It may be that the considerate judg
ment of posterity will accord with that of Palfrey,^
who says that "New England, when she counts
up the benefactors eminently worthy of her grateful
and reverent remembrance, can never omit his
name." Between the colonists and Old England, which
' Vol. 2, p. 600.

THE BEGINNING. 25
the most of them had looked upon for the last time
when they left Its shores, were three thousand miles
of ocean. They had left dear homes and kindred
and old associations, around which clung many ten
der memories. Before them was a vast continent
and dense forests filled with savage beasts and sav
age men. A New England winter was coming on
and homes were to be hewn out of the wilderness,
fields were to be opened and tilled, food and cloth
ing were to be provided, and in this "corner of the
earth" a government was to be established.
A few white men had preceded the colonists of the
Massachusetts company and had already made open
ings In the otherwise unbroken solitude around them.
William Blackstone had settled at Shawmut and
"claimed the whole peninsula upon which Boston is
built because he was the first that slept upon it."
Samuel Maverick was living iipon Noddles Island,
where he had built a little fort armed with four cannon.
There were also a few families at Mattapan (Dor
chester), and a few on the north side of the Charles
river (Charlestown), who had moved there from
Salem. There were also at the same time, or soon
after, some families at Saugus (afterward Lynn) .
On June 17, 1630, five days after the arrival of
Winthrop at Salem, he and some of the principal
colonists set out through the woods "to look out for
a convenient place for their chief town," but they
could not agree as to the location, and settled at
various places, so that before the following winter
there were settlements at Salem, Boston, Charles-

26 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
town, Mattapan (Dorchester), Watertown, Roxbury,
Mystic and Saugus (Lynn,)
The colonists had all that they could do for several
months after their arrival to provide shelter and
food for the coming winter, but they were ill-pre
pared for it when it came. The weather became very
cold on December 24, and we may well believe what
Hutchinson says that "such a Christmas eve they had
never seen before," Their provisions ran short, and
even those who were in better circumstances than the
others were compelled to live chiefly on clams and
roasted acorns, and for several months their chief con
cern was to keep themselves alive. Many succumbed
to their hardships and sickened and died, but those who
were left were not of a kind to abandon the enter
prise upon which they had set their hearts and staked
their fortunes and their lives. They had taken the
most difficult step when they had made a beginning.

II
MAKING A GOVERNMENT
The colonists undoubtedly had considered the
establishment of a government of some kind before
they left England, Undoubtedly also they were
confronted on their arrival here with many new
conditions which would necessarily have to be taken
into consideration in any kind of government that
they might attempt to frame and upon whatever
foundation it might be established.
None of the colonists at that time seem to have en
tertained any idea of basing their government upon
any other foundation than the charter which had
been granted by King Charles I. They would have
preferred a broader one if they could have obtained It,
but the one they had was as liberal as they could get,
and the only thing to do was to make the best of it.
But in the climate of New England the charter
took on a marvelous growth, of which, at the time
it v/as granted, neither Charles I nor those to whom
it was granted could have had the slightest concep
tion — more marvelous because of what was grafted
upon it after It was transplanted here.
Whether the company had any legal right to trans
fer the corporation, charter and all, from England to
America, is one of the questions about which there
has been dispute from that time to this. But, whether
(27)

28 the PURITAN REPUBLIC.
lawfully transferred or not, the charter was now oa
this side of the Atlantic, very fortunately for the col
onists, as events subsequently proved, and whatever
authority the members of the company had, or ever
acquired, from either the King or the Parliament of
England, to set up any kind of government in America,
was contained in this document. As the colonists
construed it, the authority it conferred was very ex
tensive, and this is the reason why those who acted,
or professed to act, under it, clung to it so long and
so tenaciously and parted with it so reluctantly.
The evolution of the company from what some
have termed a mere trading corporation into a great
body politic, has given rise to profound discussions
and Is full of interest to all historical and political
students. The men who procured the charter were
sagacious and far-seeing, but it is doubtful If, when
they obtained it, they imagined that it conferred all
the powers that were afterwards claimed and exer
cised under it. Certainly Charles I never dreamed
of granting such powers. Some of its provisions, it
is true, were similar to those contained In the charter
of the East India Company and of other trading cor
porations. It was understood to confer upon the
grantees the absolute proprietary right, subject to
certain specified reservations as to minerals, etc.,
in favor of the Crown, to all the territory included
in the grant. Some of the powers granted, how
ever, were so extensive and so loosely limited that
much was left to construction.^
'Copies ofthe charter maybe found in Hutchinson's Co//., 1-24; i
Mass, Rec, 2-20',Charters and Constitutions (Poore), pp. 932-942.

MAKING A GOVERNMENT. 29
Among other powers granted to the corporation
was the power to elect a governor, a deputy governor
and eighteen assistants, to be chosen by the freemen
of the company. They were to meet once a month,
or oftener if they saw fit, and seven or more of the
assistants, together with the governor or the deputy
governor, were to constitute a quorum. Four times
in each year "one greate generali and solempe as-
semblle" was to be called together, "which foure gen
erali assemblies shall be stiled and called the foure
greate and generali Courts of the saide Company."
These were authorized to admit new freemen and
' ' To make Lawes and Ordinances for the Good and Wel
fare of the saide Company, and for the Government and
ordering of the saide Lands and Plantation, and the People
inhabiting and to inhabit the same, as to them from tyme to
tyme shall be thought meete, soe as such Laws and Ordinances
be not contrarie or repugnant to the Laws and Statuts of this
our Realme of England."
Still more specific authority was given the General
Court in a subsequent portion of the charter,
"To make, ordeine, and establishe all Manner of whole
some and reasonable Orders, Lawes, Statutes, and Ordi
nances, Directions, and Instructions, not contrarie to the
Laws of this our Realme of England, as well for setling of
the Formes, and Ceremonies of Government and Magis
tracy, fitt and necessary for the said Plantation, and the In
habitants there, and for nameing and stiling of all sorts of
Officers, both superior and inferior, which they shall finde
needefull for that Government and Plantation, and the dis
tinguishing and setting forth of the severall duties, Powers,

30 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
and Lymytts of every such Office and Place, and the Formes
of such Oathes warrantable by the Lawes and Statutes of
this our Realme of England, as shall be respectivelie minis-
tred unto them for the Execution of the said severall
Offices and Places; as also, for the disposing and ordering
of the Elections of such of the said officers as shalbe annuall,
and of such others as shalbe to succeede in case of Death
or Removeall, and ministring the said Oathes to the newe
elected Officers, and for Impositions of lawfuU Fynes, Mulcts,
Imprisonment, or other lawfull Correction, according to the
Course of other Corporations in this our Realme of England,
and for the directing, ruling, and disposeing of all other
Matters and Thinges, whereby our said People, Inhabitants
there, may be soe religiously, peaceablie, and civilly gov
erned, as their good Life and orderlie Conversation, male
wynn and incite the Natives of Country, to the Knowledg
and Obedience of the onlie true God and Savior of Man-
kinde, and the Christian Fayth, which in our Royall Inten
tion, and the Adventurers free Profession, is the principall
Ende of this Plantation,"
The officers of the company were given
" Full and Absolute Power and Authoritie to correct, pun-
ishe, pardon, governe, and rule all such the Subjects of Us,
our Heiress and Successors, as shall from Tyme to tyme
adventure themselves in any Voyadge thither or from thence,
or tkat skall at any tyme hereafter, inhabite within the
Precincts and Partes of Newe England aforesaid, according
to his Orders, Lawes, Ordinances, Instructions, and Direc
tions aforesaid, not being repugnant to the Lawes and Stat
utes of our Realme of England as aforesaid."
Authority was given also
"To incounter, expulse, repell, and resist by Force of

MAKING A GOVERNMENT. 3 1
Armes, as well by Sea as by Lande, and by all fitting Wales
and Meanes whatsoever, all such Person and Persons, as
shall at any Tyme hereafter, attempt or enterprise the De
struction, Invasion, Detriment, or A7t7ioyance to the said
Plantation or Inhabitants, and to take and surprise by all
waies and meanes whatsoever, all and every such Person and
Persons with their Shippes, Armour, Munition, and other
Goodes, as shall in hostile manner invade or attempt the de
feating of the said Plantation or the Hurt of the said Com
pany and Inhabitants,"
One of the limitations. It will be noticed, upon the
power given to make laws, was, that they should not
be "contrarie or repugnant" to the laws of Eng
land. Another limitation was,
"That all and every the Subjects of Us, our Heiress or
Successors, which shall goe to and inhabite within the saide
Landes and Premisses hereby mentioned to be graunted, and
every of their Children which shall happen to be borne
there, or on the Seas in goeing thither, or retorning from
thence, shall have and enjoy all liberties and Immunities of
free and naturali Subjects within any of the Domynions of
Us, our Heires or Successors, to all intents, constructions,
and Purposes whatsoever, as yf they and everie of them
were borne within the Realme of England."
It was further provided that,
' ' Theis our Letters patents * * * shall be construed
reputed and adjudged in all Cases most favorablie on the
Behalf, and for the Benefitt and Behoofe of the saide Gov
ernor and Company and their Successors,"
These grants of governmental powers, in connec
tion with the fact that the chief and evident purpose

32 the PURITAN REPUBLIC.
of the charter was to establish in a distant country a
colony which would necessarily require a local gov
ernment of some kind, of course implied such addi
tional powers as were necessary to render effectual
those expressly granted. It will be noted that the
power granted to make laws was not limited to the
making of mere by-laws for the regulation of cor
porate business or the corporate rights of the mem
bers. Jurisdiction was given over the "people in
habiting and to inhabit ' ' the territory covered by the
grant. The power and the jurisdiction so given were
far greater than those necessary to enable a mere
trading corporation to make by-laws and carry on
business. They were much more extensive than the
power and jurisdiction usually granted to municipal
corporations in England at that time, or to such cor
porations in England or America at this day.
On the other hand the limitations already men
tioned, and various others contained In the charter,
indicate very clearly that Charles I had no intention
of relinquishing sovereign control over the colony.
Indeed he would have had no right to do so, even if
he had so intended. The charter also expressly re
served the right of the sovereign power to collect
"taxes, subsidies and customes," subject to certain
exceptions, the most Important of which were Hmited
in duration to periods of from seven to twenty-one
years. It is obvious, however, that the charter left a large
jurisdictional territory with very obscurely defined
limits. Its language upon many questions, certain to
be raised In controversies that were sure to arise, left

MAKING A GOVERNMENT. 33
much to construction, without the aid of any wen set
tled legal rules or precedents, and was calculated to
cause, as it did cause, grave doubts and violent dif
ferences of opinion, some of which remain unsettled
to this day.
As shown in a subsequent chapter* the con
struction which the colonists themselves, at a later
period, gave to the charter, clearly appears in
their discussions, after the execution of Charles I, as
to their relation ' ' to the State of England ' ' and
"what subjection we owed to that State." But
some of the views entertained at that time were not
even then publicly promulgated, and were not hinted
at In any public record, document, or correspondence,
w^hile any king ruled in England.
No king ever acquiesced In the colonists' claim of
right to exercise all of the powers which they did ex
ercise, and afterwards, as explained in a subsequent
chapter,^ the exercise of such powers was successfully
urged in England as a legal justification for the revo
cation of the charter; while In Massachusetts the
legality of such revocation was never conceded.^
Whatever powers and jurisdiction were granted by
the charter, it was upon this document that the colo
nists based, or professed to base, the government
which they established.
There were, of course, no clearly marked bounda
ries in the charter between the executive, the legisla
tive and the judicial powers of the government. The
1 Chapter XIII.
2 Chapter XVI.
' Chief-justice Shaw in Commonwealth vs. Alger, 7 Cush. 53-92.
Pur. Rep. — 3

34 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
governor does not seem to have been vested, either
by the charter or by the laws subsequently enacted,
with very extensive executive powers; but, from time
to time, as the necessity for them arose, various gen
eral and local executive officers were provided for.
One of the first things attempted, as stated In the
preceding chapter, was to locate the seat of govern
ment, but the location was not agreed upon until
some time afterwards. In the second year the gov
ernor took down the frame of the house which he
had erected in Newtown, and set it up at Shawmut,
afterwards called Boston, from Boston in England,
where the Rev. John Cotton had lived. The General
Court met there on October 19, 1630, "for the estab-
llshlnge of the government," and at a meeting held
there on October 3, 1632, It was "thought by generali
consent that Boston Is the fittest place for publlque
meetings of any place in the Bay," And so Boston
became the capital of the infant commonwealth.
Before this time, however, a government had
been started. On August 23, 1630, ten weeks after
Winthrop's arrival, the first meeting of the Court of
Assistants in New England was held at Charlestown.
At this meeting " Impse : It was propounded howe
the ministers should be maintained, Mr. Wilson and
Mr, Phillips only propounded," At the same meet
ing the process In civil actions was defined and the
wages of carpenters and other mechanics were fixed.
It was also " ordered that the Governor and Deputy
Governor for the tyme being shall alwales be jus
tices of ye peace, and that Sir Richard Saltonstall,
Mr. Johnson & Mr. Ludlowe shall be justices of the

MAKING A GOVERNMENT. 35
peace for the present tyme ; in all things to have like
power that justices of peace hath in England for ref
ormation of abuses and punishing of offenders ; and
that any justice of the peace may Imprison an offend
er, but not to inflict any corporali punishment with
out the presence and Consent of some one of the As
sistants,"* The processes to be used in civil actions
were also defined.
It soon became necessary to determine who should
be entitled to the privileges of citizenship and what
qualifications should be required. It has been sup
posed that not more than twenty of the original mem
bers of the company ever came over from England,
and some of these returned. The great majority of
those who were not freemen, but who had, equally
with those who were freemen, contributed to the es
tablishment of the colony, would not willingly have
consented to be shut out from any voice In the man
agement of its affairs. Moreover it was necessary,
in order to carry on the government, to admit some
of them to the privileges of citizenship. But, until
the first General Court was held on October 19, 1630,
none had been admitted freemen. One hundred and
eighteen of the colonists had previously given notice
of their desire to be admitted, and these were ad
mitted at the first meeting. No religious test was
then required.
Up to this time the management of the colony had
been exercised chiefly by the governor and the as
sistants, and the latter, being desirous of retaining
their power, had prevailed upon the freemen to con-
^ Mass. Rec, Vol, 1, pp, 73, 74.

2,6 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
sent to orders, the object of which was to perpetuate
the assistants in office and to give them the power of
choosing the governor and deputy governor. But at
the General Court of election in May, 1631, the free
men, in the meantime, having come to a clearer under
standing of the charter, resumed the power, which It
expressly gave them, of electing not only the governor
and deputy governor, but the assistants also. At the
same General Court a religious qualification was re
quired as a condition precedent to admission to the priv
ileges of citizenship, and it was now "ordered and
agreed that for time to come noe man shall be admit
ted to the freedome of this body politique but such as
are members of some of the Churches within the lym-
etts of the same." And no one could be admitted a
freeman except upon taking the following oath :
" I A. B. being, by Gods providence, an inhabitant &
ffreeman within the jurisdiction of this Commonweal, doe
freely acknowledge myself to be subject to the government
thereof & therefore doe hereby Sweare, by the greate &
dreadfuU name of the everlyveing God, that I will be true
and faithful to the same & will accordingly yeilde assistance
& support thereunto, with my personal estate, as in Equity
I am bound, & will also truely indeavor to mainetaine & pre
serve all the libertyes and privilidges thereof submitting
myselfe to the wholesome lawes & orders made & estab
lished by the same, and furthur that I will not plott nor
practice any evill against it, nor consent to any that shall soe
doe, but will timely discover & reveale the same to lawful
aucthority nowe here established, for the speedy preventing
thereof. Moreover, I doe solemnely bynde myself, in the
sight of God, that when I shal be called to give my voice
touching any such matter of this State, wherein freemea

MAKING A GOVERNMENT. 37
are to deale, I will give my vote and suffrage, as I shall
judge in my own conscience may best conduce & tend to
the publlque weale of the body, without respect of persons
or favor of any man, Soe helpe mee God, in the Lord
Jesus Christ."
Every man over 20 years of age, after having been
a resident over six months and not admitted a free
man, was required to take the following oath of alle
giance, upon pain of banishment in case of refusal:
" I doe hereby sweare and call God to witness, that be
ing nowe an inhabitant within this jurisdiction of the Massa
chusetts, I doe acknowledge myselfe lawfully subject to the
aucthoritie and government there established, and doe ac
cordingly submitt my person, family and estate, to be pro
tected ordered & governed by the laws and constitutions
thereof and doe faithfully promise to be from time to time
obedient and conformeable thereunto, and to the aucthoritie
of the Governor & all other magistrates there and their suc
cessors and to all such lawes, orders, sentences, & decrees,
as nowe are or hereafter shalbe lawfully made, decreed &
published by them or their successors. And I will alwayes.
indeavor (as in duty I am bound) to advance the peace &
well being of this body politique, and I will (to my best
power & means) seeke to divert & prevent whatsoever may
tende to the ruine or damage thereof, or of ye Governor,
Deputy Governor, or Assistants or any of them or thc'r
successors, and will give speedy notice to them, or some cf
them, of any sedition, violence, treacherie, or other hurte or
evill which I shall knowe, heare, or vehemently suspect to
be plotted or intended against them or any of them, or
against the said Commonwealth or government established.
So help mee God,"

38 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
Another question to be settled was the question as
to the exercise of the legislative power. This was at
first assumed by the assistants, but very soon the
freemen demanded a right to representation, and in
1634 provision was made for the election of deputies
to the General Court from each town.
There was no provision in the charter for estab
lishing courts of any kind, but judicial as well as
legislative power, from the beginning, was assumed
by the General Court, and it exercised exclusive juris
diction in both civil and criminal proceedings until
1639. In that year, and from time to time afterward,
the Court of Assistants, county courts and various
inferior courts were established, the General Court
retaining appellate jurisdiction. The General Court
exercised and retained original and exclusive chancery
jurisdiction until 1685, when such jurisdiction was
conferred upon the magistrates of the county courts,'^
The exercise of the taxing power by the assistants
caused much vigorous opposition and resulted in an
order by the General Court in 1632, "that there should
be two of every plantation appointed to confer with
the Court about raising of a publlque stock," a meas
ure which, as Palfrey states, "proved to be the germ
of a second house of legislature,"
Measures were early taken for putting the colony
upon a military footing, and forts and fortifications
were erected at Castle Island, Charlestown, Salem'
and other points, train-bands were established, pro
visions made for watches and for the distribution of
arms and ammunition, and military commissions
' See Chapter III as to the jurisdiction and procedure of the courts.

MAKING A GOVERNMENT. 39
¦were, from time to time, created with general power
"to dispose of all military affaires whatsoever."
Laws were also passed, which will be more partic
ularly noted in another chapter, providing what
should be a legal tender In payment of debts and
taxes ; also laws regulating weights and measures,
and registry laws. New towns were from time to
time established, and laws were enacted authorizing
and defining the exercise of the right of local self-
government. The beginning of a mail system was
also made by appointing Richard Fairbanks, of Bos
ton, postmaster, with authority to receive and deliver
letters at specified rates. Various other laws of a
general nature were enacted, some of which will be
more particularly mentioned In subsequent chapters.
Much of the time of the General Court during- the
first ten years seems to have been taken up with set
tling disputes between towns as to their boundaries,
and providing for the construction of roads and
bridges and ferries and keeping them in repair,
granting licenses for Inns or ordinaries, and regulat
ing the running at large of cattle and swine. Most
matters of merely local concern were afterwards re
ferred to the various towns.
From the beginning, the authorities of the little
colony asserted the supremacy and dignity of the new
commonwealth, and enforced respect to it and its
officers. Thomas Dexter, in 1632, was ordered to
be "sett in the bilbowes, disfranchised & fined 40 £
forspeakeing reproachful & seditious words against the
government here establlshed& findeing fault to dyvers
with the acts of the Court, sayeing this captious gov-

40 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
ernment will bring all to naught, adding that the best
of them was but an atturney." And the next year,
"Capt. John Stone for his outrage committed in con
fronting aucthority, abusing Mr. Ludlowe [one of
the assistants] both In words and behavour, assault
ing him & calling him a just as, is fined loo £, and
prohibited comeing within this pattent without leave
from the Government under penalty of death,"
Peter Bussaker was ' ' fined 5 £ for sleiteing the mag
istrates, or what they could do, saying they could
but fine him," Richard Silvester, "for speaking
against the law about hogs & against a particular
naagistrate was fined ten pounds."
Speaking disrespectfully of the churches or minis
ters was also severely punished. Katherine Finch
for "speaking against the magistrates, against the
churches & against the elders, was sensured to be
whipped & committed till the General Court." "Mr.
Ambros Martin, for calling the church covenant a
stinking carryon & a humane invention & saying he
wondered at God's patience, feared It would end in
the Sharpe & said the ministers did dethrone Christ
& set up themselves ; he was fined 10 £ & counselled
to go to Mr. Mather to bee Instructed by him." Two
Indian women were "adjudged to be whipped for
their insolent carriage & abusing Mr. Weld," one of
the ministers. Samuel Norman "was committed for
want of security & was censured to be whipped for
saying if ministers which come will but raile against
England some would receive them." Edward Tom-
llns got into trouble by expressing "his opinions

MAKING A GOVERNMENT. 4 1
aganst singing in the churches," but upon "retract
ing" them he was discharged.
Strict surveillance was also exercised by the au
thorities over those who, it was feared, might con
taminate the colony by their vicious lives or heretical
opinions, and in several instances such persons were
banished under penalty of death in case of their re
turn without permission.
William Foster "was informed that wee conceive
him not fit to live with us : therefore hee was wished
to depart before the General Court in March next.'*
Mr. Thomas Makepeace, "because of his novile dis
position was informed wee were weary of him, unless
hee reforme."
Some of those banished were so dealt with chiefly
on account of their immoral conduct, but others were
banished solely for the reason that their religious
opinions were deemed unsound and pernicious. John
Wheelwright, Francis Hutchinson and others were so
dealt with at an early date, and many others at a later
period. Careful scrutiny was also made of every new-comer,
and in 1637 i^ ^^^ ordered, under severe penalties, '
that ' ' noe towne or person shall receive any stranger
resorting hither with intent to reside In this jurisdic
tion, nor shal alow any lot or habitation to any, or
intertaine any such above three weekes, except such
person shal have alowance under the hands of some
one of the counsell or of two other of the magis
trates."^ Those who had been excommunicated by
the churches were special objects of suspicion, and
'Mas^. Rec, Vol, i, pp, 196, 228,

42 the PURITAN REPUBLIC.
in 1638, a very severe law was passed providing
that: ' ' Whereas it is found by sad experience that diverse per
sons, who have been justly cast out of some of the churches
do prophanely contemne the same sacred & dreadful ordi
nance, by presenting themselves overbouldly in other as
semblies & speaking lightly of their censures, to the great
offence & greefe of God's people & incuragement of evil
minded persons to contemne the said ordinance, it is there-
ford ordered, that whosoever shall stand excommunicate for
the space of 6 months without laboring what in him or her
lyeth to be restored, such person shal bee presented to the
court of Assistants & there proceeded with by fine, impris
onment, banishment or furthur, for the good behaviour, as
their contempt & obstinacy upon full hearing shall deserve."'
It is true that this harsh law was repealed the next
year,^ but prosecutions continued for a long time
afterwards, which, though nominally for violation of
some other law, were In reality designed to punish by
fine, imprisonment, or banishment, those who had
been expelled from the churches.
In the ten years following the first meeting of the
Court of Assistants In 1630, the little colony had
made rapid progress In establishing a govern
ment. A capital had been selected; the framework
of a legislative and of a judicial system had been con
structed; a system of taxation had been devised; reg
ulations had been adopted for the acquisition and
transfer of real and personal propei'ty; a military es
tablishment had been effected; a beginning had been
made in the system of local governments, and many
'Mass, Rec, Vol, i, p, 242.
' Mass. Rec, Vol. i, p. 271.

MAKING A GOVERNMENT. 43
minor details In putting Into operation and carrying
on a government had been settled. The, territory of
the little commonwealth had expanded and the pop
ulation had increased. In 1640 there were 17 towns
included in the tax rate, and at the General Court held
in 1641 there were, besides the governor and the as
sistants, 35 deputies. But there were still lacking
some essentials of a well-ordered government. There
was nothing, beyond the charter, bearing even the
semblance of a constitution defining the cardinal
rights of the citizens, nor was there anything like a
code of laws.
When the first deputies came together they at
once demanded "a sight of the patent," and, hav
ing examined it, they came to the conclusion that
all the prior laws, not made by the General Court,
were illegal and should be abrogated. The governor,
however, gave them an explanation on this point
which eased their minds.
But the deputies were not satisfied with the man
ner in which the laws were made and enforced. Some
had not been made by the General Court; none had
been printed; they had not been compiled or ar
ranged In any methodical order, and they were
buried in records to which the general public had
not access. If the magistrate himself knew what the
law was, it was likely that the litigants did not, and
they were not allov/ed lawyers to find it for them.
But often there was no law at all governing the case,
and then the magistrate decided according to the
scripture rule, if one could be found to fit the litigation.
If, as frequently happened, neither legal nor scrip-

44 the PURITAN REPUBLIC.
tural authority could be found, then the magistrate
decided according to his own notions of justice or
upon the advice of the ministers. Persons were tried
and punished, and sometimes very severely punished,
for offenses not defined in any statute of England or
of the commonwealth. Men were banished from
the colony though no specific crime had been
proved or alleged against them, and without any
reason publicly given other than the statement that
"they were not fit to live with us . " They were even ar
raigned and reprimanded for alleged misconduct
committed on the other side of the Atlantic, and be
fore they had become residents of the commonwealth,
as in the case of John Woolrige, who, "appearing
upon the indictment of the grand jury, confessed his
fraude & drunkenness in Ould England, for which
he was sharply reproved & seriously admonished."
Until the adoption in 1641 of the Body of Liberties,
"the law dispensed by the magistrates," according
to Palfrey, "was no other than equity as its prin
ciples and rules existed in their own reason and con
science instructed by Scripture."
This was a very loose arid unsatisfactory method
of determining legal rights. The freemen of the
colony soon became restive under it, and, as early as
1635, " the deputies, having conceived great danger
to our state, in regard that our magistrates, for want
of positive laws, in many cases might proceed ac
cording to their discretions,"^ insisted upon the adop
tion of a body of "fundamental laws."
Accordingly, in May, 1635, ^^e governor, the
' Winthrop, Vol. i, p. i6o.

MAKING A GOVERNMENT. 45
deputy governor, John Winthrop and Thomas Dud
ley, Esq., were deputed by the General Court "to
make a draught of such lawes as they shall judge
needefull for the well-ordering of this plantation & to
present the same to the Court." In May, 1636, a
further order was made that :
"The Governor, Deputy Governor, Tho, Dudley, John
Haynes, Rich. Bellingham, Esq,, Mr, Cotton, Mr, Peters &
Mr. Shepheard are intreated to make a draught of lawes
agreeable to the word of God, which may be the ffundamen-
talls of this Commonwealth & to present the same to the
nexte General Court. And it is ordered that in the meane
tyme the magistrates and their assistants shall proceede in
the Courts to heare & determine all causes according to the
laws nowe established & where there is noe law, then as
neere the lawe of God as they can."
On the 25th of October, in the same year, the Rev.
John Cotton, who had been "requested by the Gen
eral Court, with some other ministers, to assist some
of the magistrates in compiling a body of fundamental
laws, did this court present a copy of Moses, his ju
dicials, compiled in an exact method."* Doubtless It
occurred to some of the General Court that Moses
himself would probably have made some additions
to the Mosaic law to make it suit the necessities of
the people Inhabiting the colony of Massachusetts
Bay, and so Cotton's code was not adopted. The
subject came up again in the General Court held in
March, 1637-8, and in an order reciting how it had
been found, "by the little time of experience wee
have heare had, that the want of written lawes have
' Winthrop, Vol. i, p. 202.

46 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
put the Court Into many doubts & much trouble in
many particular cases," it was directed that the free
men of each town should
' 'Assemble together in their severall townes & collect the
heads of such necessary & fundamental! lawes as may bee
sutable to the times & places whear God by his providence
hath cast us & the heads of such laws to deliver in writing
to the Governor for the time being before the 5 th day of the
4th month, called June, next, to the intent that the same
Governor, together with the best of the standing council &
Richard Bellingham Esq., Mr. Bulkley, Mr. Philips, Mr.
Peters, & Mr. Shepard, elders of severall Churches, Mr.
Nathaniel Ward, Mr, William Spencer, & Mr. Will Hau-
thorne, or the major part of them, may, upon survey of
such heads of lawes, make a compendious abrigment of the
same by the General Court in Autume next, adding yet to
the same or detracting therefrom what in their wisdomes
shall seeme meete."
The same committee was directed to prepare, for
submission to the General Court, a revision of the
orders already made. In 1639 it was ordered that
"The Governor, Deputy Governor, Treasurer & Mr.
Stoughton or any three of them, with two or more of the
deputies of Boston, Charlestowne, or Roxbury, shall peruse
all those modells which have bene or shalbe presented to
this Court or themselves, concerning a forme of government
& lawes to bee established & shall drawe them up into one
(altering, ading, or omiting what they shall thinke fit) &
shall take order that the same shalbee coppied out & sent to
the severall townes, that the elders of the churches & free
men may consider of them against the next Generali Court,"

MAKING A GOVERNMENT. 47
At the General Court held in May, 1640, an order
was made reciting that ' ' Whereas a breviate of lawes
was formerly sent fourth to bee considered by the
elders of the churches & other freemen of this com
monwealth, it Is now desired that they will endevor
to ripen their thoughts and counsells about the same
by the Generali Court in the next Sth month." Such
progress was made that in October, 1641, "The Gov
ernor and Mr. Hauthorne were desired to speake to
Mr. Ward for a coppey of the liberties & of the capl-
tall lawes to bee transcribed & sent to the severall
townes," and in December following, "Mr. Deputy
Endecot, Mr. Downing & Mr. Hauthorne are author
ized to get 19 copples of the lawes, liberties &
the formes of oathes transcribed and subscribed by
their severall hands, & none to bee authentick but
such as they subscribe & to bee paid for by the cun-
stable of each towne los a peece for each coppey &
to bee prepared within sixe weekes."
The last entry in the record of the proceedings of
the same General Court, said to be in the handwrit
ing of Gov. Winthrop, Is this : "At this Court the
bodye of lawes formerly sent forth among the ffree-
men was voted to stand In force."
The provisions of the Body of Liberties, thus
adopted, will be more fully considered in the next
chapter. Its adoption marks the completion of one
of the most important of the preliminary proceedings
in the establishment of a government for the new
commonwealth .

Ill
PURITAN LAWS, LAWYERS AND COURTS
It is difficult to write about law in such a way as
to make what is written interesting even to lawyers,
and much more difficult to make what is written In
teresting to the general reader. But we can not un
derstand the history of any people without knowing
something about their laws, and it is utterly impossi
ble to understand the history of the Massachusetts
Puritans without a close and careful study of those
-which they adopted. A very general outline of them,
liowever, Is all that will be attempted In this chapter.
In regard to some of them more specific mention is
made in other chapters. The steps preliminary to
the adoption of the Body of Liberties have been men
tioned In the preceding chapter. The delay in en
acting a general code of laws, according to Winthrop,
was due partly to the fact that the General Court
wished fuller information as to the "nature and dis
position of the people," and partly to the fear of en
acting a code that might " transgress the limits " of
the charter.
"Without overrating the influence of any one
man," says Mr. Whitmore,* " In the preparation of
this admirable code, and believing firmly that it em-
' Col. Laws 1660-1672, p. 19.
(48)

PURITAN LA-WS, LAWYERS AND COURTS. 49
bodied the best judgment of Winthrop and other
leaders, there seems to be no reason to doubt that
the main literary work, at least, was due to Nathan
iel Ward, and that his legal abilities and training
were at least equal to those of any of his associates."
The code is not merely a curious relic of the past,
but is of great historic value. Chief Justice Shaw*
says that "the term 'liberties' was used as synony
mous with laws or legal rights founded and estab
lished by law." He suggests that they were so called
because " it might seem to them less arrogant to set
forth and declare their liberties and rights In this
form than to enact in terms a body of laws which
might seem to indicate a disregard for the authority
of the Mother Country." In the same opinion he
says that "they bear internal evidence of having been
drawn with great skill and legal accuracy and have
a constant reference to the established principles of
the laws of England."
By this code it was provided that " No man's life
shall be taken away, no man's honour or good name
shall be stayned, no man's person shall be arested,
restrayned, banished, dismembered, nor any wayes
punished, no man shall be deprived of his wife or
children, no man's goods or estaite shall be taken
away from him, nor any way indammaged under
coulor of law or Countenance of Authoritie, unlesse
it be by vertue or equltie of some expresse law of the
Country waranting the same, established by a gen
erali Court and sufficiently published, or in case of
' Commonwealth vs. Alger, 7 Cush. 53-70-
Pur. Rep. — 4

5°

the puritan REPUBLIC.

/

the defect of a law in any parteculer case by the word
of god,"
It was also provided that "Every person within
this Jurisdiction, whether Inhabitant or forreiner,
shall enjoy the same justice and law, that is generali
for the plantation, which we constitute and execute
one towards another without partlalitie or delay."
The right of trial by jury in both civil and criminal
cases was secured. No man was to be twice sen
tenced "for the same crime, offence or Trespasse,"
Torture was forbidden except when, after conviction
of a man, "it is very apperent there be other con-
splratours or confederates with him. Then he may be
tortured, yet not with such Tortures as be Barbarous
and inhumane." Barbarous and Inhuman bodily
punishments were prohibited. Slavery and villein
age were prohibited "unless It be lawfull Captives
taken In just warres and such strangers as willingly
selle themselves or are sold to us." Christian refu
gees ' ' from the Tiranny or oppression of their perse
cutors, or from famyne, warres, or other like neces
sary or cumpulsarie cause ' ' were to be " entertayned
and succoured."
Ten crimes were punished capitally, viz., idolatry,
witchcraft, blasphemy, murder, whether with pre
meditated malice or sudden anger or cruelty of
passion, or "through guile, either by poysoning or
other such divellsh practice," bestiality, sodomy,
adultery with a married or espoused wife, stealing,
perjury in capital cases, and treason.
The lawmakers. It Is clear, did not then feel safe
in declaring capital punishment except upon scrip-

PURITAN LAWS, LAWYERS AND COURTS. 5 1
tural authority, and fortified themselves with scrip
tural references which are printed on the margin of
the page whereon the offenses are defined. Thus
the law against witchcraft Is printed as follows:
"Ex, 22, 18, 1 If any man or Woeman be a witch.
Lev. 20, 27. y (that is hath or consulteth with a famil-
Dut. 18, 10. J iar spirit, ) They shall be put to death."
Among the provisions respecting the transmission
of property it was provided that "All our lands and
heritages shall be free from all fines and licenses
upon Alienations, and from all harlotts, wardships.
Liveries, Primerseisins, yeare day and wast, Es-
cheates, and forfeitures, upon the deaths of parents
or Ancestors, be they naturali, casuall or judltiall,"
The laws in relation to judicial proceedings pro
vided for appeals and contained the essence of the
English statute of amendments and jeofails by pro
viding that, " No summons, pleading. Judgement, or
any kinde of proceeding in Court or course of Jus
tice, shall be abated, arested or reversed upon any
kinde of cercumstantlall errors or mistakes. If the
person and cause be rightly understood and intended
by the Court,"
Monopolies were forbidden " but of such new In
ventions that are profitable to the Countrie, and that
for a short time," Other provisions in the Body of
Liberties will be noted hereafter.
Libel and slander were not specified as criminal
offenses In the Body of Liberties, but in 1645 a law
was passed* whereby it was made a penal offense,
*Col. Laws 1660-1672, p. 171.

t2 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
punishable by fine and the stocks, for any person of
the age of discretion (fourteen years), " to wittingly
and willingly make or publish any tye, which may be
pernicious to the public weal, or tending to the dam
age or injury of any particular person, or with intent
to deceive and abuse the people, with false newes and
reports." I
Some have looked upon this law as ridiculous and
impracticable, but the object of it was probably
not widely different from that of the modern laws
against criminal libel.
Other laws were enacted from time to time and
several revisions were made, one in 1649, one In
1660 and another in 1672. The revision of 1649
was the first code of laws published in America. No
copy of it is known to be extant, but it is supposed
to have been incorporated into that of 1660.*
Besides the laws already mentioned, and those
which will be specially mentioned in subsequent
chapters, there are a few others deserving of atten
tion. A curious law was passed In relation to the election
of assistants and the "stuffing of the ballot box" and
illegal voting, whereby it was provided, "That for
the yearly choosing of Assistants, the freemen shall
use Corn & Beanes, the Indian Corn to manifest Elec
tion, the Beanes contrary, and if any freeman shall
' Recently there have been published, by authority of the city of Bos
ton, two volumes of these colonial laws, one containing the Body of Lib
erties, the revision of 1660, and the supplements to 1672 ; the other con
taining the revision of 1672 and the supplements to the dissolution of
the General Court on May 20, 1686, These volumes havetbeen edited
by Mr, William H. Whitmore, and are enriched with copious and valu
able notes.

PURITAN LAWS, LA^WYERS AND COURTS. 53
put In more than one Indian Corne or Beane for the
Choice or refusal of any Public Officer, he shall for
feit for every such offense, Ten Pounds, and that any
man that is not free, or hath not liberty of voting,
putting in any vote shall forfeit the like Summ of Ten
Pounds." The laws made minute provisions for the raising of
revenue for the support of the general and local gov
ernments and defraying "all common charges both
civil and ecclesiastical," which Included "an honor
able allowance * * * to the minister, respecting
the ability of the place. ' ' Direct taxes were laid upon
polls and real and personal property. Duties were
imposed upon imported goods. License fees were col
lected from innkeepers, retail liquor dealers, Indian
traders and others, and income taxes were collected
of butchers, bakers, smiths, carpenters, millers and
other artisans and handicraftsmen. Few exemptions,
and these only to a partial extent (except in case of
the ministers), were allowed.
The taxes for the support of the general govern
ment, and the rates therefor, were established by the
General Court. The town rates were fixed by officers
selected by the Inhabitants.
Some difficulty seems to have been experienced in
defining the tenure of lands, but the colonists found
authority in the Bible. The Indian title was recog
nized in a law, passed in 1652, wherein "It Is De
clared and Ordered by this Court and the Authority
thereof that what Lands any of the Indians In this
Jurisdiction have possessed and improved by subdu
ing the same, they have just right unto, according

54 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
to that in Gen. i, 28 & chap. 9, i and Psal. 115, 16,"
The same act provided redress ' ' If any Plantation or
Person of the English, shall offer injuriously to put
any of the Indians from their Planting grounds or
Fishing places," and prohibited the buying of land
from any Indian " without license first had and ob
tained of the General Court,"
The same act defines the authority of the General
Court over lands in the colony as follows: "And fur
ther It is ordered by this Court and the Authority
thereof, and be it hereby Enacted, that all the tract
of Land within this Jurisdiction, whether already
graunted to any English plantations or persons, or to
be graunted by this Court (not being under the qual
ifications of right to the Indians) Is, and shall be ac
counted the just Right of such English as already
have, or hereafter shall have graunt of Lands from
this Court, and the Authority thereof ; from that of
Genesis i, 28 and the Invitation of the Indians,"
Another law gave towns authority to " dispose of
their own lands and woods."
By the Body of Liberties* it was provided that the
eldest son of a person dying intestate should have a
double portion of the real and personal estate, unless
the General Court should, for just cause, adjudge oth
erwise. By this It was probably intended to abolish
the English law of primogeniture, and it is also prob
able that the intention was not more clearly expressed
lest the law might be regarded as repugnant to the
charter. The laws made many and minute provls-
>No. 81.

PURITAN LAWS, LAWYERS AND COURTS. 55
ions regulating the domestic relations. The laws as
to marriage will be noticed In another chapter,*
No grounds for divorce were specified in the laws,
but Cotton Mather enumerates some of the causes
which would justify the civil magistrates In declaring
the divorce of married persons, chief among which
were adultery, impotence, and malicious desertion,^
To put at rest the question whether It was lawful,
as It was supposed to be in England, for a man to
whip his wife with a stick, "If no bigger than his
little finger," it was expressly provided in the Body
of Liberties, that "Everie marryed woeman shall be
free from bodllie correction or stripes by her hu,sband,
unlesse It be in his owne defence upon her assalt. If
there be any just cause of correction, complaint shall
be made to Authoritie assembled in some Court, from
which onely she shall receive it,"
A great many laws were passed to compel obedi
ence of children to their parents, and to provide for
their religious training. The death penalty was de
nounced against children who cursed or smote their
parents and against rebellious sons, though there is
no record of the actual Infliction of this penalty.
Various provisions also were made in reference to
servants, and one very humane provision was that
"Servants that have served deligentlle and faithfully
to the benefitt of their maisters seaven yeares, shall
not be sent away emptle."
It can not be denied that slavery, to a limited extent,
was recognized by law in the Massachusetts colony,
'Chap. 5.
' Magnalia, Vol. 2, p. 253.

t6 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
as appears by the law quoted in another chapter. But
no law was ever enacted making slaves of the chil
dren of slaves, and the very atmosphere of Massa
chusetts was always uncongenial to slavery.
It would not be practicable to give even a synopsis
of all the laws in the volumes referred to, A great
part of these relate to the organization of the gov
ernment, and the machinery for carrying it on, de
fining the powers, duties and fees of officers, the
organization of courts and procedure therein, the
assessment and collection of taxes, imposts and
licenses, elections, the support of the poor, etc.
Some of them define crimes and punishments. Oth
ers relate to property, the laws of descent, adminis
trators, executors and guardians, dower, and the
alienation of real and personal property. Many of
them, such as those relating to estrays and tres
passing animals, brands, marks, pounds, markets,
weights and measures, bounties for wolves and deal
ing with Indians, are such as are found upon the
early statute books of all the states, and find ex
pression in many of our modern laws.
Various crimes were punished capitally. Some of
these have already been mentioned. Others were
added — arson, burglary (third offense), cursing or
smiting a parent, denial of the word of God (second
offense) , highway robbery (third offense) , return of
Jesuits and Quakers after banishment, man-stealing,
rape of a maid or a single woman, rebellion and re
belliousness of a son.
Cutting off the ears was the penalty for burglary
(first and second offenses), and some other offenses.

PURITAN LAWS, LAAVYERS AND COURTS. 57
Branding was inflicted for burglary and high
way robbery, and also upon vagabond Quakers and
rogues .
Banishment was the penalty for defamation or de
nial of the authority of the magistrates, and for
persistent heresy. It was Imposed upon Anabaptists,
Quakers and Jesuit ecclesiastics.
Whipping was the penalty for a great number of
crimes, such as defamation of the magistrates, dis
obedience of children, drunkenness, firing woods,
fornication with a single woman, injurious lying,
profanation of the Lord's day, rescue of cattle from
pound, reviling the office or person of magistrate or
minister, and theft by children or servants, and it
was also the penalty for the first offense In the case
of various crimes, the repetition of which was more
severely punished.
Putting in the stocks, sometimes called "bilboes,"
was the penalty visited upon disorderly soldiers,
drunkards and tipplers, and persons guilty of pro
fane cursing and some other misdemeanors.
Disfranchisement was inflicted upon those guilty of
defamation of magistrates, fornication and refusal to
attend public worship.
Fines were imposed for a great many offenses.
The profound religious spirit that controlled the law
makers is manifest from what has already been said.
It is still further manifest by the scriptural quotation
printed on the title page of the revision of 1660:
* ' Whosoever therefore resisteth the Power, resisteth
the Ordinance of God: and they that resist, receive to
themselves damnation. Rom. 13, 2." While all of

58 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
these laws are interesting, as indicating the character
of the times, some of them, which will be noticed
more fully In other chapters, will attract our special
attention. That these laws were enforced, and very rigidly
enforced, there is abundant evidence. The Puritans
did not believe in dead-letter laws. The old colonial
records abound in entries of convictions for trivial
offenses, which now would be only lightly punished,
if punished at all, where the sentence was that the
culprit should be whipped, or set in the bilboes, or
stand In the market place with his tongue In a cleft
stick.* Nor is there any evidence of partiality in . the im
position of penalties. The records contain numer
ous instances of fines imposed upon assistants, dep
uties and other officials and prominent citizens.
Women, as well as men, were sentenced to be
whipped, or to stand with the tongue In a cleft
stick for offenses for which such punlshmicnts were
the penalties. In at least one case It seems that the
authorities leaned rather too strongly against the
woman, and in favor of the man, for it Is recorded
that : " George Palmer having committed folly with
Margary Ruggs, through her allurement, because hee
confessed voluntarily, hee was onely set in the stocks
and so dismissed. Margary Ruggs, for entlsing and
alluring George Palmer was censured to be severely
whipped." Further illustrations of the severity with which the
laws were enforced are given in other chapters. Nor
' See Hutchinson, Vol. i, p. 384-5; Hudson's His. Marlborough, 2^2,
244.

PURITAN LAWS, LAWYERS AND COURTS. 59
was any partiality shown by reason of rank or
station. One amongst the first to be punished was
Sir Richard Saltonstall, who, in 1630, was fined £5
for whipping two persons when no other assistant
was present. Endicott, who was then an assistant,
was provoked into committing an assault and battery
upon one Dexter ; thereupon the former was tried by
a jury and fined 40 shillings.*
The laws already referred to (and there were many
odiers of the same kind) , show that nothing was ex
empt from the close supervision of the commonwealth.
It exercised, even in matters of a purely domestic and
social character, a surveillance that would not now be
thought of, much less tolerated. The laws regulating
apparel, the catechising of children and servants,
and others of like character, are noted more fully in
other chapters. So far as they could do so, the mag
istrates sought even to invade men's hearts and drag
out their secret thoughts and pass judgment upon
them. Lynn was settled in 1629. In Lewis's history of
the town, copious extracts are given from the records
of the quarterly courts, which are probably fair sam
ples of what appears in the records of other towns,
covering the same periods, and which give us a good
idea of what conduct was regarded as criminal in
those days and of the kind of punishments inflicted.
Roger Scott, in 1643, was presented "for common
sleeping at the public exercise upon the Lord's day,
and for striking him that waked him," and in De
cember following, as he still persisted in going to
'Palfrey, Vol. i, p. 327.

6o THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
sleep at meeting, he was sentenced "to be severely
whipped." In 1644 William Hewes and John, his
son, were presented "for deriding such as Sing in
the Congregation, tearming them fools, also William
Hewes for saying Mr. Whiting preaches confusedly."
In 1645 Samuel Bennett was presented " for saying
in a scornful manner, he neither cared for the Towne,
nor any order the Towne could make." In 1649
" Mathew Stanley was tried for winning the affec
tions of John Tarbox's daughter without the consent
of her parents. He was fined £5 with 2s 6d fees.
The parents of the young woman were allowed six
shillings for their attendance three days." In the
same year Nicholes Pinion was fined for swearing,
"  all his pumpkins were turned to squashes."
In 1652, Ester, wife of Joseph Jynkes, was presented
"for weai^Ing silver lace"; Robert Burgess "for bad
corn-grinding," and other persons "for wearing great
boots and silk hoods"; and William Witter was pre
sented "for neglecting the public ordinances and be
ing rebaptized." In 1667, Nathaniel Kertland,
John Witt and Ephraim Hall were presented " for
prophaning the Lords da}' By Going to William
Craft's house in time of publike exercise (they both
being at meeting) and Drinkeing of his sider and
Posting his Apples without eyther the consent or
knowledge of him or his wife."
To enforce the laws required a great number of
local officials, Mr. Howard has given us a list of
"the vast number of minor public functionaries"
employed by the different towns, and says that
"there seems to have been a restless anxiety in

PURITAN LAVv^S, L.UVYERS AND COURTS. 6 1
these little democracies to bring every possible sub
ject within the purview of the town meeting or the
magistrates chosen by it. There was a minute inter
ference with private business ; a degree of official in
trusion, which we should now feel intolerable."*
Looking over these old laws we must admit that,
judged by modern Ideas, many of them were severe
and oppressive. But, in justice to the early Puri
tans, we should judge them and their laws by the
light which they had, and not by that which two and
one-half centuries of study and experience have given
us. Nor should we attribute the harshness of their
laws altogether to the austerity of their religion.
Their criminal laws, like most of the criminal laws
of the other colonies, were substantial re-enactments
of those of the mother country, and these we know
were, many of them, characterized by penalties far
more frightful and atrocious than the offenses they
were intended to punish.
When Blackstone wrote his "Commentaries on the
Laws of England," nearly a hundred years after the
end of the Massachusetts commonwealth, he ac
knowledged it as "a melancholy truth that among
the variety of actions which men are daily liable to
commit, no less than a hundred and sixty have been
declared by act of parliament to be felonies without
benefit of clergy; in other words, to be worthy of in
stant death." He adds that so "dreadful a list,
instead of diminishing, increases the number of of
fenders."^
^ Local Constitutional History of the United States, Chapter on
^'Rise of the New England Town," pp. 96-99.
' Commentaries, Vol. 4, p. 18.

62 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
Hangings, burning people in the hand, cropping
their ears, slitting their tongues were so common that
standing in the pillory and whipping were regarded
as mild punishments.
Not the slightest conception of the reformation of
the offender then entered into the minds of the law
makers anywhere, and the ruling Idea of most of the
penal laws was to wreak society's vengeance upon
thecriminaland,if he was a little worse than common,
that it was "easier to extirpate than to amend" him.
The graphic picture-which Dickens gives in the ' ' Tale
of Two Cities," of crimes and criminals in England in
1775, *^ *^°^ overdrawn. " In the midst of these the
hangman, ever busy and ever worse than useless,
was in constant requisition ; now stringing up long
rows of miscellaneous criminals ; now hanging a
housebreaker on Saturday who had been taken on
Tuesday ; now burning people in the hand at New
gate by the dozen, and now burning pamphlets at
the door of Westminster Hall ; to-day taking the life
of an atrocious murderer, and to-morrow of a wretch
ed pilferer who had robbed a farmer's boy of six
pence." In Dillon's "Oddities of Colonial Legislation"
there is an extensive collection of some of the harsh
est of the penal laws of England and the American
colonies. A very cursory examination of them will
show that the early criminal laws of Massachusetts
were neither much better nor much worse than were
those of the other colonies.
Much censure and ridicule has been heaped upon
the Puritans because of their belief in, and their laws

PURITAN LAWS, LAWYERS AND COURTS. 63
against, witchcraft, but we have only to consult the
encyclopedias to find that belief in witchcraft Is a
dreadful delusion which, from time to time, has pre
vailed all over the world, civilized as well as uncivil
ized, and has led to frightful sacrifice of human life.
Even Sir William Blackstone In his Commentaries
acknowledges his belief in it.* The English statute
against witchcraft, passed during the reign of James I,
was substantially re-enacted In Virginia, Maryland,
Delaware, South Carolina, Pennsylvania and the
other American colonies, as well as In Massachusetts.
The Pennsylvania statute continued in force until
1794.^ But this much must be said of the Body of Liber
ties : That it affirms all the cardinal principles of
Magna Charta and the common law of England for
the protection of the liberty of the citizen and the
rights of property, the most of which have been copied
into our national and state constitutions.
Lechford, in "Newes from New England," writ
ten in 1641, has given us an account of the courts in
the early period of the commonwealth, which, as he
was himself a lawyer, may be depended upon as be
ing accurate. He says :^
"There are two generali Courts, one every halfe yeare,
wherein they make Lawes or Ordinances. The Ministers
advise in making of Laws, some especially Ecclesiasticall,
and are present in Courts, and advise in some speciali causes
criminall, and in framing of Fundamentall Lawes. But not
many Fundamentall Lawes are yet established, which when
' Vol. 4, p. 60.
» Dillon's Oddities of Colonial Legislation, p. 32.
» Mass. His. Coll., 3d Ser., Vol. 3, p. 83.

•64 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
they doe, they must, by the words of their Charter, make
according to the Laws of England, or not contrary there
unto. Here they make taxes and levies. There are besides
foure quarter Courts for the whole Jurisdiction, besides other
petie Courts, one every quarter at Boston, Salem, and
Ipswich, with their severall jurisdictions, besides every
towne, almost, hath a petie Court for small debts and tress
passes under twenty shillings.
In the generali Court, or great quarter Courts, before the
Civill Magistrates, are tryed all actions and causes civill and
criminall, and also Ecclesiasticall, especially touching non-
members. And they themselves say that in the generali
and quarter Courts, they have the power of Parliament,
Kings Bench, Common Pleas, Chancery, High Commission,
and Star Chamber, and all other Courts of England, and in
divers cases have exercised that power upbn the Kings Sub
jects there, as is not difficult to prove. They have put to
death, banished, fined men, cut off mens eares, whipt, im
prisoned men, and all these for Ecclesiasticall and Civill
offences and without sufficient record. In the lesser quarter
Courts are tryed, in some, actions under ten pound, in
Boston, under twenty, and all criminall causes not touching
life or member. From the petie quarter Courts, or other
Court, the parties may appeale to the great quarter Courts,
from these to the generali Court, from which there is no ap
peale, they say. Notwithstanding, I presume their Patent
doth reserve and provide for Appeales in some cases, to the
Kings Majesty."
The assistants, usually styled magistrates, pre
sided over the courts In the counties where they re
sided, and justices of the peace and commissioners
of small causes were, from time to time, appointed
,by the General Court to hold local courts for the trial

PURITAN LAWS, LAWYERS AND COURTS. 65
of petty cases. Marshals and constables were ap
pointed to serve the processes of the various courts.
In the quarter courts grand juries were sworn
twice a year, "charged to enquire and present of
fenses reduced by the Governor, who gives the
Charge, most an-end, under the Heads of the ten
commandments "; "matters of debt, tresspasse, and
upon the case, and equity, yea and of heresle also,
are tryed by a jury,"*
The forms of judicial proceedings were simple,
and not much attention was paid to the troublesome
distinctions which prevailed In England between the
forms of actions. Until 1662 the writs did not even
bear the king's name.
There was this curious provision in relation to
jurors, which was probably intended, as lawyers
were not permitted either to enlighten or to befog
them, to enable them to consult the "minister":
"Whenever any Jurie of trialls or jurours are not
cleare in their judgments or consciences conserning
any cause wherein they are to give their verdict, they
shall have libertle in open court to advise with any
man they thinke fitt to resolve or direct them, before
they give in their verdict,"
Lechford complained that ' ' seldome is there any
matter of record, saving the verdict, many times at
randome taken and entered, which is also called the
judgment. And, for want of proceeding duly en
tered upon record, the government Is clearely arbi
trary, according to the discretions of the Judges and
Magistrates for the time being,"
' Lechford. Pur. Rep. — ?

J

66 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
But this evil was remedied in 1639 by an order
made reciting the evils consequent upon the rendi
tion of judgments "whereof no records are kept of
the evidence & reasons whereupon the verdict &
judgment did passe," and providing "that thence
forward every judgment, with all the evidence, bee
recorded in a booke to be kept to posterity."*
At the beginning of the commonwealth there were
not a great many law books even in England. What
there were are mentioned by Chancellor Kent In his
Commentaries.^ Most of these were written in a dia
lect unintelligible to most persons except judges and
lawyers. In 1647 the General Court made this pro
vision: " It is agreed by the Court, to the end we may
have the better light for making and proceeding
about laws, that there shall be these books following
procured for the use of the Court from time to time:
Two of Sir Edw. Cooke upon Littleton; two of the
book of Entryes; two of Sir Edw. Cooke upon
Magna Charta; two of the New Terms of Law;
two Daltons Justice of Peace; two of Sir Edwd.
Cooke's Reports."
But limited as was the supply of law books, the
supply of lawyers was still more limited. The sup
ply, however, exceeded the demand. It is not meant
by this that the colonists were all destitute of legal
learning. There were several who had received a
legal education in England; and that there were some
' Mass. Rec, Vol. i, p. 275. Prof. Emory Washburn, a writer of ac
knowledged authority, has fully explained the organization, jurisdiction
and procedure of the courts of the commonwealth in the yudicia? His
tory of Massachusetts.
^Lectures, 12 and 22.

PURITAN LAWS, LA^WYERS AND COURTS. 67
among the colonists who understood the cardinal
principles of English law is evident from the Body
of Liberties. Ward, who is said to have compiled
them, graduated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, in
1603, and studied and practiced law in England, and
we have no reason to doubt his statement in the
"Simple Cobbler" that he had " read almost all the
Common Law of England and some Statutes." But
it Is certain that in the days of the Puritan common-
¦wealth the professional lawyer was almost, if not
quite, ignored in the administration of the govern
ment. Prof. Washburn says that "It was many
years after the settlement of the colony before any
thing like a distinct class of Attorneys at Law were
known. And it is doubtful If there were any regu
larly educated Attorneys who practiced In the courts
of the colony at any time during its existence,"*
Palfrey states that so late as the time of the witch
craft trials, a few years after the expiration of the
commonwealth, " there were no trained lawyers in
the Province,"
That the profession had become almost extinct
during the commonwealth period appears from a let
ter written by Edward Randolph to Mr, Povey in
1687, wherein he says: "I have wrote you of the
want we have of two or three honest attorneys (if any
such thing in nature). We have but two, one is
West's creature, come with him from New York, and
drives all before him. He also takes extravagant fees,
and for want of more, the country can not avoid com-
^ Judicial History of Mass., p. 50.

68 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
ing to him, so that we had better be quite without
them than not to have more,"*
The drawing of wills, deeds, and other legal writ
ings was usually done by the justices and ministers.
The practice of the ministers doing such work was
continued far into the eighteenth century. The Rev.
John Swift of Framingham, who was ordained there
in 1 701 and died in 1745, seems to have written most
of the wills of the inhabitants there during that
period.^ A litigant, "finding himselfe unfit to plead his
owne cause in any Court," had liberty " to imploy
any man against whom the Court doth not except, to
help him, provided he give him noe fee or reward for
his palnes." We might Infer that this was simply a
re-enactment of the old English law which forbade
counsel receiving a fee, leaving him to such gratuity
as the client might choose to give him, and that this
was all the disability under which the lawj'er labored.
But this was not all. The lawyers were never in
favor with the persons in authority In the common
wealth. Two of the men who had early raised dis
turbances in the infant commonwealth — Samuel
Browne and Thomas Morton — had been lawyers in
England. Morton of "Merry Mount" had, it Is
said, been a " pettifogger at Furnival's Inn." Gov.
Bellingham had also been a lawyer, but he was not a
popular governor, Winthrop, like his father and
grandfather, had been trained in England as a lawyer,
but Winthrop rose superior to any prejudice on this-
1 Washburn, Judicial His. Mass., p. 104.
' Barry's History Framingham, p. 86.

PURITAN LAWS, LAWYERS AND COURTS. 69
account as he did to all others, Jesus himself had
denounced the lawyers, "Woe unto you also ye
lawyers ; for -ye lade men with burdens grievous to
be borne and ye yourselves touch not the burdens
with one of your fingers," And, though this was
said more than sixteen hundred years before, what
evidence was there that the lawyers had reformed
their wicked ways ?
In 1663 a law was enacted by the General Court
wherein it was expressly provided "that no person
who is an usual and Common Attorney in any In
ferior Court shall be admitted to sit as a Deputy in
this Court."
When parties had not the ability to prosecute or
to defend their suits It was allowable to get some
one to represent them, and the "patrons," as the
persons chosen were sometimes called, acted as at
torneys. Amongst those who so acted in the com
monwealth period Prof, Washburn mentions John
Coggan, Watson and Checkly, who were merchants,
Amos Richardson, a tailor, and BuUivant, a physi
cian and apothecary.
There was, however, one lawyer, who made his;
mark as such in the history of the commonwealth,
because, for a period of about four years, as Prof.
Washburn happily puts it, "he flourished as the'
whole profession — the embodied bar of Massachusetts
Bay . " Thomas Lechford came to Boston in 1 63 7 , and
tried to make a living by practicing law, but he got
into trouble by "going to the jury and pleading with
them out oJ" court," and he was therefore sentenced
by the General Court to be " disbarred from pleading

70 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
any mans cause hereafter, unlesse his owne, & ad
monished not to presume to meddle beyond that hee
shall be called to by the Courte." Afterwards we
read that "Mr. Thomas Lechford, acknowledging
hee had overshot himself & is sorry for it, promissing
to attend his calling & not to meddle with contro
versies, was dismissed." But according to Mr.
Scudder,* the magistrates made It uncomfortable for
him ; he was regarded with suspicion and was soon
"snuffed out" and left the colony. He returned to
England in 1641, and In 1642 he published a pam
phlet entitled "Plain Dealing or Newes from New
England," in which he had the satisfaction of ex
pressing his opinions of the Massachusetts authorities
without fear of fine or "bilboes,"
As a matter of course, where there were no trained
lawyers, we should not expect to find judges learned
in the law. Few of the men who sat in the General
Court or in the inferior courts had any legal educa
tion ; all consulted the ministers on doubtful ques
tions. The Bible rule, if one could be found, was
always to be followed, A few of the assistants, as
has been stated, had been educated as lawyers. But
Prof, Washburn^ says that "if they made use of their
legal acquirements, it was In aid of the great object
which they had so much at heart — the establishment
of a religious commonwealth in which the laws of
Moses were much more regarded as precedents than
the decisions of Westminster Hall, or the pages of
'^Life in Boston in the Colonial Period, Mem. His. of Boston, Vol. i,
?• 503-
^ Judicial History of Mass., p. 50.

PURITAN LAWS, LAWYERS AND COURTS. 7 1
the few elementary writers upon the common law
which were then cited in the English courts."
Of the seven judges who presided at the witchcraft
trials, Palfrey states that "Stoughton and Sewall had
been educated for the pulpit ; two of their five asso
ciates were physicians; one was a merchant; not one
was a lawyer,"
One of the judges who went upon the bench short
ly before the expiration of the commonwealth period,
and whose name has come down to us, was Samuel
Sewall, afterwards chief justice of Massachusetts.
Palfrey speaks of him as a man of " timid conscien
tiousness," under the sway of Stoughton In the witch
craft trials, but a "much respected" man.
He was a graduate of Harvard, and had been
educated for the ministry, but had not received a
legal education. Nevertheless, he endeavored after
wards to make up for his lack of legal education,
for in his "Letter-Book"* we find a letter writ
ten by him in 1704 to Mr, Thomas Newton,
directing him to buy for him in London " all the
statutes at large made since Mr. Keebles edition
(Kebles Statutes) 1684. Let them be well Bound
in one or two Covers as shall be most convenient.
The Register (Registrum de Cancellaria) , Cromp
ton (Jurisdiction of divers Courts) , Bracton Britton,
Fleta, Mirror (Horn's MIroIr des Justices) ; as many
of them as you can get in Latin or English; Heaths
Pleadings, Sir Edward Cokes Reports,"
That he was an upright and conscientious judge,
there is no doubt. In a few instances wherein he
^Letters, Mass. His. Coll,, 6th Ser., Vol. i, p. 310.

72 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
had erred, or thought that he had erred, in the dis
charge of his judicial duties, he was very much
grieved when he afterwards became satisfied that
injustice had been done. This was so in the case of
the widow Bellingham, and notably so in relation to
the witchcraft trials, for after he became satisfied that
the belief In witches was a miserable delusion he
made a public acknowledgment in the church of his
sorrow for the part that he had taken in these trials.
When Justice Davenport, in 17 19, was going to
try Samuel Smith, of Sandwich, for killing his
negro. Judge Sewall wrote him a letter containing
"these Quotations and my own Sentiments," which
were that:
" The poorest Boys and Girls within this Province, such
as are of the lowest condition ; whether they be English or
Indians or Ethiopians. They have the same Right to Re
ligion and Life, that the Richest Heirs have.
' ' And they who go about to deprive them of this Right,
they attempt the bombarding of Heaven ; and the Shells
they throw will fall down upon their own heads.'"
He was an earnest opponent of slavery, and his
pamphlet on " The Selling of Joseph " was the begin
ning of the movement which resulted in the abolition
of negro slavery in Massachusetts.
We can, therefore, well afford to overlook some
lack of legal learning in a judge of that period who
had so many good qualities.
It is not, however, as a jurist that Judge Sewall is
best known to those of the present day. He kept a
diary. It is difficult to account for that mental
^Letters, Mass. His, Coll., 6th Ser., Vol. 2, p. loi.

PURITAN LAWS, LAWYERS AND COURTS. 73
idiosyncrasy which prompts a man to keep a diary
of his daily actions and thoughts, and leave it for
other people to pry into long after he is dead and
gone. It is still more difficult to understand why his
descendants should permit such a diary to be pub
lished. Nevertheless, we are under lasting obliga
tions to the descendants of Judge Sewall for permit
ting his diary and also his letters to be published,
and to the Massachusetts Historical Society for publish
ing them. In the three volumes of "Sewall Papers,'*
containing the diary, and the two containing the
letters, we have records of great historic value.*
In them the judge has given us not only a record
of many public events, but also a record of the cus
toms and habits and fashions of the times. More
than this, he has given us the minutest details of his
own life and has laid bare his Innermost thoughts.
We see in these volumes the man, just as he was,
with all his faults, his motives, his aspirations, and in
the pages written after the death of his first wife, and
especially in those which record his subsequent court
ships, the foibles of an old man. But we see, also,
the picture of an honest and thoroughly conscientious
man, and, if we smile at or censure some things we
find in his character, we must admit that other peo
ple might smile at or censure us If we were to give to
the world as truthful a record of our own lives and
thoughts as Judge Sewall has given of his.
'The diary covers a period beginning in 1674 and ending in 1729, and
is reprinted in three volumes, entitled Sewall Papers; the letters begin
in 1685 and end in 1734, and are reprinted in two volumes, entitled
Sewall's Letter-Book, The diary is contained in volumes 5, 6 and 7
(5th Series), and the letters in volumes i and 2 (6th Ser"es) of the
Massachusetts Historical Collections.

74 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
In view of the almost total lack of lawyers and
judges skilled in the learning of the legal profession,
it is not surprising that during the whole of the com
monwealth period, there was little or no development
of the law as a science, or of the character of the judi
ciary. Some of the consequent evils speedily became
manifest. Litigation was cheap and thus encouraged
the bringing of many trifling suits.
The suitors usually knew but little law; their at
torneys knew but little more, and the judges knew
but little more than the attorneys, and so much time
was wasted "by reason of the many and tedious
discourses and pleadings in Court, both of plaintiff
and defendant, as also the readiness of many to pros
ecute suits In law for small matters," that in order to
discourage this, a law was passed in 1656, imposing
a penalty of twenty shillings an hour upon ever}^ liti
gant who should plead ' ' by himself or his Attorney
for a longer time than one hour,''''
Another evil was that, for want of la-wyers prop
erly to present their cases in court, it became cus
tomary for suitors to consult the magistrates pri
vately and so get a favorable opinion upon ex farte
statements made out of court, and this evil grew to
such proportions that It was at last prohibited by law,
although some of the magistrates themselves made
strenuous opposition to the passage of the law.*
Besides these and other obvious evil consequences
resulting from the absence of lawyers and judges
skilled In their profession, there is one that should
not be overlooked, especially In estimating the influ-
» Winthrop, Vol. 2, p. 36; Mass, Col. Laws, 1660-1672, p. 141.

PURITAN LAWS, LAWYERS AND COURTS. 75
ence of the clergy in the colonial period, and that is
the lack of the conservative Influence of the legal
profession. Of late years the influence of the lawyer in politics
and in legislation has yielded to that of the profes
sional politician and waned before the glaring splen
dor of the millionaire. In some periods, particular
ly in times of great financial distress, opposition has
been manifested to lawyers. But as a general rule,
from a period long before the Revolution, the law
yers have exercised a great infl-aence In both the na
tional and state governments of this country. And
that Influence has always been enlisted on the side of
conservatism, and generally on the side of the car
dinal principles of constitutional government. This
is the tendency of a thorough legal education. Pal
frey says* that "though not seldom biased, and some
times even corrupted, by power, the instincts of legal
science have always been among the main safeguards
of the liberties of the English race,"
Bryce in his "American Commonwealth" thinks
the American lawyers are even more conservative than
their English brethren.^ De Tocqueville^ pays this
high compliment to the lawyers as a class :
' ' The more we reflect upon all that occurs in the United
States the more shall we be persuaded that the lawyers, as a
body, form the most powerful, if not the only counterpoise
to the democratic element. In that country we perceive
how eminently the legal profession is qualified by its pow-
' Vol r, p. 249.
' Vol. 2, chapter on "The Bar,"
Democracy in America, Vol. I, Chap. 16.

76 THE PURIT/.N r.i^rrzLic.
ers, and even by its defects, to neutralize the vices which
are inherent in popular government. When the American
people is intoxicated by passion, or carried away by the
impetuosity of its ideas, it is checked and stopped by the
almost invisible influence of its legal counsellors, who se
cretly oppose their aristocratic propensities to its democratic
instincts, their superstitious attachment to what is antique to
its love of novelty, their narrow views to its immense de
signs, and their habitual procrastination to its ardent im
patience." It would have been better for the authorities of the
commonwealth if they had heeded the advice of
Lechford :
" I feare," he said, "it is not a little degree of pride and
dangerous improvidence to slight all former lawes of the
Church or State, cases of experience and precedents, to go
to hammer out new, according to the Severall exigencies,
upon pretence that the Word of God is sufficient to rule us.
It is true, it is sufficient, if well understood. But take
heede my brethren, despise not learning, nor the worthy
Lawyers of either gown, lest you repent too late."

IV
THE PURITANS AND THE INDIANS
Some years before the coming of Winthrop and
his companions there had been a great plague, which
swept off large numbers of the native population
then inhabiting the domain covered by the patent of
the Massachusetts Company, But there were still
left those who claimed a right to the soil.
Just what kind of right this was it is difficult to de
fine according to any well-settled rule of law or
ethics. Nothing bearing the semblance of an organ
ized government existed. The boundaries between
the different tribes were unknown or disputed. Only
small tracts of land were occupied by the natives.
The great body of the territory was occupied only
occasionally, and then only while it was being trav
ersed by hunting parties. It is difficult, upon such
foundations, to prove that the natives had such a title
as justified them in claiming the absolute ownership
of a continent.
Still, as shown in the preceding chapter, their
right or title, whatever it was, was recognized by a
law passed by the General Court in 1652. The same
law protected the Indians from unlawful intrusion
upon their planting grounds, or fishing places, and
prohibited the buying of lands from them, unless the
purchases were authorized by license secured from
the General Court. (77)

78 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
The uncontrollable appetite of the Indians for in
toxicating liquor was early manifest, and stringent
laws were enacted to prevent the sale of intoxicants
to them.*
All efforts to induce them to adopt the methods of
civilized life were unavailing at that time, as they have
been since. Something in their nature made them
prefer the freedom of the forest to the restraints and
burdens of civilized life.
Earnest efforts were made to convert them to
Christianity, but with little success, and the "Pray
ing Indians," as they were called, seem to have been
on occasion as zealous as their barbarian brethren in
scalping their white neighbors. The Apostle Eliot
had labored with such success among the Indians
that several tovv^ns of "Praying Indians," number
ing some 1,200, were established near Framingham,
including the Naticks, one of whose chief men was
Aponapawquin, commonly known as "Old Jacob,"
Of him It is narrated that he was " amongst the first
that prayed to God," and that " he had so good a
memory that he could rehearse the whole catechism,
both questions and answers,"^ Nevertheless one of
the first acts of barbarity that signalized the breaking
out of King Philip's war was the destruction of the
house of Thomas Fames, situate within the bounda
ries of the Framingham Plantation, the murder of his
wife and three or four of his children, and the carrying
of the rest away into captivity, and one of the partici
pants in this bloody massacre was the pious "Old
' Col, Laws, 1660-1672, pp. 161-236.
'Barry's Hist. Framingham, 17; Mass. Hist. Col., ist Ser., Vol. 9, p.
198; 5 Id. 264.

THE PURITANS AND THE INDIANS. 79
Jacob." Indeed all that we can learn about the
" Praying Indians " seems to corroborate Sheldon's
assertion, that In King Philip's war " these pious
lambs proved the worst wolves of the whole bloody
crew."* It could scarcely be expected that two races, differ
ing so radically In so many ways, could live peace
ably for any great length of time in the same land.
Nor Is it of much Importance now to determine what
were the precise causes of the bloody conflict which
afterv/ard ensued, and to apportion the blame. The
conflict was as inevitable and as Irrepressible as
that between freedom and slavery on this continent.
It was very soon manifest that the Indians looked
with unkindly eyes on the increase of their white
neighbors, and were plotting their extermination.
Trouble soon began with the Pequots, the most power
ful of the tribes then inhabiting the territory within
the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts Company. Their
chief, Sassacus, endeavored to form an alliance with
their ancient enemies, the Narragansetts, in order to
drive from the land those whom he denominated the
foes of all of them, and who would, he argued with
savage foresight, unless exterminated, in time ex
terminate them.
The situation of the colonists was precarious. Only
their possession and knowledge of the use of fire
arms enabled them to hold their own against the
vastly superior numbers of the Indians. And even
this advantage would have proved unavailing if the
Indians had then formed the coalition which Philip
1 Hist. Deerfield, Vol. i, p. 140.

8o THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
effected in later years. But the Narragansetts
hesitated between the arguments of Sassacus and
their hatred of their ancient foes. Roger Williams
visited them and added his efforts to induce them to
side with the colonists, and at last the Narragansetts
entered Into an alliance with the latter. Still the
Narragansetts were a doubtful quantity. They did
not love their white neighbors and they feared the
Pequots, A defeat of the colonists, or any wavering
on their part at this juncture, would have been fatal.
In such a contingency the Narragansetts, if they had
not deserted to the side of the Pequots, would have
been awed by them into neutrality. It was necessary,
therefore, for the colonists to meet the emergency
promptly and boldly, and this they did. In 1637
Capt, Stoughton took the field with 160 men from
Massachusetts, Capt, Mason commanding the Con
necticut forces, who were joined by some 200 of the
Narragansetts ; but the latter were so terrified by the
name of Sassacus that half of them deserted.
The war was short and decisive. Mason and
Stoughton boldly attacked the Indians In their strong
holds, routed them, and almost annihilated them,
Sassacus fled, and It Is supposed that he was mur
dered by the Mohawks or became a member of that
tribe. Some of the survivors of the Pequots were
sold as slaves in the Bermudas, some were mingled
with other Indian tribes, and the identity of the rem
nant was forever lost.
Much denunciation has been heaped upon the Pu
ritans for what has been termed their cruel slaughter
of the Pequots, and Oliver attempts to show how all

THE PURITANS AND THE INDIANS. 8 1
the colonial leaders in the Pequot war afterwards suf
fered from Divine vengeance for the part they took
in it.
We all agree that there Is not much humanity in
war, but it Is generally conceded that, when It has
actually begun, the speediest way to restore peace is
to make the war as destructive to the enemy as pos
sible. No hostile army was ever vanquished, no in
surrection was ever suppressed, by firing paper wads.
The alternative presented to the colonists in the
Pequot war was whether they should exterminate
the Pequots or allow the Pequots to exterminate them,
and the colonists chose the former course. What
the result would have been If Sassacus had succeeded
in his scheme to unite the Indians is confessed by Ol
iver,* apparently with a tinge of disappointment.
"An aboriginal coalition," he says, " first suggested by
the Pequot chief, and afterwards carried into such terrible
effect by King Philip, at this early period might have re
sulted in the extermination of the English; and some soli
tary ship, afterwards touching at Massachusetts Bay, would
have beheld the stillness of the wilderness where was ex
pected the busy hum of life, and have carried home the
startling news that transatlantic Puritanism had disap
peared." The boldness and promptness of the colonists had
a salutary effect upon the rest of the Indians who,
as Hutchinson says,^ were " thereby brought to be
more afraid of the English and restrained from open
hostilities near forty years together."
^Puritan Commonwealth,^. \iS.
^Vol. I, p. 80,
Pur. Rep. — 6

82 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
But, though the Indians were not openly so, it was
certain that they were hostile, and only awaited a
favorable opportunity to begin their savage warfare.
There were troubles and imminent danger of war
with the Narragansetts and then with the Ny antics.
Events were moving steadily along toward a re
newal of the Irrepressible conflict with the certainty
of fate. Treaties had been made and signed by
those who, as the Indians claimed, had no authority
to make and sign them, ceding away vast tracts of
land. The treaties which the Indians admitted to
have been properly made and signed they saw Inter
preted by the white settlers to mean what It Is cer
tain the Indians who signed them never intended.
Under these treaties jurisdiction was claimed, not
only of the territories ceded, but of the Indians in
habiting them. New towns were everywhere being
established, new grounds cleared and cultivated, and
the whites, at first only a little handful, who were
given shelter in the native wilds, were every day
growing in number, and were every day exercising
authority in a way most galling to Indian pride. The
danger to the Indians of ultimate extermination,
which Sassacus had predicted, was now plainly obvi
ous to the savage mind and was no longer remote.
On the other hand, the colonists claimed that they
had bought of the English government and the Eng
lish proprietors all the title they had, and that they
had bought of the Indians all the title they had; that
they had not paid much but that they had paid all the
land was worth, and that nearly all its value was that
which had been given to it by two generations of

THE PURITANS AND THE INDIANS. 83
Puritan industry. If their laws imposed severe re
straints upon the Indians in their jurisdiction, the col
onists claimed that these laws were enforced against
the whites as rigorously as they were against the
Indians, and that, unless they were so enforced
against all alike, law and order could not be main
tained. So far as any religious considerations en
tered into the question they only confirmed the colo
nists In the righteousness of their cause. They drew
their Inspiration largely from the Old Testament, and
it was not difficult for them to persuade themselves
that they were the Lord's chosen people and that the
heathen savages were the Amorites who were to be
driven out of the land whenever they stood in the
way. To abandon all for which they had labored for
over forty years and go back to England was not
thought of. If it had been thought of it would have
occurred to them that probably they would be as un
welcome to the rulers of England as they were to the
savages in America. Indeed the probable dangers
of Indian war were far preferable to another period
of Star Chamber and High Commission persecution,
such as the Puritans had suffered in England.
The Indians were now far better prepared to fight
for what they conceived to be their rights than they
were In the time of the Pequot war. Though their
numbers had not largely increased, they still far out
numbered the whites. In the years that had elapsed
since the Pequot war, many of the Indians had ac
quired firearms and had learned how to use them, and

84 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
¦were far better able to cope with the whites in war
than they were In the time of Sassacus.
Meantime a leader had appeared. King Philip, at
least, has left a name in the history of New England
that never will be forgotten, although he has had no
historian like the one who has given us the fascinat
ing story of Pontiac. Indeed the historians of Mas-|
sachusetts have done scant justice to King Philip's
courage, energy and sagacity. They tell us that he
was never recognized by the Indians as a leader, nor
allowed to exercise any authority over them; that he
was not inspired by anything like patriotic devotion
to his race; that, though he Incited others to battle,
it is not certainly known that he himself ever took
part in any; and that he was utterly destitute of all
noble or heroic qualities that might be Implied from
the name which the colonists themselves had given
him, "The title of king," says Palfrey, "which it has
been customary to attach to his name, disguises and
transfigures to the view the form of a squalid savage,
whose palace was a sty, whose royal robe was a bear
skin or a coarse blanket, alive with vermin; who
hardly knew the luxury of an ablution; who was often
glad to appease appetite with food such as men who
are not starving loathe; and whose nature possessed
just the capacity for reflection and the degree of re
finement which might be expected to be developed
from the mental constitution of his race by such a
condition and such habits of life,"*
Sheldon agrees substantially with Palfrey in the
^ Vol. 3, p. 223.

THE PURITANS AND THE INDIANS. 85
latter's estimate of Philip, but finds in Canonchet the
missing Indian hero who, according to Palfrey's way of
thinking, never existed except In the Leather Stocking
novels. "Thus fell a man," he says, commenting
on his death, "who should be ranked first of all New
England Indians in the qualities which go to make
up a patriot, nobleman, and warrior."* And Mr.
Fiske goes further and throws out a suggestion, that
Canonchet, and not Philip, was the real master
spirit of the war which bears the latter's name.^
Great deference is justly due to these eminent his
torians, but it is not easy to accept their estimate of
Philip. That he was, like most of his race, vain,
proud, cruel, and treacherous, it is easy to believe.
It is not so easy, with all the evidence we have, to
believe that he was so insignificant a figure in the
bloody conflict which he precipitated, as we might be
led to infer from the statements of the Massachusetts
historians. There must have been some powerful master spirit
to unite in so extensive a coalition tribes widely sep
arated and between some of whom there had before
existed bitter and long-standing feuds. To have ac
complished this must have required the presenting of
arguments skillfully devised to reach the wary and
suspicious minds of the savages to whom they were
addressed. And to do this must have required Inces
sant journeys over long distances and through vast
wildernesses. A still more difficult task was to pro
vide those who were expected to take part in the
' Hist. Deerfield, Vol. i, p. 146,
' Beginnings of New Eng., p. 222, note i.

86 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
conflict with arms and ammunition. An equally dif
ficult task was to carry on all these preparations and
at the same time to conceal them from the colonists.
Unquestionably this master spirit was Philip, That
was the judgment of those who were living at the
time. They called the war by his name. They
rejoiced more over his death than they did over the
death of all other Indian chiefs. And for many years
afterwards it was the name of the chief of Pokonoket
which Inspired the most terror in the stories, that were
told to the children gathered around the firesides, of
the horrid butcheries which their fathers witnessed or
in which they had fallen.
Philip was a son of Massasoit, chief sachem of the
Wampanoags, who had been the friend and ally of
the Plymouth colonists. After the death of his
father and elder brother, Philip became chief of the
tribe. His headquarters were at Mount Hope, near
the present site of Bristol in Rhode Island, The
tribe was a small one, numbering but a few hundred
warriors. If he had been the great chieftain of a
powerful tribe, like the Narragansetts, It would be
easy to account for his influence, but that the petty
sachem of so Insignificant a handful of followers could
have exercised the Influence, which he undoubtedly
did, over tribes far more numerous and more power
ful, demonstrates that Philip's abilities were of a far
higher order than he has been credited with possessing
by some of the Massachusetts historians.
There is little doubt that, from the time of his ac
cession to the chieftaincy of his tribe, Philip was en
gaged in plotting a general confederation of all the

THE PURITANS AND THE INDIANS. 87
Indians, far and near, for the purpose of exterminat
ing the colonists. He pursued his object with untir
ing energy; now traversing the wilderness and win
ning over one tribe after another; now holding
meetings with the colonists and assuring them of his
peaceful intentions and the sincerity of his professed
friendship; but all the time steadily and stealthily
perfecting the plot which was the object of his life
and of which he never lost sight.
But, however and by whomsoever the coalition was
planned, there is no doubt that It was by far the most
extensive and powerful that had so far been organ
ized. By the end of 1674 one tribe after another
had been brought into the confederation, and most of
the "Praying Indians" had been seduced from their
allegiance to the colonists.
It is needless to enter Into any minute examination
of the immediate causes which led to the final out
break. In the nature of things It was inevitable,
sooner or later, and was certain to be precipitated,
if not by one thing, then by something else. Mat
ters had now come to such a pass that the contest
between the savage and the Anglo-Saxon In New
England could no longer be avoided or postponed.
It was the intention of Philip to have everything
in readiness for a simultaneous uprising and begin
ning of hostilities by the spring of 1676. The dis
covery of his scheme, and the danger that he himself
might be apprehended and executed, brought on the
conflict sooner than had been intended, and in 1675
all disguise was thrown off and the bloody war was
begun by the slaughter of some of the settlers at

88 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
Swanzey on June 24, 1675, ^^'^ almost instanta
neously all of the frontier towns were in flames, set
tlements were broken up, houses and barns were
burned, families were murdered, and everywhere
the work of death and destruction was inaugurated
and carried on with a savage boldness and ferocity
that for a time seemed to be irresistible.
In a short time the Indians had annihilated sev
eral of the frontier towns and partly destroyed many
more, had murdered and taken captive many of the
inhabitants, and at one time had advanced within
eighteen miles of Boston. This was by far the most
critical period in the history of the commonwealth.
But the colonists met the savage onset promptly, and
with that undaunted Puritan courage in the record of
¦which there is no break from Marston Moor to
Bunker Hill, They at once took the field, faced
their savage foes, and attacked them in their strong
holds. As the war progressed it assumed a san
guinary character never equaled before or since on
this continent. No quarter was given or expected.
Sometimes the colonists were overpowered by over
whelming numbers, as was Lothrop at Bloody
Brook and Wadsworth at Sudbury, and then they
fought until all, or nearly all, fell dead in their tracks.
When the savages refrained from tomahawking a
captive on the spot, it was usually because they re
served him, with fiendish malice, for a more dread
ful fate. They were not content even with burning
the victims at the stake, but tortured them as they
were being roasted in every way that the diabolical
ingenuity of a savage mind could invent.

THE PURITANS AND THE INDIANS. 89
It is not surprising that, the colonists, who usually
sought in the Bible inspiration for all their conduct,
became animated before the close of the war by feel
ings not so divine as those inculcated by Holy Writ.
Some allowance must be made for the frenzy of men
to whom the recollection was yet fresh of burning
homes, and In whose ears were yet ringing the shrieks
of murdered wives and babes.
King Philip's war proves, more clearly than any
other In the history of this country, how war can so
arouse the devilish passions of men as almost to ob
literate the line of demarkation between barbarism
and civilization. It is true that the colonists did not
roast their captives at the stake, as did their Indian
foes; but they sent some of them to far-off lands to
languish and die In slavery. This was the horrible
punishment inflicted even upon Philip's little son
who was sold as a slave in Bermuda, For this bar
barous and inhuman act no reputable Massachusetts
historian has ventured even an apology, although,
as Palfrey suggests, "some of the ministers con
sidered the case to be analogous to that of Hadad,
the Edomlte, in the first book of Kings 11, 14."
After Canonchet had been executed, his head was
cut off and sent to Hartford. After Philip was
slain his body was quartered, his head was severed
and paraded at Plymouth on a day appointed for
public thanksgiving. We are shocked by the dia
bolical ferocity of the women in the time of the
French revolution, but it must be recorded that
some of the gentle Puritan dames were likewise
wrought up into a frenzy which made them little less

90 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
ferocious than the women of France. The women
of Marblehead, as they came out of meeting one
Sunday, rushed upon two Indian prisoners, who had
just been captured, and murdered them on the spot.
The hostility of the Narragansetts, though sus
pected before, was not fully disclosed until October,
1675. -"-^ ^^^ no-w obvious to the colonists that there
was imminent danger of a general uprising of the
Indians and that all would be lost unless a decisive
blow could be struck before the following spring.
It was determined to attack the Narragansetts in their
stronghold, where their chief, Canonchet, had gath
ered together some 2,000 armed warriors in a
strong fort situated in a swamp. The fort was
surrounded by palisades, and the only apparent
access to it was over a log then slippery with
snow. In the dead of winter the expedition set out
under the command of Gov, Winslow, of Plymouth,
It numbered a little less than 1,000 men made up of
troops from Massachusetts, Plymouth and Connecti
cut. Marching through the snow the little army
reached the fort on Sunday, the 19th of December,
and Immediately stormed the Indian stronghold. Six
of the captains were shot in the beginning of the as
sault, but the colonial troops pressed forward, and
climbed upon each other's shoulders in order to scale
the palisades. Once they gained an entrance and
were repulsed. Again they rushed forward and
reached the inside of the works at the same time that
some of their comrades had effected an entrance
through a weak spot in the rear. Then began a
bloody hand to hand fight that lasted for hours. The

THE PURITANS AND THE INDIANS. 9 1
colonial soldiers fought with the fierce and desperate
English courage, which, on other and larger fields,
has made the stories of Agincourt and Waterloo and
Balaklava more wonderful than even the poetic
fables of the siege of Troy. Until the sun went
down on that December day they smote their savage
foes. When night came on the shadows fell upon a
dreadful sight. Of Winslow's men, one-fourth had
been killed or wounded. The dead Narragansetts
lay piled in heaps. Nearly 1,000 of them had been
slain. Of the survivors, Canonchet, with some of
his followers, escaped, and the rest were taken pris
oners. This was the turning point in the war, though It
was not the end of It, Philip appeared again in the
following spring and hostilities were resumed. There
were more massacres and devastations, but It would
not be possible In a short chapter to recount the
stories so often told of the horrors of this dreadful
war. It lasted but little over a year. Before its close,
Canonchet was captured and executed and Philip
was slain. The colonists were victorious, but their
victory had been dearly bought. The public funds
had been exhausted and enormous public debts had
been Incurred In carrying on the war. Ruin was
on every hand. Many towns had been entirety de
stroyed. Everywhere houses and barns had been
burned, fields laid waste, cattle killed or driven off,
and, what was far more distressing, nearly every
family mourned the loss of some one who had been
slain or carried away into captivity. Mr. Hudson*
^ Hist. Marlborough, p. 80.

92 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
has thus concisely summed up the dreadful results of
the war:
"The horrors and devastation of Philip's war have no
parallel in our history. The Revolution was a struggle for
freedom; the contest with Philip was for existence. The
war lasted only about fourteen months ; and yet the towns
of Brookfield, Lancaster, Marlborough, Medfield, Sudbury,
Groton, Deerfield, Hatfield, Hadley, Northfield, Spring
field, Weymouth, Chelmsford, Andover, Scituate, Bridge-
water, Plymouth, and several other places, were wholly or
partially destroyed, and many of the inhabitants were mas
sacred or carried into captivity. During this short period
six hundred of our brave men, the flower and strength of
the colony, had fallen, and six hundred dwelling-houses
were consumed. Every eleventh family was homeless, and
every eleventh soldier had sunk to his grave."
In an address before the Massachusetts Historical
Society,* Dr. Palfrey, speaking of King Philip's war,
says: "Before it is finished, there is scarcely a family in Massa
chusetts or Plymouth but has lost a father, brother or son.
Plymouth has incurred a debt estimated to be equal to the
whole personal property of its people. The sacrifice of
life and property in Massachusetts, between June, 1675, and
October, 1676, is greater, in proportion to her population
and wealth, than that afterwards sustained by her in the
whole eight years' war of Independence. She met the ex
hausting demand almost wholly from her own resources."
To the Indians the war was even more disastrous
than it was to the colonists. No accurate estimate
' Mass. His. Coll., 3d Ser,, Vol. 9, p. iSi.

THE PURITANS AND THE INDIANS. 93
can be made of the number slain in battle, but the
number far exceeded the number of the colonists
who so perished. Many of the captives were exe
cuted; many more were sold into slavery. Their
villages were burned and their planting grounds de
stroyed, and they were left almost totally destitute.
The once powerful Narragansett tribe had been
practically annihilated. Those who had not been
killed or sold as slaves amalgamated with other tribes
and the tribe lost Its name and its identity.
At the close of the war it is certain that our Puritan
ancestors indulged in no sentimental ideas of the
" noble red man," To them he had become a fright
ful reality, a treacherous and unpitying foe, whose
painted face and appalling whoop struck terror to the
strongest heart. He came with stealthy tread and
butchered with relentless fury. None knew when
the fierce savage, with horrid face and dreadful yell,
brandishing tomahawk and scalping knife, might
rush upon the man driving his plow in the field, or
fall upon his helpless wife and children in his home.
But there were no more Indian wars during the
existence of the commonwealth. In that region the
dominion of the white man over the red man had
been established forever.

V
DOMESTIC AND SOCIAL LIFE
Large Families, — The domestic circle in the time
of the old Puritans was usually a very large one.
The stories of the numbers of some of them are
amazing. It is difficult to comprehend how they
were all taken care of, but they were taken care of,
and most of them grew up to be strong, healthy and
useful members of the community. The author of
the " Magnalia" tells many wonderful stories, but
we have no reason to doubt what he says about the
size of the old Puritan families. He gives one in
stance of a woman who bore twenty-two children,
and of another who bore twenty-three, of whom
nineteen lived to adult years. The mother of Gov.
William Phips, he tells us, had twenty-one sons
and five daughters. The Rev. John Sherman, of
Watertown, had six children by his first wife and
twenty by his second. It is doubtful if the women,
even of that day, would have expressed such pious
gratitude as did Cotton Mather when he said, " Be
hold, thus was our Sherman, that eminent fearer of
the Lord, blessed of Him,"*
DwELLiNG-HousES, — The most of the dwelling-
houses in the beginning were very small structures,
^ Magnalia, Vol, i, p. 517.
(94)

domestic and social life. 95
built of logs, the "chinks" or spaces between the logs
being filled with clay, the roofs being thatched with
coarse grass or covered with cloboards, and the floors
being made of split logs or puncheons. Generally
the house consisted of two rooms, a living room and
a kitchen, with sleeping places in the garret reached
by a ladder. Sheldon* says that "a common form
was eighteen feet square, with seven feet stud, stone
fireplaces, w^ith catted chimney and a hip-roof cov
ered with thatch." The pictures of them show
houses very similar to those so common in the early
settlements in the west.^
They were heated by fireplaces. Stoves did not
come into general use until long afterwards. They
were lighted^ at first with pieces of pitch-pine or
candle-wood. Wax candles were a luxury, and so
were tallow candles until cattle and sheep became
plentiful. Sperm oil was not used until whale fish
ing was established, which was not until 1690, and
it was not until 1774 that Boston took steps to light
the streets.
As soon as saw-mills and the manufacture of brick
were introduced, which was at an early date, the log
houses in the towns gave way to larger and better
structures of a variety of styles. When glass began
to be used in the windows, the panes were small,
diamond-shaped pieces. Before that oiled paper was
used instead of glass.
In all the houses, the kitchen was a prominent
1 History of Deerfield, Vol. i, p. 276.
^Palfrey, Vol. 2, p. 63; Dorchester in the Colonial Period, hy Rev.
Samuel F. Barrows; i Mera. Hist, of Boston, p. 423.
2 Candle-light in Colonial Times, i N. Eng. Mag,, p. 516.

4^6 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
feature. In one end was a great fireplace. In this
swung the crane, with its pothooks, leaving ample
room beneath for the skillets and frying pans. From
the ceiling hung ears of corn and pieces of cured meat.
In the winter around this fireplace, with its huge
backlog and roaring flames, gathered the family;
and when we remember that the ' ' family ' ' often
comprised ten or more children, we can readily im
agine that the gathering was not a small one.
The furniture of these dwellings was usually as
plain as the dwellings themselves — some home-made
tables, benches or stools, plain bedsteads and ticks
filled with straw or pine needles. If there was any
thing more costly, it was some piece of furniture or
plate brought from England. In the " catalogue of
such needful things as every planter doth or ought to
provide to go to New England," Francis Higgin
son* in 1630 enumerated the following: " House
hold Implements, viz.: i iron pot; i kettle; i fry
ing pan; i gridiron; 2 skillets; i spit; wooden plat
ters; dishes; spoons; trenchers."
Extravagance in the building and furnishing of
houses was not more favored by the early Puritans
than was extravagance in dress. In 1632 Winthrop
reproved his deputy "that he did not well to bestow
too much cost about wainscotting and adorning his
house in the beginning of a plantation, both in re
gard of the public charges and for example," But,
long before the close of the commonwealth, the ad
vice of Winthrop lost its force and houses of a far
more pretentious character began to appear, especially
^New England's Plantation.

DOMESTIC AND SOCIAL LIFE, 97
in Boston, and even the pious Judge Sewall was
¦writing to London for finer furniture than he could
get in America,
The inventories of estates found in the early pro
bate records show that, long before the close of the
commonwealth period, the houses of some of the
wealthy inhabitants of Boston were furnished very
richly, and specimens of some finely carved furniture,
beautiful plate, and other costly Interior ornaments,
are still preserved in antiquarian museums and as
heirlooms in private families. But the great majority
of the houses and their furnishings, even in Boston,
were plain and simple.
Apparel. — In Higginson's catalogue of "needful
things," before mentioned, he enumerates the follow
ing articles of apparel, viz: " i Monmouth Cap; 3 fall
ing bands; 3 shirts; i waistcoat; i suit of canvass; i
suit of frieze; i suit of cloth; 3 pair of stockings; 4
pair of shoes," Mr. Scudder* gives an elaborate de
scription of the kind and material of clothing worn
in the time of the commonwealth, but confesses that
he is obliged to "retreat" when it comes to discuss
ing the " varying forms and styles of woman's dress."
However, the reader whose curiosity is not entirely
satisfied will find this interesting subject fully dis
cussed in more recent volumes by a very gifted and
graceful writer.^ In a country so new, occupied by so
poor a people, we should not expect much extrava
gance in dress, but it seems that this was early a source
^ Life in Boston in the Colonial Period; i Mem. Hist. Boston, p. 487.
^ Alice Morse Earle's Costumes of Colonial Times; Customs and
Fashions in Old New England; Chapter on "Raiment and Vesture."
Pur. Rkp, — 7

98 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
of grief to our forefathers, for in 1634 the General
Court ordered "that noe person, either man or
woman, shall hereafter make or buy any apparell,
ether wollen, sllke or lynnen, with any lace on it, sil
ver, gold or threed, under penalty of forfeiture of such
cloathes," and also prohibited making or buying "any
slashed cloathes, other than one slashe in each sleeve
and another in the back"; also "all cutt-works, im-
broidered or needle worke capps, bands & vayles";
also " all golde or silver girdles, hattbands, belts, ruffs,
beaver hatts ' ' ; but permission was generously given
the people to wear out their old clothes, "except the
immoderate greate sleeves, slashed apparel, immod
erate greate vayles, long wings."*
In 1639, the General Court made another order
prohibiting the wearing upon garments " any man
ner of lace," and in the same order it was provided
" that hereafter no garment shall be made with short
sleeves, whereby the nakedness of the arme may be
discovered in the wearing thereof & such as have
garments already made with short sleeves shall not
hereafter were the same, unless they cover their
armes to the wrist with linen or otherwise. And
that hereafter no person whatsoever shall make any
garment for woemen, or any of ther sex, with sleeves
more than halfe an elle wide in the widest place
thereof & so proportionable for biger or smaller per
sons."^ In 1 65 1 a law was passed^ with a very long recital
against " excess in Aparel," and, in order to compel
'Mass. Rec, Vol. i,p. 126.
' Mass, Rec, Vol, i, p. 274.
i* Col. Laws, 1672-1686, p. 5.

DOMESTIC AND SOCIAL LIFE.

99

^^ the sober and moderate use of those blessings
which, beyond expectation the Lord hath been
pleased to afford unto us in this wilderness," pro
ceeds to denounce penalties against gold or silver
lace or buttons, or "bone lace above two shil
lings per yard," " the wearing of ribbonds or great
Boots (leather being so scarce a commodity in
this country) Lace points &c. Silk Hoods or Scarfs ";
and the selectmen of every town were required to
"take notice of Apparel of any of the Inhabitants
of their severall Towns respectively." But "excess
in apparel" continuing, "whereby the Rising Gen
eration are in danger to be Corrupted and Effemi
nated," another law was passed In 1663 which also
forbade the "Taylors" from making or fashioning
any garment for children or servants "contrary to
the mind and order of their Parents or Governors,"
and in 1675 "the evil pride in Apparel" continuing
and "new strange Fashions" appearing "both in
poor and rich, with naked Breasts and Arms, or, as
it were, pinnioned with the Addition of Superflous
Ribbons, both on Hair and Apparel," another law
was passed directing that if the grand jurors failed
to find indictments against the guilty persons, the
county courts should impose a fine upon them at
their discretion.*
The Rev. Nathaniel Ward also preached a furious
sermon against ungodliness in female attire and con
fessed that he found himself wrought up into a frenzy
when he heard "a nugiferous Gentledame inquire
what dress the Queen is in this week; what the med-
' Col. Laws, 1672-1686, p. 233.

IOO THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
instertian fashion of the Court," and thereupon "the
simple cobbler of Agawam" proceeded to denounce
her as "the very gizzard of a trifle, the product of a
quarter of a cipher, the epitome of nothing, fitter to
be kicked, If she were a kickable substance, than
either honored or humored." He added, we are
glad to learn, that there were only "about five or six
of them in our colony." If there had been but one,
possibly she might have been squelched, as the Bill
ingsgate fishwoman was by Sydney Smith by simply
caUing her "an isosceles triangle."
The question whether women should appear veiled
or not at public assemblages, got into the churches.
Roger Williams, then the minister at Salem, thought
they ought to wear veils, and, of course, he had
plenty of scripture to prove it. It happened
that John Cotton took the opposite view, and, of
course, he had plenty of scripture, as he always
had, to sustain his contention. An abridgment of
the great debate between these two eminent divines
on this interesting question is given us by the historian
Hubbard, who says that among the "many strange
notions" taught by Williams was:
' ' As first that it was the duty of all the female sex to
cover themselves with veils when they went abroad, espe
cially when they appeared in the public assemblies ; as if
he meant to read them a lecture out of Tertulian, DeVe-
landis Virginibus, &c., for the uncouthness of the sight to
see all the women in the congregation veiled, contrary to
the custom of the English nation, would probably have
drawn the eyes of the rest upon them, especially strangers,
much more than if they had attired themselves after the

DOMESTIC AND SOCIAL LIFE. IOI
fashion of their neighbors. But in reference to this kind of
fancy, it is observable, that the reverend Mr. Cotton, taking,
an occasion about this time to spend a Lord's day at Salem,
in his exercise in the forenoon he, by his doctrine, so en
lightened most of the women in the place that it unveiled.
them, so as they appeared in the afternoon without their
veils, being convinced that they need not put on veils on
any such account as the use of that covering is mentioned
in the scripture for, viz., not as they were virgins, which
the married sort could not pretend unto ; much less as har
lots as Tamar ; nor yet on any such like account as is men
tioned of Ruth in her widowhood, which discourse let in so
much light into their understandings that they, who before
thought it a shame to be seen in the public without a veil,
were ashamed ever after to be covered with them.'"
It seems that Cotton's arguments suited either the
tastes or the consciences of the ladies better than did
those of Williams, for after that the women wore
veils only when it suited them to do so.
Dr, Higginson tells us^ that "in 1652 three men
and a woman were fined ten shillings each and costs
for wearing silver lace; another for broad bone lace,.
another for tiffany, and another for a silk hood,"
and that Jonas Fairbanks about the same time was
"charged with great-boots and the evidence went
hard against him, but he was fortunately acquitted
and the credit of the family saved," So late as 1676
thirty-eight women were arraigned In Northampton
for their "wicked apparell," But not long after
similar prosecutions were quashed. Our foremothers
iMass, Hist. Coll., 2d Ser., Vol. 5, pp. 204-5.
' The Puritan Minister, 12 Atl. Monthly, 276.

I03 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
had triumphed over the magistrates and the latter
gave up the contest.
"Longe haire " on men was denounced by the
General Court as early as 1634, but the fashion
among men of wearing long hair " after the man
ner of Russians and barbarous Indians" having
"begun to invade New England, contrary to the
rule of God's words which says it is a shame for a
man to wear long hair," Gov. Endicott and the
magistrates united in a solemn protest in which they
declared their "dislike and detestation against the
wearing of such long hair as against a thing uncivil
and unmannerly, whereby men doe deforme them
selves, and offend sober and modest men, and doe
corrupt good manners."* The fashion continued to
such an alarming extent that divers inhabitants of
Roxbury were moved to present to the General
Court in 1672 a petition remonstrating against the
evil example set before the people at Harvard Col
lege, chiefly because the youth there "are brought
up in such pride as doth no ways become such as are
brought up for the holy service of the Lord, either In
the magistracy or ministry especialy, and in 'perticu-
lar in their long haire, which last first tooke head and
brake out at the colledg, so far as we understand and
remember, and now it has got Into our pulpets to the
great grelfe and fear of many Godly hearts In the Coun
try,"^ But this "provoking evil" still continued so
to contaminate the morals of the community that in
1675 it was found necessary to pass a law making it
' Hutchinson, Vol. i, pp, 142-3.
*N. E. Hist. & Gen, Reg,, Vol 35, pp. 121-2.

DOMESTIC AND SOCIAL LIFE. 1 03
a penal offense for men to wear "long hair like
women's hair."*
Food and Drink,^ — Of fish there was great
plenty and so there was of wild game and fowl. Out
of the Indian corn, the colonists learned from the
Indians how to make many palatable dishes. Be
fore it was quite matured it furnished roasting ears
and "sukquttahhash," When matured it was made
into hominy and the meal from it was used In
making mush, johnny-cake or journey-cake, hoe-
cake and ash-cakes, and a variety of other kinds of
of food. Wheat did not thrive well and was little
used for food in early times. But pumpkins, or
"pompions" as they were called In those days, grew
abundantly, and out of these delicious pies and
many other dishes were made. Squashes grew in
equal abundance. Beans, peas, and other garden
vegetables also thrived and helped to furnish the
Puritan tables. It was not long until the colonists
had beef and mutton, and, as soon as they could grow
them, apples, cherries and other small fruits came on
to reinforce the table supplies. We read of Thanks
giving dinners long before the close of the common
wealth which were the precursors of those for which
New England afterwards became so celebrated, and
which leave no room for doubt that the old Puritans
could enjoy a good dinner as well as a good sermon.
There was plenty of good water. Francis Hig
ginson wrote in 1629 that the country was full of
1 Col. Laws 1672-1686, p. 233.
2 Alice Morse Earle's Customs and Fashions in Old New England;
chapters on " Supplies of the Larder " and " Old Colonial Drinks and
Drinkers"

I04 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
" dainty springs," and that " we may dig wells and
find water where we list." Nevertheless the Puri
tans who came from England did not take kindly to
New England water as a drink, and they soon be
gan to make ale and beer, and ale-houses sprang
upon every hand. As soon as apples became plentiful,
cider became plentiful also, and It seems that the
harder it was, the more it was liked as a bever
age. It was also distilled Into cider-brandy or ap
ple-jack. After a few years wine began to be im
ported, and all classes drank wine when they could
get it. Later rum and whisky were also made and
drunk. But laws against excessive drinking of in
toxicating liquors were speedily enacted and rigidly
enforced. In 1639 the General Court enacted a law
making the drinking to one another a penal offense,
and other laws against excessive drinking of intoxi
cating liquors were afterwards passed. Such entries
as these were common: "James Brown is censured
for drunkeness to bee set two hours in the bilboes
upon market day at Boston publlquely," Neverthe
less, intemperance continued to increase until it be
came a very prevalent and crying evil.
Tea was a rarity, if not unknown, during the
commonwealth period, and we do not hear of coffee
until about 1670.
Tobacco. — A vigorous and persistent war was
waged against the use of tobacco. In 1632, the
General Court forbade the taking of any tobacco
" publiquety." In 1634 it was further ordered that
no person should take tobacco, either " publlquely or
privately in his owne howse, or in the howse of

DOMESTIC AND SOCIAL LIFE. 1 05
another, before strangers & that two or more shall
not take it togeather anywhere." A short time after
wards the purchase and sale of tobacco was ex
pressly prohibited,* In 1637, the law against buy-
I ing and selling tobacco was repealed, but other laws
were subsequently enacted to discourage its use, all
of which seem to have been unavailing.
Inns or Ordinaries, — Inns early became a
prominent feature of the social life of the common
wealth. They were not only indispensable to the
traveler, but they became centers for the dissem
ination of local and foreign news. Indeed, as there
were no newspapers and no mails, information as to
what was going on in the outside world was gained
chiefly from the innkeeper, who drew his supplies
from his guests. The landlord himself was usually
a prominent man in the community and frequently
held an office of some sort.
But the inns must soon have become places of re
sort for those inclined to greater conviviality than
suited the ancient Puritans, for we find that the Gen
eral Court early began to exercise a strict surveillance
over all such places. At an early period innkeepers
were required to procure licenses. Every innkeeper
was required to be "always provided of strong, whole
some Beer, of four bushels of Mault (at the least) to
a hogshead, which he shall not sell at above two
pence the Ale quart"; but Innkeepers were expressly
forbidden to sell sack or strong water, or to allow any
drunken person on their premises, or to suffer any
person "to drink excessively, viz,, above halfe a pint
1 Mass. Rec, Vol. i, pp. loi, 126, 136,

Io6 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
of wine for one person, at a time, or to continue
Tipling above the space of halfe an hour, or at un
seasonable times, or after nine of the Clock at night."
Nor were they to allow any tobacco smoking "ex
cept in a private room,"* Gaming and dancing in
Inns were expressly forbidden. Finally, in 1664,
"This Court being sensible of the great encrease of
Prophaness amongst us, especially In the younger sort,
taking their opportunity by meeting together in
places of publick entertainment, to corrupt one an
other by their uncivil and wanton carriages, rudely
singing and making a noise," all such "prophaness"
was made a finable offense, and, if the innkeeper did
not prosecute the revellers, his license was forfeited.^
Mr. Hudson^ has given us, as a sample of the strict
conditions imposed upon the keepers of public houses,
the material portions of the bond required by the
public authorities of Col, Thomas Howe, who kept
the public Inn at Marlborough in 1696, It provided:
"That he shall not suffer or have any playing at cards,
dice, tally bowls, nine pins, billiards, or any other unlawful
game or games in his said house, or yard, or gardens, or back
side, nor shall suffer to remain in his house any person or
persons, not being his own family, on Saturday night after
dark, or on the Sabbath days, or during the time of God's
Public Worship ; nor shall he entertain as lodgers in his
house any strangers, men or women, above the space of
forty-eight hours, but such whose names and surnames, he
shall deliver to some one of the selectmen or constable of
the town, unless they shall be such as he very well knoweth,
' Col, Laws 1660-1672, pp, 163, 164.
^Col, Laws 1660-1672, p. 228-9.
^ His. Marlborough, p, 382.

DOMESTIC AND SOCIAL LIFE. 107
and will ensure for his or their forth coming — nor shall sell
any wine to the Indians, or negroes, nor suffer any children
or servant, or other person to remain in his house, tippling
or drinking after nine o'clock in the night — nor shall buy or
take to preserve any stolen goods, nor willingly or know
ingly harbor in his house, barn, stable, or otherwhere, any
rogues, vagabonds, thieves, sturdy beggars, masterless men
or women, or other notorious offenders whatsoever — nor
shall any person or persons whatsoever, sell or utter any
wine, beer, ale, cider, rum, brandy or other liquors, by de
faulting, or by color of his license — nor shall entertain any
person or persons to whom he shall be prohibited by law,
or by any one of the magistrates of the County, as persons
of jolly conversation or given to tippling."
But notwithstanding the severity of the laws, the
inns were popular places of resort, and there is
reason to believe that the landlords, when the con
stables and tithing-men were not about, did not al
ways allow their zeal for the enforcement of the
laws to lose them the custom of those who sought
their inns for a little social recreation and momenta
rily casting aside some of the rigid restraints with
which their daily life was hedged about. Indeed some
of the inns, like the Blue Anchor at Boston, and
the Greyhound at Roxbury, became famous, and
their landlords were known far and wide for their
genial disposition and generous hospitality. Dunton,
the bookseller, who visited Boston in 1686, said of
George Monck, the landlord, that it was "almost
impossible not to be cheerful in his company," In
a letter written February 29, 1692, by Joseph Noyes,
one of the selectmen of Sudbury to the Middlesex
county court, recommending Samuel Howe as the

Io8 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
most suitable person to have a license to entertain
travelers, he says: " It is in the minds of most of us
that there should be none to retale drink amongst us,
by reason of the growing of the sin of drunkenness
amongst us. Oure fathers came into this wilderness to
enjoy the Gospel and his ordinances in its purity and
the convertion of the hethen, but insted of convert
ing them, amongst other sins, we have taught them to
be drunckerds "; and he sa,ys further that in his opin
ion inns should be for entertainment of travelers
"and not Town drunckards,"*
RoADS AND Travel, — Travel and commerce with
other colonies, and also internal commerce, were
chiefly by water. Until roads and bridges were
made, land travel was over the trails or paths which
had been used by the Indians and was chiefly on foot
until horses became plentiful. The earliest of the
great roads was the Old Plymouth or Coast Road,
connecting Boston and Plymouth. In early times
no person was allowed to travel over it single "nor with
out some arms, though two or three together,"^ The
old "Connecticut Path" ran from Cambridge through
Sudbury, Marlborough and other frontier towns and
finally to Albany in New York, There were also
the "Bay Path" and other famous roads. As towns
could afford the expense, roads and bridges and
ferries were established within their limits. Long
journeys over these roads were chiefly on horseback,
the women usually being seated on a pillion, and
the traveler depended for his provisions upon the
supplies which he carried or those furnished at the
1 N, E, Hist. & Gen. Reg., Vol. 4, p. 64.
*Mass, Rec, Vol. 1, p, 85,

DOMESTIC AND SOCIAL LIFE. 1 09
inns along the way. The vehicles first used were
two- wheeled carts. Stage-coaches did not come into
use during the commonwealth period.
Public Days, Holidays, etc — Christmas day, as
it is known now, the day on which all the world
should be glad, the sweet day that Dickens has
painted in the " Christmas Carol," was unknown to
our forefathers. At an early date a law was passed for
preventing disorders arising from "observing such
feastivals as were superstltiously kept in other
Countryes to the Great dishonour of God and offence
of others," and it was therefore made a finable offense
to observe "any such day as Christmas or the like,
either by forbearing labour, feasting, or any other
way,"* This law was not repealed until the year
1 68 1, Of course May days and other old and time-
honored English holidays fell under the ban of the
same law.
But there were various public days. Some of
them were of a religious character. There were Fast
days, and Thanksgiving days, and Lecture days. The
observances on Fast and Thanksgiving days are too
well known to need special mention.
The Thursday lecture afforded an opportunity of
social meetings, of which advantage was eagerly
taken, and people often went from one town to an
other to attend the exercises; so much so that at a later
period it became necessary to put some restraints
upon this custom, for In 1675 ^ ^^^ ^^^ passed re
citing that: "Whereas there is a loose and sinful
Customes of Going or Riding from Town to Town, and
• Colonial Laws, 1660-1672, p, 153,

IIO TPIE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
that oft times Men and Women together, upon pre
tence of going to Lectures, but It appears to be meerly
to Drink and Revil in Ordinaries and Taverns, which
is in It self Scandalous, and It is to be feared a notable
means to debauch our Youth, and hazard the Chastity
of such as are drawn forth thereunto," and providing
that all single persons so conducting themselves
should be "reputed and accounted Riotous and Un-
sober persons, and of 111 Behaviour" and should be
punished accordingly.*
There were some public days not of a religious
character. Of these the chief was election day. But
the training or muster day was the day on which,
more than any other, there seems to have been most
freedom from the religious restraints of the times.
Amusements, Games, etc, — The austere and
somber character of their religion tended to make
our ancestors look unkindly at anything like frivolity.
Moreover there was not then much time for play.
Consequently we find all kinds of games discounte
nanced by the old laws. Among the first laws passed
was one enacted In 163 1, prohibiting cards and dice,
and a law was subsequently passed imposing a fine
for bringing them Into the country or for being
found in possession of them. Dancing in houses of
common entertainment was also prohibited, and in
deed dancing in any place was not favored. In 1638,
Lawrence Waters and his wife and others were by
the General Court solemnly " admonished to avoyde
dancing." Theatrical entertainments were not thousfht of
* Mass, Col, Laws 1672-1686, p. 236,

domestic and social life. Ill
during the commonwealth period, and It was a long
time afterwards before they were countenanced, the
first in Boston being in 1750. Even singing schools
did not come into fashion until 1720,
But we shall err if we suppose that the Puritan
laws, or any other, could totally repress, especially
among young people, occasional relaxations from
religious restraint. The men found diversion In
hunting parties for exterminating wolves and bears,
in house raisings, and In the excitement of elections
and muster days. The women, doubtless, had their
quilting parties and other opportunities of meeting
and discussing the latest fashions and exchanging the
little gossip of the neighborhood. And the young
men and women must have got sight of each other
at the apple bees and corn-husklngs; and when, at
the latter, the lucky young man found a red ear, it
is to be presumed that he exercised his undoubted
right, established by the unwritten law, existing
"from time whereof the memory of man runneth
not to the contrary," of kissing the girl of his choice.
Courtship and Marriage. — The opportunities
for courtship would seem to have been limited.
Still there were opportunities. We can easily imagine
that even at church, v/hen the preacher was going on
and on in seemingly endless discourse, and the hour
glass was being turned and turned again, there were
eyes that "looked love to eyes which spake again."
At any rate the early Puritans believed In marrying.
They married young and did not spend much time
in mourning for a lost mate, but got another as soon
as practicable. Every encouragement to marriage

112 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
was given by the laws. Still the young man had to
be careful that he did not persist in getting his sweet
heart's affections without the consent of her parents.
If he did he was liable to be fined, for courting a
"mayd" without the consent of her parents was ex
pressly forbidden. But, In favor of the children and
"mayds," it was provided that "If any person shall
wilfully and unreasonably deny any child, timely or
convenient marriage, or shall exercise any unatural
severity toward them, such children shall have liberty
to complaine to Authority for redress in such cases."*
The law required that notice of the intention of
the parties to be married should be published or
posted in the town where they resided, or, if they re
sided In different towns, then in both. The marriage
ceremony was performed, not by a minister, but by
a civil magistrate, and the preaching of sermons on
such occasions was allowed with great caution be
cause, says Winthrop^, "We were not willing to
bring in the English custom of ministers performing
the solemnity of marriage, which sermons at such
times might induce, but if any ministers were present
and would bestow a word of exhortation, etc., it was
permitted," Marriage rings were not allowed, the
old Puritans, according to Morton,^ believing "that it
is a rellque of popery to make use of a ring in mar
riage, and that it Is a diabollcall circle for the Devil to
dau nee in,"
It is to be presumed that the young ladies in those
days were as apt as they are now in finding expedi-
' Col. Laws 1660-1672, p. 137.
*Vol. 2, 314.
^ New English Canaan, p. 118.

DOMESTIC AND SOCIAL LIFE. 1 13
ents to avoid the attentions of suitors who were not
favored. Judge Sewall tells us how his daughter
Betty, when Capt, Tuthlll called, ran away and hid
in the family coach and remained until he had de
parted. The etiquette of the first families of Boston in early
times seems to have required that the parents of the
young man who was permitted by the parents of
a young lady to wait upon her, should thank the
latter for the honor so accorded. At least Judge
Sewall In his diary records that he was so thanked by
the parents of those who afterward married his
daughters, Betty and Judith, And he records with
evident satisfaction how "Gov, Dudley visits me in
his Chariot; speaks to me In behalf of Col, Wm,
Dudley, that I would give him leave that he might
visit my daughter Judith , I said ' twas a weighty mat
ter, I would consider of it, etc,"*
The narrative which Judge Sewall has given us of
his own courtships should not be overlooked. The
period covered by them was not so long after the com
monwealth period as to lead us to suppose that there
had been. In the meantime, any marked changes in
the customs of Boston society from what they were
towards the end of the commonwealth.
It is true that the judge's account is not so poetical
as the "Courtship of Miles Standish," and it Is also
true that it Is only the account of the courtships of
an aged widower, but It is the onty record extant of
Puritan courtships in early times which enters into
1 Sewall Papers, Vol. 3, p. 164.
Pur. Rep,— 8

1X4 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
the minutest details with scrupulous adherence to the
exact facts.*
The Judge's first wife, who had borne him fourteen
children, died October 19, 17 17. On February 6, fol
lowing,^ the Judge records: "This morning v/ander-
ing in my mind whether to live a Single or a Mar
ried Life." After some further mental debate, and
apparently some Indecision, as to whom to select of
various widows whom he evidently had in mind, he
made court to the widow Dennlson, whose husband
had been dead but a short time, the Judge having
written his will. But in this, as In all his subsequent
courtships, it is plain that the promptings of Cupid
never caused the Judge to lose sight of the financial
considerations entering into his contemplated matri
monial contracts.
The editors of his diary mildly speak of his court
ship of Mrs. Dennlson as "infelicitous." It was
broken off because, though the Judge writes, "My
bowels yern towards Mrs. Dennlson," he and the
widow could not agree upon the terms of a marriage
settlement. As she construed the terms proposed by
the Judge, " She said she thought 'twas hard to part
with All and have nothing to bestow on her Kin
dred." The judge records that "God directs me In
his Providence to desist," but the impression left by
the Judge's own admission is that worldly considera
tions of his own, rather than God's providence,
caused the breaking off of the match.
He next courted, and afterwards married, the
widow Tilley. She died May 26, 1720, the Judge
' See Sewall Papers, Vol, 3.
'Papers, Vol. 3, p. 164.

DOMESTIC AND SOCIAL LIFE. I15
being then about 69 years old. He lost no time
in looking about for another helpmate, and cast his
eyes upon Mrs. Katherine Winthrop, widow of Gen.
Wait Winthrop, who had burled two husbands. The
Judge and Mrs. Winthrop both resided In Boston,
and the Judge made his first call upon her about four
months after the death of his second wife. This Is
his account of the first meeting:*
"8ri, (Oct. I,) Satterday. I dine at Mr. Stod
dard's; from thence I went to Madam Winthrop's just at
3 . Spake to her ; saying my loving wife died so soon and
so suddenly, 'twas hardly convenient for me to think of
Marrying again ; however I came to this Resolution, that I
would not make my Court to any person without first Con
sulting with her. Had a pleasant discourse about 7 (seven)
Single persons sitting in the Fore-seat Jx 29th, viz. Madm.
Rebekah Dudley, Catherine Winthrop, Bridget Usher, De
liverance Legg, Rebekah Loyd, Lydia Colman, Elizabeth
Bellingham, She propounded one and another for me; but
none would do; said Mrs, Loyd was about her Age."
The guileless simplicity of the learned Judge in
omitting any allusion to the matrimonial qualifications
of Madam Winthrop, herself, and the readiness with
which the equally guileless widow suggested the
names of the six widows and spinsters, besides her
self, who occupied the "fore-seat" in the church, re
mind us how much widowers and widows in early
times were like those of to-day.
On the following Monday night the Judge called
again, and, after some short preliminary talk, he
threw off all disguise as to the real object of his af-
, ' Papers, Vol. 3, p. 262.

1X6 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
fections, and proceeded at once to declare himself in
unmistakable terms that permitted no evasion.
"I usher'd in Discourse," says the Judge, "from the
names in the Fore-seat; at last I pray'd that Katherine
[Mrs, WinthropJ might be the person assign'd forme. She
instantly took it up in the way of Denyal, as if she had,
catch' d at an Opportunity to do it, saying she could not do
it, before she was asked. Said that was her mind unless
she should Change it, which she believed she should not;
could not leave her Children. I express'd my Sorrow that
she should do it so Speedily, pray'd her Consideration, and
ask'd her when I should wait on her agen. She setting no
time, I mentioned that day sennight. Gave her Mr. Wil-
lard's Fountain open'd with the little print and verses, say
ing I hop'd if we did well read that book, we should meet
together hereafter, if we did not now. She took the Book
and put it in her Pocket. Took leave."
The Judge could not wait until the time which he
had himself appointed, and called again on the next
Wednesday, but Madam Winthrop was out, and so
he "gave Katee [her daughter] a peny and a kiss
and came away," On the next evening he called
again, but Madam Winthrop was not at home, and
the Judge endeavored to propitiate the servants by,
giving "Sarah Chickering the maid 2s," and "Juno,|
who brought In wood is," and the nurse i8d,, "hav
ing no other small bill." When Madam Winthrop
appeared, the Judge again renewed his solicitations
and "gave her a piece of Mrs, Belcher's Cake and
Ginger-Bread, wrapped up In a clean sheet of Paper;
told her of her Father's kindness to me when Treas-

DOMESTIC AND SOCIAL LIFE.

117

urer, and I Constable. My daughter Judith was gon
from me and I was more lonsom, might help to for
ward one another in our Journey to Canaan." But
the widow remained obdurate.
The next time he called, she treated him courte
ously; but the next time after that he tells us that:
"She was full of work behind a Stand." Her "Counte
nance was much changed from what 'twas on Monday, look'd
dark and lowering. At last, the work (black stuff or Silk),
was taken away, I got my Chair in place, had some Con
verse but very cold and indifferent to what 'twas before.
Asked her to acquit me of Rudeness if I drew off her Glove.
Enquiring the reason, I told her 'twas great odds between
handling a dead Goat and a living Lady. Got it off." But
she yielded no farther, although the Judge "told her the
reason why I came every other night was lest I should
drink too deep draughts of Pleasure. She had talk'd of
Canary, her kisses were to me better than the best Canary."
Nevertheless, the Judge continued to press his
suit. He made her presents of books and, with an
accurate perception of women's tastes, he did not
forget to give her almonds and other dainties. Once
he " gave her about V^ pound of Sugar Almonds,
cost 3s per £, She seemed much pleas'd with them,
ask'd what they cost,"
The Judge's courtship of Mrs, Winthrop did
not progress so far as to involve the settlement of
financial questions, though she quizzed the Judge
about a rumor that she professed to have heard about
his having given all his property to his children,
which the Judge vigorously denied. Once she took

II 8 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
occasion "to speak pretty earnestly" about the
Judge's "keeping a Coach," she Insisting that
" 'twould cost but £40," while the Judge contended
that " 'twould cost £100 per annum."
The Judge found that the widow's moods were
variable. Sometimes she treated him "with a great
deal of Curtesy; Wine; Marmalade," and on an
other occasion he says that she gave him ' ' a Dram
of Black Cherry Brandy and gave me a lump of the
Sugar that was in It," But the widow soon began
to Indicate to the Judge that his courtship was In vain.
Sometimes she would keep him waiting before she
came in, and thereupon the Judge would have to
put in the time reading the Bible and other good
books; she did not array herself " in Clean Linen as
Sometimes"; she "offered not to help him " put on
his great coat when he left; she failed to replenish
the fire when it burned low; she excused herself
from sending her servant to light him home, on the
ground that Juno was tired and had gone to bed, and
that It was light enough to see without a lantern.
She also ' ' quoted the Apostle Paul affirming that a
single life was better than a married," and once she
was so unkind as to suggest to him his "needing a
Wigg." The Judge's narrative of his last visit on Monday,
Nov. 7, 1720, Is as follows:
"I went to Mad, Winthrop; found her rocking her little
Katee in the Cradle. I excus'd my Coming so late (near
eight). She set me an arm'd Chair and Cusheon; and so
the Cradle was between her arm'd Chair and mine. Gave
her the remnant of my Almonds ; She did not eat of them

DOMESTIC AND SOCIAL LIFE. 1 19
as before, but laid them away; I said I came to enquire
whether she had alter' d her mind since Friday or remained
of the same mind still. She said. Thereabouts. I told her
I loved her, and was so fond as to think that she loved me.
She said had great respect for me. * * * The Fire
was come to one short Brand, besides the Block, which
Brand was set up in end ; at last it fell to pieces, and no
Recruit was made. She gave me a Glass of Wine. I think
I repeated again that I would go home and bewail my Rash
ness in making more haste than good Speed. I would en
deavor to contain myself and not go on to sollicit her to do
that which she would not Consent to. Took leave of her.
As came down the steps she bid me have a care. Treated
me Courteously. * « * j ^id not bid her draw off her
Glove as sometime I had done. Her dress was not so
clean as sometime before it had been. Jehovah jireh."
The Judge seems by this time to have taken the
hint, and he did not renew his visits to Madam
Winthrop, but cast his eyes upon the widow Martha
Ruggles, carefully beginning the siege by first writing
to her brother, Timothy Woodbrldge, a letter which
the editors of the "Letter-Book" pronounce "one of
the most interesting and certainly one of the most
characteristic of the whole collection." In this letter
he says :*
" I remember when I was going from school at Newbury,
I have sometime met your Sisters Martha, and Mary, at the
end of Mrs, Noyes's Lane, coming from their Schoole at
Chandler's Lane, in their Hanging Sleeves; and have had
the pleasure of Speaking with them : And I could find in
my heart to speak with Mrs. Martha again, now I my self
^Letters, Vol. 2, p. 133.

I20 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
am reduc'd to my Hanging Sleeves, The truth is, I have
little Occasion for a Wife, but for the sake of Modesty, and
to cherish me in my advanced years (I was born March 28,
1652) Methinks I could venture to lay my Weary head in
her Lap, if it might be brought to pass upon Honest Con
ditions. You know your Sister's Age, and Disposition,
and Circumstances, better than I doe. I should be glad of
your Advice in my Fluctuations,"
But the widow Ruggles did not look kindly on
the Judge's suit, and, after having twice proposed to
her and having been twice rejected, he next wooed
and won the widow GIbbs, to whom he was married
on March 29, 1722,
It should be borne in mind, however, that the rec
ord of the courtships of Judge Sewall is the record
of the courtships of an old man, after the infirmities,
and some of the follies, of old age had come upon
him. Among people of considerable fortunes, the Eng
lish custom prevailed of settling property rights
and fixing the bride's portion by ante-nuptial agree
ments, and in the making of them, as appears from
Judge Sewall's diary, there was often a good deal
of what in this age would be looked upon as higgling
and driving of sharp bargains.
It is not probable that the marriage portions or
wedding outfits of the brides were very costly until
long after the beginning of the commonwealth, and
not then unless the parents were in far more affluent
circumstances than the most of their neighbors.
The tradition is that John Hull, the maker of the
Pine Tree shillings, gave his daughter her weight in

DOMESTIC AISTD SOCIAL LIFE. 12 X
them for her wedding portion. But there was only
one John Hull, and, besides, the tradition is not well
authenticated. Judge Sewall ordered from London a wedding
outfit for his daughter Judith, which comprised the
following:* "Curtains & Vallens for a Bed with Counterpane Head
Cloth and Tester made of good yellow waterd worsted cam
let with Triming well made and Bases if it be the Fashion.
Send also of the Same Camlet & Triming as may be enough
to make Cushions for the Chamber Chairs.
"A good fine large Chintz Quilt well made.
' 'A true Looking Glass of Black Walnut Frame of the
Newest Fashion if the Fashion be good, as good as can be
bought for five or six pounds.
"A second Looking Glass as good as can be bought for
four or five pounds, same kind of frame.
"A Duzen of good Black Walnut Chairs fine Cane with
a Couch, "A Duzen of Cane Chairs of a Different Figure and a
great Chair for a Chamber; all Black Walnut
"One bell-metal Skillet of two Quarts, one ditto one
Quart. "One good large Warming Pan bottom and cover fit for
an Iron handle.
"Four pair of strong Iron Dogs with Brass heads about 5
or 6 shillings a pair.
"A Brass Hearth for a Chamber with Dogs Shovel
Tongs & Fender of the newest Fashion (the Fire is to ly
upon Iron).
"A strong Brass Mortar That will hold about a Quart
with a Pestle.
1 Sewall's Letters, Vol. 2, pp. 105-6.

X22 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
"Two pair of large Brass sliding Candlesticks about 4
shillings a Pair.
"Two pair of large Brass Candlesticks not sliding of the
newest Fashion about 5 or 6 shillings a pair.
"Four Brass Snuffers with stands.
"Six small strong Brass Chafing dishes about 4 shillings
apiece. "One Brass basting Ladle; one larger Brass Ladle.
"One pair of Chamber Bellows with Brass Noses.
"One small hair Broom suitable to the Bellows.
"One Duzen of large hard-mettal Pewter Plates new
fashion, weighing about fourteen pounds.
"One Duzen hard-mettal Pewter Porringers.
"Four Duzen of Small glass Salt Cellars of white glass;
Smooth not wrought, and without a foot.
"A Duzen of good Ivory-hafted Knives and Forks."
At the Howe Family Gathering in South Fram
ingham, Mass., in 1871, there was exhibited a docu
ment showing the marriage portion given as late as
1784 by Nehemiah Howe, then of Vermont but
formerly of Marlborough, Mass,, to his daughter
Beulah, in which were enumerated the following
very useful and essential articles: £ s, d.
One cow  3
A chist of draws  2
One feather bed  3 10
8 sheets  4
2 table cloths  12
I coverlid  I 5
I Beed quilt  I 5
2 Beed ticks  I 5
I foot wheel  I

DOMESTIC AND SOCIAL LIFE. 1 23
£ S, d.
I grate wheel  8
a looking glass  9
a frying pan  4
2 tubs  7
2 tables  g
4 chars  10
I pillian  6
I tramil  7
I fire place tongs  12
I testing iron  3
a horse  8
Land in Poultney  10

31 14
Scant as was the wedding outfit of Miss Beulah,
compared with that of Miss Judith, it is probable
that the former's was far more elaborate than that of
most of the New England brides, especially in the
early part of the commonwealth period.
Mention has been made of the causes for divorce.
In at least one instance the General Court made the
singular experiment of trying to compel a husband
and wife to stick to each other. This was in the
case of the Rev. Stephen Batchelor, of Lynn, who,
when nearly ninety years old, married a third wife.
Matrimonial troubles followed, and In 1650 the Gen
eral Court ordered "that Mr, Batchelor and his wife
shall l)rve together as man and wife, as in this Court
they have publlquely professed to do, and, if either
desert one another, then hereby the Court doth order
that ye Marshall shall apprehend both said Mr.
Batchelor and Mary, his wife, and bring them forth-

124 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
with to Boston, here to be kept till the next Quarter
Court of Assistants," But the frisky octogenarian
got away, after all, went to England, married an
other wife, and persisted in living on. Six years
later, the disconsolate Mary, having become con
vinced apparently that there was no other relief, pre
sented her petition to the General Court for a divorce.
Actions for breach of promise of marriage seem
to have been rare, but there is a record of one in
1633, In which it was ordered that "Joyce Brad-
wlcke shall give unto Alex Becke the some of 20s,
for promising him marriage without her ffriends con
sent & now refusing to performe the same."*
Doctors. — Doctors do not appear to have been
very numerous in the early years of the common
wealth. The example of Nicholas Knopp probably
served to intimidate quacks at the outset, for the rec
ords show that in 1630 he "is fined 5 £ for takeing
upon him to Cure the scurvey by a water of noe
worth nor value, which he solde att a very deare
rate, to be imprisoned till hee pay his ffine, or give
security for it, or els to be whipped & shalbe lyable
to any mans action of whom hee hath received money
for said water. "^
Funerals. — The funeral services were very plain.
No hearses were used, but a simple coffin containing
the body was placed upon a bier and borne to the
grave by carriers, the pall-bearers walking on each
side, and the mourners following on foot. There
were no special ceremonies at the grave. No funeral
> Mass. Rec, Vol. i, p. 104.
' Mass. Rec, Vol. i p. 83.

domestic and social LIFE. X25
sermon was preached, not even a prayer was offered^
as such a ceremony was supposed to savor too much
of popery.
The somber description which the poet Whittier
has given of "The Old Burying Ground" would
probably apply to many others in New England in
the olden times :
" Our vales are sweet with fern and rose,
Our hills are maple-crowned ;
But not from them our fathers chose
The village burying-ground.
' ' The dreariest spot in all the land
To Death they set apart;
With scanty grace from Nature's hand, .
And none from that of Art.
" A winding wall of mossy stone.
Frost-flung and broken, lines
A lonesome acre thinly grown
With grass and wandering vines.

" Low moans the river from its bed.
The distant pines reply;
Like mourners shrinking from the dead,
They stand apart and sigh.
" Unshaded smites the summer sun.
Unchecked the winter blast ;
The school-girl learns the place to shun,
With glances backward cast.

126 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
" For thus our fathers testified.
That he might read who ran,
The emptiness of human pride.
The nothingness of man.

)t

No costly monuments marked the last resting
places of the Puritans. If there were any tomb
stones at all, they were plain slabs, on some of which
were graven hideous pictures and hideous rhymes.
Examples of them can be seen in the Concord cem
etery and in many of the old cemeteries in Massa
chusetts. There was one feature of their funerals, however,
which erew into such an abuse that the General Court
deemed it necessary to restrain it by law. This was
the custom of distributing gloves, scarfs and mourn
ing rings among the carriers and pall-bearers, and
sometimes suits of black clothes to those who could
not afford to buy them Afterward it became cus
tomary to distribute such presents among the rela
tions and attendants.
The pious but thrifty Judge Sewall, in his diary,
gives us a partial inventory of his accumulations of
rings, scarfs and gloves, at the funerals "of some I
have been a Bearer to."* To such presents supplies
of rum were afterward added.
As an example of the extravagance of funerals the
following is given, purporting to have been copied
from the probate records, of the charges for the fun
eral of the widow of the Rev. John Norton.^
* Sewall Papers, Vol. i, p, 469.
'Lives of the Chief Fathers of New England, Vol. 2, p. 236.

domestic and SOCIAL LIFE.

127

"1677-8 Jan. 20. Account of Funeral Charges of Mrs.
Mary Norton :
Jan. 20 51 1-2 gallons of best Malaga with cask
and carriage at £10. 1 3  £10.13
50 1-2 ells of best broad lute string at
los. ell  25. 5
Jan. 25 Paid money to Wm. and Joseph Gridley
for openingthe tomb  1 . 16
" 28 Money, Solomon Ransford for coffin
and plate  1.18
" " Gloves 6 doz. pair  5.12-6
" " do 2 " "  2
Feb. 5 do 10 " and 3 pair  10. 19-9
" ^ 16 do 12 do " 6 do  12.8
" " do 2 do 10 do  2. 8-2
73-O-S"
The Rev. John Cobbet, of Ipswich, died in 1685.
"At his funeral were expended one barrel of wine,
£6.8; two barrels of cider, us; 82 pounds of sugar,
£2,1; half a cord of wood, 4s; four dozen pair of
gloves for men and women, £5,4; with some spice
and ginger for the cider."*
So expensive did funerals become that at a later
date (1741) a law was enacted which provided that
"no scarves, gloves (except six pair to the bearers
and one pair to each minister of the church or con
gregation where any deceased person belongs) wine,
rum, or rings, be allowed and given at any funeral."
Rank. — The distinctions which prevailed in En
gland were recognized, for a time and to a Hmited
extent, among the colonists here. Curiously enough,
' Lewis's History of Lynn, p. loi.

128 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
this recogrnltlon was most manifest and lasted the
longest In the seating of the congregation In the
churches. But even there It seems that the assign
ment of the best seats was influenced, to a large ex
tent, not so much by considerations of birth or rank,
as it was by determining who paid the most taxes
for the support of the church.
The laws as to dress, it is true, made certain ex
ceptions in favor of those whose estates exceeded in
value two hundred pounds, " or any other whose
education and Imployment have been above the ordi
nary degree, or whose estate have been considerable,
though now decayed." It is apparent, however,
that the chief object of this law was to restrain peo
ple from dressing beyond their means, partly on
their own account and partly for obvious reasons of
public policy, and that the exception in the last clause
was a slight concession to those who had seen better
times in England. The Body of Liberties* also ex
empted from the punishment of whipping " any true
gentleman" or " any man equall to a gentleman
* * * unless his crime be very shamefull and
his course of life vltlous and profligate." But there
is nothing in the laws of the commonwealth that in
dicates the slightest tendency toward the perpetua
tion of the distinctions founded on birth or rank
which prevailed in England, or the building up of
an aristocracy here based on either rank or wealth.
Nevertheless, there was a scrupulous regard paid
to the titles, civil, military, or religious, of those bear
ing them, and the captains, ensigns, corporals and
iNo. 43.

DOMESTIC AND SOCIAL LIFE. 1 29
deacons were so mentioned when referring to them.
The title ' 'Esquire' ' was rarely applied. Even the titles
"Mr," and "Mrs." were sparingly used, and then,
generally, in addressing or speaking of ministers and
distinguished persons. The terms "good man" and
"good wife" were used rather to denote excellence
of character than superiority of birth or rank.
It must not be supposed, however, that distinc
tions founded on family connections with ancestors of
distinction or noble birth were entirely ignored. On
the contrary, they were carefully observed, and the
family arms, if there were any, were displayed on
all suitable occasions. When Mrs. Katherine Win
throp was buried, Sewall tells us that "the Escut
cheons on the hearse bore the arms of Winthrop and
Brattle, The Lion Sable," the former being those of
the family of her last husband, and the latter those
borne by her brother, Thomas Brattle.*
\Sewall Papers, Vol, 3, p. 363.
Pur. Rep, — 9

VI
INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL LIFE
Laws Against Idleness. — One of the first things
that engaged the attention of the colonists was to see
that every man, woman, and child had something to
do and that it was done. The colonists had no use
for idlers and shirks. As early as 1633 it was or
dered by the General Court that "noe person, howse
houlder or other, shall spend his time idlely or un-
proffitably, under paine of such punishment as the
Court shall thinke meete to infllcte, & for this end it
is ordered that the constable of every place shall use
spetiall care & deligence to take knowledge of offend
ers in this kinde, espetially of common coasters, un
profitable fowlers & tobacco takers and present the
same &c."*
In 1636 an order was made that "all townes shall
take care to order and dispose of all single persons &
inmates within their townes to service or otherwise."^
By a subsequent law "neglectors of their families"
were added to the list of Idlers. Towns were espe
cially enjoined to "take care from time to time, to
Order and Dispose all single Persons, & inmates
within there Townes to service or otherwise, and if
' Mass. Rec, Vol i, p, 109.
'Mass. Rec, Vol, i, p. 186.
(130)

industrial and COMMERCIAL LIFE. 131
any be grieved at such Order or disposall, they have
Liberty to appeale to the next County Court." The
selectmen were also required to see that "all parents
& masters do breed & bring up their children & ap
prentices In some honest Lawfull calling, labor or
imployment, either in husbandry or some other trade,
profitable for themselves and the commonwealth, if
they will not, or can not train them up in learning to
fitt them for higher employments."
By a law passed in 1682, the tithing-men in each
town were required to return all such idlers to the
next magistrate who was authorized to set them to
work "in or about any employment they are capa
ble of," and. If they refused "to be regulated as
aforesaid," then they were to be sent to the house
of correction. Other laws designed to promote in
dustry will be noted in the following pages.
Agriculture,* — ^AU grants of land were obtained
from the General Court. Usually a large body oii/
land was granted to several proprietors who held It
at first in common and afterwards made a division of
it or disposed of it to actual settlers.^
The tilling of the soil, both for farms and gardens,
was, as a matter of course, the chief industry at the
start. The soil of Massachusetts was much better in
the beginning, before It was exhausted by cultiva
tion, than it is now. The meadows and the salt
marshes produced good hay. Wheat did not thrive,
but Indian corn, rye, oats and most of the fruits and
'Palfrey, Vol. i, p. 13; Husbandry in Colony Times, bj Edward
Eggleston, 5 Century Mag., 431
' An interesting account of the manner in which the Sudbury lands
¦were divided is given by Mr. Hudson in his History of Sudbury, p. 104.

132 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
vegetables that are common to-day were soon culti
vated and yielded good crops.
Of domestic animals, swine and poultry were soon
introduced and rapidly increased. It was more dif
ficult to raise sheep on account of the wolves and
severe winters. Horses and cattle Increased until
ihey soon became abundant.
Agricultural implements were of the rudest char
acter, as they were then in England. Plows were
scarce, and those used were of the most primitive pat
tern. Wheat was reaped with a sickle and threshed
with a flail. Four-wheeled wagons were unknown,
and the only kind of vehicle used in farm work was
a rude cart. In Higginson's Catalogue of "needful
things" for the New England planter he enumerates
the following "Tools," viz: "i broad hoe; i narrow
hoe; I broad axe; i felling axe; i steel hand-saw; i
whip saw; i hammer; i shovel; i spade; 2 augers;
4 chisels; 2 piercers (stocked); i gimlet; x hatchet, "^
A curious law* for the benefit of the farmers, en
acted in 1646, recites that:
"Because the harvest of Hay, Corn, Hemp and Flax,
comes usually so near together that much losse can hardly
be avoided. It is therefore Ordered by the Authority of
this Court; That the Constables of every town, upon Re
quest made to them shall Require any Artificers or handy
Crafts-men, Meet to Labour, to work by the day for their
Neighbours in mowing, reaping of corn & inning thereof
Provided that those men whom they work for, shall duely
pay them for their Work, And that if any person so Re
quired shall Refuse, or the Constable neglect his Office
' Col. Laws, 1660-1672, p. 203.

INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL LIFE. 133
herein, they shall Each of them Pay to the use of the Poor
of the Town double so much as such Dayes Work Comes
unto. Provided no Artificer or Handy-Crafts-Man shall be
Compelled to Work as aforesayd, for others, whiles he is.
necessarily attending on the like Busines of his Own."
Another law* was passed in 1652 for the protection
of the farmers, prohibiting the Importation of "malt,
wheat, barley, bisket, beife, meal and flower (which
are the principall Comodltyes of this Country) from
Forreign parts,"
Fishing, — On the sea coast, fishing speedily be
came an Important industry to supply domestic con
sumption and afterwards to supply the demands of
foreign commerce; and, as commerce grew, ship
building also became an important industry.
Mechanical Trades. — In the mechanical trades,
carpenters, smiths, bricklayers, joiners and sawyers
were early in demand, and other artisans soon ap
peared, especially in the larger towns.
Manufactures, — Mills for grinding corn and
wheat were soon built, and were run either by wind
or water. Before that the colonists had pounded
their corn after the fashion of the Indians.
Tanneries were soon established and several laws
were enacted to encourage the manufacture of leather.
The manufacture of salt was also begun at an early
date, A pottery was established at Salem in 1641 and
iron works at Lynn in 1643, but the latter were
abandoned. Spinning was at first done at home and by a law
' Col. Laws, 1660-1672, p. 175.

134 "^^^ puritan republic.
passed in 1655 "all hands not necessarily Imployed
on other occasions, as Women, Girls and Boyes,
shall and hereby are enjoyned to Spin according to
their skill and ability."
The weaving of woolen and cotton cloths was begun
at Rowley in 1643.
Other small manufactories followed, but their
progress was slow and nothing indicated even the
beginning of that wonderful manufacturing growth
in Massachusetts that crowds the banks of the Mer-
rlmac with mills and makes the very earth quiver with
the vibrations of their machinery.
Commerce with other Colonies and Coun
tries.* — Trade between the Massachusetts and Vir
ginia colonies began as early as 1 63 x , the former ex
changing beaver and other skins and fish for corn
and tobacco supplied by the latter. Trade was also
carried on with the Dutch at New York, the Massa
chusetts colonists getting from them sheep, sugar,
etc, for sack, strong waters, linen cloth, etc. Some
trade was also carried on with the Marjdand colony.
Johnson^ also mentions trade with England, the Bar
badoes, Portugal and Spain.
Currency.'' — The scarcity of money was soon
felt, and so early as 1631 it was ordered by the Gen
eral Court that " noe planter within the lymitts of
this jurisdiction returning for England, shall carry
' Boston and the Neighboring Jurisdictions, by Charles C. Smith;
I Mem. Hist, of Boston, p. 275.
' Wonder- Working Providence.
' See Felt's Historical Account of Massachusetts Currency; Sum
ner's History of American Currency.

INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL LIFE.

^35

either money or beaver with him without leave from
the Governor."*
The scarcity of money was felt more severely after
the year 1640, after which time, for a long period,
more people returned to England each year than
came from there, and what specie had been accumu
lated in trade with other colonies and countries was
exported or hoarded and silver prices fell accord-
ingty. " The scarcity of money," says Winthrop, "made
a great change in all commerce. Merchants would
sell no wares but for ready money, men would not
pay their debts, though they had enough, prices of
lands and cattle fell soon to the one-half and less,
yea to a third, and after one-fourth part."^
The Indians whom the colonists found used, as a
substitute for money, strings or belts of polished
beads, white made from periwinkle shells and black
from clam shells. These strings or belts were called
"wampum." The colonists used this at first as a
medium of exchange in their traffic with the Indians
and then in their dealings with one another, and vari
ous laws were passed making wampum a legal tender
for specified amounts. For a time, musket balls, at
the rate of a farthing each, were also a legal tender
for sums under twelve pence.
In 1 63 1 it was ordered "that corne shall passe for
payment of all debts at the usual rate it is solde for,
except money or beaver be expressly named,"*
Afterwards, in 1637, it was ordered "that corne
' Mass. Rec, Vol. i, p. 93.
'Vol. 2, p. 18.
'Mass. Rec, Vol. i, p. 92.

136 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
should passe at 5sh. p. bushel in all payments for
any bargaine hereafter to bee made, until the Courte
take further course therein."* In October, 1640,
it was ordered that " after the last day of this
month, no man shall be compelled to satisfye any
debt, legacy, fine, or other payment, in money, but
satisfaction shall bee accepted in corne, cattle, fish or
other commodities," at such rates as the General
Court might from time to time establish, or as might
be determined by appraisers. This did not apply,
however, to debts or contracts accrued or made prior
to the last day of October.^
Corn and silver plate were made a legal tender at
specified prices In payment of taxes,* and "land,
houses, corne, cattle, fish, or other commodities "
were ordered to be accepted at their appraised values
in satisfaction of executions,* and in 1641 it was or
dered that all servants, laborers and workmen "should
bee content to abate their wages according to the fall
of the commodities wherein their labors are bestowed,
and that they should be satisfied with payment in such
things as are raised by their labor, or other com
modities which the country affoards."^
But some gold and silver were necessary for car
rying on the government and foreign trade, and in
1652 a mint was established at Boston, The law
authorizing it® provided for the coinage of " all Bul
lion, plate or Spanish Coyn" into "twelve penny, six
'Mass, Rec, Vol. i, p. 192,
'Mass. Rec, Vol, i, p, 304,
' Mass. Rec, Vol. i, pp. 140, 206, 294.
' Mass. Rec, Vol, i, p, 307.
5 Mass, Rec, Vol, i, p, 326,
°Col, Laws, 1660-1672, p. 181.

industrial and COMMERCIAL LIFE. I37
penny and three penny peices, which shall be stamped
with a double Ring on either side with this inscrip
tion Massachusets* & a tree in the center on the
one side. New England with the year of our Lord,
and the figure XII. VI, III, according to the Value of
each peice on the other side," etc. The same law
prohibited, under heavy penalties, the exportation of
the money so coined " except twenty shillings for
necessary expences," The enactment of this law
was one of the grounds upon which the charter was
afterwards revoked. The master of the mint was
John Hull, and the shillings coined were known as
"Pine Tree" shillings. But despite all the efforts
to keep it in circulation at home, the new money
went out of the country or disappeared as fast as it
was coined, and the barter currency continued to
the end of the commonwealth, corn, cattle and other
commodities being made a legal tender for payment
of taxes and other purposes at specified amounts,
and, by general consent, being used for almost all
purposes by the people in their private dealings with
one another,
A report was made to the General Court in June,
1652, upon the project of establishing a bank and
issuing paper money, but the idea of "fiat" paper
money was not fully developed, or, at least, was not
put in practice, until after the expiration of the com
monwealth. On December 10, 1690, the General
Court ordered the issue of £7,000 in bills of 5s, to
£5, "Thus," says Mr, Felt, "commenced a
method of furnishing a paper currency, regulated by
* On the face of the coins this word is uniformly spelled Masathusets.

138 the puritan republic.
the government, and conducted by its officers, which
continued till 1750, excepting some, in bills of
small denominations, for change, emitted soon after
that year."* When the issue of paper money was
first proposed, one of the strongest arguments against
it was that the commonwealth had previously pros
pered without it, and had paid all its debts, includ
ing the enormous expenses of King Philip's war.^
The inevitable result followed the unlimited Issue of
paper money; it speedily fell In purchasing power,
and those whose necessities compelled them to take
it, and who could least afford the loss, were the
heaviest losers.
The corn and other commodities which the colo
nists used when money was scarce w^ere not very con
venient substitutes for money, but their barter cur
rency had an intrinsic value and was better than
irredeemable paper and was never repudiated.
Regulating Wages and Prices. — At the first
meeting of the Court of Assistants In August, 1630,
the wages of carpenters, joiners, bricklayers, sawyers
and thatchers were established under penalties for
taking or giving more than those so established, but at
the meeting of the General Court in March follow
ing, they were "lefte free & set att liberty as men
shall reasonably agree."* In 1633, another order
was made fixing the wages of "maister carpenters,
Sawers, Masons, clapboard-rjrvers, brickelayers,
tylars, joyners, wheelewrights, mowers," and other
workmen, and it was further ordered that "all worke-
^ An Historical Account of Massachusetts Currency, p. 50.
' Sewall's Letters, Vol, 2, p. 235.
*Mass. Rec, Vol. i, pp, 74, 84.

industrial and commercial life. 139
men shall worke the whole day, alloweing conven
ient tyme for foode & rest."*
Repeated efforts were also made by the General
Court to establish prices. In 1633 ^ general order
was made reciting "the greate extortion used by
divers persons of little conscience," and providing
that thereafter:
"Noe person shall sell to any of the inhabitants within
this jurisdiction any provision, cloathinge, tooles or other
commodities, above the rate of ffour pence in a shilling
more than the same cost or might be bought for ready
money in England, upon paine of forfeiting the valewe of
the thinge solde (except cheese, which in regard of the
much hazard in bringing) & wyne, oyle, vinegar & strong
waters, which in regarde of leaking, may be sold at such
rates (provided the same be moderate) as the buyer &
seller can agree. And for lynnen & other commodities,
which in regard of their close stowage & small hazard, may
be afforded att a cheap rate, wee doe advise all men to be a
rule to themselves, in keeping a good conscience, assureing
them that if any man shall exceede the bounds of modera
tion, wee shall punish them severely."*
In 1634, the price of corn was " lefte at liberty to
be solde as men can agree." Soon afterwards its
price was again fixed by law.* But again in 1637
"the price of corne is set at liberty."*
The prior laws establishing wages and prices were
repealed in 1635, ^^^ **^ h^*^ thereof the following
law was enacted:
*Mass. Rec, Vol. i, p. 109.
'Mass. Rec, Vol. i, p. iii.
*Mass. Rec, Vol. i, pp. 115, 142.
* Mass. Rec, Vol. i, pp. 115, 142, 200, 340.

X40 the puritan REPUBLIC.
"Whereas two former laws, the one concerneing the
wages of workemen, the other concerneing the prizes of
commodyties, were for dyvers good considerations repealed
this present Court, nowe for avoydeing such mischiefs as
may followe thereupon by such ill disposed persons as
may take liberty to oppresse & wronge their neighbours by
takeing excessive wages for worke or unreasonable prizes
for such necessary merchandizes or other commodyties as
shall passe from man to man, it is therefore nowe ordered
that if any man shall offend in any of the said cases against the
true intent of this lawe, hee shal be punished by ffine or
imprisonment, according to the quality of the offence, as
the Court upon lawfull tryall & conviction shall adjudge."'
Various entries are found In the records showing
punishments for violation of the laws against extor
tion in wages or prices. Among others, Edward
Palmer "for his extortion, taking i£ 13s, 7d, for
the plank & woodwork of Boston stocks, is fined 5£
& censured to bee set an houre in the stocks," but
his fine was remitted to los.
The most noted prosecution for a violation of this
law was that of Robert Keayne, He was a Boston
shopkeeper, and seems to have been a prominent
citizen, having been a deputy several times in the
General Court and the first captain of the military
company of Boston, afterwards known as the An
cient and Honorable Artillery, His prosecution is
very minutely described by Winthrop,^ The case is
so grotesque in all its details, and is so curious an
illustration of the times, as to justify more than a
brief mention.
' Mass. Rec, Vol, i, pp, 159, 160; Col. Laws, 1660-1672, p. 183.
' Vol. I, pp, 313-317,

INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL LIFE. X41
He was charged in the General Court in 1639, with
many particulars, of oppression in the sale of foreign
commodities, "in some for taking above six-pence in
the shilling profit; in some above eight-pence, and,
in some small things, above two for one and being
hereof convict (as appears by the records) he was
fined £200." His offense was considered by the
General Court to be highly aggravated by the facts.
' ' I He being an ancient professor of the gospel ; 2 a
man of eminent parts; 3 wealthy and having but one
child; 4 having come over for conscience' sake, and for
the advancement of the gospel here ; 5 having been for
merly dealt with and admonished, both by private friends,
and also by some of the magistrates and elders, and having
promised reformation."
The magistrates seem to have had some doubts.
"I Because there was no law in force to limit or direct
men in point of profit in their trade. 2 Because it is the
common practice, in all countries, for men to make use of
advantages for raising the prices of their commodities. 3
Because, though he were chiefly aimed at, yet, he was not
alone in this fault. 4 Because all men through the country,
in sale of cattle, corn, labor, etc., were guilty of the like
excess in prices. 5 Because a certain rule could not be
found out for an equal rate between buyer and seller, though
much labor had been bestowed in it, and divers laws had
been made, which, upon experience, were repealed, as being
neither safe nor equal. Lastly, and especially, because the
law of God appoints no other punishment but double resti
tution; and, in some cases, as where the offender freely con-
iesseth, and brings his offering, only half added to the prin
cipal."

142 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
Then the church at Boston "called him in ques
tion" where the accused tried to excuse himself
chiefly by reason of his having been "misled by some
false principles" In the law of Christian commerce.
Of course Mr. Cotton was ready, as he always
was, with a sermon or a lecture that just fitted the case,
no matter what It was. It is Interesting to note what
his views were as to the true rules that should govern
in trading. We read:
" These things gave occasion to Mr. Cotton, in his pub
lic exercise the next lecture day, to lay open the error of
such false principles, and to give some rules of direction in
the case.
' ' Some false principles were these :
' ' I That a man might sell as dear as he can, and buy as
cheap as he can,
"2 If a man lose by casualty of sea, etc, in some of
his commodities, he may raise the price of the rest.
" 3 That he may sell as he bought, though he paid too
dear, etc., and though the commodity be fallen, etc.
' ' 4 That, as a man may take the advantage of his own
skill or ability, so he may of another's ignorance or neces
sity. " 5 Where one gives time for payment, he is to take
like recompense of one as of another.
" The rules for trading were these:
"I A man may not sell above the current price, i. e.,
such a price as is usual in the time and place, and as an
other (who knows the worth of the commodity) would give
for it, if he had occasion to use it ; as that is called current
money, which every man will take, etc.
" 2 When a man loseth in his commodity for want of

INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL LIFE. 1 43
skill, etc., he must look at it as his own fault or cross, and
therefore must not lay it upon another.
" 3 Where a man loseth by casualty of sea, or, etc., it
is a loss cast upon himself by providence, and he may not
ease himself of it by casting it upon another ; for so a man
should seem to provide against all providences, etc., that
he should never lose ; but where there is scarcity of the
commodity, there men may raise their price ; for now it is a
hand of God upon the commodity, and not the person.
"4 A man may not ask anymore for his commodity
than his selling price, as Ephron to Abraham, the land is
worth thus much."
Some were very earnest to have Keayne excom
municated, but most thought an admonition sufficient,
and "so In the end, the church consented to an ad
monition." It was speedily found that the laws regulating
wages could not be enforced, "for being restrained,
they would either remove to other places where they
might have more, or else, being able to live by plant
ing and other employments of their own, they would
not be hired at all,"* So the fixing of wages was
referred to the towns, and in this way "by the counsel
and persuasion of the elders and example of some
who led the way," the laborers and workmen "were
brought to more moderation than they could by com
pulsion," But even this way "held not long,"
Neither laws nor the "persuasion of the elders" can
control wages.
Equally ineffectual were the laws to regulate the
prices of commodities and the profits of tradesmen.
* Winthrop, Vol. i, p, 24.

144 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
One of the principles of trading, which Mr. Cotton
had so clearly proved by scripture and the example
of Ephron and Abraham to be a "false principle,"
was "that a man might sell as dear as he can and
buy as cheap as he can," Nevertheless the people
persisted in going on in the same old way, and Win
throp records (in 1640) that "this evil was very
notorious among all sorts of people, it being the
common rule that most men walked by in all their
commerce, to buy as cheap as they could, and to sell
as dear."*
' Vol. 2, p. 22.

VII
FRONTIER LIFE
As the towns grew In population and wealth, the
distinction between town life, especially in Boston,
and life on the frontier became more and more
marked. For obvious reasons there have always
been, as there are to-day, many differences between
urban and rural life. The people in the towns, and
particularly In Boston, turned their attention largely to
commerce. They amassed wealth faster than those
in the country and soon had larger and better fur
nished houses. Boston was the center of the com
mercial, the intellectual, and the literary activity of
the colony, and all this soon became inanifest in the
tastes and manners of the citizens. The settlers in
the frontier towns adhered much more strictly, and
for a much longer period, to the modes of life and
thought which characterized the early Puritans, They
did not accumulate fortunes so large, or so easily, as
men In Boston, and during the commonwealth
period they did not change greatly in the style of
their houses, their dress, their manners, or their
mode of living.
Almost from the first the colonists began to push
out their settlements in the direction of the frontier,
Watertown, about four miles up the Charles River,
PuR. Rep.— lo (^45)

146 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
was settled in the first year of the colony by Sir
Richard Saltonstall and his company. It grew
rapidly in population and soon the inhabitants were
complaining of "straitness of accomodation and
want of more meadow, ' ' and they began to emigrate
and to establish new settlements at Dedham, Concord,
Sudbury and other points.
In the same way, within twenty years after the
founding of Sudbury, some of the inhabitants of that
town petitioned the General Court for permission "for
to make a Plantation" at Marlborough, alleging as
reasons: ""^-^^

' ' That whereas your Petitioners have lived divers years
in Sudbury, and God hath been pleased to increase our
children, which are now diverse of them grown to man's
estate; and wee, many of us, grown into years, so that wee
should bee glad to see them settled before the Lord take us
away from hence, as also God having given us some con
siderable quantity of cattle, so that wee are so straightened
that we cannot so comfortably subsist as could be desired ;
and some of us, having taken some pains to view the coun
try, wee have found a place which lyeth westward about
eight miles from Sudbury, which wee conceived might be
comfortable for our subsistence."!
No plantation could be established, however, with
out permission from the General Court, and the first
thing to be done was to present a petition and get its
consent, which was usually given upon the perform
ance of specified conditions, as, for example, in the
grant to the Sudbury petitioners who desired to
locate at Marlborough, "that there be a town set-
' Hudson, Hist. Marlborough, 26.

FRONTIER LIFE.

H7

tied with twenty or more families within three years,
so as an able ministry may bee there maintained."
Usually the next step after granting permission to
establish a plantation was the appointment by the
General Court of commissioners to lay off its bound
aries. As before stated, the General Court recognized the
Indian title, and all grants of authority to establish
a plantation were upon the express or implied condi
tion that the title of the Indians had been, or should
be, purchased of them, and, to guard against their
being imposed upon, it was necessary that such pur
chase should also be approved by the General Court.
Generally a company of proprietors united In the
purchase of the land, but sometimes a direct grant
was made by the General Court in payment of some
debt, or in recognition of some meritorious service or
claim. The next step in the foundation of the plantation
was the division or allotment of the lands. Generally
the first allotment was of a few acres to each settler
for a dwelling place, these lots being small and loca
ted close together for the mutual protection of the
inhabitants. Afterward the "meadow" land and
*'wood" land were divided. These divisions, whether
made before or after the plantation became a town,
were made with reference to the respective in
terests of the proprietors. "Commons," or lands
for common pasturage, were usually reserved, and
also lands for "training fields," Such lands as were
not divided among the proprietors, or reserved by
them, were sold and the proceeds divided or paid into

148 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
the common fund. Sometimes grants of land were
made to encourage the establishment in the settle
ment of a grist-mill, a blacksmith shop, or some
other industry. After the title to a particular parcel
of land had become vested in some individual, it be
came subject to disposal by conveyance or devise and
to the laws of descent.* |
Proximity to the Indians, more than all other
causes, made life on the frontier far different from what
it was in Boston and in the towns near It. During
the whole period of the commonwealth, Indian wars,
and the apprehension of them, exercised a large in
fluence upon the domestic, social, and industrial life
of the colonists, but more especially of those living
on the frontier, so that the military features of early
colonial life were at all times prominent in the frontier
tov/ns. Preparations were early made for the organization
of the militia. Afterwards militia laws were enacted
containing minute regulations for raising, organizing
and equipping a military force of infantry, calvary
and artillery.
Every person above the age of x6 years was re
quired to attend military exercises and service, except
certain government officers, elders and deacons, the
officers and students of Harvard College, school
masters, physicians and surgeons, masters of vessels
of over 20 tons, fishermen and herdsmen constantly
' An elaborate account of the acquisition and division of the lands in
Sudbury, with maps showing the location of the roads and house lots,
will be found in the valuable and interesting history of that town by Mr.
Alfred S, Hudson.

FRONTIER LIFE. 1 49
employed, and some others who, for bodily infirmity
or other cause, were wholly or partially excused.
Two-thirds of every military company were to be
"musquetiers, and those which serve with pikes have
corselets and head pieces." The army of the foot
soldiers was provided for as follows:*
' ' Every foot souldier shall be compleatly Armed & fur
nished, the pikemen with a good Pike wel headed. Corselet,
head peece, sword & snapsack, the Musquetiers with a good
fixed musquet, not under Bastard Musquet bore, nor under
three foot nine inches in length, nor above four foot three
inches long, with a priming wire, worm, scourer and mould,
fitted to the bore of his Musquet, also with a good sword,
rest, Banaeleres, one pound of powder, twenty bullets, and
two fathom of match, upon the penalty of ten shillings for
every defect; And all other Inhabitants of this Jurisdiction,
except Magistrates & Elders of Churches, the Pressident,
Fellowes and Students of Harvard Colledg, shall alwaies be
provided of Armes, & furnished as aforesaid under the pen
alty aforesayd."
"Troops of horse" were not to exceed 70, be
sides the officers. "And every Trooper shall keep
alwayes a good Horse, and be wel fitted with Sad
dle, bridle, holsters. Pistols or Carbines and sword,"
Field artillery would not have been of much use,
but provision was made for artillery in forts and bat
teries. There were forts at important points. Every town
was required to be provided with a " watch-house "
and a sufficient supply of powder, bullets and match.
The garrison houses were the places of rendezvous
>Col. Laws 1660-1672, p. 177.

150 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
in case of expected attack, to which all living near
them resorted. Sometimes they were built for that
purpose; at other times they were built as dwelling-
houses, but so constructed that they could be used as
garrison houses if necessary. Some of them are
still in existence. One at Sudbury, the Walker gar
rison, is described by Mr, Hudson* as "a curious
structure, with massive chimney, large rooms, and
heavy framework. It is lined within the walls with
upright plank fastened with wooden pins."
Military watches or sentinels were set at suitable
places when danger was apprehended. An alarm
was given by the sentinel "discharging his musquet
and crying Arm! Arm! !' ' A general alarm was given
by "either the distinct dischage of three Musquets or
the continued beat of the Drum or firing a beacon or
the discharge of a peece of Ordinance, and two mus
quets after it, any of which in the night, shall be
accounted a generali Alarme, which every souldier is
immediately to answer by repairing Armed to his
Colours, or Court of guard, upon the penalty of five
pounds,"^ Training fields were usually set apart out of the
common lands. The one at Sudbury contained nine
acres. Muster days were appointed, varying in frequency
at different periods. By the militia law contained in
the revision of 1660, the foot soldiers were to muster
eight days and the troopers six days in each year.
When there had ceased to be any actual danger it is
^History of Sudbury, 199,
' Col. Laws, 1660- 1672, p. 179-80.

FRONTIER LIFE.

151

probable that the training day became the occasion
for festivities and a slight relaxation from the rigid
deportment of ordinary social life.
The stories told of the life of the settlers, especially
those on the frontier, during the wars with the In
dians, and particularly during King Philip's war, are
too familiar to justify extended repetition. Mr.
Hudson* records an incident which graphically illus
trates the life of the pioneer in those days.
"The 26th of March, 1676, being the day for public wor
ship, arrived. 'No rude alarm of raging foes' disturbed the
quiet of that Sabbath morning. The people assembled at
the house where prayer was wont to be made, and a fervent
petition had been offered for their safety and protection, A
hymn of praise had been sung. Their spiritual leader, the
Rev. Mr. Brimsmead, commenced his sermon and was dis
pensing to them the word of life when he was interrupted
by the appalling cry 'The Indians are upon us.' The con
fusion and dismay which ensued can be better imagined
than described. The assembly instantly broke up, and the
people made for the neighboring garrison, where, with a
single exception, they all arrived in safety, just in season to
elude the savage foe."
But thirteen of their dwellings and eleven barns
and their meeting-house were burned, their fruit
trees deadened, and their farms laid waste.
Even when no war was in progress, the apprehen
sion of it, for many years, weighed upon settlers on
the frontier and gave rise to gloomy forebodings, A
distant smoke, a strange foot-print, some unusual
event, interpreted by the superstitious as a "sign,"
* History of Marlborough, p. 73.

152 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
sufficed to make the bravest man anxious and the
mother to hug her babe closer to her breast.
We gather from the old town records something
about the public enterprises which engaged the at
tention of the early colonists, the building of meet
ing-houses, roads, bridges, pounds, and such other
matters as would be likely to demand attention of
those who had settled in a wilderness.
There were a few millers, carpenters, smiths, and
other artisans who pursued their vocations. Lum
ber and staves were manufactured, as the forests
were cleared, and the pines yielded some tar. But
the great mass of the community on the frontier
tilled the soil. In the early periods, when it was
necessary to guard the fields against the invasion of
-wild beasts or Indians, it was usual to have common
planting grounds, which some tilled while others
stood guard.
The staple crops were Indian corn, rye, barley,
wheat, hay and oats, and some flax and hemp.
Little of the produce of foreign markets was bought
in the frontier settlements. What little machinery
there was, was of the rudest pattern. Almost every
thing in the way of farm implements and household
furniture and clothing that was used was made by
hand and was made at home.
When the weather and the season permitted It, the
father and his boys found work in the forests or in
the fields. When they could not do this, they were
making or repairing farm implements or other articles
of household use. The mother and her daughters
were doing the household work and making or mend-

FRONTIER LIFE.

153

ing the clothing for the family. The ringing of ax
and hammer answered the hum of the spinning-
wheel; all were busy; there were no idlers.
The dwelling-houses were simple and their furni
ture scant. Still they were busy hives of industry,
Mr, Sheldon* has given us this exquisite picture of
an "Evening at Home" in one of these frontier
dwellings :
"The ample kitchen was the center of family life, social
and industrial. Here around the rough table, seated on
rude stools or benches, all partook of the plain and some
times stinted fare. A glance at the family gathered here
after nightfall of a winter's day may prove of interest.
After a supper of bean porridge, or hasty-pudding and milk
which all partake in common from a great pewter basin, or
wooden bowl, with spoons of wood, horn or pewter; after a
reverent reading of the Bible, and fervent supplication to
the Most High, for care and guidance; after the watch was
set on the tall mount, and the vigilant sentinel began pacing
his lonely beat, the shutters were closed and barred, and with
a sense of security, the occupations of the long winter evening
began. Here was a picture of industry, enjoined alike by
the law of the land, and the stern necessities of the settlers.
All were busy. Idleness was a crime. On the settle, or a
low arm chair, in the most sheltered nook, sat the revered
grandam — as a term of endearment called granny — in red
woolen gown, and white linen cap, her gray hair and wrinkled
face reflecting the bright firelight, the long stocking growing
under her busy needles, while she watched the youngling of
the flock, in the cradle by her side. The good wife, in
linsey woolsey short-gown and red petticoat, steps lightly
back and forth in calf pumps, beside the great wheel, or
^History of Deerfield, Vol, i, pp. 279-281.

154 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
poising gracefully on the right foot, the left hand extended
with the roll or bat, while with a wheel-finger in the other
she gives the wheel a few swift turns for a final twist to the
long-drawn thread of wool or tow. The continuous buzz of
the flax wheels, harmonizing with the spasmodic hum of
the big wheel, shows that the girls are preparing a stock of
linen against their wedding day. Less active and more fit
ful rattled the quill wheel, where the younger children are
filling quills for the morrow's weaving.
" Craftsmen are still scarce, and the yeoman must de
pend largely on his own skill and resources. The grand-
sire, and the goodman, his son, in blue woolen frocks,
buckskin breeches, long stockings, and clouted brogans
with pewter buckles, and the older boys, in shirts of brown
tow, waistcoat and breeches of butternut-colored woolen
homespun, surrounded by piles of white hickory shavings,
are whittling out with keen Barlow jack-knives implements
for home use; ox-bows and bow-pins, ax-helves, rakestales,
forkstales, handles for spades and billhooks, wooden shovels,
flail staff and swingle, swingling knives, or pokes and hog
yokes for unruly cattle and swine. The more ingenious
perhaps, are fashioning buckets, or powdering tubs, or
weaving skepes, baskets or snow shoes. Some, it may be,
sit astride the wooden shovel, shelling corn on its iron-shod
edge, while others are pounding it into samp or hominy in
the great wooden mortar.
" There are no lamps or candles, but the red light from
the burning pine knots on the hearth glows over all, repeat
ing in fantastic pantomime on the brown walls and closed
shutters the varied activities around it. These are occa
sionally brought into a higher relief by the white flashes, as
the boys throw handfuls of hickory shavings on to the fore-
stick, or punch the backlog with the long iron-peel, while
wishing they had ' as many shillings as sparks go up
chimney,' Then, the smoke-stained joists and boards of

FRONTIER LIFE. 1 55
the ceiling, with the twisted rings of pumpkin, strings of
crimson peppers, and festoons of apple, drying on poles
hung beneath; the men's hats, the crook-necked squashes,
the skeins of thread and yarn hanging in bunches on the
wainscot; the sheen of the pewter plates and basins, stand
ing in rows on the shelves of the dresser; the trusty fire
lock, with powder horn, bandolier and bullet pouch, hang
ing on the summertree, and the bright brass warming pan
behind the bedroom door — all stand revealed more clearly
for an instant, showing the provident care for the comfort
and safety of the household. Dimly seen in the corners of
the room are baskets, in which are packed hands of flax
from the barn, where, under the flaxbrake, the swingling
knife and coarse hackle, the shives, and swingling tow have
been removed by the men ; to-morrow the more deft manip
ulations of the women will prepare these bunches of fibre
for the little wheel, and granny will card the tow into bats,
to be spun into tow yarn on the big wheel. All quaff the
sparkling cider, or foaming beer, from the briskly circulat
ing pewter mug, which the last out of bed in the morning
must replenish from the barrel in the cellar."
In so busy a community as that of the early frontier
towns, there was little time for play or mere amuse
ment. But it must not be inferred that there was an
unbroken monotony of endless work. There were
the lecture days, and election days, and muster days,
when the people came together and enjoyed a brief
respite from hard labor. The town meetings also
afforded opportunity for social intercourse and the
excitement of debate from which our forefathers
gleaned pleasure as well as profit. Much of the
work that was done was relieved of some of its hard
ships by the friendly aid and social concourse of

156 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
neighbors, as at the clearings, house-raisings, corn-
husklngs and other similar gatherings.
Sudbury was the 19th town in the colony. It was
settled In 1638 and was one of the places de
stroyed by the Indians in King Philip's war. Its
early history Is probably much like that of all the
other frontier towns, Mr, Hudson,* after describing
the various matters that occupied the attention of the
early settlers there, mentions a few others that
helped to alleviate the hardships of the life of the
early settlers:
"Besides these experiences there were others that would
tend to break up the monotony of the settlers' experience,
such as 'log-rollings,' when the neighbors collected together
and helped clear the land of logs and brush ; house-raisings,
where many joined hands to help raise the heavy frames ;
road-breaking, when, with ox- teams, they cleared the snow
from the path; corn-planting, in the common fields, or
huskings, when the corn was gathered ; these with town-
meetings and an occasional drill of the train-band, when
Bryan Pendleton exercised his little host, would serve to
break up the monotony and enliven the scene at the settle
ment." Notwithstanding the difficulties and dangers un
der which they labored, the results of Puritan in
dustry and thrift were plainly visible in the frontier
settlements at the beginning of King Philip's war.
Numerous villages dotted the landscape, and around
them were well cultivated farms with fruitful or
chards, comfortable houses, well filled barns and an
abundance of stock,
^History Sudbury, p. 82.

FRONTIER LIFE. X57
We have evidence of what had been accomplished
in the frontier settlements up to the date of King
Philip's war in the early town and probate records,
which show the growth of population, the ratings for
taxation and the valuation of the estates of dece
dents. Thomas Fames, of Framingham, whose
property was nearly all destroyed by the Indians in
King Philip's war, petitioned the General Court for
relief, and his petition was accompanied by an in
ventory of his loss, which gives us a fair idea of the
kind and value of the property of a prosperous
farmer of that period. The inventory is as follows:*
"An inventory of the loss of Thomas Fames, when his
house was fired by Indians at Framingham near unto Sud
bury, in the county of Middlesex, the first of February,
1675-6: Imprimis — A wife and nine children.
Item — A house 34 feet long, double floores, and garret, and
cellar, and a barn 52 foot long, leantir'd one side and
two ends  £100.00 00
It. 4 oxen  024,00 00
It. 7 cows, fair with calf  028,00 00
It, 2 yearlings  003 ,00 00
It. I bull  002,00 00
It, 2 heifers, fair with calf  006,00 00
It. I heifer  002.00 00
It. 8 sheep, fair with lamb  003 . 12 00
It. 30 loads of hay in ye barn at 8s. per load, 012.00 00
It. 10 bush, wheate, at 6s. p. bush  003.00 00
It, 40 bush, rye, at 4s. Sd. p. bush  008,00 00
It. 210 bush, of Indian, at 3s. p. bush  031,00 00
It. Hemp and flax, in ye barne  00 1 .00 00
' Barry's Hist, of Framingham, p. 27.

Ii;8 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
It. Fire arms, with other arms and ammuni
tion  £006.00 00
It. Butter 20s., cheese 40s., 2 barrels and a
half Pork, and 4 flitches of bacon 10 lb. 013.00 00
It. Carpenter's and joyner's tooles  005.00 00
It. 2 great spinning wheeles and 2 small
wheeles, 4s,, 4 for cards  OOi .00 00
It. 6 beds, 3 of them feather beds, and 3
flock, 6 Ruggs, 12 blankets  005.00 00
It, I chest of lynen with ye sheets and shifts. OIO.OO OO
It. A livery cupboard with what was in it. . . 002.00 00
It. My wife's lynen and wearing apparel, and
children's cloathing, and my own cloath-
ing, with clothing that was my former
wife's  025 .00 00
It. Pewter, brasse, and Iron ware  O14.OO 00
It. Churns and other dairy vessells, with other
wooden lumber  005,00 00
Total  330,12,00"
Even at this day, after all that has been said about
the austere life of the Puritans and the sympathy that
has been wasted upon their gloomy surroundings and
the absence of "child life," It is not susceptible of
proof that the community would have been better off
in any way, or that the people and their children would
have been happier, if they had devoted to card-play
ing and horse-racing and other pastimes any con
siderable portion of the time which they employed in
useful pursuits.
Much that the settlers on the frontier had accumu
lated was swept away during King Philip's war.
But after its close they immediately set to work to

FRONTIER LIFE. 1 59
restore their shattered fortunes, with the same energy
that had characterized their efforts in the beginning.
During all this period, while undergoing the ardu
ous and incessant trials and dangers of frontier life,
the men on the frontier did not fail to attend closely
to the moral and intellectual needs of the communi
ties which they had founded, and invariably almost
their first care, after they had provided a shelter for
themselves, was to establish churches and school-
houses. Nor were they intimidated by the dangers which
beset them. Indeed these very dangers seemed to
have a fascination that lured them on. They were
constantly pushing into the wilderness and setting the
outposts of civilization farther and farther away. A
hundred years after the end of the commonwealth
the descendants of the Massachusetts Puritans, under
the lead of Gen, Rufus Putnam, boldly plunged Into
the far distant western wilderness, and at Marietta,
on the banks of the Muskingum, stamped upon the
Northwest Territory the impress of New England
civilization.

VIII
THE PURITAN SABBATH
A GREAT deal has been written about the Sabbath
in New England and the manner in which the day
was observed, the meeting-houses, the ministers and
other kindred topics.*
The Sabbath or Lord's day practically began at
sundown on Saturday night, and, in order to make
"due preparation for the Sabbath," persons were
forbidden, after sunset, "to walk & Sport them
selves in the streets or fields," or to be "in any house
of publick entertainment (unless strangers or So
journers in their Lodgings) ." This prohibition seems
to have been specially aimed at ' ' youths ' ' and
" mayds. "^
In the most beautiful of all his poems Burns tells
of the "Cotter's Saturday Night," the gathering to
gether of the "bairns," the affectionate family greet
ings, the father's admonition:
"Their master's an' their mistress's commands,
The younkers a' are warned to obey ;
An' mind their labours wi' an eydent hand,
An' ne'er, tho' out o' sight, to jauk or play:
^ See Alice Morse Earle's, The Sabbath in Puritan New England;
The New England Meeting-House and the Wren Church, by A, R.
Willard, i New Eng, Mag, N, S,, p. 497; The Puritan Minister, by T.
W. Higginson, 12 Atl. Month, 269.
*Col. Laws, 1660-1672, p. 190,
(160)

THE PURITAN SABBATH. l6l
^An' O ! be sure to fear the Lord alway !
An' mind your duty, duly, morn an' night!
Lest in temptation's path ye gang astray,
Implore His counsel and assisting might :
They never sought in vain, that sought the Lord aright.' "
Then the frugal supper that ' ' crowns their simple
board," and after that the Bible lesson:
"The cheerfu' supper done, wi' serious face.
They, round the ingle, form a circle wide;
The sire turns o'er, wi' patriarchal grace.
The big ha'-Bible, ance his father's pride;
His bonnet rev'rently is laid aside.
His lyart haffets wearing thin and bare;
Those strains that once did sweet in Zion glide.
He wales a portion with judicious care ;
And 'Let us worship God ! ' he says, with solemn air,"
And then the prayer:
"Then kneeling down, to Heaven's Eternal King,
The saint, the father, and the husband prays;
Hope 'springs exulting on triumphant wing,'
That thus they all shall meet in future days :
There ever bask in uncreated rays.
No more to sigh, or shed the bitter tear.
Together hymning their Creator's praise.
In such society, yet still more dear:
While circling time moves round in an eternal sphere."
And then the retiring for the night:
"Then homeward all take off their sev'ral way;
The youngling cottagers retire to rest :
Their parent-pair their secret homage pay.
And proffer up to Heaven the warm request,
Pur. Rep. — ii

1 62 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
That He, who stills the raven's clam'rous nest,
And decks the lily fair in flow'ry pride.
Would, in the way His wisdom sees the best,
For them and for their little ones provide ;
But, chiefly, in their hearts with grace divine preside."
With honest pride the poet says:
"From scenes like these, old Scotia's grandeur springs.
That makes her lov'd at home, rever'd abroad:
Princes and lords are but the breath of kings,
'An honest man's the noblest work of God' ;
And certes, in fair virtue's heav' niy road.
The cottage leaves the palace far behind ;
What is a lordling's pomp? a cumbrous load.
Disguising oft the wretch of human kind.
Studied in arts of Hell, in wickedness refin'd!"
Nearly all this might apply In describing Saturday
night in an early New England household. But some
of the most charming passages in the poem would not
apply, those in which the poet describes the coming
of the bashful swain to woo the cotter's daughter,
"Their eldest hope, their Jenny, woman grown.
In youthfu' bloom, love sparklin' in her e'e."
"Wi' kindly welcome, Jenny brings him ben;
A strappan youth; he taks the Mother's eye;
Blythe Jenny sees the visit's no ill ta'en
The Father cracks of horses, pleughs and kye.
The youngster's artless heart o'erflows wi' joy.
But blate, an' laithfu', scarce can weel behave;
The Mother, wi' a woman's wiles, can spy
What makes the youth sae bashfu' and sae grave ;
Weel pleas'd to think her bairn's respected like the lave."

THE PURITAN SABBATH. 1 63
We would not lose our own Priscilla, nor part
with the exquisite poem that tells of the wooing of
John Alden. At the same time we can all rejoice
that the Scottish maid lived In Presbyterian Scot
land, for, if she had lived In Puritan Massachusetts,
there would have been no Saturda}^ night " court
ing," and one of the most beautiful of Scottish
poems would have lost its sweetest charm. When
the shades of Saturday night fell upon the Massa
chusetts commonwealth, all work, all traveling, all
merriment, had ceased. They fell upon a land where
all was hushed and quiet, upon a people giving
themselves up, whether willing or unwilling, to but
one thought — the preparation for the Lord's Day.
From sunrise to sunset of the Lord's Day there
was scarcely an3'thing lawful to be done except to go
to church. No " servile " work was to be done, and
^' uncivilly walking in the streets and fields, travail
ing from town to town, going on Ship-board, fre
quenting common houses, and other places to drink.
Sport, or otherwise to mispend that precious time,"
were expressly forbidden.*
Some of the ministers seem to have had doubts as
to whether it was lawful to be born on that day, for
we hear of one who had such conscientious scruples
on the subject that he refused to baptize children
"which were so irreverent as to be born on the Sab
bath." But he was a bachelor. Another, afflicted
with like conscientious scruples, was effectually cured
by having twins born to him on the Sabbath.^
Absence from church service without just and
> Col, Laws 1662-1670, p. 189-190.
* Hudson's Hist. Marlborough, 51.

164 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
reasonable cause was a finable offense.* And, In
order to prevent any shirking, the constables
w^ere specially enjoined on the Lord's Day to
"duely make search throughout the limits of their
Townes" for absentees, and, during the time when
services were being held, "all Taverners, Victuallers
and Ordinaries, that are within one Mile of the Meet
ing-house," were required to "Cleer their houses of
all persons able to go to meeting."^
In their pious fervor for the observance of Sunday
the towns were enjoined "to restralne all Indians that
shall come into their townes from Prophaning the Lords
Day." One Sunday during King Philip's war the
Indians went to church at Marlborough but they left
the meeting-house in ashes. Such is the irony of
fate. Who can tell what thoughts lurked in the deep
recesses of the savage mind ? Of those who stood by
the burning pile perhaps there may have been some
who had been compelled to go there to hear the Rev»
Mr. Brimsmead preach and to sit there for hours,
watching the turning over of the hour-glass and wait
ing for the sermon to come to an end. Perhaps some
of them had been put in the stocks because they
would not go to church. If so, it is not improbable
that the recollection of their sufferings may have
added to the zeal with which they plied the flaming
torch. None of the laws were more rigorously enforced
than those intended to prevent the " prophaning " of
the Lord's Day, The old records are full of con
victions for violation of them and sentences of the
' Col, Laws 1662-1670, p. 148.
*Col. Laws 1660-1672, p, 166.

THE PURITAN SABBATH. 165
culprits to be fined, whipped, or set in the stocks.
Miss Earle relates* how " Captain Kimble, of Bos
ton, was in 1656 set for two hours in the public
stocks for his ' lewed and unseemly ' behaviour, which
consisted in his kissing his wife ' publicquely ' on the
Sabbath Day, upon the door step of his house, when
he had just returned from a voyage after an absence
of three years," But here the Captain had been
guilty of a double offense; he had not onty " pro-
phaned" the Lord's Day, but he had kissed his
wife in public, and such flagitious conduct was too
shocking to be winked at. He was lucky to get off
with an hour only for each offense.
The meeting-house was a prominent feature in
every town. The oldest church In New England,
which has continously been used for that purpose. Is
said to be the one at Hingham, Mass. It was built
in x68i,^ The first meeting-houses were simple
structures. They served in early times not onty as
places for holding religious services, but as town
houses for transacting the business of the town.
These were gradually superseded by square wooden
buildings, surmounted with a belfry, if the congre
gation could afford a bell. Usually in front of the
meeting-house were placed the public stocks and
the whipping post.
Until long after the commonwealth period there
were no fires of any kind in the meeting-houses, but
foot- warmers were used by those who could afford
them. The Hingham church was not heated until
nearly one hundred and fifty years after it was builty
' The Sabbath in Puritan Neiu England, p. 247.
2 A. R. Willard in i New Eng. Mag,, Vol. i, N. S. 497.

1 66 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
and no stove was used in it until 1822. No stove
was put in the meeting-house at Deerfield until x8o8.
It is not Improbable that the story told by the Rev.
Henry Ward Beecher about the introduction of a
stove in the church at Litchfield, Conn., would apply
with some variations to other localities. The story is
that the next Sunday after the stove was set up in the
church happened to be a warm day and no fire was
lighted. But one good lady, a deacon's wife, who
was violently opposed to the introduction of the
stove thought that there was fire in it, and she became
so overheated by her own imagination that she fainted
and had to be carried out of the church. A little
later a member who was greatly in favor of stoves
came in. He, too, thought there was a fire in the
stove, and he made straight for it and stood before it,
carefully disposing the skirts of his great coat to avoid
getting them scorched, and warming his hands with
great and evident satisfaction. This was too much
for even the most Puritanical congregation, and, for
the moment, it lost all Its wonted gravity and decorum.
The pulpits were usually nothing more than high
desks. On them stood an hour-glass which was
turned as occasion required. Sometimes a sound
ing-board hung over or behind the pulpit. In front
of the pulpit were the seats for the elders and in front
of these the seats for the deacons. The pews In the
first meeting-houses were rude benches and were not
cushioned. After the construction of the meeting-house the
next thing was to assign the seats among the congre
gation. This was called "seating the meeting-house"

THE PURITAN SABBATH. 167
and was done by a committee with scrupulous regard
to the rank and wealth of the members of the con
gregation. This made it necessary also to "dignify
the meeting-house," that Is to affix the relative rank
or dignity of the seats. This was a most important
matter. Sometimes a town meeting was called and
"seaters" were chosen. Thus at Deerfield in 1701,
five seaters were chosen and then the meeting pro
ceeded to vote:
"That ye fore seat in ye front Gallery shall be equall in
dignity with ye 2nd seat in ye Body of ye meeting house
"That ye fore seats in ye side Gallerys shall be equall in
dignity with ye 4th seats in ye Body of ye meeting house.
"That ye 2nd seat in ye front Gallery and ye hinde seat
in ye front Gallery shall be equall in dignity with ye Sth
seat in ye Body of ye meeting house," etc.^
Of course the chief of the officials In the church
organization was the minister, Mr. Higginson's de
scription of the "Puritan minister" is so graphic and
complete that it would be vain to attempt to add to
it. Sometimes the minister had an assistant who
read and expounded the Bible selection preceding the
sermon. If a visiting minister preached, the ruling elder,
after the singing of the Psalm, made the announce
ment in this wise : " If this present brother hath any
word of exhortation for the people at this time, In
the name of God let him say on."^
'Sheldon's His. Deerfield, Vol. i, p. 205. In the same volume is given
a plan, adopted at a later date, showing the relative " dignities " of the
seats. * Hutchinson, Vol. i, p. 376.

1 68 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
To preach a sermon not composed by the preacher
himself was considered a far more heinous offense
than it is now. Nor was the preacher allowed to use
any notes "for the helpe of his memory, for such
things they say smell of Lamp Oyle, and there must
be no such unsavery perfume admitted to come into
the congregation."*
There was one official who, during the religious
services, stood next to the minister, in importance, if
not in rank. That was the tithlng-man, who on the
Sabbath acted as a sort of church policeman.^ It
would be a great mistake to suppose that he was a
superfluous church ornament. It was his special
province to look after the sleepers and the boys. The
prayers were sometimes long and so were the ser
mons, and not infrequently, but especially on a hot
day, their soporific qualities were such as to put some
of the congregation to sleep. Then the tithing-man
went around vigorously poking the male snorers
with his tithing rod. But sometimes a tithing-man
was gentle or gallant enough to fasten a foxtail or a
hare's foot or a feather on one end of the rod and with
this he softly brushed the faces of the fair sex and
brought them from the realm of dreams to a realiza
tion of the solemn truths which the minister was
laboring to expound.
But to the boys, tucked away in the galleries and
on the pulpit steps, the tithing-man was an awful and
awe-inspiring personage. The plaint of some modern
writers is calculated to convey the Idea that their
somber surroundings had sapped all the characteris-
1 Morton New English Canaan, p, 115; Force's Hist. Tracts, Vol. 2_
"Hudson's Hist, Marlborough, 241,

THE PURITAN SABBATH. 1 69
tics of childhood out of the Puritan boys. This is
largely exaggeration. The Puritan boys were strong,
active, healthy, smart, and full of vitality, and there
is abundant evidence that it required the most heroic
exertions of the church officials to keep them in sub
jection. But woe unto the boy who chanced to turn
his gaze for a moment from the pulpit to a cunning
little fly crawling on the wall, or a stray butterfly
flitting across the church. Instantly the dreadful
tithing-man pounced down upon him, and, with a
sharp rap over the head with the hard end of his rod,
taught him the sinfulness of inattention with such
emphasis that the lesson was not likely to be soon
forgotten. Until the congregation became able to afford a bell
it was summoned by the beating of a drum or the
blowing of a horn. On the frontiers, whenever
there was any ground for apprehending danger of an
attack by the Indians, the men went to church fully
armed. When the people arrived at the meeting-house the
men took seats on one side and the women on the other.
The boys were seated upon the steps of the pulpit or
in the gallery. The services were usually conducted
in the following order: first there was a prayer by
the minister; then the minister or the teaching elder
read and explained a chapter from the Bible; then
followed the singing of a psalm which was lined out
by the ruling elder, and next the sermon; after the
sermon there was another prayer and then the bene
diction.*
' See Lechford's Newes from Ne-w Eng., 3 Mass. His. CoU,, 3d Ser., 76.

lyo THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
It is doubtful If instrumental music of any kind
was in general use in the church services during the
commonwealth period. Fiddles seem to have been
the first musical instruments Introduced into the
church music, but strenuous opposition was mani
fested to this innovation, and we hear of one in
stance where the qualms of the congregation were
pacified only by playing the fiddle upside down.
Judge Sewall visited England in 1695, and, while
there, attended church, but was much disturbed by
the organ. He writes: " I am a lover of musick to a
fault, yet I was uneasy there; and the justling out of
the Institution of Singing Psalms, by the boisterous
Organ, is that which can never be justified before
the great master of Religious Ceremonies."*
Before the introduction of the " Bay Psalm Book"
the singing was probably from the version of the
Psalms by Ainsworth or that of Sternhold and Hop
kins. But in 1640 the " Bay Psalm Book," the pro
duction of several of the ministers, was printed and
was in general use for a hundred years. The fol
lowing version of the first and second verses of the
first Psalm will give some idea of the poetry.
I O blessed man that on the advice
of wicked doeth not walk
nor stand in sinners way nor sit
in chayre of scornful folk.
2 But in the law of Jehovah
is the longing delight
and on his law doth meditate
by day and eke by night.
' Sewall's Letters, Vol. i, p, 155.

THE PURITAN SABBATH. 171
Of course it must have required a great deal of
piety to endure such poetry. It devolved on some
one to set the tune, and this was not always an easy
task, especially with such psalms as were in use.
With the accurateness and simplicity which character
ize all the entries in his diary, the good Judge Sewall
several times records the distressing dilemma In
which he found himself when he could get no one
else to set the tune, and was obliged to set it himself:
"Feb 2 Lords Day. In the Morning I set York Tune
and in the 2d going over the Gallery carried it irresistably
to St. Davids, which discouraged me very much. I spake
earnestly to Mr. White to set it in the Afternoon but he de
clines it."
And again:
" Sabbath, Oct. 25. Capt, Frary's voice failing him in
his own Essay, by reason of his Palsie, he calls to me to
set the Tune, which accordingly I doe; 17, 18, 19, 20,
verses 68th Psalm, Windsor Tune; After the Lord's Sup
per, 6, 7, 8, 9, verses i6th Low-Dutch. P. M. 2i staves
of 141. Ps. St. Davids, Jehova, I upon Thee call. After
Evening Exercise, 2d part 84th Ps. Litchfield; I knew not
that had the Tune till got to the 2d Line, being somewhat
surprized, though design'd that Tune. I would have as
sisted Capt. Frary but scarce knew what Tune he design'd;
and the Tune I guess 'd at, was in so high a Key that I
could not reach it.'"
Sometimes there was a small building near the
meeting-house, called the " noon-house," where such
of the congregation as resided at a considerable dis-
> Sewall's Papers, Vol. 3, p. 164, i id. 351.

172 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
tance from the meeting-house could go during the
noon intermission and eat their dinners and warm
themselves if the weather was cold. After dinner
services were had of the same kind as before. At
the end of the afternoon service the collection was
taken up — the method of which is thus described by
Lechford.* ' ' Which ended, follows the contribution, one of the
Deacons saying, ' Brethren of the congregation, now there
is time left for contribution, wherefore as God hath pros
pered you, so freely offer.' Upon some extraordinary oc
casion, as building and repairing of Churches or meeting
houses, or other necessities, the Ministers presse a libberall
contribution, with effectuall exhortations out of Scripture.
Then Magistrates and chiefe Gentlemen first, and then the
Elders, and all the congregation of men, and most of them
that are not of the Church, all single persons, widows and
women in absence of their husbands, come up, one after
another, one way, and bring their offerings to the Deacon
at his seate, and put it into a box of wood for the purpose,
if it bee money, or papers ; if it be any other chattle they
set it or lay it downe before the Deacons, and so passe an
other way to their seats againe. This contribution is of
money or papers promising so much money. I have scene
a faire gilt cup with a cover, offered there by one, which is
still used at the Communion. Which moneys and goods
the Deacons dispose towards the maintenance of the Min
isters and poore of the Church and the Churches occasions,
without making account, ordinarily."
The religious services having been concluded, the
congregation dispersed and the members wended
* Ne-wes from New England; Mass. Hist. Coll., 3 Ser., Vol. 3, p. 77.
See also Josselyn's Two Voyages, p, 180.

THE PURITAN SABBATH. 1 73
their way to their respective homes — returning as they
had gone, on horseback and on foot, sometimes travel
ing midst howling wintry blasts through miles of un
broken forests, crossing swollen streams, trudging
through deep and trackless snows, the man with rifle
in hand and ear alert for savage foes, the mother
hugging to her breast her babe; such was church-
going in the times of our forefathers and such were
the men and women who went to church!

IX
EDUCATION, BOOKS AND LITERATURE
In 1642, before schools were provided by law,
it was enjoined upon the selectmen to see that none
of their brethren and neighbors "shall suffer so much
barbarism in any of their families as not to endeav
our to teach, by themselves or others, their children
& apprentices, so much learning, as may enable them
perfectly to read the engllsh tongue & knowledg of
the Capital laws."* In 1654, towns having 50 house
holders were required to establish schools for teach
ing children to "Write & Read," and in towns of
100 householders they were required to "set up a
Grammar school, the Master thereof, being able to in
struct youth so far as they maybe fitted for the Unever-
sety," The selectmen in each town were admonished
to see that no teachers were employed "that have man
ifested themselves unsound In the faith, or scandalous
in their lives & have not given satisfaction according
to the Rules of Christ, "^
The General Court In 1636 "agreed to give £400
towards a schoale or coUedge, whearof 200 £ to bee
paid the next yeare, & 200 £ when the worke is fin
ished, & the next Court to appoint wheare & what
building," At the next General Court "The colledg
'Col, Laws 1660-1672, p. 136.
'Col, Laws 1660-1672, p. 191.
(174)

EDUCATION, BOOKS AND LITERATURE. X75
is ordered to bee at Newetowne," afterward called
Cambridge, and In 1638, It was ordered "that the
coUedge agreed upon formerly to bee built at Cam-
brldg shalbee called Harvard CoUedge."* This was
the beginning of Harvard College, which subsequently
continued to receive the favor and support of the
General Court, Mr. Fiske well says:^
"The act was a memorable one, if we have regard to all
the circumstances of the year in which it was done. On
every side danger was in the air. Threatened at once with
an Indian war, with the enmity of the home government
and with grave dissensions among themselves, the year
1636 was a trying one, indeed, for the little community of
Puritans, and their founding a college by public taxation,
just at this time, is a striking illustration of their unaltera
ble purpose to realize in this new home their ideal of an
educated Christian society,'"
There was a book-store in Boston as early as 1652,
and In x686 there were eight such stores. The min
isters were the best customers, and it is to be pre
sumed that most of the books sold were of a religious
character. There were some extensive private libraries. John
Dunton, a London bookseller, who visited Cotton
Mather in x686, about the time when he was finish
ing his "MagnaHa," speaks of his library as "very
'Mass. Rec, Vol. i, pp. 183, 208, 253.
" Beginnings of New Eng., iii.
' Hutchinson, Vol, i, p, 444, gives "The Theses of the First Class of
Graduates at Harvard College in 1642," together with the Latin names
of the nine .graduates, viz: Benjamin Woodbrigius, Georgius Downin-
gus, Gulielmus Hubbardus, Henricus Saltonstall, Johannes Bulkleius,
Johannes Wilsonus, Nathaniel Brusterus, Samuel Bellinghamus, Tobias
Bernardus.

176 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
large," but adds a mUd criticism of the "Magnalia,"
which now commands universal assent, that "had
his books been fewer when he writ his history 'twould
have pleased us better." Of the kinds of books
contained in the libraries of those days we may get
some idea from the account given by Mr. Weeden*
of the library of John Winthrop:
"His library of 269 titles is preserved in the alcoves of
the Society Library in New York. Some of the titles are
interesting ; there are a few Latin classics and no Greek ; in
English there are many works on the occult philosophy and
many on medicine, Winthrop practiced it extensively. We
find Cornelius Agrippa, Aristotle, Aquinas, Erasmus.
Grotius, in i2mo, on 'True Religion' ; Machiavelli, 'Contra
Tyrannos,' in i8mo, was hardly as useful in the new colony
as Blundevill on Horses. An abridgement of Coke helped
out Godwyn's 'Civil and Ecclesiastical Rites of the Hebrew' ;
Jamblichus with Lullie Raymundi, alternate with Sir George
Mackenzie on 'Moral Gallantry.' Two books by Melanc
thon; none by Luther; three by Paracelsus, one containing
a note of Winthrop ' s ; a few on mathematics . Flammel on the
'Philosopher's Stone,' etc., is a type of many volumes.
Pascal is represented by ' Les Provinciates ,' in i2mo, William
West, 4to, London, 1598, on 'Symboleography,' was easier
to seventeenth century readers than to us. Astrology is
well represented cheek by jowl with anti-papal and theo
logical treatises. Scudey, 'Curia Politiae.' William Potter's
'Key to Wealth', a folio tract of 1650, we shall hear of
again." In the Proceedings of the Massachusetts His
torical Society^ is given a catalogue of Elder Brew-
^ Economic and Social History of New Eng., Vol. I, pp. 230-I,
= Vol.5, 2d Ser., pp. 37-85.

EDUCATION, BOOKS AND LITERATURE, X77
ster's library, as contained in an inventory taken in
May, 1644, and recorded in Plymouth colony "Book
of Wills," The communication is by Dr. Dexter, who
says that the library contained In all 400 separate
books, of which 393 were separately catalogued; of
these there were 48 folios, 177 quartos, 121 octavos.
There were in Latin, 62; in English, 302. Classified
according to subjects, there were 98 expository, 63
doctrinal, 69 practical religious, 24 historical, 36 edu
cational, 6 philosophical, 14 poetical, 54 miscella
neous. Judge Sewall was a great buyer of books and gave
many of them to his friends. One of his letters, writ
ten to Mr. John Love of London in 1700, gives
us some idea, not only of his books, but of the cost
of them. In this letter he directs Mr. Love
"To call upon my good friend and Neighbour Mr. Ed
ward Bromfield for the money, which is in a little Linen
Purse marked with Ink J. L. The contents inclosed, and
are Gold Four arabian pieces. One double pistoll. Two
Single ditto. One Lewi dore. Five Guineas; One broad
piece of Charles the first. Have also inclosed a Bill of
Exchange for Nine pounds, Six shillings and Seven pence
drawn by a young merchant, Mr. James Taylor, on Mr.
Samuel Whitfield. The books I would have bought are
"Ars Cogitandi. 2.
"Le Grands Philosophy, Latin.
"Heerboordi Meletomata. 3.
"Dr, Charletons Physiologia.
"Dr. Moors Imortality of the Soul.
"Metaphysicks, Ethicks,
"Glanvils Sceptis Scientifica.
Pur. Rep. — 12

178 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
"Dr. Wilkin's nattural Principles, and Duties. His
World in the Moon.
"Stallius his Regulae Phylosophicae.
"Stierij Questiones Physicae cum Praeceptis Philosophiae.
"Burgerdicius, Logick with Heerebords Notes.
"The great Hist. Geographical, and Poetical Dictionary
being a curious Misscellany of Sacred and Prophane History
printed at London for Henry Rhodes. If there be an Edi
tion since 1694, Send the best Two of them.
"Francis Turretini Institutio Theologiae Elencticae in
tres partes distributiae 4to.
"Turretini Disputationes de satisf actione Christi. 4to.
"Poles [Poole, M.J Synopsis criticorum in five volumes,
if light on them a peniwoth.
"A K. Edward 6th, his Common Prayer Book, of
Queen Eliz. The Queens Bible, If it can be had any
thing reasonable. ' ' '
In the same letter he says:
"I know not exactly what the Books will come to. If
the Money doe more than hold out, send in School Books;
Esops Eng. and Lat, Corderius Eng. and Lat,, Terrence
Eng, and Lat., Ovid de Tristibus, Metamorphosis, Virgil,
Tullies de Officijs, Grammars, constr[u]ing Books."
In a subsequent letter, written on July ist follow
ing, he says:
"I writt to you of the loth of June, to buy a few Books.
for me. I would have you add to them I particularly men-
tiond, A Narrative of the Portsmouth Disputation between
Presbyterians and Baptists at Mr. Williams's Meetinghouse,
Bp of Norwich's Sermon of Religious Melancholy. Amin-
tor, a Defence of Milton, with Reasons for abolishing the
^ Sewall's Letters, Vol, i, p. 237.

EDUCATION, BOOKS AND LITERATURE. I 79
30th January; Two of them. Account of the first Voyages
into America by Barthol, de las Casas; Two of them. Ac
count of a Jew lately converted, and baptised at the Meet
inghouse near Ave-Mary-Lane ; Four of them,"
In order that the government might exercise super
vision over the printing, licenses to print were re
quired in 1662, and in 1664 an order was made,
which continued for ten years, that there should be
no printing except at Cambridge.
"According to the best Information to be ob
tained," says Mr, Winsor,* "it appears that, during
the fifty years which passed from the setting up of
the first press In New England to the close of the
Colonial Period, there were issued in Boston and
Cambridge something over three hundred separate
publications. Of these nearly two-thirds were ex
positions of religious belief or writings in defence of
dogmas or aids to worship." The remainder con
sisted chiefly of laws, official publications, almanacs,
educational books, and other publications which do
not belong to the domain of literature.
Some of the books printed were reprints, such as
Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress." Some were the
productions of home authors. Increase Mather
wrote about fifteen of the books printed by John
Foster the first Boston printer.
As already stated, only a small percentage of the
books composed by the colonists during the com
monwealth period can be classed as belonging to gen
eral literature. There were a few historical works,
1 The Literature of the Colonial Period, i Mem. Hist, of Boston,
P- 453-

l8o THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
chief of which is Winthrop's "History of New En
gland," consisting mainly of notes kept by him in
the form of a daily journal, which was begun when
he left England in 1630, and was continued until
shortly before his death in 1649.
Capt. Edward Johnson, of Woburn, Mass., wrote
a book, first published anonymously in London inj
1654, purporting to be "A History of New England,
from the English Planting in the yeare 1628 until
the Yeare 1652," but the running title, by which it
is usually cited, was "Wonder- Working Providence
of Sion's Saviour in New England." The book is
not a history of New England and can scarcely be
called a history of the Massachusetts colony during
the period which it covers. It consists largely of ac
counts of the planting of the different churches in
the Massachusetts colony, together with biographical
sketches of the ministers and some of the prominent
colonists, whose names are rarely spelled correctly,
memories of whom are embalmed in jingling verses
or "meetres," plentifully sprinkled throughout the
book. But, notwithstanding the pious exaggeration
of the author and his ridiculous rhymes, the book
contains a variety of valuable Information nowhere
else to be found, /
John Mason wrote a small volume, first printed in'
X677, entitled, "The History of the Pequot War";
and Daniel Gookin wrote two books, one finished in
1674 but not printed until 1792, entitled, "Historical
Collections of the Indians in New England"; the
other finished In 1677 but not printed until 1836, en
titled, "An Historical Account of the Doings and

EDUCATION, BOOKS AND LITERATURE. x8l
Sufferings of the Christian Indians In New En
gland." It is said that he also wrote a "History of
New England," the manuscript of which is supposed
to have been burned.
There were several books of a descriptive char
acter. Francis Higginson, about 1629, wrote a book
entitled "New England's Plantation,"* giving the
result of observations for a period of about three
months after his arrival In 1629. William Wood
came over about 1629, and in 1634 gave his impres
sion of the country in a volume entitled, "New En
gland's Prospect."
John Josselyn published two books — one entitled
"New England's Rarities," published in London in
1672, the other entitled, "An Account of Two Voy
ages to New England," published in London in
1674. In the "Two Voyages," Josselyn writes not
only about America but about almost everything,
celestial and terrestrial, from comets to "kibed heels."
The volume Is filled with incredible stories and con
cludes with a chronology beginning with "Anno
Mundi 3720." Nevertheless the book is often quoted.
Prof, Tyler includes it In American literature, but
Mr. Justin Winsor does not.
Poetry was not wholly neglected. The most nota
ble poet of the commonwealth period was Anne
Bradstreet who was born in England in 161 3, and
was the wife of Simon Bradstreet, of Emmanuel Col
lege, Cambridge, and afterwards Governor. She
came with him In 1630 to this country, where all
her poems were written.
'Reprinted in Force's Historical Tracts, Vol. i, and in Young's
Chronicles, etc, p. 239.

1 82 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
"The first collection of them was printed at Boston, in
1640, under the title of 'Several Poems, compiled with great
variety of Wit and Learning, full of delight; wherein espe
cially is contained a compleat Discourse and Description of
the Four Elements, Constitutions, Ages of Man, and Sea
sons of the Year, together with an exact Epitome of the
Three First Monarchies, viz., the Assyrian, Persian, and
Grecian ; and the beginning of the Roman Commonwealth
to the end of their last King; with divers other Pleasant
and Serious Poems; By a Gentlewoman of New England.'
In 1650 this volume was reprinted in London, with the ad
ditional title of 'The Tenth Muse, lately sprung up in
America' ; and in 1678 a second American edition came
irom the press of John Foster, of Boston, 'corrected by the
author, and enlarged by the addition of several other poems
iound among her papers after her death.' '"
At the time of their publication the poems received
high praise in this country. Nathaniel Ward spoke
of them in the most eulogistic terms and Cotton
Mather, comparing her to Hypatia, Sorocchia, the
three Corinnaes, the Empress Eudocia, Pamphlla
and other celebrated women, claims that a place
should be found in the catalogue of illustrious au
thoresses for "Madame Ann Bradstreet * * *
whose poems, divers times printed, have afforded a
grateful entertainment unto the ingenious, and a
monument for her memory beyond the stateliest
marbles." The Rev. John Norton was captivated
by her poems and expressed the opinion that, if
Virgil could have heard them, he would have been
so mortified by the Inferiority of his own that he
V70uld forthwith have consigned the latter to the
* Griswold's Female Poets of America, 17.

EDUCATION, BOOKS AND LITERATURE. 1 83
flames. We may not in this age allow ourselves to
be so enthusiastic as the reverend and gallant divines
who were her contemporaries. But we can at least
accept the judgment of a competent modern critic,
Mr, Griswold, who says: "A comparison of the
productions of this celebrated person with those of
Lady Juliana Berners, Elizabeth MelviU, the Countess
of Pembroke, and her other predecessors or contem
poraries, will convince the judicious critic that she
was^^superlor to any poet of her sex who wrote in the
English language before the close of the seventeenth
century." One other poet whose poems, though character
ized by Dr, Ellis as "doggerel," were deemed
worthy to be collected into a bound volume, was the
Rev, Michael Wigglesworth, minister at Maiden
from 1656 to 1705. The longest of his poems, the
"Day of Doom," published in 1662, passed through
eight American editions and one English. Another,
"Meat out of the Eater," published in 1669, went
through five editions; and another was published
after his death, entitled "God's Controversy with
New England." The titles of these poems suffi
ciently indicate their somber religious tone,*
But the poetry of that period was not confined to
the volumes of Mrs, Bradstreet and the Rev, Michael
Wigglesworth. Ability to write poetry was an ac
complishment supposed to be indispensable to every
educated gentleman, and nearly all public men, Mr.
Tarbox tells us, imagined' "that they could turn out
' See Article on New England Poetry of the Seventeenth Century,
by I. N. Tarbox, 39 New Englander Magazine, p. 174; 39 Lon. Quart.
Mag., p. 118.

184 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
a piece of poetry on call, for almost every occasion."'
When Gov. Dudley died, July 31, 1653, some verses
were found in his pocket, which Morton says* "may
further illustrate his character and give a taste of his
poetical fancy, wherein it is said he did excel." Then
follow some verses of which the following is the con
cluding stanza:
"Let men of God in Courts and churches watch
O'er such as do a toleration hatch;
Lest that ill egg bring forth a cockatrice
To poison all with heresy and vice.
If men be left, and otherwise combine ;
My Epitaph's I died no libertine."
When any noted public man died the poetry
was forthcoming. If a minister, his clerical breth
ren never failed to load down his memory with pon
derous elegies couched in the most extravagant lan
guage. "Let it be known," says the author of the
"Magnalia," "that America can embalm great
persons as well as produce them, and New England
can bestow an elegy as well as an education upon Its
heroes," Many of these elegies will be found scat
tered through the "Magnalia" and Morton's "New
England's Memorial," Often they were in the
acrostic style. Excepting the volumes mentioned,
the elegies, the Bay Psalm Book and the solemn
epitaphs of the tombstone poets, little poetry of the
commonwealth period has survived.
During the period styled by Mr. Charles Francis
Adams the "theologico-glacial," extending, as he
^ New England's Memorial, 6th ed,, p. 167.

EDUCATION, BOOKS AND LITERATURE. 185
claims, from the meeting of the Cambridge Synod In
September, 1637, to the year 1760, there was, he
says, very little printed matter of any literary value.
"It is a fact worthy of note that the Magnalia stands to-day
the one single literary landmark in a century and a half of
colonial and provincial life, a geological relic of a glacial
period, a period which in pure letters produced, so far as
Massachusetts was concerned, absolutely nothing else, not
a poem nor an essay, nor a memoir, nor a work of fancy
or fiction of which the world has cared to take note."
He contrasts this with the corresponding period
in the mother country which, he says, was there a
fruitful season,
"For it began with Milton and closed with Johnson;
while Clarendon and Burnet, Dryden, Pope and Goldsmith,
Bunyan, Swift, Addison, Steele, and Defoe, Locke, Boling-
broke and Newton were included in it."'
It may be observed, however, in explaining the
dearth of literature in Massachusetts during this
time, that there are some other things to be taken
into account besides the chilling atmosphere of the
"theologico-glacial" period. It is reasonable to pre
sume that men who were chiefly engaged in fighting
savages and hewing homes out of the wilderness, and
at the same time establishing a government, had not
much time or opportunity to write books and com
pose poetry. It was long after William the Con
queror set foot on the shores of England until there
appeared any English bard or writer "of whom the
world has cared to take note." Those named by
I * Massachusetts, Its Historians, etc., pp, 65-67.

1 86 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
Mr. Adams, who have given such splendor to English
literature, came at a much later period.
Not a trace of what is now called "juvenUe" lit
erature appears in this period. Good old Mother
Goose's melodies were not published untU 17x9, and
the children were limited in their literary diet to the
catechism and Cotton's "Spiritual milk for American
Babes, drawn out of the breasts of both Testaments
for their souls Nourishment."
Of all the books printed during the commonwealth
period, the most celebrated was the Bay Psalm
Book. It passed through many editions. The ear
liest are now regarded as great literary curiosities
and command fabulous prices. It was reprinted In
England and is said to have passed through seventy
editions. Another book almost. If not quite, as noted, was
the New England Primer, the latest edition of which
was published by the Munsells, of Albany, N. Y., in
X885. "There never has been printed in this country," say
these publishers, "a book, laying no claim to inspiration,
whose influence has been so extended and enduring as that
of the New England Primer. For more than a century it
was almost exclusively the juvenile book of New England,
and although it may not now be regarded as wholly unex
ceptionable and adequate to the wants of the age, mighty
indeed was its influence upon the people among whom it
circulated '"
We look through its pages now and smile at the
' The first edition is said to have been printed about 1690. 20 Magazine
Am. His. 148.

EDUCATION, BOOKS AND LITERATURE. 1 87
picture of Satan with a forked tail and at other comical
illustrations. We smile again at the verses telling how
"Young Obadias,
David, Josias
All were Pious.
and how "Zacheus he
Did climb the Tree,
Our Lord to see."
We turn through the pages and we come to the
child's prayer, "Now I lay me down to take my sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
If I should die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take."
The words of this simple prayer, handed down
from generation to generation^ will recall to many
the memories of childhood and the vision of the
kneeling figure and sweet face of one who taught
them to repeat the prayer in years long gone by;
they will forget all about Obadias and Zacheus, and,
whatever they may think about the Puritan fathers,
they will revere the memory of the Puritan mothers.
Without entering into a discussion of the vexed
question whether an almanac of any kind should be
assigned to the domain of literature, we must, nev
ertheless, not neglect to mention the almanacs of the
commonwealth period. The first one printed in the
colonies was "An almanac, calculated for NewEn
gland by Mr. William Pierce, Mariner," printed by

1 88 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
Stephen Daye and preceding by a year the Bay
Psalm Book, published by the same printer in 1640.*
Almanacs were issued almost every year after that.
"Many of these almanacs," says Mr. Spofford, "are
preserved in private families, though but few are to
be found in our public libraries. It was an early
habit in New England to preserve the almanacs from
year to year, carefully stitched together, and to an
notate them frequently with family records or cur
rent events,"
In the preface to "Prince's Annals," the author
enumerates the authorities which he consulted, in
cluding "interleaved Almanacs of the late honorable
John Hull and Judge Sewall, of Boston, Esqrs,, of
the Rev, Mr. Shepard, the last of Charlestown, of
the late Rev, Mr, Joseph Gerrish, of Wenham, and
several others from 1646 to 1720; wherein the facts
were wrote at the time they happened,"
Indeed the Bible, the Bay Psalm Book, and the al
manac composed all there was of the libraries of
most of the early Puritans.
As already noted, the religious books, sermons
and tracts, constituted the great bulk of the writings
of the commonwealth period. They were mainly
the productions of the ministers, who were prodig
ious workers. John Cotton was the author of many
publications. John Norton was also a great worker
and a prolific writer. Increase Mather was the au
thor of 92 distinct publications — two of them being
written in Latin,
Of these religious writings, it is difficult for us in
^ SpofFord's Almanac for 1878, p. 23.

EDUCATION, BOOKS AND LITERATURE. 189
this age to form an accurate judgment. We have
drifted far away from the doctrines and the style of
the writers. Excepting, perhaps, theologians versed
in the lore of ancient theology, few of the present
generation can understand these old books. No
body of course can understand what the Rev. Na
thaniel Ward, author of "The Simple Cobbler of
Agawam," meant by such a sentence as this: "If
the whole conclave of Hell can so compromise exad-
verse and diametrical contradictions as to compolltize
such a multimonstrous manfrey of heteroclites quic-
quidlibets quietly, I trust I may say with all humble
reverence they can do more than the senate of
Heaven." Prof. Tyler admits that he does not know
what this means and it is tolerably certain that no
body understood it in Ward's time. But Ward is an
exception. He was very much affilcted with self-
conceit, and it is probable that his eccentricity of
style was largely cultivated for effect.*
Hooker and Cotton and Norton and their col
leagues of the Puritan clergy knew good English
and used it. Still there is a great deal in their writ-
' A reprint of the 5th edition of the Simple Cobbler is found in
Force's Historical Tracts, Vol. 3. Mr. Whitmore in a note on page 19
of Col. Laws, 1660-1672, says: "Among the strange words used by
Ward I note pudder, exulcerations, colluvies, sedulity, jadish, interturbe,
corrive, quidanye, prestigiated, ignotions, mundicidious, dedolent, exad-
verse, per-peracute, nugiperous, nudiustertian, futilous, perquisquilian,
indenominable, precellency, surquedryes, prodromies, digladiations, pro-
suit, bivious, awke; besides many, almost innumerable oddities of com
bination." I may add that I have never seen such an orthographical
jumble except in a little book written by S. K, Hoshour, published in
1850, and entitled, "Altisonant Letters." Evidently the author, if he
had ever read Ward's sermons, found them to be too hard for him, for
in the vocabulary appended to the Letters are found only two of the
" strange words " mentioned by Mr. Whitmore.

190 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
ings that we of this age can not comprehend any
more readily than we can comprehend the gibberish
of Ward. Prof. Tyler characterizes John Cotton's
writings as "vast tracts and jungles of Puritanic dis
course — exposition, exhortation, logic-chopping, the
ological hair-splitting," and the same criticism will
apply with equal force to the books and sermons of
his contemporaries.
I have one of John Norton's books, "The Ortho
dox Evangelist," printed In 1654, which has been
handed down from generation to generation, and Is
now preserved as a curious relic of the past. This
was the most celebrated production of that famous
divine, and was regarded by his Puritan contempora
ries and successors as a wonderfully clear and logical
exposition of the orthodox religious doctrines of that
period, wherein, as Cotton Mather expressed it, the
author had "digested the subtleties of the school
men into solid and wholesome Christianity," In
the preface the author says "men need strong meat as
well as Babes need milk; though he who is but a Babe
hath not the knowledge of a man, yet he that is a Babe
labours after the knowledg of a man. Babes rest
not in being Babes, I have endeavored to say some
thing that might entertain the stronger, yet so as (I
hope) I have scarce said anything that weaker capaci
ties may not with due attention attain unto," En
couraged by this, I have endeavored again and again,
by "due attention," to "attain unto" an understand
ing of the book, but I have as often abandoned the
?ittempt in despair. I can not grasp Its Innumerable
heads, divisions and subdivisions In the discussion of

EDUCATION, BOOKS AND LITERATURE, X9I
the negative, relative and positive "Attributes," and
how these are "distinguished from the Divine Es
sence and one from another"; the "four attributes
of the beatifical object"; the difference between
eternity, eviternity and time; the distinction be
tween "common" and "saving or special grace,"
and the "perilous consequences" from not distin
guishing between them — some of these awful conse
quences being that, without so distinguishing, "Pela
gians, semi-Pelagians, Arminians, Papists and Or
thodox are all confounded together,"
But, without making any more extensive com
parisons, I take my own profession, the law, and
compare the style of the ancient theological writers
with that of the legal writers of the same period, I
take "Coke upon Littleton," the first edition of
which was published in 1628, and lay Norton's book
alongside of that celebrated work and compare the
table of contents of the one with that of the other,
the theological jargon of the one with the legal
jargon of the other; Norton's metaphysical dis
tinctions and Coke's distinctions between the kinds
of certainty required in pleading, viz,: certainty
to a "common intent"; certainty to a "certaine
intent in generali," and certainty to a "certaine
intent in every particular," I take up Kent and
read what he says upon the question as to the
time at which money provided for children's por
tions may be raised by sale or mortgage of the re
versionary term. "The history of the question," he
says, "is worthy of a moment's attention, as a legal
curiosity and a sample of the perplexity and uncer-

I 9 3 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
tainty with which complicated settlements 'rolled in
tangles,' and subtle disputations and eternal doubts,
will Insensibly incumber and oppress a free and civi
lized system of jurisprudence." And then I con
clude that the theology of the x 7th century was no
harder to understand than the law of the same period.
This is no reason, however, for ridiculing the theo
logians and the lawyers of the old times, or for accus
ing the present age of degeneration. The simple truth
is that we have outgrown both the theology and the
law of the x 7th century and we are now unused to
the ideas and the language of both.
It is quite certain that the clergy of the common
wealth period were learned men, amongst the most
learned of the age. Hutchinson says,* that the repu
tation of the New England clergy "had been for
some time very great in England and the opinions of
Mr, Cotton, Hooker, Davenport and others are cited
as authorities by many English divines," In the art
of reasoning they had no superiors; their books and
sermons were the product of enormous study and in
tense mental effort; and those who read and listened
to them, understood, or thought they understood,
them, and received them with eager delight. No
books and no orators of the present age wield such a
prodigious influence in moulding belief and shaping
both public and private opinion as did those of the
commonwealth period.
' Vol. I, p. 175.

X
RISE AND FALL OF THE THEOCRACY
For fifty years and more the Puritans struggled to
establish a Biblical commonwealth; the attempt re
sulted In a dismal failure, but the history of it is in
dispensable to a correct understanding of the govern
ment, the laws and the social life of the times.
Whatever thoughts may have been in the minds
of the originators of the Massachusetts company in
reference to the acquisition of homes and fortunes,
whatever ideas of political liberty they may have
had, it is clear that their cardinal idea was to secure
for themselves and their posterity the right, which
had been denied them in England, to enjoy the ex
ercise of their own religious opinions without let or
hindrance from kings or bishops.
As to the character of their religion it Is not nec
essary to say much more than that its harshest feat
ures were little, if any, softer than were those of
Scotch Presbyterianism in the seventeenth century as
described by Buckle.* Indeed, so late as the time of
Jonathan Edwards, that eminent divine thundered
orthodoxy as gloomy, and in tones as fierce, as those
which characterized the sermons of Hooker, and
tradition tells us that in the sermons which he was
wont to preach, depicting the awful sufferings of sin-
^ Hist, Civ. in Eng., Vol. 2, Chap. 5.
Pur. Rep.— 13 {.^9'i)

194 '^'^^ PURITAN REPUBLIC.
ners in the hands of an angry God, he sometimes so
terrified his hearers that they clutched their seats in a
frenzy of fright, fearing to loosen their grip lest they
might slide forthwith down into hell.
The views of Edwards upon the future torments
of the damned are luridly set forth in the following
extract from his works:*
"The world will probably be converted into a great lake
or liquid globe of fire, a vast ocean of fire, in which the
wicked shall be overwhelmed, which will always be in
tempest,' in which they shall be tost to and fro, having no
rest day or night, vast waves or billows of fire continually
rolling over their heads, of which they shall forever be full
of a quick sense within and without; their heads, their eyes,
their tongues, their hands, their feet, their loins, and their
vitals shall forever be full of a glowing, melting fire, fierce
enough to melt the very rocks and elements ; and also they
shall eternally be full of the most quick and lively sense to
feel the torments; not for one minute, nor for one day, nor
for one age, nor for two ages, nor for a hundred ages, nor
for ten thousands of millions of ages one after another, but
forever and ever, without any end at all, and never, never
be delivered."
Alger, quoting this extract in connection with ex
tracts from other writers and from Calvin on infant
damnation, adds:
"It is not the Father of Christ, but his Antagonist, whose
face glares down over such a scene as that ! The above
diabolical passage, at the recital of which from the pulpit,
Edwards's biographers tell us, 'whole congregations shud
dered and simultaneously rose to their feet, smiting their
1 Vol. 8, p. io6.

RISE AND FALL OF THE THEOCRACY. 1 95
breasts, weeping and groaning,' is not the arbitrary ex
aggeration of an individual, but a fair representation of the
actual tenets and vividly held faith of the Puritans,'"
The most pathetic passages In the diary of Judge
Sewall are those which detail the agony of his young
daughter Betty, when the innocent child, tortured by
the preaching of John Norton and Cotton Mather
and the teachings of her own father, had been driven
almost to the verge of Insanity by the conviction that
she was a "Reprobat"; that her "Sins were not par
don' d"; that she "was like Spira, not Elected"; and
"was afraid should go to Hell."^
But the manner In which the Theocracy was de
veloped is worthy of careful study. Of course there was
no hint of it in the charter granted by King Charles.
Nor was the Theocracy ever a constituent part of the
government itself. Its existence, as a definite and dis
tinct body, was not recognized, either in the frame of
government, or in Its laws. It was a body entirely
apart, composed of a small minority of the people,
guided and controlled by a still smaller minority of
ministers, who were largely influenced by a yet
smaller minority of their own number. The author
ity which these few exercised over the others was very
great, but it came chiefly from sources other than the
form of government. They ruled largely by the in
fluence which their position in the churches, their
talents, and their force of character gave them.
It seems incredible in this age that these few
were enabled to exercise such authority at the
^Doctrine of Future Life, p. 517.
* Sewall's Papers, Vol. i, pp. 419, 422, 423, 437.

196 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
beginning, but more especially toward the close, of
the commonwealth, when at least five-sixths of the
people were not church members. How this author
ity was acquired, how it was developed and enlarged,
until it dominated the commonwealth, will appear as
we examine further into the character of the clergy
and the character of the people.
The ministers who came over in the few years after
the granting of the charter were among the most
learned men of the age in which they lived. Hooker
and Cotton came in 1633, Shepherd and Norton and
Richard Mather in 1635. All of them were univer
sity graduates and had achieved distinction in England.
"It has been computed," says Mr. Justin Winsor,
"that nearly one hundred University men came over
from England to cast their lot in the new colony be
tween 1630 and 1647; and of these two thirds came
from Cambridge, particularly from Emmanuel Col
lege, — the Puritan seed-plot."
Of Cotton it is said that he was not onty familiar
with Greek, but wrote Latin with ease and elegance
and could discourse In Hebrew.
Nor were the learned clergymen confined to Bos
ton and the adjacent towns. Even in the frontier
town of Marlborough, we learn that the minister
(Mr. Brimsmead) was a very learned man, who kept
a journal in Latin, interspersed with quotations in
Greek and Hebrew.^
The industry of the ministers was as marvelous as
was their learning. This their published sermons and
books attest. The Rev. John Cotton, it is said,
' The Literature of the Colonial Period, i Mem. Hist, of Boston, 454,
^Hudson's His, of Marlborough, 51.

RISE AND FALL OF THE THEOCRACY. 1 97
spent twelve hours each day in reading, and it was
his habit to close the day with reading something
from John Calvin, because, he sai3, "I love to
sweeten my mouth with a piece of Calvin before I go
to sleep." Increase Mather was accustomed to study
sixteen hours every day. Some of the other minis
ters must have been quite as industrious.
They were men of fearless disposition and indom
itable will. Hooker, Shepherd, Cotton and Norton
had been excommunicated and forced to flee for their
lives, because of their boldness of speech and their
defiance of Laud and the High Commission, Many
of the ministers who came after them were compelled
to leave England for the same reason.
Such men would be Influential in any civilized
country in this or any other age. They would be
still more influential among a people in full accord
with their religious views, as were the colonists In
Massachusetts when the commonwealth began, most
of whom had left England because they could not
freely avow and practice the religion which they con
scientiously believed. Naturally, therefore, their
ministers would exercise a greater influence over
them than over men of different religious views.
Their isolation from the rest of the world, with
the Atlantic ocean between them and their kindred
in England, served to draw them still closer together,
and to make them confide still more in those to whom
they had been taught from infancy to apply for con
solation and comfort.
To show how close were the bonds, and how
strong was the affection, between the ministers and

198 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
their congregations, there is abundant evidence.
When Hooker left Boston and went to Hartford he
took with him his entire flock. Only the strongest
personal attachment could have induced the members
of the Scrooby congregation to leave all and follow
their minister to Leyden. The parting of the Pil
grims and their loved pastor, John Robinson, dis
closes a mutual affection, as tender and as touching
as It was pure and deep. It throws a mellowing light
upon the harsh features of the early Puritans and
enables us to comprehend why they were ready to
follow their chosen shepherds to the ends of the earth.
Nor is it surprising that the ministers were looked
upon by their flocks with a feeling closely akin to
veneration, and that when Hooker and Cotton died
the death of each was supposed to be presaged by
supernatural events and miraculous visions, indicating
that the Almighty had thus specially marked the
event. Seeing how the influence of the clergy began,
we can better understand its development.
One of the first things done by the colonists, after
the charter had been procured, was "to make a
plentiful provision of Godly ministers," and the first
of their vessels conveyed four of them. Before any
steps were taken by the newly arrived immigrants in
reference to civil government a church was organized
at Salem, The first thought of the colonists was to
make provision for churches and ministers. This
was the first matter considered at the first meeting of
the Court of Assistants in 1630, For a time the
ministers were supported by voluntary contributions
but afterward laws were passed for the building and

RISE AND FALL OF TPIE THEOCRACY. X99
maintenance at the expense of the towns, of meeting
houses and homes for the ministers.*
Another care of the colonists was to see that none
but church members were admitted to the privileges
of freemen and a voice in the management of the
affairs of the colony. Nothing was said in the charter
as to the religious qualifications of freemen, and the
only requisite to admission to the privileges of such
was the consent of those already constituted freemen.
At the first General Court held In 1631, 1x8 persons
were admitted, but at the same court, " to the end
the body of the Commons might be preserved of
honest and good men," it was ordered that "for the
time to come no man should be admitted to the free
dom of this body politic but such as were members
of some of the churches within the limits of the
same." A law to the same effect was passed in 1647,^
As will be seen presently, only "orthodox" churches
were recognized. In 1664, in consequence of com
plaints in England and the severe admonition
of the King, the law was nominally repealed, but
the repeal did not cure the grievances complained
of, for the repealing act itself required, as one of the
conditions precedent to admission of applicants for
freedom, "a Certificate under the hand of the Min
isters, or Minister of the place where they dwell,
that they are Orthodox in Religion, and not Vicious
in their Lives."* It is entirely safe to say that no
Baptist or Quaker could have prevailed upon any or
thodox minister to give him such a certificate.
' Col. Laws 1660-1672, p, 148.
^Col. Laws 1660-1672, p. 153-
'Col, Laws 1660-1672, p, 229. J

200 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
The colonists were not satisfied with excluding
from the privileges of citizenship those who were
not "orthodox in religion," but they were unwilling
that they should abide in the colony. This was un
doubtedly one of the reasons leading to the enact
ment of the laws in reference to strangers. By
these laws any strangers "of what quality soever,"
were required to be brought by the master of the
vessel bringing them, immediately upon their arrival,
before the governor, the deputy governor or two
other magistrates, "there to give an account of their
occasion and busines in this Country, whereby satis
faction maybe given, and order taken, i with such
strangers," as should be deemed proper. No town
or person was allowed to entertain any stranger
above three weeks, "except such person shall have
allowance under the hand of some one Magistrate,"*
When the Baptists became troublesome, laws were
passed authorizing their banishment. Still severer laws
were passed In reference to the Quakers, increasing
in severity In proportion to their obstinacy. Heavy
penalties were imposed upon the master of any ves
sel bringing them to the colony, and against any per
son who should entertain them, and the Quaker
ministers were subjected to banishment, and to death
if, after banishment, they voluntarily returned.^
As might be supposed. It was considered of prime
importance to preserve the purity of the orthodox
religion and to prevent the contamination of It by any
heretical dogmas. Blasphemy, as already stated,
' Col. Laws 1660-1672, p. 193.
' Col. Laws, 1660-1672, pp. 155, 156.

RISE AND FALL OF THE THEOCRACY. 20I
was punishable capitally by the Body of Liberties.
In 1646 it was ordered:*
"That if any Christian within this Jurisdiction, shall go
about to subvert and destroy the Christian Faith and Re
ligion, by broaching and maintaining any Damnable Here
sies: as denying the immortallity of the soule, or resurrec
tion of the body, or any sin to be repented of in the regen
erate, or any evil done by the outward man to be accounted
sin, or denying that Christ gave himselfe a ransom for our
sins, or shall affirm that we are not justifyed by his death
and righteousnes, but by the perfections of our own works, or
shall deny the morallity of the Fourth Commandement, or
shall openly Condemn or oppose the Baptizing of Infants,
or shall purposely depart the Congregation at the adminis
tration of that Ordinance, or shall deny the ordinance of
Magistracy, or their Lawfull Authority to make war, or to
punish the outward breaches of the first Table, or shall en
deavour to seduce others to any of the errors or heresies
above mentioned, every such person continuing obstinate
therin, after due meanes of Conviction, shall be sentenced
to Banishment."
Later the law against heresy was made to include
the denial by word or writing of the inspiration of
any of the books of the old or the new testament; and
severe laws were enacted against that "cursed sect of
heretlcks, lately risen up In the world, which are
called Quakers"; their books were ordered to be
burned and the Quakers, themselves, banished and
put to death if they returned. And an omnibus
law was enacted, providing that "every person that
shall publish and maintaine any Heterodox or errone
ous Doctrine, shall be liable to be questioned and
*Col, Laws, 1660-1672, p, 154,

202 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
Censured by the County Court where he liveth, ac
cording to the merit of his offence,"*
As before stated, the privileges of freemen were
limited to church members. It was therefore found
necessary to see that the churches themselves were
orthodox. The provisions of the Body of Liberties
in reference to churches had seemingly been very
liberal, those of liberty No. 95, entitled "A Declara
tion of the Liberties the Lord Jesus hath given to
the Churches," being as follows:^
"All the people of god within this Jurisdiction who are
not in a church way, and be orthodox in Judgement, and
not scandalous in life, shall have full libertie to gather them
selves into a Church Estaite. Provided they doe it in a
Christian way, with due observation of the rules of Christ
revealed in his word,
"2, Every Church hath full libertie to exercise all the
ordinances of god, according to the rules of scripture.
"3, Every Church hath free libertie of Election and or
dination of all their officers from time to time, provided
they be able, pious and orthodox.
"4. Every Church hath free libertie of Admission, Rec
ommendation, Dismission, and expulsion, or deposall of
their officers and members, upon due cause, with free exer
cise of the Discipline and Censures of Christ according to
the rules of his word,
"5, No Injunctions are to be put upon any Church,
Church officers or member in point of Doctrine, worship or
Discipline, whether for substance or cercumstance besides
the Institutions of the lord.
"6, Every Church of Christ hath freedome to celebrate
^ Col. Laws, 1660-1672, p. 156,
^Col, Laws, 1660-1672, p. 57.

RISE AND FALL OF THE THEOCRACY. 203
dayes of fasting and prayer, and of thanksgiveing accord
ing to the word of god.
"7. The Elders of Churches have free libertie to meete
monthly. Quarterly, or otherwise, in convenient numbers
and places, for conferences and consultations about Chris
tian and Church questions and occasions.
" 8 , All Churches have libertie to deale with any of their
members in a church way that are in the hand of Justice.
So it be not to retard or hinder the course thereof.
"9. Every Church hath libertie to deale with any mages-
trate, Deputie of Court or other officer what soe ever that
is a member in a church way in case of apparent and just
offence given in their places, so it be done with due ob
servance and respect.
"10. Wee allowe private meetings for edification in re
ligion amongst Christians of all sortes of people. So it be
without just offence for number, time, place, and other cer-
cumstances." But in 1658 the foregoing provisions were revised
and re-enacted with various amendments, the most
significant being the following, inserted immediately
after the first section quoted above:*
"Provided also that the Generali Court doth not, nor will
hereafter approve of any such companies of men, as shall
joyne in any pretended way of Church-fellowship, unless
they shall acquaint the Magistrates, and the Elders of the
neighbour churches, where they intend to joyne, & have
their approbation therein .
"2. It is further Ordered, that no person being a member
of any church, which shall be gathered without the appro
bation of the Magistrates & the said churches, shall be ad
mitted to the freedom of this Comon-wealth."
^ Col. Laws, 1660-1672, p. 147. The italics are mine.

204 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
To make sure that none but orthodox ministers
should be chosen, the churches were not allowed to
call one without the consent of the neighboring
churches and the magistrates, and, for violating this
rule, a heavy fine was laid on the church at Maiden,*
Finally it was ordered, in 1679, that no meeting
house should be built without leave from the freemen
of the town or the General Court,^ When the Bap
tists opened a meeting-house in Boston, it was
taken possession of by the magistrates; the doors
were nailed up and a notice^ was posted, forbidding
the holding of meetings there, and it is said that
when the members assembled for worship they were
arrested and treated very roughly.*
To enforce respect for religion and the ministers,
the law against blasphemy was enlarged in 1646,
so as to include all who should "reproach the holy
Religion of God, as If it were but a politick device;
to keep ignorant men in awe; or shall utter any
other kind of Blasphemy, of the like nature and de
gree,"^ It was also provided that "every person or
persons whatsoever, that shall revile the office or
person of Magistrates or Ministers, as is usuall with
the Quakers, such Person or Persons shall be Severely
Whipt, or pay the Summ of Five Pounds."®
A law enacted in 1640 made It a finable offense to
"goe about to destroy or disturb, the order & peace
' Hutchinson, Vol. i, p. 174.
' Mass. Rec, Vol. 5, p. 213.
'Issued by order of the General Court, signed by Edward Rawson,
Secretary, and dated March 8, 1680.
' A Historic Meeting-House, 17 Magazine Am. His. 474.
^ Col. Laws, 1660-1672, p, 128.
^Col. Laws, 1660-1672, p. 156.

RISE AND FALL OF THE THEOCRACY. 205
of the churches established, in this Jurisdiction, by
open renouncing their Church estate or their Minis
try, or other Ordinances dispensed In them, either
upon pretense that the Churches were not planted by
any new Apostle, or that ordinances are for carnal
Christians, or for babes in Christ, & not for spiritual
or Illuminated persons, or upon any other such like
groundless conceit,"*
Another law, enacted In 1646, aimed particularly
at the Quakers, made it an offense to interrupt a
minister in his preaching or to charge him falsely
with any error. Violators of this law for the first
offense w^ere to be reproved and bound over, "And
if a second time they break forth Into the like con
temptuous carriage, they shall either pay five pounds
to the publick Treasury, or stand two houres openly
upon a block or stool, four foot high, on a lecture
day, with a paper fixed on his breast, written in Cap
ital letters, an open and obstinate contemner of
GODS HOLY ORDINANCES, that Others may hear & be
ashamed of breaking out Into the like wickednes,"^
Attendance upon religious services, not only upon
Sundays, but also upon fast and thanksgiving days,
was required under penalty of a fine for absence
without just and necessary cause, ^
Particular attention was given to the observance of
the Lord's day,*
The godly training of children and servants was not
neglected. In 1642^ the following law was passed:
^Col, Laws, 1660-1672, p. 148.
2 Col. Laws, 1660-1672, p. 148.
'Col. Laws, 1660-1672, p. 148.
«See Chap, VIII.
^ Col. Laws, 1660-1672, p. 136.

2o6 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
"It is Ordered that the Selectmen of every Town, in the sev
eral precincts, and quarters where they dwel, shal have a
vigilant eye over their brethren and neighbours to see that
* * * all masters of families, do once a week (atthe least)
catachise their children and servants in the grounds and prin
ciples of Religion, & if any be unable to do so much; that
then at the least they procure such children and appren
tices, to learn some short orthodox catachism without book,
that they may be able to answer unto the questions, that
shall be propounded to them, out of such catachism by
their parents or masters or any of the Select men, when
they shall call them to a tryall, of what they have learned
in this kind,"
Later* it was provided that:
"Forasmuch as it greatly Concernes the welfare of the
Country that the youth thereof be educated not only in good
Literature, but in sound Doctrine. This Court doth There
fore Commend it to the serious Consideration, & special care
of our Overseers of the Colledg, & the Select men in the sev
eral townes, not to admit or suffer any such to be continued
in the Office or place of teaching, educating or instructing
youth or children, in the Colledg or Schools, that have
manifested theselves unsound in the faith, or scandalous in
tkeir lives & have not given satisfaction according to the
Rules of Christ."
There was scarcely anything which the Theocracy
did not pry into and attempt to regulate by law. It
attempted to control men's thoughts as well as their
actions, "It Is evident," says Hutchinson,^ "not
only by Mrs, Hutchinson's trial, but by many other
'Col. Laws, i66o-i6''2. p. 191.
"Vol. I, p. 75.

RISE AND FALL OF THE THEOCRACY. 207
public proceedings, that inquisition was made into
men's private judgments as well as into their declara
tions and practice,"
It would be reasonable to suppose that the minis
ters in a community having such laws as have been
mentioned would possess great power and influence,
not only in social life, but in the affairs of govern
ment. And such was the fact.
It will be observed also that, under the peculiar
system of the early colonial government, the men
who composed the congregation In the town church
were the identical men who voted at the town meet
ings. Another fact must be borne In mind. As we have
seen, no one could be admitted a freeman, and be
entitled to vote and exercise the privileges of citizen
ship, until he had been admitted a member of some
orthodox church. But that was not always an easy
matter. The minister would, of course, have great
influence in determining the application for member
ship. Indeed, while he could not admit any one
against the will of the congregation, neither could
the congregation admit any one over his objection,
however arbitrary It might be.
That the Influence of the clergy was enormous
there can be no doubt. Prof. Tyler speaks of Hooker
as "priest and king" of the Connecticut colony, and
of John Cotton as "the unmitred pope of a pope-
hating commonwealth." The influence of John
Norton, for a long period, was almost supreme, and
"for nearly sixty years," according to Mr. Justin

2o8 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
Winsor, "Increase Mather well-nigh ruled in the
Boston, if not in the New England, Theocracy."
The power of the clergy was plainly manifest in
the proceedings of the General Court. No man sat
there who was obnoxious to them, and it was seldom
that any measure was carried over their objection.
On all Important questions their advice and counsel
were sought, and In all affairs, civil and domestic, as
well as ecclesiastical, the advice of the clergy was
almost equivalent to a command.
In 1 63 1 the citizens of Boston chose seven men to
divide the town lands among them, but they chose
only one elder and one deacon, " and the rest of the
inferior sort," which they did "as fearing that the
richer men would give the poorer sort no great pro
portion of land." But this was thought to be set
ting a bad precedent, "whereupon at the motion of
Mr. Cotton, who showed them that It was the Lord's
order among the Israelites to have all such business
committed to the elders, * * * they all agreed
to go to a new election , ' '
In one of his sermons, preached in 1637, ex
pounding a passage In 2 Chron, and Numbers 27, 21,
Cotton said, "that the rulers of the people should con
sult with the ministers of the churches upon occasion
of any war to be undertaken, and any other weighty
business, though the case should seem never so clear,
as David in the case of ZIglag, and the Israelites In
the case of Gibeah. Judges, etc."*
Still another fact should be borne in mind, in esti
mating the influence of the clergy in the colonial
' Winthrop, Vol. i, p, 237.

RISE AND FALL OF THE THEOCRACY. 209
government, which has been referred to in a former
chapter, viz., the absence of the conservative influ
ence of lawyers.
It must be obvious, from what has been said, that
the connection between church and state was very in
timate. It is doubtful If the connection was ever
more intimate since the days of Moses. Nor were
the clergy ever more influential in any government.
Their control was well-nigh supreme over the legis
lature, the courts and the people. The natural re
sult was to create an established church, not in name,
but In fact. The Puritan orthodox church was as
much an established church as the established church
of England.
Another result was a rapidly developing tendency
to religious tyranny and persecution. An eminent
historian says that there Is no instance in history of
unlimited power which has not been abused. This
is true, whether the power be lodged In kings, legis
latures, judges, or ecclesiastics.
The history of England and France, as well as
that of Massachusetts, shows that no ecclesiastics of
any denomination are exceptions to the rule. Indeed,
the combination of politician and preacher is gener
ally a very bad one. It is bad if the preacher Is a
hypocrite and "steals the livery of Heaven to serve
the Devil in," and bad if he Is a conscientious re
ligious fanatic, for, of all fanatics, the conscientious
religious one is the most dangerous to his fellow-men.
The power of the clergy was, of course, fully re
cognized by the civil rulers, and "whenever," says
Pur. Rkp. — 14

2IO THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
Mr. Savage,* "any course, that might proceed to a
result of extreme injustice, cruelty, or tyranny, was
contemplated by the civil rulers, the sanction of the
churches or of the elders was usually solicited, and
too often obtained."
Enough has been said to show the influence of the
church and of the ministers in the government, and
of the tendency of that Influence, to make it clear
how a small minority was able so long to hold the
reins of power in the commonwealth, in opposition
to the majority. This is an important consideration
when we seek to determine responsibility for the relig
ious persecutions of Baptists and Quakers. We have
only to compare the Body of Liberties, adopted in
1643, with the Revision of x66o, to see how rapid was
the progress in the commonwealth toward religious
despotism. The advance of the Theocracy toward the assump
tion of arbitrary power was not unopposed. On the
contrary, its progress was marked by great dissen
sions and violent opposition and was tinged with
blood. The darkest pages in the history of the com
monwealth are those which record the persecutions
of persons whose religious views did not accord with
those of the party In power. Very early, in 1629,
the Brownes had Insisted on using the Book of
Common Prayer and conforming to the forms and
ceremonies of the Church of England, whereupon
Governor Endicott told them that "New England
was no place for such as they," and sent them back
to England.
' Winthrop, Vol. i, 342 note.

RISE AND FALL OF THE THEOCRACY. 211
The first resolutely to oppose the pretensions of the
Theocracy was Roger Williams, the new minister at
Salem, He, too, like many other ministers, had been
driven from England to escape the persecutions of
Laud. John Quincy Adams describes him as ' 'the very
impersonation of this combined conscientious, conten
tious spirit."* He presented In his character the singu
lar combination of a frank and amiable nature with
an uncontrollable appetite for disputation. He went
through life dissenting from everything regarded by
his fellow-men as established In government or in re
ligion. When the members of his own church refused to fol
low his advice to withdraw themselves from the other
"unregenerate" churches in Massachusetts, he ex
communicated them by withdrawing himself from fel
lowship with them, opened meetings in his own house,
and quarreled w^ith his wife for persisting in continuing
to worship in the church which he had just left. At
last, toward the close of his life, he dissented from
himself, and denounced as unsound the views of bap
tism which he himself had formerly advocated.
He came to this country In 1631, and was called
to the church in Salem, but it was not long until he
began to advocate opinions which raised a great
ferment and aroused violent opposition, and which,
at the General Court in 1635, "were adjudged by
all magistrates and ministers (who were desired to
^Address to Mass, His. Soe, Mass. His, Coll., 3d Ser,, Vol, 9, p. 206.
In this address Mr. Adams gives a very clear and strong presentation of
the side of Massachusetts in the controversy with Williams which led
to his banishment.

212 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
be present) to be erroneous and very dangerous."
He insisted that all those who had ever partaken
communion with the Church of England should make
public repentance for having committed so great a sin.
But his political opinions were still more shocking to
the whole community. He contended that the colo
nists had been guilty of a great wickedness in accepting
from the king their charter, and that they ought forth
with to surrender it; that it gave them no title to the
lands which they occupied because, as he claimed, the
king had no right to give to his subjects what belonged
to the native Indians; that the magistrates had no right
to punish violations of the Sabbath or any other
violations of the first table; and that they had no
right to administer an oath to an "unregenerate
man," not even the oath of fidelity.* The author of
the "Magnalia" assures us that the whole country
was "like to be set on fire by the rapid motion of a
wind-mill in the head of one particular man."
Undoubtedly for the expression of such opinions In
England, if he had remained there, he wouldhavebeen
hanged or burned at the stake. The colonists banished
him, and, while we may condemn them for doing
even this, all can rejoice that they inflicted no severer
punishment. For some years after his banishment he and the
Rev. John Cotton bombarded each other at long
range with books and tracts, bearing the gory titles
of the "Bloody Tenent of Persecution," the "Bloody
Tenent washed and made white In the Blood of the
Lamb," and "the Bloody Tenent yet more Bloody."
• Hubbard His. New England, Mass. His, Coll., 2d Ser., Vol. S, p.
3o6; New England's Memorial, 6th ed., p. 103,

RISE AND FALL OF THE THEOCRACY. 213
In later 3'ears he himself became shocked at the con
temptuous conduct of the Quakers and hurled a book
at George Fox entitled, "George Fox digged out of
his Burrowes," and declared that "a due and moder
ate restraint and punishing" of their incivilities,
"though pretending conscience. Is so far from perse
cution, properly so called, that it Is a duty and com
mand of God unto all mankind,"
Further evidence that Williams's opinions of polit
ical and religious toleration underwent some decided
changes after his banishment from Massachusetts Is
afforded by his treatment of William Harris, who
went with him from Salem and for a long time
was his intimate friend. Afterwards there grew
up a bitter feud between them, and Williams caused
Harris's arrest for high treason, on account of utter
ances no more subversive of good government than
those for which Williams himself had been banished
from Massachusetts,* Nevertheless, there are In the
life of Williams some incidents that strikingly illus
trate his kindness of heart and the absence of the
feeling of resentment which, after such treatment as
he had received from the magistrates of Massachu
setts, would long have rankled in the minds of most
men. They are creditable to Winthrop also, but as
much can not be said of his Massachusetts associates.
Whatever may have been the feelings of the Massa
chusetts authorities toward Williams after his ban
ishment, it is certain that, to the end of his life,
while denouncing their religious intolerance, he en
tertained the most sincere affection for the people of
'Palfrey, Vol. 2, p. 365; Doyle's English Colonies in America, Vol.
I, p. 318.

2X4

THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.

the Massachusetts commonwealth. He and Win
throp continued to correspond with each other, and
each seems to have held the other in affectionate re
membrance. It was the intention of the Massachu
setts authorities to send WUlIams back to England,
but hearing of the plan he escaped and started upon
his perilous and memorable journey through the
wilderness. After his departure Winthrop wrote
advising him to ' ' steer his course ' ' to the Narra
gansett Bay, because of the "freeness of the place
from any English claims or pattents," and thither he
-went. Afterwards Williams repeatedly, and some
times at the risk of his life. Interposed his mediation
to reconcile the differences between the people of the
commonwealth and their Indian foes, and to advise
the authorities of the former of the latter's hostile
plots. In 1676, when Williams was seventy-seven and his
house had been burned, and he had been "in his old
age reduced to an uncomfortable and disabled state,"
the Council of Massachusetts "out of compassion to
him In this condition" passed an order "that if the
sayd Mr, Williams shall see cause and desire it, he shall
have liberty to repayre Into any of our Towns for
his security and comfortable abode during these
Public Troubles, he behaving himself peaceably and
inoffensively, and not disseminating and venting
any of his different opinions in matters of religion
to the dissatisfaction of any.''''
This was very scant and very tardy justice to
one who had done so much as Williams for the
commonwealth in its times of trouble. If the author-

RISE AND FALL OF THE THEOCRACY. 215
ities in Massachusetts had acted more liberalty and
more speedily they might have gained a little more
credit, where they needed so much, for toleration.
The next serious trouble was what is known as
the Antinomian controversy. This began about 1636,
and was chiefly stirred up by Mrs, Ann Hutchinson
and her brother-in-law, John Wheelwright, one of the
ministers in the new colony. Mrs, Hutchinson, a
woman distinguished for her Intelligence and sprightly
wit, had heard the Rev. John Cotton in England and
came to this country chiefly that she might again be
fed by his discourses. She had very decided and
original religious views of her own, which she did
not hesitate to express, and which did not correspond
exactly with those which were accepted by the major
ity of the colony ministers as orthodox. She also
professed to have received divine revelations. She
soon began to hold meetings at her house, at which the
sermons of the ministers were discussed and criticised.
"It was not long," Cotton Mather tells us, "before
'twas found that most of the errors, then crawling
like vipers, about the countrey, were hatched at these
meetings," held at the house of this "virago," Of
the new doctrines taught by Mrs, Hutchinson, one
was that most of the Boston ministers (Mr, Cotton
excepted) were under a "covenant of works," and
not under a "covenant of grace"; also that they were
not "sealed"; and another, more Intelligible and
more exasperating to them, was that "they were not
abel ministers,"*
Oliver states that "her disciples now denied, among
' Some of her "damnable doctrines" are enumerated in the Mag
nalia, Vol. 2, pp, 516, 517.

2l6 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
other truths the obligation of the moral law, the im
mortality of the soul, and the resurrection of the dead;
and a divine revelation had assured her of the destruc
tion of the Puritan commonwealth."* But Mrs.
Hutchinson, herself, did not advocate all these here
sies; at least she was not so charged in her subsequent
trial. Her brother-in-law. Wheelwright, speedily be
came a convert to her views, John Cotton, If not
won over by her teachings, evidently was deeply im
pressed by them. Sir Henry Vane was then governor.
It Is not certain how fully he understood or cared for
the differences between Mrs. Hutchinson and Wheel
wright and the other ministers, or whether he sided
with the Hutchinson and Wheelwright faction for
religious or for political reasons. Oliver insinuates
that he "embarked in the contention more to secure
the leadership of a party than for any real interest he
felt in the struggle," but it Is more probable, consid
ering Vane's visionary temperament, that he was
fascinated by the subtle novelty of the views of the
remarkable woman who came so near captivating the
entire Massachusetts commonwealth. At any rate.
Vane became one of her most enthusiastic sup
porters. Shortly before the expiration of his term of office
as governor. Vane declared that his private affairs re
quired him to abandon the office and return to Eng
land, and he requested permission to do so from the
General Court. At the same time he gave a dramatic
exhibition of his grief by bursting into tears when
^Puritan Commonwealth,'^. 17S.

RISE AND FALL OF THE THEOCRACY. 21 7
speaking of the cruel necessity which compelled him
to leave the country in its then distracted condition,
which was owing largely, he thought, to the "scan
dalous imputation brought upon himself, as if he
should be the cause of all." If, as Hutchinson In
timates, Vane was guilty of dissimulation in this the
atrical display. It did not have the desired effect upon
the level-headed, practical and unimaginative Puri
tans of the Massachusetts commonwealth, for they
refused to accept his resignation and did not carry out
the supposed Csesar programme by offering him the
crown a second time. It is certainly true that Vane,
notwithstanding his professed desire to resign, was
entirely willing to remain and continue In the office
of governor, else he would not have permitted his
name to go before the people again as a candidate
for that place.
Many others, especially in Boston, became con
verts of Mrs, Hutchinson and Wheelwright, and a
great commotion resulted. The people of Boston di
vided and the ministers divided, and the division
threatened to extend throughout the commonwealth.
To make matters worse. Wheelwright preached a
sermon, which, whether correctly interpreted or not,
was construed as a violent attack upon his brother
ministers and gave them great offense. He was there
fore summoned to appear before the General Court
to answer for his heretical teachings, and was ad
judged to be guilty of sedition, but no sentence was
then pronounced.
Thereupon a petition was presented to the General
Court, signed by many prominent citizens of Boston

2l8 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
and by some of the neighboring towns, remonstrating
against the proceedings in Wheelwright's case. The
remonstrance, even according to the version of it
given by Welde, one of the most bitter of Wheel
wright's accusers, seems to have been temperate in
its tone and contained nothing to warrant the sub
sequent proceedings against those who signed it.* No
attention was paid to the remonstrance at the time
when it was presented.
Here matters rested for a time, A general elec
tion was coming on. The candidate for governor of
the majority of the ministers was Winthrop, while
Vane was the candidate of the Hutchinson and
Wheelwright party, Boston had become so deeply
infected with heterodox notions that it was deemed
unsafe by the Winthrop party to hold the election
there, and a motion was made in the General Court
to hold the election at Cambridge, Vane refused to
put the motion, whereupon it was promptly put by
Endicott and carried. Vane also attempted to pre
sent the petition in favor of Wheelwright, but the
General Court refused to hear it until after the elec
tion. Election day was one of great and unusual
excitement, "There was," says Winthrop, "great
danger of a tumult that day; for those of that side
[Wheelwright's] grew into fierce speeches, and
some laid hands on others; but seeing themselves too
weak, they grew quiet, "^ Wilson, one of the min-
1 The copy preserved by Welde entitled "Remonstrance or Petition
by Members of Boston Church, in favor of Wheelwright, March, 1637.
Copied from the Book of their Antagonist, Thomas Welde, pp. 23-5,"
is given in Savage's edition of Winthrop, Vol. i, p. 481. See Doyle's
English Colonies in America, Vol, i, p. 131.
' Vol, i,p, 220,

RISE AND FALL OF THE THEOCRACY. 219
isters, mounted a tree and harangued the freemen in
favor of Winthrop, making, it is said, the first
"stump speech" ever made in America.
The day was carried, however, not by the oratory
of Wilson, but by the great name of Winthrop. The
country towns remained loyal to him and to the or
thodox ministers, and when the votes were counted
it was found that Winthrop had been elected and
that Vane and all of his party had been left out of
office. Vane himself soon after left America never
to return.
The character of this celebrated man, prominent
alike in the Massachusetts commonwealth and in
England In the most stormy political periods in both
countries, justifies more than a mere passing notice.
Vane, indeed, furnishes a striking Illustration of
the difficulty of reaching an accurate conclusion con
cerning the character of any man prominent in the
political affairs of his age. Accordingly as the writer
leans to or against republicanism in politics and
Puritanism in religion, his views are favorable or un
favorable to Vane, The great diversity of opinion
respecting Vane appears In the extracts from other
writers given us by Mr, Charles Wentworth Upham,
his American biographer,* and by Dr. Ellis In "The
Puritan Age."
That Vane was a man of great intellectual power
and executive ability there can be no doubt. It seems
to be equally clear that he was of that peculiar tem
perament which made him a visionary in religious
belief and an impracticable enthusiast In politics.
> Life of Sir Henry Vane, Vol, 4, Sparks's American Biography.

220 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
But there is a wide and irreconcilable difference of
opinion touching his character as a man, Milton has
immortalized him In verse, and Upham has portrayed
him in the most favorable light, Mr, Fiske, also,*
eulogizes him in terms of highest praise. An al
together different Impression is conveyed by Hutchin
son, who, as before stated, intimates that he was
guilty of dissimulation in the weeping episode
which characterized his attempted resignation as gov
ernor, and by Hume, who strongly intimates that, if
both Vane and his father were not Implicated in a
deliberate and disreputable plot to procure the con
viction of the Earl of Strafford, the conduct of the son
on that occasion was such as to justify a grave sus
picion at least with respect to his honor.
There is also a wide diversity of opinion as to
Vane's writings. Mackintosh is reported to have
said that they displayed "astonishing powers,"
Hume, on the other hand, characterizes them as
"wholly unintelligible," and classes him among men
of the greatest genius who "where they relinquish
by principle the use of their reason, are only ena
bled, by their vigor of mind, to work themselves the
deeper into error and absurdity,"
That which Vane's most enthusiastic admirers find
the hardest to explain or excuse. Is the part which
he took, after his return to England, in the impeach
ment trial of the Earl of Strafford. The latter's
conviction was based chiefly upon a copy, furnished
by Vane to Pym, who conducted the impeachment
proceedings, of some notes taken by his father (Sir
^Beginnings of New England, pp. 116-117.

RISE AND FALL OF THE THEOCRACY. 221
Henry Vane, the elder), when secretary of the
Privy Council, of alleged remarks made by Strafford
in relation to the subjugation of Scotland, Among
honorable men, independently of any law on the
subject, the advice given by a lawyer to his client Is
regarded as a privileged communication of the highest
character. Much more so should be the advice given
by a privy councilor to his sovereign. But the law
added an express obligation of secrecy by requiring
that every councilor, before taking his seat, should
make oath that he would "keep secret all matters
committed and revealed" to him in the council. If
the disclosure of the notes taken by Vane's father
was procured by any collusion between them, it
exposed both to the charge of basest perfidy. Un
fortunately for the fame of Vane there was enough
to raise at least a strong suspicion that there was such
collusion In the extraordinary story told by him and his
father explaining the manner in which the son got
possession of the notes, and why he gave a copy
of them to Pym.
The story told by Vane, the son, at the impeach
ment trial, was that the father, being in the north of
England, sent the keys to the boxes containing his pri
vate papers to his son, in order that the latter might
make search for a paper necessary to the making of
a settlement upon his wife. After having found the
papers for which he was directed to make search, he
was prompted, by mere curiosity, to see what was in
a red velvet cabinet, wherein he found the notes
taken by his father of Strafford's remarks in the
Privy Council. These made such a profound impres-

222 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
sion on him that he felt bound in conscience to
show them to Pym, and "being confirmed by him
that the seasonable discovery thereof might do no less
than preserve the kingdom, consented that he should
take a copy thereof; which to my knowledge he did
faithfully; and thereupon I laid the original in the
proper place again, in the red velvet cabinet." His
father was present when this remarkable story was
told by his son and he declared that this was the first
knowledge he had of the manner in which the con
tents of his notes had been disclosed, and he pro
fessed to be deeply mortified and offended by the
conduct of his son. What gave further strength to
the suspicion that the marvelous storj^ of the discovery
by the son of the father's notes was part of a con
cocted plot between them, was the fact that the father
was a bitter enemy of Strafford, and the further fact
that the father's notes were not corroborated by the
testimony of any of the councilors who were present
when the alleged remarks of Strafford were said to
have been made, four of whom, besides the elder
Vane, testified at the trial.
No one can read the account of this transaction
as given by Hume* without a strong impression that
the conduct of Vane, if not perfidious, was at least very
reprehensible. The account given by Upham, though
the professed admirer and eulogist of Vane, does not
remove this impression in the mind of one who can
didly and impartially weighs the evidence. The char
acter of Strafford, himself, bad as It was, and deserv
ing as he may have been of his fate, has no bearing
' His. England, Vol, 5, Chap, 54.

RISE AND FALL OF TKE THEOCRACY. 223
in determining the morality or the propriety of the
conduct of Vane.
This much, however, should be said in favor of
Vane: that when he himself was led to the scaffold,
the last victim to suffer death under the reign of
Charles II for alleged political crimes committed In
the preceding reign, he met death with manly forti
tude and heroic courage, and that, to the end of his
life, he was the friend of the Massachusetts colonists.
The Theocracy was now in full control, and the
charges against Wheelwright were speedily pressed
to a conclusion, resulting in his banishment.
Attention was next turned to the arch-mischief-
maker, Mrs. Hutchinson. From the brief account by
Winthrop we do not get a very clear Idea of the trial
of Mrs, Hutchinson, but a full report of it Is given
by the historian Hutchinson, one of her descendants,*
It is a humiliating record In which Winthrop, who*
presided at the trial, cuts a sorry figure, "We have,"
says Dr. EUis,^ "to fall back upon our profound im
pressions of the deep sincerity and integrity of his
character, his singleness and devotion of purpose,
and the consecration of his fortune and life to a be
loved work which he saw threatened with a dire and
humiliating catastrophe, to read without some falter
ing or misgiving of approval, not to say with regret
and reproach, the method with which he conducted
the examination of this gifted and troublesome
woman." No definite charges had been filed, so that the ac
cused could know certainly the precise nature of the
' Vol. 2, App., p, 423, et seq.
' The Puritan Age, p. 336.

2 24 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
accusations which were to be brought against her and
be prepared to meet them. Besides the governor,
there were present at the trial, Thomas Dudley, the
deputy governor, several of the assistants and depu
ties; and the ministers of Boston and the neighbor
ing towns were there in force. Including the "Apos
tle" John Eliot, Thomas Welde, Hugh Peter, Thomas
Shepard and others.
Against this formidable array of those who were
a,tonce her enemies, her accusers, and her judges, the
heroic woinan stood alone, unrepresented by counsel
or friend, but she bore herself with matchless skill
and self-command and with undaunted courage,
Winthrop opened the proceedings with the foUow-
,ing arraignment:
"Mrs, Hutchinson you are called here as one of those that
have troubled the peace of the Commonwealth and the
Churches here ; you are known to be a woman that hath
had a great share in the promoting and divulging of those
opinions that are causes of this trouble, and to be nearly
joined not only in affinity and affection with some of those
the Court hath taken notice of and pressed censure upon,
but you have spoken divers things, as we have been in
formed. Very prejudicial to the honour of the Churches
and ministers thereof; and you have maintained a meeting
and an assembly in your house that hath been condemned
by the general assembly as a thing not tolerable nor comely
in the sight of God, nor fitting for your sex and notwith
standing that 'twas cried down, you have continued the
same," To this vague accusation, Mrs. Hutchinson an
swered:

RISE AND FALL OF THE THEOCRACY. 225
"I am called here to answer before you, but I hear no
things laid to my charge."
Then there was a sharp running debate between
her and the governor, in which Mrs, Hutchinson
certainly held her own and finally forced Winthrop
to fall back upon the bald statement, which Mrs.
Hutchinson could not gainsay: "We are your judges,
and not you ours, and we must compel you to it."
The deputy governor and various elders in turn
essayed debate with Mrs, Hutchinson, but she met
their arguments with such dexterity, and quoted
scripture so abundantly, that all were worsted in the
encounter. Mrs. Hutchinson then desired that her accusers
might be required to "speak upon oath," especially
as they were "witnesses In their own cause," The
ministers manifested much reluctance to testify un
der oath, and for a time the trial proceeded without
any oath being required, and a rambling cross-fire
ensued, carried on between Mrs. Hutchinson and
various members of the court and several of the
ministers present. But Mrs. Hutchinson still Insisted
that her accusers, though ministers, should be sworn.
At this stage of the proceedings, neither Mrs.
Hutchinson nor the others present having any clear
idea of what the trial was about. Governor Win
throp found it necessary to make a further statement
of the charges, which he did as follows:
"Gov. Let us state the case and then we may know
what to do. That which is laid to Mrs, Hutchinson's
charge is this, that she hath traduced the magistrates and
Pur. Rep, — 15

226 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
ministers of this jurisdiction, that she hath said the minis
ters preached a covenant of works and Mr. Cotton a cove
nant of grace, and that they were not able ministers of the
Gospel, and she excuses it that she made it a private con
ference and a promise of secrecy Sec, — now this is charged
upon her, and they therefore sent for her, seeing she made
it her table talk, and then she said the fear of man was a
snare, and therefore she would not be afraid of them.
"Mrs. H, This that yourself hath spoken I desire that
they may take their oaths upon."
The debate was resumed on the question of swear
ing the accusers. The ministers were still reluctant
to be put on oath, Mr, Shepard said: "I know
no reason of the oath but the importunity of this
gentlewoman," Mr. Peter said: "We are tender
of it"; and the governor asked: "Shall we not
believe so many Godly elders in a cause wherein
we know the mind of the party without their
testimony.?" Mr, Eliot thought that the proper
method of proceeding was to examine the accused
and her witnesses first, "We desire," he said,
" to know of her and her witnesses Tvhat they
deny, and then we shall speak upon oath," Mr.
Harlakenden wanted to have her "put any pas
sage unto them and see what they say," whereupon
Mrs. Hutchinson promptly answered: "They say I
said 'the fear of man is a snare, why should I be
afraid?' When I came unto them, they urging many
things unto me and I being backward to answer at
first, at length this scripture came unto my mind,
xxixth Prov, 25. 'The fear of man bringeth a snare:
but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be

RISE AND FALL OF THE THEOCRACY. 227
safe.' " To this, all that the Rev, Mr, Harlakenden
had to say was: "This is not an essential thing," but
he asked Mrs. Hutchinson no more questions.
During the discussion about swearing the accusers,
Mr. Bishop, one of the deputies, ventured to ask
this question: "I desire to know before they be put
to oath, whether their testimony be of validity?"
Whereupon he was frowned down by the deputy
governor in this style: "What do you mean to
trouble the court with such questions? Mark what a
flourish Mrs, Hutchinson puts upon the business that
she had witnesses to disprove what was said, and
there Is no man to bear witness," Mr, Coggshall,
one of the Boston deputies, suggested that it was
"desired that the elders would confer with Mr. Cotton
before they swear," to which Endicott replied: "I
will tell you what I say, I think this carriage of yours
tends to further casting dirt upon the face of the
judges," Then it was determined to call Mrs, Hutchinson's
witnesses first, and Mr. Coggshall and Mr. Leveret
were called. Mr. Coggshall was quickly disposed of:
"Dep. Gov. Let her witnesses be called.
"Gov. Who be they?
"Mrs. H. Mr. Leveret and our teacher Mr. Coggshall.
"Gov. Mr. Coggshall was not present.
"Mr. Coggshall. Yes I was, only I desired to be silent
till I should be called.
"Gov. Will you Mr. Coggshall say she did not say so?
"Mr. Coggshall. Yes, I dare say that she did not say all
that which they lay against her.
"Mr, Peters [one of the ministers,] How dare you look
unto the Court to say such a word?

228 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
"Mr, Coggshall. Mr, Peters takes upon him to forbid
me. I shall be silent "
The substance of Mr. Leveret's testimony was
that Mrs, Hutchinson's explanation of the difference
between Cotton and the other ministers was, not that
the latter did not preach a covenant of grace, but
that they did not preach it "so clearly as Cotton did,"
During the trial Mr, Cotton came in and seated him
self beside Mrs, Hutchinson, and, after Coggshall and.
Leveret had been heard, the governor asked Cotton
to declare what he remembered of Mrs, Hutchin
son's words at the conference in question. It was.
a trying ordeal for this noted minister. If he had
not been converted to Mrs. Hutchinson's views he
had been deeply Impressed by them. "It is diffi
cult," says Hutchinson,* "to discover from Mr. Cot
ton's own account of his principles, published ten
years afterwards In his answer to Bailey, wherein he
differed from her." He evidently wished to testify In
a way to shield Mrs. Hutchinson as much as possible,
but he knew that he himself was under suspicion,.
and that all around him were catching his every
word and watching his every look and gesture.
For a time It seemed as if he, and not Mrs. Hutch
inson, was the accused, and one of the ministers (Mr.
Bartholomew) , apparently forgetting that it was the
former who was on trial, desired "to clear Mr. Cot
ton." The deputy governor wanted to know of
him whether he did "approve of Mrs, Hutchinson's
revelations as she hath laid them down," and Endi
cott bluntly asked him: "Whether do you witness
' Vol. I, p. 73.

RISE AND FALL OF THE THEOCRACY. 229
for her or against her ' ' ; and the deputy governor, after
hearing his explanation, told him: "Sir, you weary
me and do not satisfy me." Others prodded Mr.
Cotton until the governor came to his relief by say
ing: "Mr. Cotton is not called upon to answer to
anything, but we are to deal with the party hers
standing before us,"
Then Mr, Coddington (himself afterward ban
ished) desired "to speake a word," and asked: "What
if she designed to edify her own family in her own
meetings, may none else be present?" But the gov
ernor summarily cut him off with the answer: "If
you have nothing else to say but that. It Is pity, Mr.
Coddington, that you should interrupt us In proceed
ing to censure." Coddington, however, persisted In
expressing his opinion. He, alone, in all the as
sembly, had the courage to oppose Its action and to
state his reasons. He insisted that there was "no
law of God that she hath broken, nor any law of the
country that she hath broke"; that she was accused
only of what she had spoken in private to the elders;
that they had no right to make it public, and that it
was they and not she who "have broken the rules of
God's word."
Stoughton was one of those present who had
scruples about finding Mrs, Hutchinson guilty on th-
unsworn statements of her accusers "because," he
said, "she hath not been formally convicted as others
are by witnesses upon oath," and at this stage of the
proceedings he again Insisted that they be sworn,
whereupon the governor said: "In regard Mr,
Stoughton is not satisfied, to the end all scruples may

230 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
be removed we shall desire the elders take their
oaths." "Here, now,'' continues the record, "was a great
whispering among the ministers; some drew back,
others were animated on," Then Mr. Eliot and Mr.
Welde were sworn and testified as follows:
"Mr, Eliot. I do remember and I have it written that
which she spake first was, the fear of man is a snare, why
should she be afraid, but would speak freely. The question
being asked whether there was a difference between Mr.
Cotton and us, she said there was a broad difference, I
would not stick upon the words — the thing she said — and
that Mr. Cotton did preach a covenant of grace and we of
works, and she gave this reason — to put a work in point of
evidence is a revealing upon a work. We did labor then to
convince her that our doctrine was the same with Mr. Cot
ton's; She said no, for we were not sealed. That is all
that I shall say.
"Gov. What say you, Mr. Weld?
"Mr. Weld. I will speak to the things themselves — these
two things I am fully clear in — she did make a difference in
three things the first I was not so clear in, but that she said
this I am fully sure of, that we were not able ministers of
the New Testament, and that we were not clear in our ex
perience because we were not sealed.
"Mr. Eliot. I do further remember that also, that she
said we were not able ministers of the gospel, because we
were like the apostles before the ascension."
The report records the wretched conclusion of this
miserable judicial farce as follows:
"Gov. The Court hath already declared themselves sat-

RISE AND FALL OF THE THEOCRACY. 23 1
isfied concerning the things you hear, and concerning the
troublesomeness of her spirit and the danger of her course
amongst us, which is not to be suffered. Therefore if it be
the mind ofthe Court that Mrs. Hutchinson, for these things
that appear before us, is unfit for our society, and if it be
the mind of the Court that she shall be banished out of our
liberties and imprisoned till she be sent away, let them hold
up their hands.
"All but three.
"Those that are contrary minded hold up yours.
"Mr Coddington and Mr. Colburn only.
"Mr. Jennison [a deputy of Ipswich] I can not hold up
my hand one way or the other, and I shall give my reason
if the court require it.
"Gov. Mrs. Hutchinson, the sentence of the court, you
hear it, that you are banished from out of our jurisdiction as
being a woman not fit for our society, and are to be im
prisoned till the Court shall send you away.
"Mrs. H. I desire to know wherefore I am banished?
"Gov. Say no more, the Court knows wherefore, and is
satisfied." Mrs. Hutchinson had been cast out and the min
isters had solemnly adjudged themselves to be "able
ministers," but the Massachusetts commonwealth
was still a long way from religious liberty.
Winthrop tells us that "because it was winter they
committed her to a private house, where she was well
provided, and her own friends and the elders per
mitted to go to her, but none else."* She was im
prisoned in the house of Mr. Joseph Welde (brother
of the minister) of Roxbury. While there the elders
labored with her, but in vain. "When subjected,"
' Vol. I, pp. 246-7.

232 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
says Savage,* "to the perpetual buzzing of the cler
ical tormentor, she must have been more than woman,
not to prove incorrigible." She "persisted In main
taining those gross errors beforementloned, and many
others, to the number of thirty or thereabout,"
and so "the church, with one consent, cast her out,"^
and soon afterward she was banished from the com
monwealth. She and her husband went to Aquid-
neck in what is now Rhode Island. He died in 1642,
and in 1643 she and most of her family were murdered
by the Indians at one of the Dutch settlements in New
York near the west end of Long Island, No names are
more honored in Massachusetts to-day than those of
some of her patriotic and distinguished descendants,*
Mrs. Hutchinson having been disposed of, the
General Court next proceeded to put upon the rack
those who had signed the remonstrance against the
prosecution of the charges against Wheelwright, and
they were severely dealt with. Some, including
William Coddington and John Coggshall, who
were especialty obnoxious because they had favored
Mrs. Hutchinson on her trial, were banished,
and a large number. Including several prominent
citizens of Boston and the other towns, were humil
iated by being ordered to give up all their arms
and ammunition.* "The confusion in the colony
' Winthrop, Vol. i, p. 247 note.
' Winthrop, Vol, i, pp. 254, 25S,
' The Puritan historians do not fail to record the Divine judgments
visited upon Mrs. Hutchinson after her banishment, and Winthrop and
Cotton Mather both relate, with disgusting detail, the ridiculous stories
about her having been delivered of thirt}' monstrous births, "none of
any humane shape " corresponding in number with the monstrous opin
ions of which she had been convicted. Winthrop, Vol, i, p. 271;
Magnalia, Vol. 2, p. 19.
* Winthrop, Vol. i, p. 247,

RISE AND FALL OF THE THEOCRACY. 233
occasioned by these religious disputes," says Hutchin
son, "was very great, and it appears from the letters
then wrote from England, that they made great noise
there."* The great Cotton himself narrowly escaped. Prior
to the trial of Mrs. Hutchinson, his brother minis
ters, fearing that he had become contaminated by his
association with Mrs, Hutchinson and Wheelwright,
had labored with him in order to eradicate the hid
den germs of religious heresy, and with such success
that the differences between Cotton and his brethrert
diminished "so as, except men of good understand
ing, and such as knew the bottom of the tenets of
those of the other party, few could see where the dif
ference was."^ To make sure that he had been
thoroughly disinfected, he was subjected to a rigid
inspection. Some of the ministers "drew out six
teen points" upon which he was closely catechised.
"Some doubts he well cleared, but in some others
he gave not satisfaction."^ At the trial of Mrs.
Hutchinson the Theocracy was at high tide, and it
was then undoubtedly evident to Cotton, as it was to
every one else, that little more effort would be made
to persuade him, and that, if he dared openly to
avow the sentiments of Mrs. Hutchinson and Wheel
wright, he would as certainly and as relentlessly be
swept away as they had been. Cotton therefore
yielded and persisted in his effort to regain his former
standing until he had sufficiently established his or-
'Vol. i,p. 73.
'Winthrop, Vol. i, p. 221.
'Winthrop, Vol. i, p. 212.

234 ^^^ PURITAN REPUBLIC.
thodoxy, "andby that means," says Hubbard,* "did
that reverend and worthy minister of the gospel re
cover his former splendour," and thereafter he con
tinued to be a bright and shining light and chosen
champion against all "errors."
In 1646 what seemed at first to be a very for
midable and dangerous opposition appeared in the
form of a petition presented to the General Court by
William Vassal, Samuel Maverick, Robert Child and
others, complaining of the failure of the colony to
acknowledge the supremacy of the laws of England,
and the denial to those, who were not members of
the churches recognized by the colonists as orthodox,
of their civil and religious rights as Englishmen, and
praying that they might be allowed the privileges
then refused them or be freed from the taxes and
other burdens imposed upon them, and concluding
with an ominous threat that, if their petition were not
granted, "we and they shall be necessitated to apply
our humble desires to the Honorable Houses of Par
liament," Their petition having been refused, they
prayed an appeal to the Commissioners of Planta
tions in England, but this prayer was also refused.
Some of them being about to start to England to lay
in their complaints, their papers were seized, and
among them was found a petition to the Commis
sioners of Plantations, alleging the grievances com
plained of in the petition to the General Court, and
praying the same relief, also charging various usur
pations of authority and treasonable conduct and
speeches of the authorities and ministers, and asking
^Hist. N. B., Mass, Hist. CoU,, 2d Ser,, Vol. 5, p. 302.

RISE AND FALL OF THE THEOCRACY. 235
the appointment of a royal governor "or some hon
ourable commissioners."
The signers to the petition were heavily fined.
Maverick and ChUd and some others got back to
England and there renewed their complaints, causing
the colonists great alarm; but Cromwell and the In
dependents were then in power In England and they
were the steadfast friends of the authorities In Massa
chusetts. Mr, Winslow was instructed to defend the
colonists against the petitioners, "and by his prudent
management and the credit and esteem he was in
with many of the members of parliament and prin
cipal persons then in power, he prevented any pre
judice to the colony,"*
Notwithstanding the fact that so many heretics had
been banished or subdued, religious controversies did
not cease. The Baptists had not yet been effectually
silenced and another humiliating chapter was added
to the history of religious persecutions in Massachu
setts. The law against the Baptists, passed in 1644,
has already been mentioned. Numbers of them were
fined, whipped and banished.
The treatment of John Clarke, John Crandall, and
Obadiah Holmes Illustrates the severity with which
the Baptists were persecuted. All of them were
prominent citizens of Rhode Island, who had fled to
that colony from Massachusetts on account of their
religious belief. Clarke and Holmes were Baptist
ministers. The latter had been educated at Oxford.
In 1651, WUHam Witter, an aged, blind and infirm
Baptist at Lynn, requested that some of his Baptist
'Hutchinson, Vol. i, pp, 136-140.

236 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
brethren in Rhode Island might be sent to administer
the sacrament to him, and Clarke, Crandall and
Holmes visited him for that purpose. Before this
time Holmes had rendered himself specially obnox
ious to the Massachusetts authorities. On the next
day, Sunday, two constables entered Witter's house,
where Clarke was preaching to a few friends, and
arrested the preacher and his companions. As the
beginning of their punishment, they were taken
to the orthodox church In Lynn and compelled to
listen to the preaching of the minister, Mr. Whiting.
The next day they were taken to Boston and impris
oned. Cotton, after his escape from condemnation
as a heretic, never lost an opportunity of parading
his own orthodoxy, and he improved the present oc
casion by preaching a sermon. In which he is reported
to have said, "that denjdng Infants Baptism would
overthrow all, and this was a capitall offence; and,
ihQXQioxe., they tvere foul murthurers,'''' Endicott, In
order to Impress upon them the leniency of the
authorities, told them that they deserved to die, but
that their lives would be spared. All were fined.
Holmes being fined most heavily, with the further
penalty of being whipped for non-payment. Holmes
refusing to pay, or to allow his friends to pay, his
fine, was stripped and flogged. While he was being
so punished, two of the bystanders, taking pity upon
him, shook hands with him and expressed their sym
pathy, whereupon they also were fined. So fully had
the spirit of persecution possessed the authorities that
they caused the old and blind Witter to be presented

RISE AND FALL OF THE THEOCRACY. 237
to the next Salem court, "for neglecting discourses
and being rebaptized,''''^
A few years later (In 1654) Henry Dunster, the
first president of Harvard College, was degraded
from office for his denial of the validity of Infant bap
tism. There were other persecutions of the Baptists, but,
notwithstanding the fines. Imprisonments and banish
ments, they persisted in maintaining their faith. The
opposition to the persecution of men for their relig
ious opinions grew steadily, and every new persecu
tion increased the popular discontent, until in 1665
the Baptists established a church In Boston, where
they have maintained a church organization from
that day to this.
Other far more persistent and more resolute foes
now appeared to oppose and plague the pious Puri
tans. George Fox, the Quaker, had appeared in
England, and he and his converts had thrown that
kingdom into a tumult by their outlandish conduct
and crazy utterances. Some of his disciples crossed
the Atlantic, and in 1656 two Quaker women, Ann
Austin and Mary Fisher, boldly invaded the Massa
chusetts commonwealth. They seemed to take de
light in tormenting and defying the authorities. The
laws enacted ag'ainst them have been mentioned.
The fines, imprisonments and scourgings, which
were inflicted for violations of these laws, proved
utterly unavailing to keep out or to drive out these,
by far the most persistent of all the "pestilent here
tics" who had ever before opposed or vexed the com-
^ III Newes from New England, 2 Mass. His. Coll., 4th Ser., p, i,
et seq.; The Puritan Age, pp. 390-4.

238 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
monwealth authorities. Then banishment followed.
The penalty for returning after banishment was
death. But some of those banished persisted In re
turning, as if for the express purpose of defying the
authorities of the commonwealth, regardless of the
legal penalty.
To the authorities it seemed that to waver now
was virtually, not only to surrender to law-breakers,
but to abdicate In their favor. The authorities did not
waver. One of those who had returned after ban
ishment was sentenced to be hanged. But still the
Quakers came. Then another was sentenced to be
hanged, and then another, and then another, until
four ghastly corpses, three men and one woman, hung
insight of heaven and men — mute witnesses, more con
vincing by far in death than In life, giving awful proof
of the impotency of the Theocracy to make all Gtad's
children think alike, and of the immutable fact that
hanging a man, who sincerely believes that he is
right. Is the least effective of all arguments to con
vince him that he is wrong.
There was one more death sentence — that of Wen
lock Chrlstison — but it never was executed. There
were to be no more hangings in the Massachusetts
commonwealth of men and women for their opinions.
"The compassion of the people," says Hutchinson,
"was moved, and many resorted to the prison by day
and night, and upon a representation of the keeper a
constant watch was kept round the prison to keep
people off."*
The law affixing the death penalty for the return of
, 1 Vol. I, p. 185.

RISE AND FALL OF THE THEOCRACY. 239
banished Quakers had been passed by a slender ma
jority. When the victims of the former trials were
led to the scaffold armed troops accompanied them to
the place of execution, and patrols were posted about
the town to prevent an uprising of the people and a
possible rescue. The popular discontent was unmis
takable and threatening. Upon the trial of Chrlstison
the triers manifested unwonted hesitation. They de
liberated two weeks, and only the overpowering Influ
ence of Endicott induced them to yield an unwilling
verdict. The sentence never was executed. The exe
cution of it might have precipitated a rebellion.
Next came a message from the king of England,.
commanding that there should be no more executions
and that those confined in prison should be sent to
England for trial. To the imperious will of Endi
cott was presented the hard alternative of releasing
the prisoners, or acknowledging the right of English
courts to try offenders against the laws of the com
monwealth. The consequences to be apprehended
from the latter course were to be feared far more
than the consequences of the first, and so the bolts
were loosed and men came forth free who had ex
pected never more to walk in heaven's sunshine ex
cept from the prison to the scaffold,*
There were more whippings and civil punishments.
after that, but at last the bloody record was closed;
"the contest of will was at an end. The trial that
was to decide which party would hold out longest
had been made and the Quakers had conquered,"^
' The poet Whittier has commemorated the glad day for the Quakers
in the "King's Missive," to which poem is given the post of honor in
the Memorial History of Boston,
2 Palfrey, Vol. 2, p, 481.

XI
RISE AND FALL OF THE THEOCRACY
We can not severely censure the authorities of the
commonwealth for their harsh treatment of some
whom they refused to tolerate. Soon after the settle
ment of the colony there began to flock thither from
England men with all kinds of notions, which they
were not backward In propagating and which were
subversive, or thought to be so, not only of the re
ligious, but of the political foundations of the com
monwealth, "They were all," says Oliver,* who
can not be suspected of a desire to excuse or apologize
for Puritan intolerance, "characterized by offensive
qualities, and some of their peculiarities almost justify
the extravagant language in which the Puritan his
torian was accustomed to clothe his relations,"
Of these the Familists were fair samples, and, in
speaking of them, Oliver seems to be "almost per
suaded" to take the side of the Puritans, Of the
Familists he says:
"Among the first victims of the Puritan Church were the
Familists. These singular maniacs, who styled themselves
'The Family of Love,' owed their origin to David George,
of Delft, an enthusiast who believed himself the Messiah.
1 The Puritan Commonwealth, p. 194.
(240)

RISE AND FALL OF THE THEOCRACY. 24 1
They branched off into the various sects of Grindletonians,
Familists of the Mountains, of the Valleys, of Cape Order,
of the Scattered Flock, etc. They renounced the principal
doctrines of Christianity, which they held to be superseded
by the advent of David George, and are said to have prac
ticed among themselves the grossest libertinism.'"
The effect of their teachings is seen In the case of
Samuel Gorton, one of the most noted of the Fami
lists, who, wherever he went, immediately stirred up
a quarrel, not only with the churches, but also with
the civil authorities. The toleration of such fanatics
would have been much more difficult and much more
dangerous, at that period In the history of the com
monwealth, than would be the toleration of anarchists
in any of the states in the Union to-day.
The same excuse can not, however, be made for
the persecutions of the Baptists and the Quakers, It
has sometimes been attempted to excuse the hanging
of the Quakers on the ground that they were not
hanged for persisting in their religious opinions, but
for returning after banishment. For a long time the
standard apology was expressed, with more or less
elaboration, but substantially according to the follow
ing formula:
"A law was passed prohibiting Quakers from coming into
the colony, imposing the penalty of banishment upon the
first offence, and of death upon such as should return after
banishment. Four, who were so infatuated as to return
and obtrude themselves upon the notice of the government,
suffered the death which they appeared to seek." ^
' The Puritan Commonwealth, p. 194.
' Hale's His. United States, p. 37.
Pur. Rep. — 16

242 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
This does not help the matter, for, as main
tained by Mr. Hallowell and the Quaker historians,
the rulers of the commonwealth had no more au
thority to banish the Quakers than they had to hang
them. The claim of right to banish them is based
upon the assumption that the country belonged to
the Massachusetts Company, and that the members
of it had a lawful right to admit or to keep out whom
they pleased, and that, when they found any here
whose religious views and practices conflicted with
their own, they were justified In treating such comers
as intruders and in expelling them from the com
pany's territory.
But the assumption upon which this argument is-
based has no solid foundation. It Is incredible that-
King Charles or the Parliament intended to couple
with the gift of the large territory granted to the
Puritans authority to keep out of it every one that
did not profess the latter's religious opinions — even
members of the established church of England. No
clause in the charter can be so distorted as to bear
such a construction. On the contrary it was ex
pressly provided in the charter,
"That all and every of the subjects of us, our Heirs and
Successors, which shall goe to and inhabite within the saide
Lands and Premises hereby mentioned to be graunted, and
every of their Children which shall happen to be borne
there, or on the seas in going thither, or retorning from
thence, shall have and enjoy all liberties and Immunities of
free and Natural subjects within any of the Domynions of
Us, our Heirs or Successors, to all intents. Constructions,
and Purposes whatsoever, as yf they and everie of them
were borne within the Realm of England."

RISE AND FALL OF THE THEOCRACY. 243
With respect to the right of Baptists, Quakers, and
others that were not Puritans, to come here and live
here, and enjoy their own religious views and methods
of worship as freely as they might in England, we must
admit that this much at least was guaranteed by the
charter itself. And a fair and reasonable interpreta
tion of the charter leads to the conclusion that there
was nothing in it justifying their exclusion from the
exercise of the right to vote and from other privileges
of citizenship.
Another claim urged in behalf of the Puritans is,
that the commonwealth would have gone to pieces If
unlimited religious tolerance had been permitted;
but Mr, Charles Francis Adams* answers this by
showing that, upon a similar assumption, the defense
of religious intolerance at all times and in all coun
tries has been based.
So that, after all, the most that can be said in pal
liation of these Puritan persecutions is, that the per
secutors were sincere in their belief that they had a
right to do as they did, and that. In entertaining and
acting on such belief, they were no more intolerant
than were other civilized people of the same period.
Of the Quakers It may be said further that they
gave such provocation as was certain in that age,
and would be almost as certain in this, to arouse
the most angry and hostile opposition. For the
Quakers of those times were as different from the
Quakers of to-day as the Puritans were different
from their descendants who are now living.
It has been asserted that the Quaker women carried
^Massachusetts, Its Historians and Its History.

244 '^^^ PURITAN REPUBLIC.
their insulting defiance to the extent of exhibiting
themselves in a nude condition to the gaze of Puritans
assembled for religious worship. This is not denied
by their defender, Mr. Hallowell, but his explanation
is that the women who so acted were not in their
right minds, or that they were goaded to such un
seemly exhibitions by Puritan persecutions. Be this
as it may, it can not be denied that the Quakers went
far beyond the bounds of propriety and decency in
their efforts to annoy and tantalize the Puritans.
In our own day the conduct of the Salvation Army
has often provoked riots. But the wildest antics of
the Salvationists bear no comparison to the carefully
premeditated and offensive insults of the Quakers to
the Puritans. Sometimes these gentle disciples of
Fox would run howling through the streets, pro
claiming that the Lord was coming with fire and
sword to exterminate their Puritan brethren; at
other times they appeared in the churches in out
landish garb, sometimes with blackened faces, and
openly reviled the preacher and denounced woe upon
the congregation; at other times they broke empty
bottles before the preacher's face, reminding him of
his emptiness and that the Lord would likewise dash
him in pieces.
Hutchinson wrote his "History of Massachusetts" a
hundred years after the Quaker persecutions. He is
generally regarded as a careful and accurate histo
rian. He is certainly not a thick and thin apolo
gist for the Puritans, He says:*
"Some at Salem, Hampton, Newbury and other places,
^His. Mass., Vol. I, p, 187.

RISE AND FALL OF THE THEOCRACY. 245
for disorderly behaviour, putting people in terror, coming
into the congregations and calling to the minister in the
time of public worship, declaring their preaching, &c,, to
be an abomination to the Lord, and other breaches of the
peace, were ordered to be whipped by the authority of the
county courts or particular magistrates. At Boston one
George Wilson, and at Cambridge Elizabeth Horton, went
crying through the streets, that the Lord was coming with
fire and sword to plead with them. Thomas Newhouse
went into the meeting-house at Boston with a couple of
glass bottles, and broke them before the congregation, and
threatened, 'Thus will the Lord break you in pieces.' An
other time M. Brewster came in with her face smeared and
as black as a coal. Deborah Wilson went through the
streets of Salem, naked as she came into the world, for
which she was well whipped. For these and such like
disturbances they might be declared proper subjects either
of a mad-house or house of correction, and it is to be
lamented that any greater severities were made use of."
Such conduct in any church to-day would proba
bly provoke rough handling of the intruder. It cer
tainly would land him in jail, and he might deem
himself lucky if he escaped with no worse punish
ment. Long before the end of the commonwealth Itself
hostile forces were slowly but surely undermining the
power of the Theocracy. The Theocracy contained
in itself the elements of its own destruction. It was
based upon the idea of forcing all men to believe
alike. The effort to do so always breeds discord,
and the men who attempt It generally end by dis
agreeing among themselves. That was the course
of the Massachusetts Theocracy. The members of

246 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
it not only failed in their effort to compel others to
believe as they did, but they were continually dis
agreeing with one another.
New doctrines and new sects soon began to spring
up with amazing rapidity. The attempts to repress
them only strengthened them and created further
schisms. Every day It was becoming more and more
difficult to designate those of the genuine orthodox
stamp, "Eighty-two 'pestilent heresies' were counted
as having already sprung up in 1637; others say one
hundred and six; others two hundred and ten."*
At the first synod held at Newtown, in 1637, "there
were about eighty opinions, some blasphemous, others
erroneous, and all unsafe, condemned by the whole
assembly,"^ Besides the "erroneous opinions" discussed by the
«ynod In 1637 there were also found to be nine "un
wholesome expressions " and divers " scriptures
abused," What these erroneous and heretical opin
ions were "is written," says Mr, Savage,^ "in 'A
short Story of the Rise, Reign and Ruin of Antino
mians, Familists, and Libertines, that infected the
churches of New England,' by Thomas Welde, who
was one of the chief inquisitors,"
But it Is not material to the modern layman what
were the heretical opinions, since those approved by
the synod as orthodox are equally unintelligible.
"After the errors condemned, there were five points in
question, between Mr. Cotton and Mr. Wheelwright on the
•T, W. Higginson: The Puritan Minister, 12 Atl, Mon, 265-278.
' Winthrop, Vol, i, p, 238, See Ellis, Puritan Age, 330-333.
'Winthrop, Vol. i, p, 238, note i.

RISE AND FALL OF THE THEOCRACY. 247
one part, and the rest of the elders on the other part, which
were after reduced to three, and those after put into such
expressions as Mr. Cotton and they agreed, but Mr, Wheel
wright did not:
"I. The first was about our union with Christ. The
question was, whether we were united before we had active
faith. The consent was, that there was no marriage union
with Christ before actual faith, which is more than habitual.
"2. The second was, about evidencing justification by
sanctification. The consent was, that some saving sancti-
fications (as faith, etc.) were coexistent, concurrent, and
coapparent (or at least might be) with the witness of the
Spirit always.
"3. That the new creature is not the person of a be
liever, but a body of saving graces in such a one ; and that
Christ, as a head, doth enliven or quicken, preserve and act
the same, but Christ himself is no part of this new creature.
"4. That though, in effectual calling, (in which the an
swer of the soul is by active faith, wrought at the same in
stant by the Spirit, ) justification and sanctification be all
together in them ; yet God doth not justify a man, before he
be effectually called, and so a believer.
"5. That Christ and his benefits may be offered and ex
hibited to a man under a covenant of works, but not in or
by a covenant of works,'"
Moreover "other opinions brake out publicly in the
church of Boston, — as that the Holy Ghost dwelt in a be
liever as in Heaven; that a man is justified before he be
lieves; and that faith is no cause of justification. And oth
ers spread more secretly, — as that the letter of the scripture
holds forth nothing but a covenant of works ; and that the
covenant of grace was the spirit of the scripture, which
was known only to believers; and that this covenant of
works was given by Moses in the ten commandments ; that
' Winthrop, Vol. i, p. 239.

248 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
there was a seed (viz,, Abraham's carnal seed) went along
in this, and there was a spirit and life in it, by virtue
whereof a man might attain to any sanctification in gifts and
graces, and might have spiritual and continual communion
with Jesus Christ, and yet be damned. After, it was
granted, that faith was before justification, but it was only
passive, an empty vessel, etc, ; but in conclusion, the
ground of all was found to be assurance by immediate reve
lation. "All the congregation of Boston, except four or five,
closed with these opinions, or the most of them; but one
of the brethren wrote against them, and bore witness to the
truth ; together with the pastor, and very few others joined
with them,"'
It was in 1636, during the Antinomian troubles,
that religious vagaries and the dissensions growing
out of them reached their greatest height. Few now
know what were the doctrines included under the
term Antinomianism. They are not quite so inter
esting as the relics of the Saurian age, but those who
wish to know what they were will probably find in
Dr, Ellis's " Puritan Age "^ as lucid an explanation
of them as it is possible to impart to modern laymen.
"The differences in the said points of religion," says
Winthrop, "increased more and more, and the ministers of
both sides (there being only Mr. Cotton of one party)
did publicly declare their judgments in some of them, so as
all men's mouths were full of them. * * * Thus
every occasion increased the contention, and caused great
alienation of minds; and the members of Boston (frequent
ing the lectures of other ministers) did make much dis-
' Winthrop, Vol, i, p. 211.
/ Chap. 9.

RISE AND FALL OF THE THEOCRACY. 249
turbance by public questions, and objections to their doc
trines, which did any way disagree from their opinions;
and it began to be as common here to distinguish between
men, by being under a covenant of grace or a covenant of
works, as in other countries between Protestants and Pa
pists.'" So thoroughly had the people of Boston become
inoculated with "errors" that In 1636, as has already
been mentioned, it was deemed unsafe to hold the
General Court there, and It was moved that the next
one be held at Newtown.
"The town and country," says Hutchinson,^ "were
distracted with these subtleties, and every man and
woman who had brains enough to form some imper
fect conception of them, inferred and maintained some
other point."
The contagion of "error" spread to the General
Court itself and infected members so that "when any
matter about these new opinions was mentioned the
court was divided," though the "greater number
far were sound. "^
In the strife about theological quibbles, the mad
wrangle over metaphysical abstractions, the plain
and simple teachings of Jesus seem to have been
almost forgotten; the community was convulsed;
men's faith was unsettled; and there was imminent
danger of an explosion, liable to shatter into frag
ments both the Puritan creed and the Puritan gov
ernment.
'Vol. I, 213-214.
^Vol. i,p. 58.
s Winthrop, Vol. i, p. 214.

250

THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.

After Mrs. Hutchinson's banishment it was found
that many In Boston were tainted with various secret
opinions. Winthrop says:
"Some of the secret opinions were these:
"That there is no inherent righteousness in a child of
God, "That neither absolute nor conditional promises belong
to a Christian.
"That we are not bound to the law, not as a rule, etc.
"That the Sabbath is but as other days.
"That the soul is mortal, till it be united to Christ, and
then it is annihilated, and the body also, and a new given
by Christ.
"That there is no resurrection of the body.'"
Notwithstanding the banishment of Mrs. Hutchin
son and Wheelwright and their followers, "errors"
continued to thrive, and in May, 1646, the General
Court entered upon its records a long recital, setting
forth the necessity of establishing the right form of
church government and discipline "by ye joynt &
publike agreement & consent of churches & by ye
sanction of civill authority," which "must needs
greatly conduce to ye honor & glory of our Lord
Jesus Christ & to ye settleing & safety of church &
Commonwealth," and stating that differences of opin
ion had arisen about infant baptism and other ques
tions, about which " all members of the churches
(though godly & faithfuU) are not yet clearly sat
isfied," and appointed "a publike assembly of the
elders & other messengers of the severall churches
> Vol. I, p, 253,

RISE AND FALL OF THE THEOCRACY. 25 X
within this jurisdiction, who may come together &
meete at Cambridge upon the first day of September
now next ensueing, there to discusse, dispute & cleare
up, by the word of God, such questions of church
government & discipline in ye things afore mentioned,
or any other as they shall thinke needfuU & meete,"*
Later the synod was also requested "to set fourth a
confession of ye faith we do professe touching ye
doctrlnall part of religion also,"^
This synod promulgated in 1648 what Is known as
the Cambridge Platform, adopting the Westminster
Confession, and declaring that it was the duty of the
civil magistrates to suppress heresy. The result of
their deliberations was embodied in a book "inti
tuled a Platforme of Church Discipline out of the
Word of God &c," and in 1649 this, by order of the
General Court, was "commended to the judicious &
pious consideration of the severall churches within
this jurisdiction," and having been approved, was
adopted in x65x.^ This event is supposed by Mr.
Fiske* to have completed the theocratic organization
of the Puritan commonwealth.
Still erroneous opinions and pestilent heresies con
tinued to spring up. Five synods were held between
1637 ^**d 1680,^ "for the preventing schisms, heresies,
profaneness, and the establishment of churches In
one faith and order of the Gospel"; but the last
came no nearer accomplishing its purpose than did
¦ Mass. Rec, Vol. 2, pp. 154-8.
"Mass. Rec, Vol. 2, p, 200.
'Mass. Rec, Vol. 2, p. 285.
* Beginnings of New Eng,, p. 177,
'Palfrey, Vol. 3, 330, note 2.

252

THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.

the first. All utterly failed to make men think
alike in their religious belief. Not one heretical sect
had been rooted out; and new ones were springing
up on every hand, until it must have seemed to the
Puritan clergy that Satan himself had conjured out
of the lower depths, to perplex and terrify their souls,
the innumerable hosts of heresies that swarmed about
them. Again, commerce was expanding, both domestic
and foreign. Commercial transactions could not be
carried on in strict accord with Mr. Cotton's "rules
for trading," and the commercial interests were con
tinually clashing with the harsh restrictions imposed
by the Theocracy upon trade and commercial inter
course. Another potent factor, antagonistic to the Theoc
racy, was the growth of republican ideas. The seed
had been planted and a republic grew even in the
shade of the Theocracy. How It grew will be shown
in subsequent chapters.
Certain it is that a great majority of the people in
Massachusetts were opposed to the rigorous measures
against the Baptists and the Quakers, It is said that
Winthrop, upon his death-bed,* when pressed by
Dudley to sign an order for the banishment of some
heterodox person, refused, saying that "he had done
too much of that work already,"
So that, even if the charter had not been revoked and
if there had been no further royal interference. It is
probable that the Theocracy could not have lasted
many more years.
' Hutchinson, Vol, i, p. 142.

RISE AND FALL OF THE THEOCRACY. 253
But the revocation of the charter, which ended the
commonwealth, also gave a death blow to the Theoc
racy. Its power was broken and shattered never
again to be restored, and the dream of a Biblical
commonwealth vanished forever.
It would be unjust to the ministers to assume that
they were all fanatics; still more unjust to say that
they were not sincere; it would be preposterous to
suppose that they were such hideous monsters, such
fiendish hypocrites, as they have been painted by
Oliver and Brooks Adams. The latter in speaking
of the connection of the ministers with the witchcraft
delusion* says:
"Although, at a moment when the panic had got beyond
control, even the most ultra of the clergy had been forced
by their own danger to counsel moderation, the conserva
tives were by no means ready to abandon their potent allies
from the lower world ; the power they gave was too alluring.
* * * They therefore saw the constant acquittals, the
abandonment of prosecutions and the growth of incredulity
with regret. * * * Men with such beliefs and lured
onward by such temptations, were incapable of letting the
tremendous power superstition gave them slip from their
grasp without an effort on their own behalf, and accordingly
it was not long before the Mathers were once more at work. ' '
Here is a distinct and deliberate charge that the
"priests" were malignant, hypocritical human fiends,
willing, in order to strengthen their own power, to
encourage belief in a wretched delusion which was
making the land red with the blood of its victims and
was sapping the very foundations of the community.
' Emancipation of Massachusetts, pp. 230-32.

254 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
And this charge is made without any evidence to
support it, other than the isolated expressions of a
few, not sufficient to justify so shocking an accusa
tion even against them.
It is scarcely necessary to add that the frightful
specters which Mr. Adams sees are not real human
beings; they are "the gloomy companions of a dis
eased imagination," conjured up by some frenzy
which Junius characterizes as "the melancholy mad
ness of poetry without its Inspiration,"
We ought never to forget that after the fall of the
commonwealth, when Massachusetts lay prostrate
and helpless under the feet of Andros, the five Puri
tan ministers of Boston, to quote the striking language
of Mr, Foote,* "were the steel point of the spear
which Massachusetts held steadily before her breast,"
Foremost of them all was Increase Mather. Nor
should we forget that, from that time until the Rev
olution, the New England clergy stood fast by the
side of the people in their struggle for independence.
The clergy was never subdued, and from New Eng
land pulpits there never failed to come inspiration
to the people and defiance to their oppressors.
Dr. Ellis says, and rightly, too, that, in forming
our conclusions concerning the religious and political
persecutions by the Puritans of the commonwealth
period, we should judge them by the ideas of the
age in which they lived, and not by the ideas of re
ligious and political toleration which are the product
of centuries of thought and experience. Mr, Charles
Francis Adams meets this argument by the assertion
^Rise of Dissenting Faiths, Mem, Hist, of Boston, Vol. i, p. 205.

RISE AND FALL OF THE THEOCRACY. 255
that It Is illogical to apply it in favor of men who ad
vocated religious and political toleration for them
selves on the east side of the Atlantic, but denied it
CO others on the west side. The impression evi-
lently sought to be conveyed by Mr, Adams is, that
the Puritans themselves were hypocritical, or at least
inconsistent. But the Puritans made no claim to being the
champions of religious and political toleration, as we
now understand these terms, on either side of the
Atlantic, They did not affirm that the state or the
church should tolerate political or religious heresies,
on the ground that men had a right to entertain
them and to advocate them, even though they were
heresies. We of this age and country generally concede that
a man may believe and advocate what doctrines he
pleases, however erroneous we may deem them, be
cause, without this concession, we can not have free
speech and a free press; just as we allow every man
to vote as he pleases, because, otherwise, we can not
have a free ballot. But in the age in which they
lived neither the Puritans nor any other people were
familiar with such exalted ideas of religious and
political toleration. These are the product of ages,
welded in the fires of persecution and tempered by
the blood of countless martyrs.
The Puritans did not pretend that the English gov
ernment ought to tolerate their opinions, regardless
of what they might be. They fully and sincerely
believed, as it was then almost universally believed
in England and in all the American colonies, that re-

256 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
ligious and political heresies should be put down, and
that, in putting them down, it was justifiable to in
flict the last penalty of the law. If they could have
been convinced that their own opinions were errone
ous, they would have conceded fully the right of state
and church to forbid the advocacy of them. What
they maintained was, that It was wrong for the English
government to punish their religious views, not be
cause it had no right to punish men for advocating
heretical views but because their views were not
heretical, and they asserted for themselves, on this
side of the Atlantic, the right to punish the persons
whom they did punish for their religious views, be
cause, as they believed, such views tvere heretical,
and dangerous to their church and state. In other
words, shortly stated, the Puritans conceded the right
to suppress heresies, and in exercising it they arrogated
no greater authority to themselves than they con
ceded to others. But they contended that the opin
ions which they themselves entertained, and for
which they were punished in England, were not
heresies, while the opinions of those who oppressed
and opposed them were heresies.
So while the Puritans, as we now look at the
matter, were wrong In these persecutions, they were
not inconsistent, and to their mistakes and faults,
grievous as they were, we should not add the sin of
hypocrisy. Whatever else they were, they were not
hypocrites. They did not "devour widows' houses
and for a pretence make long prayers," They were
intensely earnest in all their religious and political
-convictions. Among them, undoubtedly, were some

RISE AND FALL OF THE THEOCRACY. 257
who could stand by without flinching and see an
other burned at the stake for his opinions; but these
same men would unhesitatingly have taken the
victim's place in vindication of their own. The
death of the Rev, Hugh Peter illustrates a type of
Puritan heroism that was not rare. He was one of the
early colonists In Massachusetts and took an active
part in the trial of Ann Hutchinson. After residing
seven years In the colony, he returned to England
and became one of the staunchest of Cromwell's
supporters In the civil war. He was prominent in
the army and stood armed on the scaffold at the exe
cution of Archbishop Laud. After the restoration of
Charles II, he was tried, convicted and sentenced to
be executed for treason. John Coke, who had re
ceived the same sentence, was executed first, and in
the presence of Peter was butchered with all the
diabolical art of the age. He was first hanged,
then cut down alive, disembowled, his head cut off
and his body quartered. The executioner, reeking
with blood, after all this had been accomplished in
full view of Peter, turned to him and asked him
with savage glee: "Mr. Peter, how like you that
work.?" Undaunted, he replied: "You have butch
ered one of the servants of God before my eyes and
have forced me to see it in order to terrify and dis
courage me; but God has permitted It for my sup
port and encouragement," and he submitted to
his own doom with unflinching fortitude. Such was
what might be called the heroism of the intolerance
<of that age, the only quality it had upon which we.
Pur. Rep. — 17

258 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
in this age, can base even a feeble apology for it. Of
whatever there was heroic in It the Puritans pre
sented the highest types.
If they were not in advance of the times, they
were not behind them, in their views of religious
and political toleration, and we shall fall into a griev
ous error if we suppose that all the religious intoler
ance and bigotry of that age were concentrated In
Massachusetts during the period of the common
wealth. Divesting ourselves of either sympathy or
prejudice, we need not be surprised to find that the
idea of religious and political toleration had not
made much headway among the early Puritans. It
was an age of religious and political intolerance.
The history of the 1 7th century and of the preced
ing centuries presents a frightful picture of religious
persecutions. In the picture there are always a gal
lows, a hangman, and a victim. The figures at the
gallows change every moment like those in a kaleido
scope. Catholics, Protestants, Puritans, Quakers,
Baptists, religious martyrs of every creed, appear
and disappear in endless succession. The hangman
and the victim seem to be continually changing places..
The gallows alone remains fixed. It never changes
and the hanging never stops.
In justice to the Puritans we should bear in mind
that most of the other American colonies, no matter
by whom settled or controlled, were equally intoler
ant. The Quakers were persecuted almost every
where except in Rhode Island and Pennsylvania, So
late as 1660, a law of Maryland, styled Quaker
preachers "vagabonds," and authorized them to be

RISE AND FALL OF THE THEOCRACY. 259
apprehended and whipped. Baptists fared little
better anjrwhere than did the Quakers. They were
persecuted in all the colonies and enjoyed no freedom
except in Rhode Island, Pennsylvania and Delaware.
New York and most of the colonies had laws against the
Catholics. In 1664 we find the Maryland assembly,
in a law against blasphemy, including in a general
sweep, "Schismatic, Idolater, Puritan, Lutheran,
Calvinist, Anabaptist, Brownist, Antinomian, Bar-
rowist. Roundhead, etc."*
If the Quakers were not hanged in Virginia, It was
not because of the leniency of the law-makers, but
was owing probably to the fact that none who were
banished ventured to return. The Virginia act,
passed in x66o, was as follows:^
"An Act for the suppressing the Quakers.
"Whereas there is an unreasonable and turbulent sort of
people, comonly called Quakers, who contrary to the
law do dayly gather together unto them unlaw' 11 Assem
blies and congregations of people teaching and publishing,
lies, miracles, false visions, prophecies and doctrines, which
have influence upon the comunities of men both ecclesias
ticall and civil endeavouring and attemping thereby to de
stroy religion, lawes, comunities and all bonds of civil
societie, leaveing it arbitrarie to everie vaine and vitious per
son whether men shall be safe, lawes established, offenders
punished, and Governours rule, hereby disturbing the pub
llque peace and just interest, to prevent and restraine which
mischiefe, ft is enacted. That no master or comander of
any shipp or other vessell do bring into this coUonie any
1 Dillon's Oddities of Colonial Legislation, 21-S^; Hildreth's History
United States, Vol. i, pp. 514, 519; Dr. Hurst on Religious Develop
ment, in First Century of the Republic, 473,
' Hening's Statutes at Large, Vol, I, pp. 532-3.

26o THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
person or persons called Quakers, under the penalty of one
hundred pounds sterling to be leavied upon him and his
estate by order from the Governour and Council or the com-
issioners in the severall counties where such shipps shall
arrive. That all such Quakers as have beene questioned or
shall hereafter arrive shall be apprehended wheresoever they-
shall be found and they be imprisoned without baile or main-
prize till they do abjure this country or putt in security with
all speed to depart the collonie and not to returne again:
And if any should dare to presume to returne hither after
such departure to be proceeded against as contemners of
the lawes and magistracy and punished accordingly, and
caused again to depart the country. And if they should the
third time be so audacious and impudent as to returne
hither to be proceeded against as ffelons. That noe person
shall entertain any of the Quakers that have heretofore been
questioned by the Governour and Council, or which shall
hereafter be questioned, nor permit in or near his house any
Assemblies of Quakers in the like penalty of one hundred
pound sterling. That comissioners and officers are hereby
required and authorized as they will answer the contrary at
their perill to take notice of this act to see it fully effected
and executed. And that no person do presume on their
peril to dispose or publish their bookes, pamphlets or li-
bells bearing the title of their tenents and opinions,"
Other laws were enacted In Virginia making it a
finable offense to attend Quaker meetings, to bring
Quakers to the colony or to entertain them after their
arrival. In 1663 Mr. John Porter, one of the bur
gesses in the Virginia House of Representatives, was
expelled for divers offenses, the chief of which was
that he was "loving to the Quakers and stood well
affected towards them."*
^ Hening's Statutes at Large, Vol. 2, p. 198.

RISE AND FALL OF THE THEOCRACY. 26 X
There was also a barbarous provision in the Vir
ginia laws, to the effect that If any Quaker was un
able to pay a fine assessed against him for violation
of these laws, "then it shalbe lawfull to levy and
recover the same from the rest of the ^ahers or
other seperatists, or any one of them then present,
that are of greater ability to pay the said fine or
fines."* The Virginia law against Anabaptists made it
a finable offense for any one to refuse to have his
children baptized.
Nor would the Puritans have fared any better in
Virginia than the Episcopalians fared in Massachu
setts, Conformity to the Church of England was
enjoined by law, and absence from church services
was a finable offense. Another law expressly re
quired "that the Gov, and Counsel do take care
that all nonconformists upon notice of them shall
be compelled to depart the coUony with all con-
venlencie,"^ Daniel Gookin was driven from Vir
ginia for nonconformity and went to Boston. In
1648 two Puritan ministers, who went from Massa
chusetts to Virginia, were banished from the latter
state by Governor Berkley because they would not con
form to the Church of England,^ Others were fined
and Imprisoned and nearly all were driven out of the
colony and compelled to seek refuge in Maryland
and New England,* Indeed, so late as 1745, the
Virginia judges were charging grand juries to find
'Hening's Statutes at Large, Vol. 2, p. 181.
2 Hening's Statutes at Large, Vol. i, p. 277.
'Winthrop, Vol. 2, p, 334,
*Cooke's History Virginia, 173.

262 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
bills of indictment against Methodists, Moravians and
New Light Presbyterians.*
Even those who had themselves been banished
from Massachusetts and who, atthe time, complained
most bitterly of the "Intolerance" from which they
had suffered, do not seem to have been any more
tolerant to those who at a later period differed from
them. This is shown by the experience of Samuel
Gorton, the Famillst. After leaving Massachusetts
he went to Plymouth, and, having been forced to
leave there, he went to Rhode Island, where, by or
der of Coddington, the governor, who had himself
left Massachusetts on account of the alleged intoler
ance of the authorities, he was first imprisoned and
then whipped. He then sought shelter at Provi
dence, which was granted by Roger Williams, but
he had not been there long until divers of the inhab
itants sent a petition to the Massachusetts authorities
"to lend them a neighbor-like helping hand to ease
them of their burden," for the reason that "the said
Gorton nor his company are not fit persons to be re
ceived in and made members of such a body In so
weak a state as our town is in at present,"^
When we listen to the bitter, and oftentimes flip
pant, denunciations of Puritan intolerance we are apt
to forget that the progress of religious and political
toleration Is very slow, with a constant tendency to a
relapse into intolerance of the rights of the minority,
when the power passes into the hands of a large
majority and the persons composing It are all of one
' Dillon's Oddities of Colonial Legislation, 267-269,
* Palfrey, Vol. 2, pp. 117-119; Hutchinson, Vol. i, pp. 112-113.

RISE AND FALL OF THE THEOCRACY. 263
way of thinking. The progress of religious and
political toleration is dxie, not so much to advanced
and liberal ideas of the right of others to differ from
us In religious and political belief, as it is to the grow
ing conviction that we must concede this right to
others in order to secure It for ourselves. It was not
Thomas Jefferson and the infidels who prevented the
recognition of religion in the constitution of the
United States. There were people then, as now,
who clamored to have "God in the constitution,"
But every denomination that had suffered from
religious persecution was opposed to taking any
steps which might be the initiative to the renewal of
such persecutions, and they feared that such a pro
vision in the constitution would lead to the establish
ment by the government of the creed of some other
denomination. In Virginia the most vigorous pro
tests against levying a general assessment for the
support of religion were from the Presbyterians, the
Baptists, and the Quakers.*
It is indeed very easy to persuade ourselves that
another man's "Ism" is fanaticism, and it is very
hard for us to distinguish between rightful repression
of error and the persecution of those who differ froin
us in what we consider vital principles.
Religious and political Intolerance in this country
did not disappear with the decline of Puritanism.
More than two hundred years after the persecution
of the Quakers in Massachusetts there was a meeting
in Boston of some respectable and pious women, en
gaged in what they conscientiously believed to be a
^' Dr. Hurst in First Century of the Republic, ^'j<).

264 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
philanthropic work. They had read a portion of the
Bible and had offered up a prayer to God, when
their place of meeting was surrounded by a howl
ing, furious mob which dispersed the assembly.
A man in sympathy with the object of the meet
ing was present. In those days he was called a
fanatic. With wonderful persistence and devotion
to principle he had established a newspaper In Boston,
of which he was the chief editor, printer, and car
rier. The principles he advocated did not please the
mob and it thirsted for his blood. Having discovered
him, the mob seized him, tore his clothes from him,
and dragged him through the streets with a rope
around his neck. Finally he was rescued by the
mayor and some citizens and was put Into the Lever
ett street jail to save him from being murdered.
Upon the walls he wrote an inscription telling that
he "was put into this cell on Monday afternoon Oc
tober 21, 1835, to save him from the violence of a
respectable and Influential mob who sought to destroy
him for preaching the abominable and dangerous
doctrine that all men are created equal, and that all
oppression is odious In the sight of God."
What was the object of this mob ? It was to sup
press the freedom of speech and of the press, that
human slavery might be perpetuated. Was the
action of the mob approved.? Most certainly, and
by a very large number of people of the United
States, who, in different parts of the Union, en
gaged in similar and even more atrocious outrages.
This was long after the "emancipation" of Massa
chusetts is supposed to have been accomplished. It

RISE AND FALL OF THE THEOCRACY. 265
is hardly necessary to add that the members of the
mob, their aiders, abettors and sympathizers, in Mas
sachusetts and elsewhere In the United States, were
not Puritans, The name of the man who was the
object of the mob's vengeance does not "stand in a
shadow," Clarum et venerabile nomen. ^
Even the Quakers have not always been as toler
ant as might be supposed from their denunciation of
the intolerance of the Puritans. It seems that one
of the first laws they passed in Rhode Island, after
they had obtained a charter in 1663, was a law ex
cluding Roman Catholics from the right to vote and
to hold office.^
A still more significant and humiliating record of
their attitude towards the Abolitionists is furnished
by the records in Indiana. In that state in 1842,
when the virus of slavery had well-nigh poisoned the
whole nation, Abolitionism became unpopular, even
among the Quakers.
"Strange as it may seem," says Mr. Coffin,' "to the
rising generation who read the part of Friend's Discipline
relating to slavery and who would naturally suppose that
they would give their support to every movement opposing
slavery, there was a spirit of opposition to Abolitionism at
tributable to various causes, which had almost impercepti
bly crept in among Friends, and which manifested itself in
the yearly meetings," "We were advised," he says, "not
to unite in abolition societies nor to open our meeting-houses
for abolition meetings. This took place at the yearly meet
ing in the fall of 1 842 . These advices were sent down to
' Wilson's Rise and Fall of the Slave Power, Vol. i, p. 284.
2 Hildreth's His. United States, Vol, i, p. 461; Palfrey, Vol. 4, p. 472.
^ Reminiscences of Levi Coffin, pp, 230-232.

266 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
quarterly and monthly meetings with a committee to see
that they were carried out. Thus we had no alternative;
we must separate or be disowned for opposing the advice of
the body, as they called it." They were not hanged, it is
true, nor banished from this land, but they were banished
from the society. "We were proscribed," continues Mr.
Coffin, "for simply adhering to what we believed to be our
Christian duty, as consistent members of the Society of
Friends in regard to the anti-slavery movement in uniting
with others in anti-slavery societies, opening our meeting
houses for anti-slavery meetings to plead the cause of the
oppressed, and laboring for the spread of anti-slavery truth
in every way we could, consistent with our profession as
Christians, we asked only liberty of conscience — freedom to
act according to these conscientious convictions."
This testimony of Mr. Coffin is fully corroborated
by Mr, George W. Julian, in a paper entitled, "The
Rank of Charles Osborn as an Anti-Slavery Pioneer,"*
Osborn and several others were proscribed and
driven out and spoken of as "gone, fallen, and out
of the life," for persisting in the advocacy of aboli
tion sentiments.
"It will probably be news to thousands," says Mr, Julian,
"that the Quakers thus succumbed to the power of slavery;
but such is the melancholy fact, and they have no right to
escape history. Among the rank and file of the body in
Indiana there were doubtless very many true anti-slavery
men ; but at the time of which I speak the chief rulers be
lieved in colonization and gradual emancipation. They took
special pains, in dealing with legislative bodies, slaveholders
and the public, to inform them that they had no connection,
' Ind. His. Soe, Pub,, Vol, 2, pp. 264-265.

RISE AND FALL OF THE THEOCRACY. 267
in any way, with abolitionism. They so assured Henry
Clay while in Richmond, Leading members frequently re
iterated the charge that abolitionists had 'put back the cause
of emancipation' ; and some of them insisted that aiding
slaves on their way to Canada involved men in the crime of
man-stealing. Many of the rulers of the denomination in
the eastern as well as the western states had 'their ears
filled with cotton,' They discoursed very piously about the
attempt of abolitionists ' to abolish slavery in their own
strength,' and argued that paying men for anti-slavery lect
ures was opposed to the Quaker testimony against a 'hire
ling ministry.' Ministers, elders and overseers took the
lead in these reactionary proceedings ; and it was one of
the curiosities of human nature to find the followers of John
Woolman and Anthony Benezett laboring with their breth
ren for attending anti-slavery meetings, closing the doors of
their churches against anti-slavery lectures, and setting up
a system of espionage over the publication of anti-slavery
articles by members of the society. Such men as Isaac T.
Hopper, among the Hicksite Friends, and Arnold Buffum,
among the Orthodox, were disowned for their fidelity to the
slave. This work of proscription was generally based upon
some false pretense, as was the fact in the case of Mr.
Buffum. In dealing with Mr. Osborn and his associates,
the Indiana yearly meeting did its best to cover up the ugly
fact that they were degraded on account of their anti-slavery
principles. With great dexterity in the use of scripture,
much circumlocution, and a cunning and tergiversation that
would have won the heart of Talleyrand or Loyola, they
played their game of ecclesiastical tyranny ; but the facts
of the transaction, as now seen in the clear perspective of
history, leave them perfectly unmasked. I have carefully
examined the documents and papers pertaining to the con
troversy on both sides, and speak from the record. Strange
as it may seem, the claims of justice were ]so completely

268 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
subordinated to the peace and unity of the society that
even a deputation of English Friends, who came over
as mediators in this trouble, utterly refused to look into the
merits of the controversy, and insisted upon the uncon
ditional return of the seceding members to the body which
had so flagrantly trampled upon their rights. Humanity
was forgotten in the service of a sect, and Quakerism itself
disowned by its priesthood."
All this testimony goes to prove that the Quakers,
with the awful example of Puritan Intolerance, and
the added advantage of the ideas and teachings of two
hundred years of civilization, so late as 1842, had
made no such marked advance over the Puritans in
the direction of religious and political toleration as
we might be led to expect from their opportunities
and professions and from the vigor with which they
abuse their former persecutors.

XII

PLANTING THE SEED OF A REPUBLIC; DEVEL
OPMENT OF THE TOWN SYSTEM AND LOCAL
SELF-GOVERNMENT The distinguishing feature in the government of
the Massachusetts colony was the town system.
The Idea of local self-government has become a
fixed and marked feature of American government.
A few years ago we saw 15,000 persons moving into
Oklahoma Territory one night, an election held at 4
p. M. on the next day and all the machinery of local
government put In motion. That could not have
been accomplished anywhere in the world except in
the United States, and its accomplishment is one of
the results of the American principle of local self-
government, which. If it did not originate in New
England, was developed sooner and more fully there
than anywhere else.
Local governments of one kind or another had
existed for centuries in England and In the rude Ger
manic tribes,* Speaking of local self-government In
America, Judge Cooley says that "the system Is one
which almost seems a part of the very nature of the
race to which we belong," and that "In America the
' Howard's Local Constitutional History of United States; Pomeroy's
Constitutional Law, 2d ed., sees, 158-164.
(269)

270 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
first settlers, as if instinctively, adopted it in their
forms of government."*
Whatever may have been the origin of local self-
government, the form of it which is presented in the
New England town governments undoubtedly ori
ginated there. Nor does the New England town
system seem to have been patterned after any known
model. Nothing like it existed in England or else
where In America,
Some have supposed that the New England towns
were patterned after the free cities of the twelfth cen
tury or the ancient Anglo-Saxon towns. Others have
referred the origin of the New England town system
to the signing of the compact in the cabin of the May
flower, That was indeed one of the most striking
events in history. He must be dead to every noble
and generous impulse who can stand in Plymouth's
Pilgrim Hall, surrounded by all the precious relics
of our forefathers, and look upon the painting repre-
, senting the signing of the compact without catching
some of the inspiration of the painter. We see a little
company of exiles three thousand miles from home,
crowded In a small and leaky vessel, worn and weary
with a voyage over stormy seas, leaving kindred and
abandoning forever their birth-places and seeking a
home in a far-off wilderness. We see men with
brave and resolute hearts, preparing to bind them
selves by solemn covenant to set up a government
for the making of "just and equal laws." It is in
deed a spectacle which men will never tire of praising.
It touches a chord in human nature that will vibrate
' Cojistitutional Dim., 5th ed., 227; see also Dillon's Municipal Cor
porations, Vol, I, 3d ed,, eec. 9,

PLANTING THE SEED OF A REPUBLIC. 271
to the end of time. But after all this has been said,
we must say that the signing of the compact was not
the origin of local self-government in America, It
did not furnish a model of it, and it is certain that it
had not the slightest influence in molding the town
governments of New England.
It would seem, at first blush, as If the New Eng
land town governments arose spontaneously, but
we know that there is nothing spontaneous in the
formation of government any more than there is in
nature. "Men did not wake on a summer morninof,"
to quote from Mr. Mill,* "and find them growing,"
This much may be said, that they were sui generis.
"They were not," says Prof. Joel Parker, "founded
or modeled on precedent," ^ Prof, Parker says further;
' 'They were not contrived in the closet, nor in the hall of
the legislative assembly, and brought into existence with the
powers and duties which we find attached to them, by the
enactment of a law for that purpose. They did not burst
into mature life by any previous contrivance, but, like most
other useful machinery, they had their origin in the wants
of the time, and came into existence by a gradual process
from imperfect beginnings."
Many of the laws of England would have been
wholly unsulted to the early New England settle-
' Representative Government.
^ Paper on The Origin, Organization and Influence of the Towns of
New England, read December, 1865; Proc, Mass, His. Soe, 1866-7, p.
20; see further as to New England towns, Howard's Local Constitutional
History of United States, Chap, on Rise of the New England
Town, pp, 50-99; Abner G. Goodell, Jr., Paper on Origin of Towns
in Massachusetts, read February, 1890; Proc. Mass. His. Soe, Vol. 5,
2d Ser., p. 320.

272 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
ments. The exigencies of the situation made it nec
essary to adopt many new laws and regulations.
Moreover, each settlement was, to a great extent,
isolated from the rest. For a long time the means of
communication were difficult and often dangerous.
Each settlement, therefore, in the nature of things,
was left to devise a form of local government adapted
to Its own wants. In the formation of such a gov
ernment the settlers doubtless had in mind the prin
ciples and forms of local government with which
they had been familiar in England. Undoubtedly
they had In mind the most advanced English ideas of
political liberty, and especially the fundamental prin
ciples of the English constitution. And it is quite
certain that they copied largely. In the formation of
their scheme of town government, from the form of
the church government of that branch of dissenters
from the established church of England which after
ward developed into the Congregational church in
this country. Indeed the common name of "mod
erator" was applied alike to the presiding officers of
both town and church meetings.
The causes above mentioned were the principal if
not the only factors producing the system of New
England town government.
However the system of local self-government may
have originated. It became a fixed feature of govern
ment long before the adoption of any of our consti
tutions, national or state, and it Is recognized im
pliedly, if not expressty, in all of them. The system
was developed fully in the Massachusetts common
wealth. As soon as towns began to grow up the

PLANTING THE SEED OF A REPUBLIC. 273
necessity of some form of local government became
apparent. The first is said to have been in Dor
chester where the inhabitants met on October 8,
1633, and adopted the following:
"An agreement made by the whole Consent and vote of
the Plantation, made Moone day Sth October 1633. Im
primis. It is ordered that for the Generali good and well
ordering of the affayres of the plantation, there shall be
every Mooneday before the Court by eight of the clocke in
the morning and presently, upon the beating of the drum a
generali meeting of the inhabitants of the plantation at the
Meeting House, there to settle and sett downe such orders
as may tend to the generali good as aforesayd, and every
man to be bound thereby without gainsaying or resistance,"'
Twelve selectmen were appointed to hold monthly
meetings, with authority to make orders subject to the
approval of the plantation.
The Dorchester plan Is said to have served as a
pattern for other towns, although Prof. Parker ex
presses the opinion that the plan of managing the
affairs of the towns by selectmen, which after
wards became general, originated in Charlestown,
where "In 1635 'in consideration ofthe great trouble and charge
of the inhabitants by reason of the frequent meeting of the
townsmen in general, and that, by reeson of many men
meeting, things were not so easily brought unto a joint
issue,' they made a compact by which it was agreed by the
townsmen jointly 'that eleven men, with the advice of
¦ Samuel J. Barrows, Dorchester in the Colonial Period, i Mem. Hist.
of Boston, 427.
Pur. Rep.— 18

274 "^^^ PURITAN REPUBLIC.
pastor and teacher, desired in any case of conscience, shall
entreat of all such business as shall concern the townsmen,
the choice of officers excepted; and what they or the
greater part of them shall conclude, the rest of the town
willingly submit to as their own proper act.' The eleven
persons thus chosen were 'to continue in this employment
for one year.' "
In 1634 towns were authorized to select represent
atives, afterward called deputies, to represent them
in General Court,* but they were not fully recognized
and authorized to act as separate local municipalities
until March 3, 1635-6, when the General Court made
the following order:
' 'Whereas particular townes have many things which con-
cerne only themselves & the ordering of their owne affaires,
and disposeing of business in their owne towne, it is there
fore ordered that the ffreemen of every towne, or the major
parte of them shall onely have power to dispose of their
owne lands & woods with all the prevelidges & appurte
nances of the said townes, to graunt lotts & make such orders
as may concerne the wellordering of their owne townes, not
repugnant to the lawes & orders here established by the
Generali Court, as also to lay mulks & penaltyes for the
breach of theis orders & to levy & distreine the same, not
exceeding the sum of 20s ; also to chuse their owne par
ticular officers, as constables, surveyors for the high wayes
& the like."
This order made further provisions for accounting
by the constables to the General Court when called
upon by it to do so.^ Afterward this provision was
incorporated in the Body of Liberties.^
"Mass. Rec, Vol. i, p, ii8.
2 Mass. Rec, Vol, i, p. 172, Col. Laws, 1660-1672, p. 195.
^Col, Laws 1660-1672, p. 47.

PLANTING THE SEED OF A REPUBLIC. 275
The chief officers of the town were the selectmen,
who were elected yearly and whose number was not
to exceed nine. These were Invested with extensive
powers In reference to ordering "the planting & pru
dential affaires of their Townes, according to instruc
tions given them in writing."
Besides the selectmen, there was also a town clerk,
whose office imposed important duties. There were
also commissioners of rates, whose duties corre
sponded to those of assessors, highway surveyors,
fence viewers, and later commissioners for the trial
of small causes.
Chiefly upon the marshals or constables rested the
¦duty of preserving order and observance of the laws.
From May ist to the last of September there were
night watchmen, under the supervision of the con
stables, whose duty it was to "duely examine all
Night- Walkers after ten of the clock at Night (un-
les they be known peacable Inhabitants) to enquire
whither they are going, and what their busines is,"
and, in case they could not give a satisfactory explana
tion, then they were to be taken in custody until morn
ing and then taken before the magistrate and com
pelled "to give satisfaction for their being abroad at
that time of night." The watchmen were likewise to
arrest all persons "behaving themselves any wayes
debauchedly, or shall be In drink"; and to see "all
Noises in the street stilled, and lights put out," The
putting out of lights, however, was, partly at least,
for the prevention of fires.*
The official business of the town was transacted in
* Col. Laws, 1660-1672, pp. 19S-9.

276 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
town meetings. At these, as before stated, none but
freemen were allowed to vote. The meetings were
generally held In the meeting-house used for relig
ious services, and they were opened with prayer. A
moderator presided and had the casting vote. If he
refused to put a question to vote the meeting might
appoint "any other meete man of them to do it. And
if there be just cause, to punish him that should and
would not." The voting was by a show of hands or
by dividing the house,
"Every man whether Inhabitant or fforreiner, free
or not free," had liberty to come and "either by
speech or writeing to move any lawfull, seasonable,
and materiall question, or to present any necessary
motion, complaint, petition. Bill or information,
whereof that meeting hath proper Cognizance, so
it be done In Convenient time, due order, and
respective manner."* Any man behaving himself
offensively at such meetings could be fined by those
present "so be It the mulct or penaltie exceede not
twentle shillings,"
The cardinal idea of the New England town sys
tem was that the nearer government Is brought to
the people, the more clearly It shows their senti
ments and reflects their will, and that this is the de-,
sideratum in local affairs. This was the New Eng
land idea of both civil and church government.
Whatever was discussed In the town meetings was
discussed thoroughly, and whatever action was taken
by them was the result of intelligent and deliberate
conviction. Therefore the vote of the people of New
'^Liberty No. IS, Col, Laws 1660-1672, p, 35.

PLANTING THE SEED OF A REPUBLIC. 277
England in their town meetings was a far more re
liable index to their sentiments than the vote of their
representatives in either state or national legislature.
In these little democracies the cardinal principles
of political equality, opposition to tyranny, and free
dom of speech were taught, and taught in such a
way that they were never forgotten.
The town system has continued in New England
without substantial change to this day in all portions
except large cities. Even Boston continued to be
under the old system of government until 1822. The
town meetings were not only schools for political de
bate and instruction, but they were nurseries for the
propagation of republican principles. Nor does the
town system diminish in importance by lapse of time
and change of circumstances. It is to-day the strong
est bulwark against centralization and usurpation of
power by either national or state legislative depart
ments. Mr. Bryce* says that "where It [the popula
tion] Is of native American stock and the number of
voting citizens is not too great for thorough and calm
discussion, no better school of politics can be imagined,
nor any method of managing local affairs more
certain to prevent jobbery and waste, to stimulate
vigilance and breed contentment,"
It was chiefly through these town organizations
that New England In the colonial period was enabled
to maintain a school system so greatly superior to
that of any other portion of the country.
As a political factor, the influence of the town or
ganization was immense. "The town," says Mr.
^American Commonwealth, Vol. i, p, 566.

278 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
Howard,* " was the political atom in a most vital
sense." The advantage which the town organization gave
New England In the Revolutionary period is clearly
shovi^n by Professor Parker in the paper already re
ferred to:

"It was through these agencies and this organization that
the measures of the Mother Country were discussed, when
the controversy arose between her and the colonies. And
if the merits of this controversy were better understood by
the great mass of the people in New England than in any
other portion of the country of similar extent, which I
doubt not was the case, it was owing, in no small degree,
to these town incorporations : first, in furnishing the educa
tion; and, second, in the facilities they afforded for gather
ings of the people and the discussion of the subject.
"There was no extraordinary effort necessary to secure a
meeting, whenever one was desired. The machinery for pro
ducing it was all ready. It only required to be put in opera
tion. No stumps were needed on which to utter patriotic
harangues. The meeting-houses were well adapted to that
purpose. It was thus that great masses of the people were
influenced to an active and ardent patriotism.
' 'At the same time the most perfect facilities were fur
nished for a full knowledge, not only of those who were
friendly to the crown, but of the various degrees of their
hostility to the popular cause, from that of lukewarmness to
that of rabid Toryism.
"It was through these organizations that the way was
prepared for resistance, not only in sentiment, but in ma
terial. Depots of military stores were provided, to a
* Local Constitutional History United States, p. 60.

PLANTING THE SEED OF A REPUBLIC. 279
limited extent only ; but, so far as such provision was made,
it was mostly by the towns.
"Great Britain rightly judged that a portion of the country
so organized was the most dangerous ; and all the events of
the time led to the striking of the first blow here.
"It was through these organizations that an industrious
yeomanry while following the plow, and the diligent tenants
of workshops while handling their tools, were converted
into an armed soldiery, on the first news that the British
had left the limits of Boston and were marching into the
country. The dragons' teeth which produced that harvest
were sown in the shape of farmers and mechanics, who,
holding themselves in readiness, as 'minute men', required
but the heat of warlike intelligence to burst into full life and
vigor as a patriotic army,
"But for these towns. New England could not have been
prompt to meet the crisis, and to assert the rights of the
colonies by an armed resistance which made itself felt and
respected from the very moment of the onset. By driving
back the enemy discomfited, notwithstanding his partial
successes, she gave confidence in the result of the war, if
war must come.
"It was through their organization that law was enforced
and order sustained, during the period when war had sub
verted the administration of justice, which had previously
existed, and peace had not arrived to substitute another.
The towns organized under their own provisional govern
ment, as in the days of the earliest settlement, adopted
regulations, and instituted an authority which reduced the
refractory to obedience, and prevented the state of anarchy
which must otherwise have existed to a greater or less de
gree. "It was through these towns that the great mass of the
people of New England were not only prepared to throw

2So THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
off an allegiance which had become oppressive, but that
they had anticipated the action of Congress upon that sub
ject. The several averments or accusations in that bill of
indictment, the Declaration of Independence, had been pre
viously asserted and sustained by resolutions, over and over
again, in the town meetings of New England."
Jefferson was not a lover of New England, but in
a letter written in 1816 to Joseph C. Cabell,* he pays
this high tribute to New England towns and to their
power to mold and solidify public sentiment:
"Where every man is a sharer in the direction of his
ward republic, or of some of the higher ones, and feels that
he is a participator in the government of affairs, not merely
at an election one day in the year, but every day; when
there shall not be a man in the state who will not be a
member of some one of its councils, great or small, he will
let the heart be torn out of his body sooner than his power
be wrested from him by a Caesar or a Bonaparte. How
powerfully did we feel the energy of this organization in the
case of embargo? I felt the foundations of the government
shaken under my feet by the New England townships.
There was not an individual in their states whose body was
not thrown with all its momentum into action ; and although
the whole of the other states were known to be in favor of
the measure, yet the organization of this little selfish minor
ity enabled it to overrule the Union. What would the un-
wieldly counties of the middle, the south and the west do?
Call a county meeting, and the drunken loungers at and
about the court-houses would have collected, the distances
being too great for the good people and the industrious gen
erally to attend. The character of those who really met
would have been the measure of the weight they would have
^Jefferson's Works, Vol. 6, p. 544,

PLANTING THE SEED OF A REPUBLIC. 281
had in the scale of public opinion. As Cato, then, con
cluded every speech with the words, ' Carthago delenda est,'
so do I every opinion, with the injunction, "divide the
counties into wards.' Begin them only for a single purpose;
they will soon show for what others they are the best instru
ments." The early town records show a great variety of
orders and regulations. These related chiefly to
grants of land, the location and building of meeting
houses, roads, bridges and pounds, the appointment
of fence viewers, animals running at large, bounties
for wolves, provisions for churches and schools, and
such other matters as we should naturally expect to
find the subject of town action in any new country
under like conditions.
At a later period counties were organized and offi
cers were elected suitable to such organizations, but
the town organizations continued to be, and still are,
the most important of the local organizations.

XIII
HOW THE REPUBLIC GREW— ESCAPE FROM
DEMOCRACY
It is not probable that the colonists on their arrival
here had any very distinct ideas about the kind of
government which should be established. The pro
jected enterprise was an experiment. It might end
in failure to establish any kind of government.
It Is clear that, at least in the beginning, the clergy
did not look with favor upon anything bearing the
semblance of a democracy. "Democracy," said
John Cotton, "I do not conceyve that ever God did
ordeyne as a fitt government eyther for church or
commonwealth. If the people be governors who shall
be governed? As for monarchy and aristocracy they
are both of them clearely approoved and directed in
scripture, yet so as referreth the soveraigntie to him
selfe, and setteth up Theocracy in both, as the best
forme of government in the commonwealth, as well
as in the church,"*
Cotton also thought that "a Magistrate ought not
to be turned into the condition of a private man with
out just cause and to be publicly convict," and some
years later (1639) one of the elders "declared his
^Letter to Lord Say and Seal (1636), i Hutchinson History Mass.,
437 App.
(282)

HOW THE REPUBLIC GREW. 283
judgment that a governour ought to be for his life,
alleging for his authority, the practice of all the best
commonwealths in Europe, and especially that of
Israel by God's own ordinance,"*
The Rev. Samuel Stone, who came from England
in the same ship that brought Cotton and Hooker,
when asked to describe the Congregational church-
government, said that: "It was a speaking Aristocracy
in the face of a silent Democracy,"^ This exactly
describes the attitude, long maintained in the Massa
chusetts commonwealth, by the clergy to the people.
Nor is it probable that the freemen themselves, in
the beginning, contemplated a republic. When they
fled from England they fled not so much from mon
archy as from the monarch. Still they recognized
that monarch as their sovereign and clung with
great pertinacity to the charter which he had given
them. But they brought with them inherited ideas
of the rights of subjects and of constitutional guar
antees against arbitrary power, then more fully de
veloped in England than anywhere else on the globe.
So that, almost from the beginning of the com
monwealth, there was a struggle on the part of the
freemen against the exercise of arbitrary power by
the rulers, and, for several years, the struggle was
open and at times bitter.
The Rev. Nathaniel Ward advised in 1639 against
the submission of the laws, then being prepared, to
the "common consideration of the freemen," for, he
says, "I see the spirits of the people runne high and
'Winthrop, Vol. i, pp, 132, 301.
'Magnalia, Vol. i, p, 437.

284 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
tvhat they get they hould.'''''^ Winthrop, in the same
year, observed "how strictly the people would seem
to stick to their patent, where they think it makes
for their advantage, but are content to decline it,
where it will not warrant such liberties as they have
taken up without warrant from thence . " ^ In a let
ter to Hooker, he thought that he and his associates
who formed the government of Connecticut had com
mitted a grievous error in submitting its constitution
to the body of the people, because, he said, "the
best part Is always the least, and of that best part the
wiser part Is always the lesser. The old law was,
choose ye out judges, etc, and thou shalt bring the
matter to the judge," ^
As soon as the company was established in
America, the assistants assumed the name and func
tions of "magistrates," and also the law-making
power, and at a General Court held in Boston in Oc
tober, 1630, they obtained a vote authorizing them
to select the governor and the deputy governor from
their own number. At the same General Court it
was ordered that the assistants, "when there are to
be chosen," should be chosen by the company at
large, the implication from this being that, when
elected, they were to hold for life or during good be
havior. These assumptions of power were not
kindly received, even by the freemen, and we may
be sure that the non- voting population looked upon
such assumptions with jealous eyes and ill-concealed
' Mass. Hist, Coll., 4th Ser., Vol. 8, pp, 26-27.
2 Vol. 1, p. 303.
' Winthrop, Vol. 2, p. 350.

HOW THE REPUBLIC GREW, 285
dislike. The freemen themselves soon began to
make complaint and to assert their rights.
In 1 63 1 the General Court ordered the levy of a
tax for the purpose of fortifying Newtown, and £8
was laid on Watertown, as its share of the burden,
but "the pastor and elder, etc., assembled the peo
ple and delivered their opinions that It was not safe
to pay moneys after that sort, for fear of bringing
themselves and posterity into bondage.'''''^ They
were pacified, however, for a time, by being assured
that "this government was rather in the nature of a
parliament," in which they were represented by as
sistants chosen of all the freemen. But this assur
ance did not long satisfy the freemen, and at the
General Court In 1632 they secured the right to elect
"two of every plantation to confer with the Court
about raising a public stock," ^ At the same Gen
eral Court, that there might be no further doubt on
the subject, it was ordered that, not only the gov
ernor and the deputy governor, but also the assist
ants should be chosen annually at the general elec
tion.^ The order made in 1632 for the selection of depu
ties by the towns to represent them in matters of rais
ing public revenues, seems to have led In 1634 ^o the
selection of deputies to represent the towns generally
in the sessions of the General Court, and three were
allowed for each of eight towns then existing. This
was a very Important step. It had become very in
convenient, and in fact impracticable, with the in-
^ Winthrop, Vol. i, p, 70.
^Mass. Rec, Vol. i, p. 95.
'Winthrop, Vol. i, pp. 75-76.

286 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
crease of population and the extension of the settle
ments, for all the freemen to mxCet at every session of
the General Court, and, in order that the great body
of the freemen might have any voice in its proceed
ings, it was necessary that they should be repre
sented in the meetings by deputies of their own
choosing. Still the patent nowhere authorized the
selection of deputies, and this was one of the in
stances alluded to by Winthrop when he said that
the freemen were quick to take liberties without any
warrant in the charter for so doing.
The long struggle of the freemen, which resulted
in the adoption of the Body of Liberties, has been
described in a former chapter,*
At the General Court in 1636, provision was made
for a "Standing Council," consisting of a certain
number of magistrates whose tenure of office should
be for life, unless removed upon conviction of crime
or other sufficient cause, and soon after Winthrop,
Dudley and Endicott were chosen members of it.
There was not a shadow of authority for this in the
charter, and none but the three named were ever
elected members of it. Still it was regarded as a
"sinful Innovation," and the people became the
more jealous of it by reason of the renewal of the
talk about electing a governor for life, "as if there
had been some plot to put it in practice," and by
reason also of the order reducing the number of
deputies for each town from three to two, which "oc
casioned some to fear that the Magistrates intended
to make themselves stronger and the deputies weaker
1 Chapter III.

HOW THE REPUBLIC GREW. 287
and so in time bring all power into the hands of the
Magistrates," So strong were the protests that in
1638 it was ordered that "no person chosen a Coun
cilor for Life should have any authority as a Magis
trate, except he were chosen in the annual elections
to one of the places of magistracy established by the
patent," Much as the people confided in Winthrop, they
were by no means willing to see him in office for
life, and from 1633 to 1637 he was left out of office,
and during this interval no one was re-elected gov
ernor, this being done, as Palfrey supposes, in order
that the freemen might emphasize their hostility to
life terms and vindicate their own right to elect.
There was opposition again to the election of Win
throp in 1639, "not out of any dislike of him (for
they all loved and esteemed him)," but out of fear
lest his re-election "might make way for having a
governour for life.''*
For a time the deputies and the assistants sat to
gether as one body, and on several occasions a ma
jority of the deputies had voted one way and a ma
jority of the assistants a contrary way, but the diffi
culty had been passed by without settling the disputed
claim of the assistants to a negative vote. The first
notable clash between the deputies and the assistants
occurred when Hooker and his friends in 1634 ap
plied to the General Court for leave to settle in the
Connecticut country. The majority of deputies were
in favor of granting their petition but the majority of
the assistants were against it. Thereupon the Gen-
Winthrop, Vol. i, p, 299.

288 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
eral Court agreed to keep a day of humiliation and
prayer and adjourned to meet the next week. "At
the opening of the court," says Hutchinson,* "Mr.
Cotton preached from Hag. x x , 4 'Yet now be strong
O Zerubbabel saith the Lord, and be strong O Joshua
the son of Josedech, the high priest; and be strong, all
ye people of the land, saith the Lord, and work: for I
am with you, saith the Lord of hosts,' " With deli
cate sarcasm Hutchinson adds that "his sermon was
as pertinent to the occasion as his text," but, never
theless, he "prevailed upon the deputies to give up
the point at that time."
At the General Court in 1642 "there fell out," as
Winthrop says, "a great business upon a very small
occasion," A poor widow, Mrs, Sherman, and Capt.
Keayne,^ a rich man, got into a dispute about a stray
pig, and the dispute found its way into the courts and
from there Into the General Court, where a majority
of the deputies sided with the widow while a major
ity of the assistants sided with the rich man, and so
numerous were the widow's adherents that she had
a large majority of the total vote.
This conflict of opinion extended throughout the
commonwealth, and revived the old controversy about
the right of the assistants to a negative vote, and into
the controversy was Injected a greal deal of passion
and bitterness. The matter "was agitated with so
hot a zeal," says the author of "The Magnalia,"*
"that a little more and all had been in the fire.'''' It
' Vol. I, p, 47.
' I infer from the records that he was the same person whose trial for
extortion is mentioned in Chap. VI.
" Vol, I, p. 126.

HOW THE REPUBLIC GREW. 289
was a critical time, for, upon the outcome of the con
troversy hinged the determination of the question
whether the future development of the commonwealth
should be in the direction of a democracy or in the
direction of a republic.
The freemen had made rapid and great advances
toward a democracy. Heretofore the deputies sat with
the assistants as one body. It was now claimed that
the majority vote of the whole body should be deci
sive, although the majority of the assistants, or all of
them, should be of a contrary opinion. If this claim
had been conceded the result would have been an
almost pure democracy; for the deputies, the as
sistants, and the governor, were all elected annually;
the governor had no veto power, and, if the assist
ants had been shorn of the right to a negative vote,
there would have been no checks nor balances, such
as are now generally conceded to be essential to pre
vent hasty and ill-considered legislative action, and
the proposed democracy would doubtless soon have
gone to pieces.
The assistants were firm. The deputies were
equally firm. The clergy sided with the assistants,
but still the deputies held out. Again Winthrop
faced responsibility at the risk of losing popularity.
He upheld the claim of the assistants to the right of
a negative vote. The result of this was that the
next year, and always afterward, the deputies and
the assistants sat as separate bodies. Conflicts be
tween the two bodies afterwards arose and they
were sometimes bitter, notably so in the case of the
Pur. Rep. — 19

290 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
Hingham train-band, which arose in 1645. Again
Winthrop sided with the assistants. For this the
deputies demanded an inquiry into his conduct.* The
inquiry was granted and Winthrop was acquitted.
At his trial he made "a little speech."^ What he
said will always be as worthy of careful consideration
as when his words were spoken:
"The great questions," he said, "that have troubled the
country, are about the authority of the magistrates and the
liberty of the people. It is yourselves who have called us
to this ofiSce, and being called by you, we have our author
ity from God, in way of an ordinance, such as hath the
image of God eminently stamped upon it, the contempt
and violation whereof hath been vindicated with examples
of divine vengeance. I entreat you to consider, that when
you choose magistrates, you take them from among your
selves, men subject to like passions as you are. Therefore
when you see infirmities in us, you should reflect upon your
own, and that would make you bear the more with us, and
not be severe censurers of the failings of your magistrates,
when you have continual experience of the like infirmities
in yourselves and others. We account him a good servant
who breaks not his covenant. The covenant between you
and us is the oath you have taken of us, which is to this
purpose that we shall govern you and judge your causes by
the rules of God's laws and our own, according to our best
skill. When you agree with a workman to build you a ship
or house, etc., he undertakes as well for his skill as for his
faithfulness, for it is his profession, and you pay him for
both. But when you call one to be a magistrate, he doth
not profess nor undertake to have sufficient skill for that
office, nor can you furnish him with gifts, etc., therefore
' Mass. Rec, Vol, 2, p, 97.
' Winthrop, Vol. 2, pp. 228-230.

HOW THE REPUBLIC GREW. 29 1
you must run the hazard of his skill and ability. But if he
fail in faithfulness, which by his oath he is bound unto, that
he must answer for. If it fall out that the case be clear to
common apprehension, and the rule clear also, if he trans
gress here, the error is not in the skill, but in the evil of
the will, it must be required of him. But if the case be
doubtful, or the rule doubtful, to men of such understand
ing and parts as your magistrates are, if your magistrates
should err here yourselves must bear it.
"For the other point concerning liberty, I observe a great
mistake in the country about that. There is a twofold lib
erty, natural (I mean as our nature is now corrupt) and
civil or federal. The first is common to man with beasts
and other creatures. By this, man, as he stands in relation
to man simply, hath liberty to do what he lists ; it is a lib
erty to evil as well as to good This liberty is incompatible
and inconsistent with authority, and can not endure the least
restraint of the most just authority. The exercise and
maintaining of this liberty makes men grow more evil, and
in time to be worse than brute beasts ; omnes sumus licen
tia deteriores. This is that great enemy of truth and peace,
that wild beast, which all the ordinances of God are bent
against, to restrain and subdue it. The other kind of lib
erty I call civil or federal, it may also be termed moral, in
reference to the covenant between God and man, in the
moral law and the politic covenants and constitutions, amongst
men themselves. This liberty is the proper end and object
of authority, and can not subsist without it; and it is a lib
erty to that only which is good, just, and honest. This lib
erty you are to stand for, with the hazard (not only of your
goods, but) of your lives, if need be. Whatsoever crosseth
this, is not authority, but a distemper thereof. This liberty
is maintained and exercised in a way of subjection to au
thority ; it is the same kind of liberty wherewith Christ hath

292 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
made us free. * * * On the other side, ye know who
they are that complain of this yoke and say, let us break
their bands, etc, we will not have this man to rule over us.
Even so, brethren, it will be between you and your magis
trates. If you stand for your natural corrupt liberties, and
will do what is good in your own eyes, you will not endure
the least weight of authority, but will murmur, and oppose,
and be always striving to shake off that yoke ; but if you
will be satisfied to enjoy such civil and lawful liberties, such
as Christ allows you, then will you quietly and cheerfully
submit unto that authority which is set over you, in all
the administrations of it, for your good. Wherein, if we
fail at any time, we hope we shall be willing (by God's as
sistance) to hearken to good advice from any of you, or in
any other way of God ; so shall your liberties be preserved,
in upholding the honor and power of authority amongst you. ' '
From that period to the end of the commonwealth
the right of each of the two legislative bodies to
negative the action of the other seems to have been
mutually acquiesced in, if not unreservedly conceded.
It is easy to see in these conflicts between the as
sistants and the deputies, that the latter were in
closer touch with the public pulse, and leaned far
more than the former toward the enlargement of
the rights of the people and the curtailing of arbi
trary power. In the trial of Gorton and his asso
ciates, the elders and all the assistants except.
three advised inflicting the death penalty, but Massa
chusetts was saved from this disgrace by the refusal
of the deputies to concur in the infliction of the
penalty voted by the assistants.
In a former chapter* it was said that the control of
iChap. X,

HOW THE REPUBLIC GREW. 293
the clergy over the legislature, the courts and the
people was "well-nigh supreme." But, powerful as
it was, the influence of the clergy never became
supreme. The elders never succeeded in wholly
subduing the spirit of independence in the people,
and ecclesiastical power waned as republican Ideas
gained strength.
The deputies were never so ready as the as
sistants to yield to the clergy, and from the first
the General Court asserted its authority over the
churches and gave them to understand that the
ecclesiastical were subordinate to the civil authorities.
The church at Maiden, as before stated, was fined
because the members had presumed to call a minister
without the consent of the neighboring churches and
the allowance of the magistrates. The General Court
also interfered and forbade the members of the North
Church In Boston to call Michael Powell to be their
minister. "It was justly observed upon this occa
sion," says Hutchinson,* quoting from Hubbard,
"that let the experience of all reformed churches be
consulted and it will appear that disorder and con
fusion in the church will not be avoided by all the
determinations, advice and council of synods or other
messengers of churches, unless they be a little actuated
by the civil authority : all men are naturally so wedded
to their own apprehensions that, unless there be a
coercive power to restrain, the order and rule of the
gospel will not be attended."
The General Court often sought the advice of the
elders, but they were given to understand that their
'Vol. I, p. 174.

294 '^^'^^ PURITAN REPUBLIC.
advice would be acceptable only when it was asked.
Dr. Ellis tells us that there are not lacking evidences
in the records of the General Court "that the elders
were sometimes reminded that on some subjects they
should withhold the utterance of their opinions till
asked for them, and that, while their advice was
valued, dictation did not become them."*
The church members themselves had decided in
1632 that one person might not be "a civil magis
trate and a ruling elder at the same time."^
At an early day the question was raised whether
the members of the General Court could be held re
sponsible to the churches for what had been said and
done by them in the discharge of their duties as such
members; and in the determination of the question
we again see Winthrop as the central figure in the
formation of a republic.
We have already seen him standing out against
the claim of the deputies and in favor of the right of
the assistants to a negative vote; now we see him
standing out against a claim of supervisory power
for the clergy, acquiescence in which would have
been as fatal to the republic as acquiescence in the
claim of the deputies. Yielding to the claim of the
deputies would have resulted in an unlimited de
mocracy; yielding to the claim for supervisory power
of the clergy would have resulted practically In an
ecclesiastical oligarchy.
The question first became prominent soon after
the proceedings of the General Court for the punish-
' The Puritan Age, p. 191.
"Winthrop, Vol. 1, p, 81,

HOW THE REPUBLIC GREW. 295
ment of those who had remonstrated against the
prosecution of Wheelwright. A full account of all
these proceedings with the reasons therefor was sent to
England "to the end," says Winthrop, "that all our
Godly friends might not be discouraged from coming
to us, etc." He adds that "after this, many of the
church of Boston, being highly offended with the
governour for this proceeding, were earnest with the
elders to have him called to account for it."
No man ever filled the office of governor of the
colony who had a higher regard than Winthrop for
the ministers, but, much as he respected them, he
was not prepared to sacrifice the commonwealth by
turning over to them all the powers of the govern
ment. He was not called to account, but he took
the first opportunity that offered to say "that If he
had been called, etc., he would have desired first, to
have advised with the elders, nvhether the church had
power to call in question the 'proceedings of the civil
Court.''"' He then proceeded to show in language
which could not be misunderstood that the church
had no power "to inquire into the justice and pro
ceedings of the court."*
At a later date, in the unfortunate controversy that
grew out of selecting a successor for the Rev. John
Wilson of the First Church in Boston, the deputies
espoused the cause of the church and appointed a
committee which made a report not at all pleasing to
some of the ministers. The Rev. Mr, Flint of Dor
chester recorded m his diary a solemn declaration
against the "spirit of division, persecuting and op-
' Winthrop, Vol. i, pp. 247-250.

296 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
pressing God's ministers and precious saints" as "a
great sin" which "threatens a sword of divine
wrath," and fifteen of the leading ministers sent to
the General Court a protest against its proceedings.
"The court," says Hutchinson, "took this address
into their Immediate consideration"; but "first as
serted their own authority, and that the acts of the
court -were not liable to question by any, and that
free debates -were the indubitable right of the court,''''
Hutchinson adds: "I have been more particular In
relating this transaction, because it gives us a pretty
good idea of the connection between the civil and
ecclesiastical power; the churches, notwithstanding
their claim to independency, being liable to controul
as oft as their proceedings were disapproved by the
civil magistrate,"*
Within a period of less than twenty years after
the coming of Winthrop there had been laid the
foundations of a republic.
From 1644 to the end of the commonwealth
the attention of the people was directed largely to
the wars with the Indians, the extension of com
merce, the disputes with the Quakers and other
sectaries, the struggle to maintain the charter, and
other Important affairs, and we do not find that the
colonists were devoting so much time as formerly to
establishing guarantees against the exercise by their
rulers of arbitrary power. This, however, was not
because the people had grown indifferent or less
watchful, but because their rulers did not give them
¦¦ Hutchinson, Vol. i, pp. 247-251.

HOW THE REPUBLIC GREW. 297
any cause to believe that additional guarantees were
necessary. There was lacking, however, one thing essential
to the full development of a republic — the removal
of the restrictions upon admission to the privileges of
freemen, so that those who were not members of the
Puritan churches might, nevertheless, exercise the
right to vote and take part in governmental affairs.
The charter had given to the governor, assistants
and freemen, who should be assembled at any of the
"greate and Generali Courts of the said Company,"
"full power and authoritie to choose, nominate and
appolnte such and soe many others as they shall
thinke fitt, and that shall be willing to accept the
same, to be free of the said Company and Body, and
them into the same admitt." There was, it is true,
no express prohibition against the exclusion of ap
plicants on account of their religious views. On the
other hand, no express authority was given for such
exclusion on such grounds, and It would be difficult,
by any process of construction, to imply authority
from the powers which were given. It would be
preposterous to suppose that King Charles or the
parliament ever dreamed of such a construction as
would confer the right to exclude from the privileges
of freemen members in good standing of the estab
lished church of England; and yet this power was
given also if the power was given to exclude Bap
tists and Quakers. The natural and reasonable con
struction of the charter provision was that given by
Charles II in his letter sent by Bradstreet and
Norton, wherein he had directed that "all freehold-

298 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
ers of competent estates, not vicious in conversation,
orthodox In religion (though of different pursuasions
concerning church government) , may have their vote
in the election of all officers, civil and military,"
The manner in which the Theocracy evaded both
the provisions of the charter and the positive com
mands of the King, in order to limit the right of
citizenship to members of the Puritan churches, has
already been explained,* But the commonwealth
rulers could not have succeeded much longer in ex
cluding from the rights of citizenship the non-church-
members, even if the charter had not been revoked
and If the King had not interfered. At the close of
the commonwealth five-sixths of the adult male
population were non-voters,^ but they were taxed the
same as the voters and most of them were probably
equal to the members of the Puritan churches in in
telligence and morality. It is not likely that they
would have submitted much longer to disfranchise
ment, even if the King had not come to their aid.
Long before the end of the commonwealth the
government itself, in Its form and operation, was
essentially republican. The Body of Liberties did
not, it is true, contain all the safeguards against
arbitrary power and all the barriers separating the
executive, legislative and judicial departments, and
preventing encroachments by one upon the functions
of the others, that are contained in the constitutions
of to-day, but It contained all the safeguards of
liberty that were then deemed of prime importance
1 See Chapters X and XI.
' The Puritan Age, p, 203.

HOW THE REPUBLIC GREW. 299
and that constituted the chief groundwork of the
constitutions adopted by the states a hundred years
later. The governor and the members of the legis
lative departments were elected by the people. The
characteristic features of the town governments have
already been noted. The town meetings were primary
schools for teaching the principles and practice of
republican government.
The peculiar situation and condition of the people
tended to disseminate republican ideas. The common
dangers which made them reliant upon each other;
the absence of distinctions founded on rank and
those existing in old and opulent communities be
tween the very rich and the very poor; the limited
territory occupied by them; all these circumstances
tended to promote intimate business and social inter
course and to establish ideas of political equality.
The experience of those who came here from Eng
land, especially those who had suffered from the
arbitrary power of King Charles I, was not calculated
to make them fall in love with monarchical forms of
government. Those who were born and bred here
had not been dazzled by the magnificence, nor awed
by the majesty, of kings and royal courts, "Most of
the inhabitants," says Hutchinson,* "who were upon
the stage in x686 had never seen a church of Eng
land assembly." And most of them had never seen
a king. Of the kings of England during the commonwealth
period one had been beheaded and another driven
from his throne, and the reign of the "Merry Mon-
^Vol. I, p. 318.

300 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
arch," the best of the three, was characterized by
such debaucheries and corruption of public and pri
vate morals as to disgust all decent people on both
sides of the Atlantic. More than fifty years of prac
tical experience had demonstrated to all that the
people here could live and live happily without kings
and nobles and that they were fully capable of gov
erning themselves.
In this period they had laid the foundations of a
commonwealth. They had all the machinery of
government in successful operation. They had in
creased greatly in population and wealth. They had
carried on two Indian wars without calling upon
England to contribute one soldier or one penny.
How, during this period, they struggled for the
right to govern themselves for all time and for entire
independence from England, will be the subject of
subsequent chapters,*
So that, long before the revocation of the charter
the colonists had become thoroughly educated In re
publican ideas and wanted only the power and the
opportunity to establish a government which should
be not only republican in form but wholly inde
pendent, iChaptersXV, XVL j

XIV
LAYING THE FOUNDATIONS OF A GREATER
REPUBLIC— THE UNITED COLONIES OF NEW
ENGLAND No authority for the New England confederation
can be found in any statute passed by any English
parliament or in any charter granted by any English
sovereign. "No patent," says Chalmers,* "legal
ized the confederacy, neither was It confirmed by the
approbation of the governing powers in England.
Their consent was never applied for, and was never
given," Chalmers also asserts that "the principles,
upon which this famous association was formed,
were altogether those of independency, and it can not
easily be supported upon any other."
Whatever ideas of independence the confederation
may have suggested to the colonists or to the rulers
of England at a later date, there is no reasonable
ground on which to suppose that at the date of its
formation the confederates entertained any secret de
sign of using it to aid them in severing allegiance to
the mother country.
The chief reasons for forming such a confederation
were obvious, and were those which were declared
in the articles afterward adopted. The New Eng
land colonists were practically all of the same race
^Annals, p. 178.
(301)

302 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
and of the same religion, and many of them were
bound together by the closest ties of blood and mar
riage. On one side of them were the French, on
another the Dutch, and all around them were the
Indians. In the event of war with any of these,
they were too remote from England to expect mate
rial aid, and such a war, carried on by any one of
the colonies alone, would have severely taxed Its re
sources. It is doubtful if Massachusetts, single-
handed, could have sustained such a war; It is cer
tain that neither of the other colonies could have
done so. The advantage of such a confederation,
the urgent necessity for it, had been conclusively
shown in the Pequot war.
In this connection, however. It may be of interest
to note one of the reasons stated in the articles of
confederation afterward adopted, viz,: "The sad dis
tractions in England" b}^ which "we are hindered
both from that humble way of seeking advice, and
reaping those comfortable fruits of protection, which
at other times we might well expect," We can
readily believe that the confederation would not have
been formed but for the "sad distractions in Eng
land," If the English rulers had not been ham
pered by these distractions it is pretty certain that the
colonists would not have dared to form such a con
federation. It Is difficult for us to believe, however,
that the colonists united in the confederation because
they were debarred, by reason of the distractions in
England, from soliciting the advice and protection
which otherwise they might have expected and asked.
If there was anything which the colonists of the

FOUNDATIONS OF A GREATER REPUBLIC. 303
Massachusetts commonwealth studiously avoided it
was asking either the advice or the protection of the
English rulers.
"The New England Confederation," says Mr.
John Quincy Adams,* "originated in the Plymouth
colony, and was probably suggested to them by the
example which they had witnessed, and under which
they had lived several years, in the United Nether
lands," Hubbard gives us this account of the origin
of the confederation:
" 'Woe to him that is alone,' saith Solomon. The
people that came over to New England were necessitated to
disperse themselves further, each from other, than they in
tended; yet finding that, in their first and weak beginnings,
they might be exposed to danger by many enemies, and as
well from the natives as any foreign nations, although that
they saw they could not be accommodated within the
bounds of one and the same Patent, yet judged it very ex
pedient to be joined together in one common bond of unity
and peace, by as firm engagement as might be on either
side. They saw also, by daily experience from the begin
ning, that without some such obligation, seeds of jealousy
and difference might easily be sown between them, either
about their bounds or other occasions ; wherein all discov
ered an unwillingness to be subordinate one to another, yet
could not be able to stand alone by themselves, without en
gagement of mutual assistance."^
The matter was agitated for several years, and ar
ticles were drawn up in 1638, but nothing was then
^Address before the Massachusetts Historical Society, VlSi-y 2t),\Zi^6'.^
Mass. His, Coll,, 3d Ser., Vol. 9, p. 211.
'His, N. Eng., Vol, 6, Mass. His. Coll., 2d Ser., 465-6. See also ar
ticle by Benson J. Lossing, The New England Confederacy, 25 Harper's.
Magazine, p, 627.

304 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
agreed upon and further consideration of them was
•deferred until 1639.*
Winthrop teUs us that in 1637, "some of the mag
istrates and ministers of Connecticut being here,
there was a day of meeting appointed to agree upon
some articles of confederation, and notice was given
to Pllmouth, that they might join in it, (but their
warning was so short as they could not come)."^
The preliminary negotiations seem to have been
conducted chiefly by Massachusetts and Connecticut.
The New Haven colony had not then attained much
consequence, and Plymouth seems not to have taken
so active a part In the negotiations as Connecticut.
The latter colony had no idea of entering Into any
sort of confederation with its more powerful Massa
chusetts neighbor which would undermine Its own
autonomy. The settlers of Connecticut, like those
of Massachusetts, were Puritans of the straitest
sect. In their laws, in their religious belief, and in
their daily life, we can see little difference between
them and their Massachusetts neighbors, but there
were some sharply defined points of difference be
tween the governmental systems of the two com
monwealths. One very essential point of difference
was that. In Massachusetts, none except church mem
bers were admitted freemen, and upon this car
dinal principle the whole power of the Theocracy
was based. But either the rulers of Connecticut had
realized already the dangers of so close a union of
church and state as existed in Massachusetts, or they
' Hutchinson, Vol, i, p. iig,
^ Winthrop, Vol. i, p. 237.

FOUNDATIONS OF A GREATER REPUBLIC. 305
were long-headed enough to foresee them, and,
therefore, they did not make church membership a
condition precedent to the exercise of the privileges
of citizenship. Winthrop had condemned this too
great laxity In the Connecticut organization. He
tells us of the "shyness" on the part of Connecticut
"of coming under our government, which, though
we never intended to make them subordinate to us,
yet they were very jealous." At any rate the Con
necticut government would not accept the articles
proposed by the Massachusetts authorities. John
Haynes, William Pynchon and John Steele came
over and held a conference with the Massachusetts
General Court, but the upshot of the matter was that
nothing was concluded; and after that fresh disputes
arose about boundaries, and there was some sharp
correspondence In which Winthrop Indulged in
further criticisms on what he called the "errors" In
the Connecticut form of government, one of which
was that the people of that colony chose divers men
to fill the offices "who had no learning or judgment
which might fit them for those affairs, though other
wise men holy and religious."
It is a striking Illustration of the fallibility of the
opinions of men, even so wise as Winthrop Is con
ceded to be, that the written constitution which Con
necticut adopted in 1639 (and which was the first of
Its kind in this country) lasted, with little change,
for 180 years, and that under it the people prospered
and lived happy.
The Massachusetts authorities also complained that
PuR. Rep. — 20

3o6 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
those of Connecticut had concluded a treaty with the
Narragansetts and Mohegans in which they had
ignored Massachusetts. It is evident that at this
period the spirit which animated the authorities of
Massachusetts and Connecticut was not altogether
conducive to the brotherly harmony essential to the
proposed confederation.
So matters drifted along for a year or two. Mean
time the governor of the Massachusetts common
wealth had received from the Lords Commissioners
of Plantations In England a peremptory order for
the return of the charter. Connecticut was also in
trouble. A new governor had been sent over to the
Dutch in New York, and he was complaining of the
intrusion by Connecticut upon the Dutch territory,
and threatening to establish forts In the territory
claimed by Connecticut. Moreover the new Dutch
governor, as Winthrop tells us, was "very inquisitive
how things stood between us and them of Connecti
cut, which occasioned us the more readily to renew
the former treaty, that the Dutch might not take
notice of any breach or alienation between us."*
The Indians were also becoming turbulent. Gov
ernor Haynes, of Connecticut, the Rev. Thomas
Hooker and others came to Boston and remained
nearly a month and negotiations for the confederacy
were resumed. Finally, in 1643, commissioners rep
resenting Plymouth, Connecticut and New Haven,.
met at Boston and held a conference with a committee
appointed by the General Court, and "these coming
to consultation encountered some difficulties, but being
'Vol. I, p. 299.

FOUNDATIONS OF A GREATER REPUBLIC. 307
all desirous of union and studious of peace, they readily
yielded each to other In such things as tended to com
mon utility, etc, so as in some two or three meetings
they lovingly accorded upon these ensueing articles";
and on May 29, 1643, the articles were signed by all
except the Plymouth commissioners, who had not
then sufficient authority; but soon afterward they
were ratified by Plymouth also.
The people of the province of Maine, we are told by
Winthrop, "were not received nor called Into con
federation, because they ran a different course from
us both in their ministry and civil administration; for
they had lately made Acomenticus (a poor village)
a corporation, and had made a taylor their mayor,
and had entertained one Hull, an excommunicated
person, and very contentious, for their minister."
Making a "taylor" their mayor might have been
forgiven, but not the entertainment of the excom
municated Hull for their minister.
Winthrop does not tell us why the people of Rhode
Island were "not received nor called Into the confed
eration," but we know very well why they were not.
The pestiferous malcontents, herded together there,
had, untU that period, employed their time and their
energies chiefly in quarreling among themselves, and
they were not wanted by any of the other colonies,
certainly not by Massachusetts; they had given her
enough trouble already. In 1640 the General Court
had ordered the governor to answer a letter sent to
him (but also concerning the General Court), by
Eaton, Hopkins, Haynes, and also by "Mr. Cod
dington & Mr. Brenton," but the court expressly

3o8 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
directed "that the answer shal bee directed to Mr.
Eaton, Mr. Hopkins & Mr, Haynes onely, excluding
Mr. Coddington & Mr. Brenton, as men not to bee
capitulated nvithall by us, either for themselves, or
the people of the Hand vjhere they inhabite, as their
case standeth,'''''^ When Coddington and Partridge, in
1648, In behalf of Rhode Island, requested admission
into the confederation, their request was denied by
the commissioners with frigid politeness, accompa
nied "with tender respects" and hopes for their
future "comfort and safety," except upon the condi
tion, known to be impossible, that the petitioners
"and the Inhabitants, or the most considerable part
of them, upon a due consideration of Plymouth
patent and right, acknowledge yourselves within that
jurisdiction,"^ The articles of confederation^ first declare the rea
sons which led to their adoption. They set forth,
among other reasons, that they were "encompassed
with people of several nations and strange languages
which hereafter may prove dangerous to us or our
posterity"; that the natives had lately combined
against them; and by reason of the "sad distrac
tions" in England they were "hindered both from
that humble way of seeking advice, and reaping,
those comfortable fruits of protection which at other
times we might well expect."
Then the confederation is named the "United
Colonies of New England."
Next follow minute provisions defining the powers
' Mass. Rec, Vol. i, p. 305.
^Hutchinson, Vol. i, pp, 140-141.
^ Winthrop, Vol, 2, pp, 101-106.

FOUNDATIONS OF A GREATER REPUBLIC. 309
of the confederation and the authority and duties of
the commissioners. The confederation was to be,
"for offence and defence, mutual advice and succor
upon all just occasions, both for preserving and pro
pagating the truth and liberties of the gospel, and for
their own mutual safety and welfare"; but It was ex
pressly provided that the confederation should in no
wise interfere with the local governments, and this
was reiterated in the article defining the powers of
the commissioners, which expressly prohibited them
"from intermeddling with the government of any of
the jurisdictions."
In case of war each colony was to furnish soldiers and
to contribute to the expense in proportion to the num
ber of its male inhabitants between sixteen and sixty.
Provisions were made guarding against the danger of
any one of the confederates rashly embroiling the
others in an unjustifiable war. It was provided that
no new member should be received into the con
federation, nor should any two of the members unite,
without the consent of the rest. Each colony was to
be represented in the confederation by two commis
sioners, "all in church-fellowship with us," and gen
eral authority was granted to the commissioners to
execute the purposes of the confederation. These
were to meet once a year, or oftener in case
of an emergency. The first and second meetings
were to be held at Boston, the third at Hartford,
the fourth at New Haven, the fifth at Plymouth, the
sixth and seventh at Boston, and so on until some
more central place could be found, "commodious for
all the jurisdictions."

3IO THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
The commissioners were authorized to select a
president from their number, but It was expressly
provided that he should have no veto power. Power
was given to the commissioners "to hear, examine,
w^eigh and determine all affairs of war or peace,
leagues, aids, charges and number of men for war,
division of spoils or whatever Is gotten by conquest;
receiving of more confederates or plantations into
the combination with any of these confederates and
all things of like nature which are the proper con
comitants or consequents of such a confederation for
amity, offence and defence," with the limitation be
fore mentioned against intermeddling with the local
governments. The article which conferred something like general
legislative power upon the commissioners was the
following: "8, It is also agreed that the commissioners for this con
federation hereafter at their meetings, whether ordinary or
extraordinary, as they may have commission or opportunity,
do endeavor to frame and establish agreements and orders
in general cases of a civil nature wherein all the plantations
are interested for preserving peace amongst themselves and
preventing, as much as may be, all occasions of war or dif
ferences with others, as about free and speedy passage of
justice in each jurisdiction, to all the confederates equally,
as to their own, receiving those that remove from one plan
tation to another without due certificates ; how all the juris
dictions may carry it towards the Indians, that they neither
grow insolent nor be injured without due satisfaction, lest
war break in upon the confederates through miscarriages,"
Besides defining the powers of the commissioners

FOUNDATIONS OF A GREATER REPUBLIC. 3II
several other matters were agreed upon by the con
federates themselves. One was an agreement for
extraditing fugitives from justice. Another was an
agreement for returning fugitives from service, which,
curiously enough, was the first fugitive slave law
passed in America. It provided that :
"It is also agreed, that if any servant run away from his
master into any of these confederate jurisdictions, that in
such case upon certificate of one magistrate in the jurisdic
tion out of which the said servant fied, or upon other due
proof, the said servant shall be delivered either to his master
or any other that pursues and brings such certificate or
proof.'' The Massachusetts town governments had devel
oped there and throughout New England the idea of
local self-government. We see in the articles of con
federation a further development of the same idea.
That idea, as before stated, was that government of
all kinds should be brought as near to the people as
practicable, and that the people of each govern
mental subdivision, as nearly as might be consistent
with the due discharge of their duties to the greater
body politic, should have supreme power over their
own local affairs. Therefore, when they adopted
the articles of confederation, they were particularly
careful to provide that the federal government should
not "intermeddle" with the government of any of
the confederates.
This idea has never been lost sight of in New
England. During the civil war, in no section of
the country did the people give to the federal gov
ernment a more loyal support; in no part of the

312 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
country were the courts more firm in upholding the
reserved rights of the states.
The doctrine of States' Rights, as interpreted by
the Southern States in justification of secession, for
a time brought into greater prominence the neces
sity of a strong federal power. Other emergencies
are likely to arise when greater power will be claimed
for the federal government. But it would be well
for us to remember that, to the preservation of the
republic, it is as essential to maintain firmly the re
served rights of the states, as it is to maintain the
powers conceded to the federal government. To
concentrate power in the federal government by de
stroying the rights of the states is to insure despot
ism. We see In the articles of confederation an out
line of this Idea, which, though but an outline, is,
nevertheless, clearly drawn.
We do not find in these articles the elaborate pro
visions which we find In the present constitution of
the United States, but we find In them the germ of
a greater republic. Indeed, these articles are Im
portant, not only for what they contain, but for what
they suggest. In them Is crystallized the idea of the
republic of to-day. In his address above referred to,
Mr. Adams says:
"The distribution of power between the commissioners of
the whole confederacy and the separate governments of the
colonies was made upon the same identical principles with
those which gathered and united the thirteen English
colonies, as the prelude to the revolution which severed
them for ever from their national connection with Great
Britain. The New England confederacy of 1643 was the

FOUNDATIONS OF A GREATER REPUBLIC. 313
model and prototype of the North American confederacy of
1774." The government of the United Colonies of New
England is as crude and simple, when compared
with the present elaborate federal government, as
Fulton's first boat launched upon the Hudson would
seem to be if laid alongside one of the magnificent
steamers of the Fall River line. Still the United
Colonies of New England made the beginning.
The Idea suggested was never forgotten. It was de
veloped in the time of the Revolutionary War. It
suggested the feasibility and the power of a united
New England, and a united New England proved
the feasibility and the power of the United States.
Indeed, without a united New England there would
have been no possibility of the United States, and
to-day England, Instead of ruling over the Dominion
of Canada, would, in all likelihood, have been ruling
over the Dominion of America.
At the date of the adoption of the articles of con
federation there were in Massachusetts thirty towns
with a population of about fifteen thousand; in Ply
mouth eight, with a population of about three thou
sand; in Connecticut six, with a population of about
three thousand; in New Haven five, with a popula
tion of about two thousand five hundred.
The history of the United Colonies of New Eng
land is not within the scope of this volume. Its
proceedings were not always harmonious. Subse
quent events exposed the weaknesses, but they also
demonstrated the advantages to the colonists of the
confederation. They likewise disclosed to the Eng-

3x4 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
lish rulers the disadvantages and dangers likely to
result to England from such a union of the colonies.
For the confederates made treaties with their Dutch
and French neighbors and exercised other powers
usually regarded as incident only to sovereign juris
diction. All this was calculated to arouse the jeal
ousy and to inflame the resentment of the English rul
ers who looked upon the confederation as designed
to pave the way to independence. "In this light,"
says Chalmers,* "was their conduct seen in England,
and at a subsequent period did not fail to attract the
attention of Charles II,"
All that need be added is that the last meeting of
the confederate commissioners was held in Hartford
on September 5, 1684, and that when the Massachu
setts commonwealth went down it was all that re
mained of the colonial governments which had
formed the United Colonies of New England, Ply
mouth had never had a charter; New Haven had
been absorbed in Connecticut; the people of Connect
icut had in vain sought to baffle Andros by hiding
their charter In an oak tree, and the secretaty, John
Allyn, had closed the colonial records with the single
but expressive word, "Finis."
^Annals, p. 178.

XV
THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE AND THE
REVOCATION OF THE CHARTER— GENESIS OF
A STILL GREATER REPUBLIC
JuST when or how the idea originated it is difficult
to determine, but it is certain that, long before the
end of the commonwealth, the colonists had formed
the idea of setting up for themselves an independent
government. When our ancestors, nearly one hundred years
after the revocation of the charter, put forth the
Declaration of Independence, they had become im
bued with ideas of "inherent" and "unalienable"
rights, of which the colonists in the beginning of the
commonwealth probably had no conception at all, or,
at least, no clearly defined conception. Moreover,
none of the chief reasons given in the Declaration for
severing allegiance to the mother country came into
existence until many years after the founding of the
commonwealth. We read in that Declaration the
American indictment of George III, but in the for
midable list of offenses charged, we find none that
could have been charged against any of the English
sovereigns who preceded Charles II, and but few
that could' justly have been charged against even that
dissolute monarch. (315)

3l6 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
No royal governor tyrannized over Massachusetts
until Andros came; and, until the reign of Charles
II, the sovereign power of England rested so lightly
upon Massachusetts that it was scarcely felt In that
portion of the English realm. The first of the odious
navigation acts was not passed until 1651 and this
was a dead letter in Massachusetts until after the ac
cession of Charles II. Nor was any serious effort
made to enforce the later and more stringent navi
gation acts until 1676.
The colonists prior to the accession of Charles II
were not influenced so much in their desire for inde
pendence by what they had already suffered from
abuses of royal authority, for they had suffered very
little In this way, as they were by the apprehension
of what might, and probably would, follow if royal
authority should be fully extended and exercised over
them. They could easily see that an established
church in America would be as hostile to them here
as in England; that royal governors and officers, act
ing under the orders of men like Laud, probably
would be as tyrannical here as In England. They
could see how the navigation acts, when enforced by
their enemies, might be used to cripple their com
merce and manufactures, and that the spirit of hos
tility displayed in the acts already passed would be
likely to inspire others still more oppressive.
Moreover, the Massachusetts colonists had before
their eyes the royal government of Virginia, and It
was such as to make them dread the establishment of
a similar government over them. The Ingratitude of
Charles II to his old friends in England who had

THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE. 317
clung to him in his days of adversity was proverbial.
"With regard to the act of indemnity and oblivion,
they universally said that it was an act of Indemnity
to the king's enemies and of oblivion to his friends."*
His shameful treatment of the Virginia colonists
proved that he was as ungrateful to his friends In
America as he was to his friends in England. Of all
his American subjects, those of Virginia had been
the most loyal to him, and they were the only ones
on this side of the Atlantic who greeted his restora
tion with genuine enthusiasm. He had scarcely been
seated upon his throne when he began to impose
harsh restrictions and burdens upon the Virgin
ians, more intolerable even than those which had
been imposed by Cromwell, their professed enemy.
Indeed the king's treatment of his Virginia subjects
could not have been harsher and more cruel if he
had selected them as special objects of his vengeance.
Subsequent events proved that the evils which the
Massachusetts colonists apprehended as the probable
results of the extension over them of royal govern
ment were not the mere forebodings of a gloomy
imagination. The outrageous acts of oppression
which they suffered during the administration of
Andros, the first royal governor, far surpassed any
which before that time could have been foretold or
suspected. The grievances complained of In later years gave
the Massachusetts colonists much broader and better
grounds upon which to base their complaints than
any that could be found in supposed violations of
^ Hume, History of England, Vol. 5, Chap. LXIII.

3x8 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
their charter and furnished a solid foundation for the
Declaration of Independence; but in the early years
of the commonwealth these grievances had scarcely
been felt, and they were only anticipated. Still,
it can not be doubted that such, or similar, griev
ances were anticipated, and that the sagacity which
enabled the wiser heads among the colonists to fore
see them, made them desirous of guarding against
them. This is the key which opens to us a clear
understanding of all their conduct toward the Eng
lish rulers.
Whenever or however the idea of an independent
government first took definite shape, the Inference,
from many sources, is clear that, long before the
year 1676, the colonists were contemplating the set
ting up of an independent government and were
seeking to find some good reasons for so doing.
Winthrop, indeed, had said that, if the safety of the
commonwealth should require it, the colonists would
be justified in renouncing the authority of England,
although this general statement conveys no definite
idea of the grounds which Winthrop himself thought
would justify such a course.
In casting about for some solid foundation upon
which to base their claim of right to exercise the
powers of government assumed by them, it was
natural that the colonists should attempt to find a
basis in the charter or "patent," as it was usually
styled by them, granted by King Charles I.
They had brought with them all the English
reverence for charters. To Englishmen Magna
Charta is the most sacred of all human docu-

THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE. 3x9
ments. For ages London has tenaciously clung
to the charter granted by William the Conqueror
and confirmed by many later monarchs. In the
eyes of an Englishman a charter granted by his sov
ereign is of so sacred and binding a character that it
can not lawfully be revoked by the king himself with
out the consent of the corporation to which it was
granted. And so the colonists maintained to the last
that the king had no right to revoke the charter given
to them.
But there was this marked difference between an
Englishman's view of a charter, and the colonists'
view of the one granted them by Charles I. Eng
lishmen look upon a charter granted them as a royal
guaranty to them of their rights as subjects' the col
onists viewed the charter granted to them as a sort
of compact guaranteeing to them the right to set up
an independent government of their own.
Of course it is impossible to reconcile such a claim
with an acknowledgment that there was left any
residuum of allegiance owed to England. The col
onists, indeed, as will be seen hereafter, did try to
demonstrate how they could be independent and at
the same time owe allegiance to England, but the
experiment was a failure, because it was an attempt
to reconcile two diametrically opposite and Irrecon
cilable propositions.
Nevertheless, the colonists persisted in maintain
ing their claim of right to carry on an independent
government, and the only available foundation, nar
row as it was, upon which to base this claim, was
their charter. They came, by a slow and curious

320 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
process of reasoning, to the conclusion that this was
not a mere concession of the sovereign to his sub
jects, but a compact b'etween them by which the sov
ereign had relinquished a large part of the sovereign
power and had bound his subjects only to a vague
and shadowy sort of allegiance, resting for its security
upon the inclination of the colonists more than upon
the reserved rights of the sovereign.
Their reasoning in support of this construction of
their charter was, in substance, that they had pur
chased the land they occupied from the Indians, the
first occupants, whose title was superior to that of
the English government and was recognized by It;
that they had also bought all the title of the English
claimants; that they had transplanted themselves to
this "remote corner of the earth" at large expense,
and by their industry had given it all the value It
had; and that for these reasons they had acquired
the right to their possessions and the right to govern
them as they saw fit, without interference by the
English government.*
This reasoning is not entirely satisfactory, but at
that time it was the best that could be contrived.
Convincing proof that the colonists wished, not
only to sever their connection with the established
church, but also to sever their connection with the
established government of England, although at that
time they may not fully have determined to do so,
is found in their conduct toward Cromwell and his
son. Their shyness of doing or saying anything
that might afford an excuse to an English king or
'See Hutchinson, Vol, i, pp. 230-231.

THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE. 32 X
Parliament to interfere with their own religious be
liefs and practices can readily be understood. But
they had no fear of such interference by Cromwell
or his son. And yet the commonwealth authorities
were as slow to recognize any right of Cromwell and
the Long Parliament to interfere with the govern
ment on this side of the Atlantic as they were in con
ceding such right to the rulers who preceded or to
those who followed them.
As the colonists did not derive authority to govern
themselves from any "inherent" or "unalienable"
rights, but from their charter, the preservation of it
was the one thing at all times uppermost In their
minds. This is manifest in all their official corre
spondence with the king, in their conduct toward the
agents and commissioners sent hither by him, and In
their instructions to the agents sent over by the
colonists to England. So viewing their charter, it
became, in the eyes of the colonists, of vastly greater
consequence than was even Magna Charta In the
eyes of Englishmen. In their long and arduous
struggle to preserve the document so highly prized
by them they were striving, not so much to maintain
their rights as English subjects, as they were to main
tain their supposed rights as citizens of an independ
ent government; so that in reality their struggle to
prevent the overthrow of the charter was a struggle
for independence, and in this struggle we may find
the seeds of the American Revolution. From the
time when Charles II began his attempt to enforce
in the Massachusetts colony the unjust and oppres-
PuR. Rep. — 21

322 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
sive navigation acts, the contest for independence
becomes more clearly defined and more determined,
and the ground and justice of the claims of the
colonists become more apparent. From this period
to the end of the commonwealth the path leading to
the Declaration of Independence and the American
Revolution is straight and clearly marked.
The troubles of the colonists with England began
very soon after they had set up their government.
At that time the governmental control of the colonies
was vested in the Privy Council. But in 1634 ** "^^s
transferred to a board called the Lords Commission
ers for Plantations, of which Laud was at the head.
In consequence of complaints against the colonists,
an order of the Privy Council had been made in
1633-4 requiring Mr. Craddock, one of the Massa
chusetts company, to produce before the board the
letters patent, and it seems that not until then was it
discovered by the King and his council that the char
ter was in America. The governor and assistants,
on being informed of the demand for the charter,
declared that nothing could be done until the meet
ing of the General Court In September; but the Gen
eral Court did nothing except to order the erection
of fortifications, and in January following, the min
isters, who had been consulted, agreed that the col
onists ought not to accept a governor, if sent, but
"to defend our lawful possessions if we are abel;
otherwise to avoide or protract,'''' Additional war
like preparations were made, but the General Court
took no further notice of the demand for the return
of the charter.

THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE. 323
The next step of the authorities in England was
to institute quo -warranto proceedings against the
company for a forfeiture of Its charter. These were
begun in June, 1635, ^"'^ ^ judgment was rendered
against the patentees then residing in England. But
six of the original patentees were then in New En
gland, and as the process of the Court of King's
Bench, in which the proceedings were Instituted, did
not extend to New England, no judgment could be
rendered against them, and, therefore, according to
the opinion of the crown lawyers, the quo -warranto
proceedings did not work a forfeiture of the charter.
Further orders were sent by the Lords Commission
ers for Plantations to the governor and assistants to
return the charter. In response to these the General
Court made a diplomatic answer, prepared by Win
throp, September 6, 1638,* but it still held fast to the
document itself. Another peremptory demand for
the return of the charter was made in 1639, ^*** the
General Court made no answer to it.
The Lords Commissioners for Plantations had au
thority to revoke the charter '"''if upon view of it,'''
they found anything hurtful to the king, his crown
or prerogative, etc, but this power could be exer
cised, so it was claimed, only upon view of the charter
itself and not upon view of a copy of it, and, therefore,
so long as the charter could be kept out of sight of
the commissioners there was no danger of a revoca
tion of it. Thus the charter was saved a second
time by a legal technicality.
By this time the attention of the king was taken
1 Palfrey. Vol. 1, p. 557.

324 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
up with affairs in England more than with those in
America, and after the meeting of the Long Parlia
ment in 1640, the colonists had little to fear from
royal interference.
It is important, however, to note the attitude of
the Massachusetts authorities toward the Long Par
liament and Cromwell. It discloses very clearly that
they had no more idea of voluntarily surrendering
their charter to Parliament than they had of sur
rendering it to King Charles. It also shows, more
clearly than anything else, the ideas of the colonists
as to the powers of the government which they had
established, and their understanding of the allegiance
they owed to England.
The complaints of Samuel Gorton, Dr. Child and
others, induced the parliamentary commissioners In
1646 to address to the General Court a communica
tion upon the subject. The mere fact that the com
missioners were calling upon the authorities of Mas
sachusetts to answer complaints against them, implied
a claim of supervisory jurisdiction, and opened the
door to appeals to England. Thus there were pre
sented to the General Court questions of wide extent
and of the gravest import — "In what relation we
stood to the State of England, whether our Govern
ment was founded upon our charter or not; if so,
then what subjection we owed to that State." These
questions were long and carefully debated, the elders,
as usual, being called upon for advice.
At the outset: "One question was, whether we
should give the Commissioners their title, least thereby
we should acknowledge all that po-wer they claimed

THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE. 325
in our jurisdiction, as well as in other plantations,
which had not so large a charter as we," but "It
was considered withal that, whatever answer or re
monstrance we presented to them, if their stile were
not observed, it was doubted they would not receive
it,"* The more difficult question to settle, however,
was " in what relation we stood to the state of
England," The prevailing opinion seemed to be
that the charter gave them ^'¦absolute power of gov
ernment; for thereby we have power to make laws,
to erect all sorts of magistracy, to correct, punish,
pardon, govern and rule the people absolutely."'^
Upon the question of allowing appeals it was
"conceived" by the elders, and doubtless approved
by the magistrates, that:
"In point of government we have granted by patent such
full and ample power of choosing all officers that shall com
mand and rule over us, of making all laws and rules of our
obedience, and of a full and final determination of all cases
in the administration of justice, that no appeals or other
ways of interrupting our proceedings do lie against us.'"
After such claims of absolute governmental powers
it is difficult to perceive what remnant of allegiance
remained and how to define it. But some shadowy
sort of allegiance to England was admitted, and the
magistrates undertook to define "what subjection we
owed to that State," It was resolved by them that:
' 'We did owe allegiance and subjection : i , because our
' Winthrop, Vol. 2, p. 282.
' Winthrop, Vol. 2, p. 279.
^ * Winthrop, Vol. 2, pp. 282-3.

326 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
commonwealth was founded upon the power of that State,
and so had always been carried on. 2, in regard of the
tenure of our lands, of the manor of East Greenwich. 3, we
depended upon them for protection, etc. 4, for advice and
counsel, when in great occasions we should crave it. 5, in
the continuance of naturalization and free liegance of our
selves and our posterity. Yet we might be still independent
in respect of government, as Normandy, Gascoyne, etc.,
were, though they had dependence upon the crown of
France, and the Kings of England did homage, etc., yet
in point of government they were not dependent upon
France. So likewise Burgundy, Flanders, etc. So the
Hanse Towns in Germany, which have dependence upon
the Empire, etc. And such as are subject to the imperial
chamber, in some great and general causes, they had their
deputies there, and so were parties to all orders there.'"
The elders also attempted to define the precise
nature of the allegiance owed to England as follows:
" I . We have received the power of our government and
other privileges derived from thence by our charter. 2 . We
owe allegiance and fidelity to that State. 3. Erecting such
a government as the patent prescribes and subjecting our
selves to the laws here ordained by that government, we
therein yield subjection to the State of England. 4. We
owe unto that State the fifth part of gold and silver ore that
shall, etc. 5. We depend upon the State of England for
protection and immunities of Englishmen, as free deniza
tion, etc.'"
In all this verbiage we see plainly the claim of in
dependence for the commonwealth, but only the
' Winthrop, Vol. 2, pp. 279-80.
• Winthrop, Vol. 2, p. 282.

THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE. 327
shadow of an acknowledgment of allegiance to Eng
land. No such claim, however, was hinted at in
any address, or entered upon the records of the Gen
eral Court, and we know of It only from the pages
of Winthrop's journal. When in 1661 the General
Court entered upon the records its declaration of the
colonists' rights under the charter, "Concerning our
liberties," and "Concerning our dutyes of allegiance
to our soveraigne Lord the King," the declaration
w^as couched in language which gave no intimation
of the enlarged views on these subjects expressed by
the magistrates and the elders in the secret consulta
tions held by them when preparing the petition to
the Long Parliament.*
Nor did the Massachusetts authorities deem it safe
to petition for enlarged powers. To do this would
be inconsistent with their assumption that the powers
which they already possessed were ample enough.
Moreover, if Parliament should begin tinkering their
charter, some of these powers might be curtailed in
stead of being enlarged.
It was therefore resolved to send agents to England.
The elders advised that these, if the}^ should "dis
cern the mind of the parliament toward us," to be
"propense and favorable," and "a fit season" should
occur, should endeavor "to procure such countenance
of our proceedings, and confirmation of our just
power, as may prevent such unjust complaints and
interruptions as now disturb our administrations.
But if the parliament should be less inclinable to us,
'See Hutchinson, Vol. i, App. pp. 455-6.

328 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
we must wait upon providence for the preservation
of our just liberties."*
The agent selected was Edward Winslow, than
whom no better could have been chosen. Besides
his commission, he was furnished with a set of gen
eral instructions and also with another set "more
secret," which contained specific directions for his
guidance in making answers to various anticipated
objections to the proceedings of the commonwealth.
One of these was "about our subjection to England,"
and another was "about our independency upon that
State," and the answers which he was directed to
make to these objections embodied substantially
what had before been determined by the magistrates
and the elders. One of the answers directed to be
made "about our subjection to England," had not
before been "conceived," even by the elders, and
exhibited additional evidence of the allegiance of the
colonists in this, that they were "faithful and firm to
the state of England, endeavoring to walk with God
in upholding his truth, etc, and praying for it."'^
A "remonstrance and a petition" to the parliamen
tary commissioners was also prepared. In this the
colonists protested against any action by that body
which might be construed as a precedent "prejudi
cial to the liberties" granted by their charter, lest
"when times may be changed, for all things be
low are subject to vanity, and other princes or par
liaments may arise, the generations succeeding may
not have cause to lament and say: 'England sent
' Winthrop, Vol. 2, p. 283.
' Winthrop, Vol. 2, pp. 300-301.

THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE. 329
our fathers forth with happy liberties, which they en
joyed many years, notwithstanding all the enmity
and opposition of the prelacy and other potent ad
versaries; how came we to lose them, under the
favor and protection of that state, in such a season
when England itself recovered its own.?' "*
The complaints of Gorton and the others came to
naught. After the parliamentary commissioners had
read the petition and remonstrance of the General
Court, and had heard the evidence that Winslow
produced, "it pleased the Lord," says Winthrop,
"to bring about the hearts of the Committees, so as
they discerned of Gorton, etc., what they were and
of the justice of our proceedings against them.'*
The commissioners also wrote assuring the General
Court that, in entertaining the complaints of Gorton
and the others, "we intended not thereby to encour
age any appeals from your justice, nor to restrain the
bounds of your jurisdiction to a narrower compass
than is held forth by your letters patent, but to leave
you with all that freedom and latitude that may, in any
respect, be duly claimed by you; knowing that the
limiting of you in that kind may be very prejudicial
(If not destructive) to the government and public
peace of the colony,"
The execution of Charles I followed in 1649, In
165 1 Parliament, having become incensed by the re
fusal of Virginia and some of the other colonies to
acknowledge its authority, determined to require all
of them to take out new charters, and thus recognize
its supremacy. Winslow informed the General Court
* Winthrop, Vol. 2, p. 296.

330 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
that it was "the Parliament's pleasure that we should
take a new patent from them; and keep our courts
and issue our warrants in their names." There were
also ominous hints of sending over an English gov
ernor. This startling Information caused grave apprehen
sions, but the General Court, taking its usual time
for deliberation, delayed sending its answer for a
year. Then the authorities prepared a petition to
Parliament in which they protested against " being
wrapped up In one bundle with all the other colonies,"
assuring the Parliament that, "since the first begin
ning of your differences with the late king and the
warre that after ensued, we have constantly adheared
to you," and on that account had "suffered the
hatred and threats of other English colonies, now in
rebellion against you," and hoping that It would
"goe no worse with us than it did under the late
king." The petition set forth such plausible arguments,
couched in such pious phraseology, that it quite won
over those to whom it was addressed.* The General
Court, however, as an extra precaution, addressed a
letter to "the right honorable, his Excellence, the
Lord Generali Cromwell," setting forth their desires,
requesting his intercession with Parliament In their
behalf, and praying "that the Captain of the hoast
of Israeli may be with you and your whole army, in
all your great enterprises, to the glorie of God, the
subdueing of his and your enemies, and your ever
lasting peace and comfort in Jesus Christ."^
^ Hutchinson, Vol. i, App. p. 448.
' Hutchinson, Vol. i, App. p. 450.

THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE. 33 1
The petition to Cromwell was as pleasing and as
effective as was the petition to Parliament, and from
this time to the restoration of Charles II in 1660, the
colonists were in such favor with the Protector and
the leading authorities in England that they gave
themselves no further concern about the revocation of
their charter. There is no doubt that the Puritans
of the Massachusetts commonwealth were pleased to
see Cromwell ruling over England, but It Is equally
clear that they had no idea of permitting him, if
they could avoid it, to rule over them. In him the
commonwealth found a strong and steadfast friend.
As Chalmers expresses it,* "the winning courtship of
Massachusets seems to have captivated the rugged
heart of Cromwell; and, notwithstanding a variety
of complaints were made to him against that colony,
so strong were his attachments, that all attempts,
either to obtain redress or to prejudice it in his es
teem were to no purpose." The commonwealth
retained his esteem though it refused to accede to
his plan of having the people of Massachusetts re
move and settle in Ireland, and also refused to ac
cede to another plan, upon which he had set his heart
still more strongly, of having them abandon Massa
chusetts and settle in Jamaica.
When Cromwell requested the Massachusetts au
thorities to furnish reinforcements to aid him in his
war against the Dutch, they intimated to him that
they "considered themselves at liberty to continue in
peace" with their Dutch neighbors, and that ^Hheir
o-wn act was necessary to bring them into a state of
t ^Annals, p. 188.

332 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
war." Therefore all they did was to '¦freely consent
and give liberty to his Highness'' s commissioners.
Major Robert Sedgewick and Capt. John Leveret, to
raise within our jurisdiction the number of five
hundred volunteers to assist them in their enterprise
against the Dutch, provided the persons might be
free from legal engagements,"*
No public notice was taken of Cromwell's death,
and the Massachusetts authorities ignored the order
of the CouncU of State of England to proclaim his
son as his successor.
One important act passed in 1651 is mentioned
here to explain more fully what follows. This was
the navigation act, which was entitled "An act for In
crease of Shipping and Encouragement of the Navi
gation of this Nation." The substance of It was, so
far as it affected the American colonies, to prohibit
the export therefrom of any goods or commodities
except In English vessels. But this act was passed
chiefly to strengthen the English navy and as a war
measure to cripple the Dutch, and, though enforced
against the southern colonies, it remained during
Cromwell's time a dead letter In Massachusetts.
The years intervening between the meeting of the
Long Parliament, in 1640, and the accession of
Charles II, in 1660, were years of great prosperity
in the Massachusetts commonwealth. After the
Pequot war peaceful relations were maintained with
the Indians; population rapidly increased; many new
towns were established; agriculture flourished; com
merce expanded; Boston assumed the character of a
'Hutchinson, Vol. i, pp. 16-89.

THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE. 333
commercial metropolis, and boasted many houses
"large and beautiful whose continual enlargement
presaged some sumptuous city." Johnson* gives us
this account of the progress which the colony had
made in 1642:
"First, to begin with the encrease of food, you have
heard in what extream penury these people were in at first
planting, for want of food; gold, silver, rayment, or what
soever was precious in their eyes, they parted with (when
ships came in) for this; their beast that died, some would
stick before they were cold and sell their poor pined fiesh
for food at 6d. per pound, Indian Beans at i6s. per bushel;
when Ships came in, it grieved some Master to see the urg
ing of them by people of good rank and quality to sell
bread unto them. But now take notice how the right hand
of the most high hath altered all, and men of the meaner
rank are urging them to buy bread of them, and now good
white and wheaten bread is no dainty, but even ordinary
man hath his choice, if gay cloathing, and a liquerish tooth
after sack, sugar, and plums, lick not away his bread too
fast, all which are but ordinary among those that were not
able to bring their own persons over at their first coming ;
there are not many Towns in the Country, but the poorest
person in them hath a house and land of his own, and bread
of his own growing, if not some cattel ; beside flesh is now
no rare food, beef, pork, and mutton being frequent in
many houses, so that this poor Wilderness hath not onely
equalized England in food, but goes beyond it in some
places for the great plenty of wine and sugar, which is or
dinarily spent, apples, pears and quince tarts, instead of
their former Pumpkin Pies; Poultry they have plenty, and
great rarity, and in their feasts have not forgotten the
' Wonder- Working Providence, Mass. Hist. Coll., 2d Ser., Vol. 7, p. 36.

334 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
English fashion of stirring up their appetites with variety of
cooking their food ; » * *
"Secondly, For rayment, our cloth hath not been cut
short, as but of late years the traders that way have en-
creased to such a number that their shops have continued
full all the year long, all one England; besides, the Lord
hath been pleased to encrease sheep extraordinarily of late ;
hemp and flax here is great plenty, hides here are more for
the number of persons than in England; and for cloth, here
is and would be materials enough to make it ; but the Farm
ers deem it better for their profit to put away their cattel,
and corn for cloathing, then to set upon making of
cloth. * * *
"Further, the Lord hath been pleased to turn all the
wigwams, huts, and hovels the English dwelt in at their
first coming, into orderly, fair, and well-built houses, well
furnished many of them, together with Orchards filled with
goodly fruit trees, and gardens with variety of flowers.
There are supposed to be in the Mattachusets Government
at this day, neer a thousand acres of land plantdd for Or
chards and Gardens, besides their fields are filled with gar
den fruit, there being, as is supposed in this Colony, about
fifteen thousand acres in tillage, and of cattel about twelve
thousand neat, and about three thousand sheep : Thus hath
the Lord incouraged his people with the encrease of the
general, although many particulars are outed, hundreds of
pounds, and some thousands, yet are there many hundreds
of labouring men, who had not enough to bring them over,
yet now worth scores, and some hundreds of pounds."
Johnson also gives us a further account of the con
dition of the colonists five years later:*
"The Lord is pleased also to compleat this Common-
' Mass. His. Coll., 2d Ser., Vol. 8, p. 12.

THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE, 335
wealth abundantly beyond all expectation in all sorts of
needful occupations, it being for a long time the great fear
of many, and those that were endued with grace from above
also, that this would be no place of continued habitation,
for want of a staple commodity, but the Lord, whose
promises are large to his Sion, hath blest his peoples provi
sion, and satisfied her poor with bread, in a very little space,
everything in the country proved a staple commodity,
wheat, rye, oats, peas, barley, beef, pork, fish, butter,
cheese, timber, mast, tar, sope, plank-boatd frames of
houses, clabboard, and pipestaves, iron and lead is like to
be also ; and those who were formerly forced to fetch most of
the bread they eat, and beer they drink a hundred leagues
by Sea, are through the blessing of the Lord so encreased,
that they have not only fed their Elder Sisters, Virginia,
Barbados, and many of the Summer Islands that were pre-
fer'd before her for fruitfulness, but also the Grandmother of
us all, even the fertil Isle of Great Britain, beside Portugal
hath had many a mouthful of bread and fish from us, in ex
change of their Madeara liquor, and also Spain: nor could
it be imagined, that this Wilderness should turn a mart for
Merchants in so short a space, Holland, France, Spain and
Portugal coming hither for trade, shipping, going on gal
lantly, till the Seas became so troublesome, and England
restrain'd our trade, forbidding it with Barbados, &c., and
Portugal stopt and took our ships; many a fair ship
had her framing and finishing here, besides lesser vessels,
barques and ketches, many a Master, beside common Sea
men, had their first learning in this Colony, Boston, Charles
Town, Salem, and Ipswitch; our Maritan Towns began to
encrease roundly, especially Boston, the which of a poor
country village, in twice seven years is become like unto a
small City, and is in election to be Mayor Town suddainly,
chiefly increased by Trade by Sea, yet of late the Lord

336 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
hath given a check to our trafiSque, but the reason may be
rendered hereafter ; nor hath this Colony alone been actors
in this trade of venturing by Sea, but New-haven also, who
were many of them well experienced in traffique, and had
good estates to manage it, Canectico did not linger behind,
but put forth to Sea with the other, all other trades have
here fallen into their ranks and places, to their great advan
tage; especially Coopers and Shomakers, who had either
of them a Corporation granted, inriching themselves by
their trades very much. Coopers having their plenty of stuff
at a cheap rate, and by reason of trade, with forraign parts
abundance of work, as for Tanners and Shomakers, it being
naturalized into these occupations, to have a higher reach
in mannaging their manifactures, then other men in N. E.
are, having notchang'd their nature in this, between them
both they have kept men to their stander hitherto, almost
doubling the price of their commodities, according to the
rate they were sold for in England, and yet the plenty of
Leather is beyond what they had, there counting the number
of the people, but the transportation of Boots and Shoes
into forraign parts hath vented all however; as for Tailors,
they have not come behind the former, their advantage
being in the nurture of new-fashions, all one with England;
Carpenters, Joyners, Glaziers, Painters, follow their trades
only; Gun-smiths, Lock-smiths, Black-smiths, Naylers,
Cutlers, have left the husbandmen to follow the Plow and
Cart, and they their trades. Weavers, Brewers, Bakers,
Costermongers, Feltmakers, Braziers, Pewterers, and Tink
ers, Ropemakers, Masons, Lime, Brick, and Tilemakers,
Cardmakers to work, and not to play. Turners, Pump-
makers, and Wheelers, Glovers, Fellmungers, and Furriers,
are orderly turn'd to their trades, besides divers sorts of
Shopkeepers, and some who have a mystery beyond others,
as have the Vintners.
"Thus hath the Lord been pleased to turn one of the

THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE. 337
most hideous, boundless, and unknown Wildernesses in the
world in an instant, as 'twere (in comparison of other work)
to a well ordered commonwealth, and all to serve his
Churches, of which the Author intends to speak of three
more, which came to be gathered in the compass of these
years." Charles II came to the throne in May, 1660, and
from this time forward the relations between the col
onists and England show more and more clearly
their purpose to establish an independent govern
ment; from this time the struggle to maintain their
charter Is seen more and more clearly to be a strug
gle for Independence. In the general acclaim with
which the restoration of Charles II was greeted by
his subjects, Massachusetts did not join. No pro
clamation of his accession was made there, nor was
any notice of it entered on the records of the Gen
eral Court until fifteen months afterward, and then
it was announced in a proclamation so framed, ac
cording to Chalmers, that "the authority from which
that monarch derived his kingship was carefully con
cealed, in order that the people of that jurisdiction
[Massachusetts] might consider the whole as an
election recent and provincial."^ Chalmers adds
that "with a characteristic sourness, the General
Court published an order on the same day 'prohibit
ing all disorderly behaviour, and particularly that no
person shall presume to drinh his majesty's health.' "
Soon ominous tidings began to come from Eng
land. John Leveret, the colonial agent, wrote home
^Annals, p. 253; Palfrey, Vol. 2, pp. 517-518.
PuR. Rep. — 22

338 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
about the changes which had taken place there; how
"Episcopacy, Common Prayer, bowing at the name
of Jesus, sign of the cross in baptism, the altar and
organs are in use, and like to be more." Com
plaints to the king began to pour in from Quakers,
Baptists, Episcopalians, and all who had suffered
from the persecution or oppression of the Massachu
setts authorities. It was deemed advisable, there
fore, in December, 1660, to send addresses to the
king and Parliament, filled with professions of loy
alty, and to ask the aid of influential persons in
England in counteracting the efforts of the enemies
of the commonwealth.
John Eliot, the "apostle," had published a book,
entitled "The Christian Commonwealth,"* in which
he had outlined the framework of a Biblical com
monwealth fashioned after the form "approved of
God, 'instituted by Moses among the sons of Israel,"
with "rulers of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties,
and of tens, who shall govern according to the pure,
holy, righteous, perfect and good law of God, writ
ten In the Scriptures of the Old and New Testa
ment," He also expressed in the book his firm con
viction that the time had come when "the Lord Is
about to shake all the earth and throw down that
great Idol of Humane Wisdome in Governments,
and set up Scripture Government in the room there
of." The book was vislonaiy and the scheme pro
posed was impracticable, but no offense was taken
when the book was published. Indeed, it is not im
probable that there were many in the commonwealth
' The book is reprinted in Mass, His. Coll., 3d Ser., Vol. 9.

THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE. 339
who thought Eliot's scheme of government an im
provement upon their own; but in May, 1661, the
General Court "taking notice" of the book dis
covered that there were in it "sundry passages and
expressions" which were "justly offensive and in
speciali relating to Kingly Government In England,"
and Eliot was compelled to make a public retraction.
No substantial change, however, was made in the
form of government, nor was any attention paid to
the royal requests, nor was any substantial alteration
made in the laws passed in the reigns of the king's
royal predecessors.
Soon after the accession of Charles II a Council of
Foreign Plantations was organized, and in 1661
twelve Privy Councillors were appointed a committee
upon the affairs of New England.
Among the first acts passed after the accession of
Charles II were the navigation acts, passed in 1660
and 1663. The navigation act of 1651 had merely
prohibited exports from the American colonies, but
the new acts provided that "no commodity of the
growth or manufacture of Europe, shall be imported
into any of the king's plantations in Asia, Africa, or
America, but what have been shipped in England,
Wales or town of Berwick, and in English built ship
ping, whereof the master and three-fourths of the
mariners are English, and carried directly thence to
the plantations," excepting salt for American fish
eries, wines from Madeira and the Azores, and pro
visions from Scotland, The objects of these acts, as
declared in the preambles to them, were "the keep
ing of his Majesty's subjects in the plantations in a

340 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
firmer dependence," the "increase of English ship
ping," and "the vent of English woolens and other
manufactures and commodities." The severe pen
alty for violation of either of the acts was forfeiture
of both ship and cargo.
Fresh complaints began to come to the king con
cerning the doings of his subjects in Massachusetts,
and the talk of sending over a royal governor was
renewed. The Rev. John Norton and Simon Brad
street were sent as agents to England with carefully
worded instructions "to present us to his Majesty as
his loyal and obedients subjects," and to "endeavor
to take off all scandal and objections which are or
shall be made against us," but at the same time it
was specially enjoined upon them that, "you shall
endeavor the establishment of the rights and privi
leges we now enjoy," and that "you shall not engage
us by any act of yours to anything which may be
prejudicial to our present standing, according to
patent."^
Another address (dated June 15, x66i) was sent.
The king returned by Bradstreet and Norton a kind
and considerate answer (dated June 28, 1662), de
signed to allay apprehensions concerning the loss
of the charter, and offering to renew it. But in
his letter the king made several demands which
were 111 received by the colonists. These were, in
substance, that all their laws and ordinances which
were contrary or derogative to the king's authority
and government should be repealed; that the charter
rules for administering and taking the oath of allegi-
^ Palfrey, Vol. 2, p, 524.

THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE. 34 1
ance should be observed; that the administration of
justice should be in the king's name; that those who
desired to use the book of Cominon Prayer and to
worship after the manner of the Church of England
"be not denied the exercise thereof, or undergo any
prejudice or disadvantage thereby," and that "all
freeholders of competent estates, not vicious in con
versation, orthodox in religion (though of different
persuasions concerning church government), may
have their vote in the election of all officers, civil and
military," The king was careful to add this: "We
can not be understood hereby to direct or wish that
any indulgence should be granted to those persons,
commonly called Quakers, whose principles, being
inconsistent with any kind of government, we have
found it necessary, with the advice of our parliament
here, to make sharp laws against them, and we are
well content that you do the like there." It must be
admitted that the demands of the king were reason
able, especially the demand that the members of his
own church should enjoy the same religious free
dom which he allowed the colonists.
The letter of the king returned by Bradstreet and
Norton was received by the General Court In Octo
ber, 1662, but it was not entered on the records of
the General Court until May, 1665, more than two
years afterward,* The demands which It contained
were extremely distasteful to the authorities of Massa
chusetts, A scapegoat was sought, as Is usual when
the people are angry. In this instance the blame was
laid on Norton, who, as some asserted, "had laid the
iMass. Rec, Vol. 4, Pt. 2, p. 58.

342 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
foundation of ruin to all our liberties." This was a
most mortifying accusation to one who, like Norton,
for so long a time had been so prominent and influ
ential among his fellow-citizens. He drooped under
it and died a few months afterward. The Quakers,
It may be added, did not fail to Interpret his death as
a "sign" of Divine vengeance upon him for the part
he had taken In persecuting them, and they reported
it to the king and Parliament as one of the "remark
able judgments" upon their persecutors.
The controlling spirits in the colony had no idea
of complying with the demands of the king, or of
acquiescing in any of his wishes, except the one re
lating to the Quakers, which alone met with their
hearty approval. But as they were not "abel" to
resist by arms, they again began to "avoide or pro
tract," and to send more addresses. By this time,
however, the king had become satiated with ad
dresses, and in 1664 he sent two war ships and sev
eral hundred soldiers to Boston, with four commis
sioners, to whom were given "full power and au
thority to heare and receive and to examine and de
termine all complaints and appeales in all causes and
matters, as well military as criminal and civil,"
They were also Instructed "to see how the charter
was maintained on their part," One of the commis
sioners was Maverick, a bitter enemy of the colo
nists, who had been fined, imprisoned and banished
by them. As soon as the General Court was ap
prised of what was coming, it ordered the hiding of
the charter and appointed messengers charged,
among other duties, "to present their respects" to

THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE. 343
the commissioners and to request that the under of
ficers and sailors coming on shore "at no time ex
ceed a convenient number, and that without arms,
and that they behave themselves orderly amongst his
Majestys good subjects here and be careful of giving
no ofi-ence to the people and laws of this place."
Having done this, the General Court awaited the
arrival of the ships. They cast anchor in Boston
harbor on July 23, 1664 — the first of the royal navy
that had ever been seen there.
The commissioners presented to Governor Endicott
and the magistrates their commission and instruc
tions, together with a letter to the governor from the
king, in which he stated that the answer to his letter
sent by Bradstreet and Norton "did not answer his
expectations," The instructions required the com-
lulssioners, besides inquiring into the complaints of
usurpation of authority, to inquire particularly how
his demands in the letter sent by Bradstreet and
Norton had been observed.
Two other points were impressed upon the com
missioners in a set of private instructions to them.
One was to secure to the king the right of nomina
tion or approval of the governor; the other was that
the militia should be put under command of an offi
cer nominated or recommended by the king.
The commissioners desired that the General Court
should be called to consider the king's demands, but
excuses were given and the General Court was not
convened until after the commissioners had departed.
Not being able to extort from the governor and mag
istrates any such concessions as their instructions

344 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
called for, the commissioners did not tarry long In
Boston, but left to settle matters in other of the New
England colonies and in New York, intending to
return to Boston after this had been accomplished.
After the departure of the commissioners, the Gen
eral Court held a meeting and proceeded to repeal
the law limiting the right of voting to church mem
bers, but Immediately enacted another which re
quired, as a condition precedent to the admission of
freemen, "a certificate under the hands of the min
ister or ministers of the place where they dwell that
they were orthodox in religion and not vicious in
their lives, &c,," thus practically leaving to the min
isters, as before, the power of admitting to citizen
ship. The General Court also appointed a commit
tee to draw up another address to the king, petition
ing for a continuance of the privileges of the charter,
"filled with such rational arguments as they could
find to the end aforesaid," The petition, among,
other "arguments," set forth that "This people did
at their own charges transport themselves, their wives
and families over the ocean, purchase the land of the
natives and plant this colony with great labor, hazard,
costs and difficulties; * * * having also now
above thirty years enjoyed the aforesaid power and
privilege of govern7nent within themselves, as their
undoubted right in the sight of God and man," and
especially protesting against the appointment and
authority of commissioners "to heare, receive ex
amine and determine all complaints and appeals in
all causes and matters as well military as criminal
and civill * * * whereby instead of being gov-

THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE. 345
erned by rulers of our own choosing {which is the
fundamental privilege of our patent) and by laws of
our owne, we are like to be subjected to the arbitrary
power of strangers, proceeding not by any estab
lished law, but by their own discretions," To this
address Clarendon, then Lord Chancellor, returned
a brief and caustic reply, in which he stated that he
was "amazed to find that you demand a revockatlon
of the commission and commissioners without laying
the least matter to their charge of crymes or exor
bitances"; that he knew not "what you mean by
saying the commissioners have power to exercise
government there altogether inconsistent with your
charter and privileges"; insisting that "if in truth,
in any extraordinary case, the proceedings there have
been irregular and against the rules of justice, as
some particular cases, particularly recommended to
them by his Majesty, seeme to be, it can not be pre
sumed that his Majesty hath or will leave his subjects
of New England without hope of redresse by an ap
peale to him, which his subjects of his other king
doms have free liberty to make." He concluded
with this pointed advice: "I can say no more to you
but that it Is in your owne power to be very happy,
and to enjoy all that hath been granted to you; but
it will be absolutely necessary that you performe 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 not but to find from
the best of that colony, both in quality and in
numbers."* ' Both the address and Clarendon's answer are given in full in Hutch
inson, Vol. I, Appendix, pp. 460-465.

346 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
The commissioners, after leaving Boston, went
first to New York. They next went to Plymouth;
then to Rhode Island; and then to Connecticut. To
each of these were made in substance the same pro
posals contained in the letter of the king sent by
Bradstreet and Norton to Massachusetts, which were:
" I . That all householders should take the oath of allegi
ance, and that justice should be administered in the king's
name; 2, That 'all men of competent estates and civil
conversation, though of different judgments, might be ad
mitted to be freeman, and have liberty to choose and be
chosen officers, both civil and military' ; 3. That 'all men
and women of orthodox opinions, competent knowledge,
and civil lives, not scandalous,' should be admitted to the
Lord's Supper and have their children baptized, either in
the churches already existing, or in congregations of their
own; 4. That 'all laws, and expressions in laws, de
rogatory to his Majesty,' should be 'repealed, altered, and
taken off from the file.' "
In all these colonies satisfactory replies were re
ceived which elicited the commendation of the king.
Again the commissioners turned their steps to
Massachusetts where the rebellious colonists, now
left alone, awaited their coming without the least
sign of fear or trembling. The commissioners ar
rived in Boston in May, 1665, and at once resumed
discussion with the authorities of the demands of the
king. The crisis had now arrived and it was impossi
ble longer to "avoide or protract. ' ' The General Court
met the complaints of the commissioners with firm
ness and consummate skill, denying some, justifying
some, and adroitly parrying others. Not a single

THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE. 347
essential point in the claim of the colonists was
yielded by the General Court; not one of the essen
tial demands of the king was assented to. The cul
mination of the controversy, which lasted about a
month, was the attempt of the commissioners to ex
tort from the General Court its acknowledgment of
their authority to sit as a court of appeal for the
hearing of complaints against it.
After much skillful parrying by the General Court,
the commissioners, on May 18, 1665, thought to bring
discussion to a head by a communication containing
this pointed inquiry:
"His Majesty sent us with commission to sit as a court
of appeals in these his majesty's dominions; but we are
told that the inviolable observation of your charter seems in
consistent with our hearing and determining complaints and
appeals ; whereupon we have thought it necessary to reduce
all the discourse thereof into one question, whereunto we
expect your positive answer, which we shall faithfully report
to his majesty : whether you do acknowledge his majesty's
commission, wherein we are nominated commissioners, to be
of full force to all the intents and purposes therein con
tained." The answer being evasive and unsatisfactory. Col.
Nichols, the head of the commission, on the same
day addressed the General Court in this plain lan
guage: "The King will not suffer himself to be deluded, nor his
counsels to be frustrated ; and I hope you will find better
counsels about you, and tell us plainly and truly whether
you will submit to that commission, without any shufHing,

348 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
Otherwise, I must say openly and freely to you, when his
majesty's Commissioners have not that power, that his com
mission may not bear authority here, it is time for us to be
gone out of the country; and, for that cause of imparting,
we like not. We are a court by his majesty's authority, or
else we have nothing to do in the Country. We shall leave
his majesty to speak in his own language to you afterwards."
To this the General Court, on May 20, answered
as follows:
"We have only pleaded his majesty's royal charter
granted to us, which we have reason to hope will be accept
able to his majesty, it being his special charge to yourselves
not to disturb us therein. Your proposal to that instruction
for us to answer to complaints, whereof you say you have
had many against us, was the occasion of our reply to your
selves, signifying that we apprehended our charter to be in
fringed by your proceedings."
But at the same time the General Court offered to
give the commissioners "an account" of any of their
proceedings with which they might be "unsatisfied."
This did not satisfy the commissioners, who on the
same day continued to "Insist upon the former ques
tion, and therefore," they said, "we are necessitated
to declare once more to you, that your positive an
swer thereto ought to be had, before we proceed to
act according to the virtue of his majesty's commis
sion." On May 22 the General Court made an
swer that: "We humbly conceive it is beyond our
line to declare our sense of the power. Intent or pur
pose of your commission; it is enough for us to ac
quaint you, what we conceive is granted to us by his

THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE. 349
majesty's royal charter. If you rest not satisfied
with our former answer, it is our trouble, but we
hope it is not our fault."
Exasperated by their failure to elicit from the Gen
eral Court the acknowledgment sought, the commis
sioners, on May 23, gave notice that at 9 o'clock the
next morning, at Captain Breedon's house in Boston,
they would sit "as his majesty's commissioners to
hear and determine the cause of Mr. Thomas Deane
and others plfs. against the governour and company,
and Joshua Scottow, merchant, defts. for Injustice
done Mr. Deane and others, when the Charles, of
Oleron, came into this port, whereof we thought fit
to give you this notice, that the governour and com
pany is complained of, and that we do expect you
will, by your attorney, answer to the complaint."
The General Court immediately met this last move
of the commissioners by issuing a proclamation
denying their authority to proceed with the hearing,
and on the next day, before the appointed time, a
messenger of the General Court appeared, and with
a trumpet announced the proclamation, forbade the
people attending the hearing, and then summoned
Deane and his co-plaintiffs to appear before the court
for a rehearing of their complaints, and sent an invi
tation to the commissioners to be present at the hear
ing, if so inclined.
Finding themselves bafHed at every point, the com
missioners abandoned the contest and departed,*
'For a fuller account ofthe controversy between the Commissioners
-and the General Court, see t Hutchinson, 215-228; Danforth Papers,
Mass. His. Coll., 2d Ser., Vol. 8, p. 46.

350 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
After leaving Boston, the commissioners went to
Maine to adjust the claims of Gorges and Mason,
between whom and Massachusetts there had been a
long and bitter contest over the question of jurisdic
tion of that province. Despite the continued and
vigorous protest of the Massachusetts authorities, the
commissioners set up a government there, but after
thej^ had left the country, Massachusetts, in defiance
of the king's commands and the action of the com
missioners, again assumed jurisdiction, overturned
the courts established by the commissioners, and set
up others created by the General Court.
On April lo, 1666, an order was made by the king
recalling the commissioners, forbidding any Interfer
ence with Maine, and requiring the General Court to
send four or five persons to England with authority
to answer the complaints which had been made
against Massachusetts. No attention was paid to the
order to send agents to England, and, as we have
seen, the authorities openly defied the order forbid
ding interference with Maine.
In September following petitions were presented
to the General Court from some of the inhabitants
requesting compliance with the king's demands, but
"the signers gave offence to court and severall from
each town, were summoned to appear to answer for
the same."
As if to make some atonement fqr all this defiance
of royal authority, the General Court, on April 21,
1669, sent to the king a present of a ship-load of
masts, of which he was then greatly in need, and the
gift was graciously acknowledged by him.

THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE. 35 1
There can be no question that at this time, if not
before, the colonists were in rebellion, and there is
not the slightest doubt that they would have been in
armed rebellion if they had felt themselves "abel"
to maintain it with any assurance of success. Al
ready, as Clarendon expressed it, they had been
"hardened into a republic."
Some of the grounds of their claim of right to
establish and maintain an independent government
were hinted at in the petition ordered to be drawn
up by the General Court prior to its meeting with
the royal commissioners. But all the grounds of
their claim to independence were not stated In that
petition, for the obvious reason that probably this
would have precipitated at once a conflict of arms
for which the colonists did not then deem themselves
prepared. So, in the petition, they were simply
feeling their way, venturing only as far as they dared,
not as far as they wished, in the assertion of what
they conceived to be their rights.
Just what were the rights guaranteed by the char
ter it is difficult to determine. The charter, as has
been shown in a former chapter,* was in some re
spects vague and Indefinite in its terms, especially
in the parts which failed clearly to define the
boundary lines between the municipal authority of
the company and the sovereign power of England.
This was a fault in the charters of similar companies.
Nothing could be found, nothing ever has been
found, either in the law of nations or in judicial
precedents, authoritatively settling the construction
'Chapter 11.

352 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
of such charters or the disputed questions arising out
of them. Upon some of them learned lawyers and
commentators have expressed opinions, but they do
not agree in their opinions.
In determining the validity of the claims made by
the colonists, it is evident that the transfer of the
charter from England to America could not affect the
construction of it. Its language meant the same
thing in one place as in the other.
And, granting that the company had a right to
move itself, as well as its charter, to America, it
could not by such transfer enlarge its powers. A cor
poration now in Massachusetts could not enlarge its
powers by moving from one town to another.
Nevertheless, here in America was a colony rapidly
growing in population and wealth, three thousand
miles from the mother country. It was essential that
there should be a local government and that the au
thority for establishing it should be derived from
some source. In determining where this authority
was vested and what were its boundaries there are
¦several rights to be considered.
First. There was the right of England to sover
eign power.
Second. There was the right of local self-govern
ment of the Massachusetts Company, derived from
the charter.
Third. There was the right of local self-govern
ment, possessed alike by the inhabitants of the colony,
whether members of the Massachusetts Company or
not, and not derived from any charter, but based
upon the laws and customs of England, or possessed

THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE. 353
as an inherent right by the members of the com
munity. However these various rights were to be defined
and reconciled with each other, it became plain at
the outset that steps were necessary to the formation
of a local government of some kind. As the colony
grew and its population, commerce and wealth in
creased, it became necessary to pass additional laws
and regulations, and the local government was con
tinually expanding its powers.
The colonists did not, as already stated, base au
thority to exercise the powers which they assumed
upon any inalienable or inherent rights. More than
a hundred years later such rights were prominently
set forth in the Declaration of Independence. But
the great body of the Puritans had not progressed so
far in their ideas of republican government during
the period of the commonwealth. The Puritans In
England, in the great rebellion, had rebelled not so
much against monarchy as against the monarch.
The colonists, as we have seen, based their asser
tion of right to govern themselves in America very
largely upon the charter itself. According to their
construction of it they did not, of course, consider
their powers of government limited to the making of
laws and ordinances relating to such matters of local
concern as in this day are usually left to subordinate
municipalities. If their laws and ordinances had
been so limited, no question would have been raised
either as to the derivation or the exercise of their
powers of local self-government. But the colonists
PuR. Rep. — 23

354 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
did not stop with the exercise of such powers. They
punished citizens for exercising the right to worship
according to their own religious views. They re
quired oaths of fidelity to the commonwealth. In
1643 "there arose a scruple" about taking that part
of the oath of office which required the office-holder
to swear allegiance to the king, "whereupon it was
thought fit to omit that part of it for the present,"
and for many years this "scruple" continued to pre
vent such recognition of royal authority. Lechford
records that in the freeman's oath, "I doe not re
member expressed that saving which is and ought to
be in all oathes to other Lords — Saving the faith
and truth which I beare to our Soveraigne Lord the
King, though I hope it may be implyed." But
no such "saving" was either expressed or implied.
The colonists failed also to set up the king's arms in
the courts of justice, probably by reason of the same
"scruple" before mentioned. Their laws nowhere
acknowledged that the authority for making them
was derived either from the king or Parliament, and
the enacting clause was merely, "It is ordered by
this Court & the authority thereof." Their legal
processes omitted the name of the king and ran in
the name only of the commonwealth. They coined
money. They ignored, and refused obedience to,
the English navigation acts. They denied the right
of appeal to any appellate court or tribunal from the
decree of their own courts. And, finally, they de
nied the authority of the English government to
have tried and determined by any of its tribunals
complaints against the colonists for alleged abuse of

THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE. 355
the powers granted to them, or for alleged usurpations
by them of powers not granted.*
If the colonists had any such rights as they claimed,
they did not derive them from the charter. By their
acceptance of it they had acknowledged the sovereign
jurisdiction of England over the territory covered by
it, and her authority to make the grant which was
made. By their acceptance of the charter they had
also recognized the authority of England to levy and
collect taxes, one of the highest attributes of sover
eignty. Whatever legislative authority was granted to the
company was given with the express reservation that
the laws and ordinances enacted pursuant to it "be
not contrary or repugnant to the laws and statutes of
this our relm of England." Jurisdiction to determine
whether they were contrary or repugnant was in the
sovereign power itself, just as the jurisdiction to de
termine whether the laws of the states are contrary
or repugnant to the constitution or laws of the United
States is vested in the federal and not in the state
courts. And, inasmuch as the company was a corporation
invested only with such powers as were granted to
it, undoubtedly authority was reserved to inquire,
by quo warranto or other appropriate judicial pro
ceedings, whether the grantees were abusing the
powers granted or were usurping those not granted
at all.
' In the Andros Tracts is a reprint of a paper printed in 1689 con
taining "an abstract of some of the printed laws of New England, which
are either contrary, or not agreeable to the laws of England." Vol. 3
p. 13-

356 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
It is difficult, therefore, to find any plausible argu
ment, based on reasons then urged, on which to sustain
the claim made by the colonists of their right to
establish and maintain an independent government,
or to exercise the powers which they did exercise..
That the people of this country had ample grounds
In later years to support such a claim does not affect
the question of the rights of the colonists under their
charter. It should be observed, however, in this connection
that the colonists never admitted the right of English
rulers to exercise the taxing power in the arbitrary
manner in which it was used by Charles II in the
later years of his reign, and no one, when the charter
was granted and accepted, could have foreseen that it
ever would be so exercised.
For several years afterward there was another lull
In the efforts of the English rulers to bring to terms
their rebellious subjects in Massachusetts. But it
must not be supposed that this lull was due either to
the present of the ship masts, or to ignorance of, or
Indifference to, what was going on in Massachusetts,
War between England and the Dutch had begun
In 1664. In 1665 a dreadful plague had carried off
more than one hundred thousand of the English
people, and in 1666 a great fire had swept London
from one end to the other, leaving fifty thousand
people homeless. The bold De Ruyter scoured the
ocean and chased the British fleets into the Thames
and the Medway. In 1667 he sailed up the Thames,
destroyed the shipping at Sheerness, burned the En
glish men-of-war in the sight of all England, and

THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE. 357
blockaded the capital. On the day when the roar of his
guns was heard in the streets of London, the day on
which England had sunk to the lowest depths of
her degradation, it is said that the "Merry Monarch"
was feasting and playing with the dissolute women of
his court. A h-umlliatlng peace with the Dutch was
declared in the same year, but it was of short dura
tion. The condition of England continued to be
such as to allow but little thought of the colonies in
America. A profligate and wasteful monarch and
an equally profligate and wasteful ministry had bank
rupted the treasury and impoverished the people.
Dissensions and scandals at home and defeats abroad
had brought continued disaster and disgrace to the
English people. Their thoughts were turning to
Oliver Cromwell and the proud position of England
among the nations of the earth when he ruled, and
they were beginning to wish that another like him
might appear to rescue the honor of the kingdom.
Another war with the Dutch broke out and the at
tention of rulers and people, of the whole world, was
directed to the terrific naval battles in which England
sought to regain her prestige on the ocean and to
establish again the glory of the English navy.
But even during this period the English rulers
were not wholly oblivious to affairs in the Massachu
setts commonwealth. At one of the meetings of the
CouncU of Foreign Plantations, held in 1671, there
was a discussion as to the form of a circular letter to
be sent to the New England colonies which appeared
"to be very independent as to their regard to Old
England or his Majesty, rich and strong as they now

358 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
were." Some apprehension was expressed of the
colonists "breaking away from all dependence on
the Nation," and there were doubts whether it were
better policy to send "a menacing or a conciliatory
letter." It was finally determined to send a concil
iatory letter by an agent to be selected for that pur
pose, but, owing to the pressure of more important
public matters in England, neither agent nor letter
was sent.

XVI
THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE AND THE
REVOCATION OF THE CHARTER — GENESIS
OF A STILL GREATER REPUBLIC— Continued
Peace with the Dutch was declared In 1674, and
the management of colonial affairs was again vested
in the Privy Council, which exercised Its authority in
such matters through a standing committee called
"The Lords of Trade and Plantations."
Two years before this, however, Parliament had
passed another and still more odious act, intended
to supplement the former navigation acts. This act
imposed duties upon sugars, tobacco, indigo, cotton,
wool and other commodities, transported y;'0?« one
colony to another.
Meantime the enemies of the commonwealth had
not been Idle. Gorges and Mason were persistent In
their complaints of the infringement of the common
wealth on the territory which they alleged was cov
ered by the patent issued to them. And the Lon
don merchants were continually complaining of the
violation by the colonists of the navigation laws.
But the most active and implacable of the enemies
of the commonwealth was Edward Randolph. Be
sides being entrusted with various offices and special
missions, he was the person usually selected to carry
messages from the king to the colonists, to gather
(359)

360 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
and report to the king and privy councilors such in
formation as they desired, and he was depended upon
as a general informer to spy into and report the mis
doings of the people of Massachusetts,
In the execution of the various missions entrusted
to him, he was as untiring as he was relentless. He
made himself thoroughly familiar, even to the mi
nutest details, with the organization of the govern
ment established in the commonwealth, and the
workings of every department of It, with the customs
and manners and characteristics of the inhabitants,
and even with the opinions which prevailed among
them on every matter which was the subject of dis
cussion. The Commissioners of Plantations acknowl
edged "that they had received more information from
him about New England than of all other men." In
carrying on the business in which he was engaged,
he Is said to have made no less than eight voyages
across the Atlantic within a period of nine years,* He
flitted back and forth like a bird of ill omen, now
coming from England with threatening messages,
then returning with fresh complaints to the king of
the performances in America, telling him that the
colonists paid no more attention to his letters than
they did to the London Gazette, and urging the in
stitution of quo warranto proceedings which, he said,
would "unhinge their government," In America, he
was always busy tormenting the authorities, foment
ing dissensions and discontent, and collecting evi
dence to be used against the colonists. In England,
' He wrote a "short narrative" of his "proceedings and several vo}'-
ages to and from New England to Whitehall," which is reprinted in
the Andros Tracts, Vol. 3, p, 214.

THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE. 36 X
lie was equally busy in presenting new complaints
and furnishing proofs of them, and pouring into the
ears of the king and privy councilors stories calcu
lated to inflame them and spur them on to more vig
orous action against the king's subjects on this side of
the Atlantic. By the colonists he came to be looked
upon as one "who went up and down to destroy
them." The one object of his life seemed to be the
destruction of the Massachusetts commonwealth.
The complaints against the Massachusetts authori
ties continued coming to the king from all quarters,
but, so far, neither his requests nor his orders had
been sufficient to induce the General Court to send
agents to England. The excuse given, when any
was given at all, was "that the colony was too poor
to employ agents, and had no meet instruments."
At last the king, pursuant to a recommendation of
the Privy Council at a meeting held In December,
1675, ^^*^* Randolph as a special messenger to Mas
sachusetts, with a letter referring to the complaints
of Gorges and Mason, and requiring that the colony
send over agents to answer the charges made, and
threatening that, if the authorities persisted in disre
garding his demands, the charter would be annulled.
Randolph arrived in the beginning of the year
1676, and, as the General Court was not in session,
he submitted the king's letter to the governor, John
Leverett, and the magistrates. The letter was at
tested by the king's private secretary, Henry Coven
try. The governor pretended that he had never
heard of him and asked Randolph who he might be.
Upon being informed, the governor then read the

303 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC,
letter aloud, but, as if to emphasize his contempt for
both the king and his messenger, he sat during the
reading with his hat on and his example was imitated
by some of the magistrates,
Randolph requested that the General Court be
convened in order that steps might be taken to com
ply with the king's demands, but various excuses
were found and the court was not called together un
til after his departure.
The brief answer to the king's letter returned by
the governor and magistrates denied the complaints
made against the colony, but stated that it would be
necessary, in order to make a suitable reply, to con
vene the General Court,
During Randolph's stay he busied himself, as
usual, in prying into the affairs of all the New Eng
land colonies, and especialty In stirring up disputes
and fomenting factions in Massachusetts, He did not
fail to observe the open violation of the navigation
acts and complained of this to the governor. The
governor treated his complaints very uncivilly. The
reply which he gave to Randolph concerning these
complaints Is proof of the rapid progress which had
been made up to that time by the Massachusetts col
onists in the development of their purpose to set up
and carry on a government of their own. This reply,
according to Randolph, was as follows:
' ' He freely declared to me that the laws made by your
Majesty and your Parliament obligeth them in nothing but
what consists with the interest of that Colony ; that the leg
islative power is and abides in them solely to act and make
laws by virtue of a charter from your Majesty's royal father;

THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE. ^^^
and that all matters in difference are to be concluded by
their final determination, without any appeal to your Majesty ;
and that your Majesty ought not to retrench their liberties,
but may enlarge them if your Majesty please ; and said your
Majesty had confirmed their charter and all their privileges
by your Majesty's letter of the 28th of June, 1662, and that
your Majesty could do no less in reason than let them enjoy
their liberties and trade, they having, upon their own charge,
and without any contribution from the crown, made so large
plantation in the wilderness."^
After Randolph's departure the General Court was
convened and, the elders having first been con
sulted, it was deemed advisable to comply with the
king's demand to send over agents, Stoughton and
Bulkeley were selected for that purpose and were dis
patched. In 1677, with Instructions to answer the
complaints of Gorges and Mason, but they were
specially enjoined to use the "utmost care and cau
tion" in keeping within the limits of their Instructions
and "In the preservation of our patent liberties,"
When the claims of Gorges and Mason were sub
mitted to the English judges the latter decided that
neither Mason nor Massachusetts had any legal right
to the four towns of Hampton, Exeter, Dover and
Portsmouth, over which Massachusetts had be
fore exercised jurisdiction, and these were forthwith
constituted a royal province named New Hampshire
and placed under the control of Edward Cranfield.
The judges decided in favor of the claims of
Gorges's heirs to the province of Maine, which the
king wished to bestow upon one of his Illegitimate
' Palfrey, Vol. 3, p. 2S7.

364 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
sons. This wish of the king, however, was thwarted
by the purchase of the rights of the Gorges heirs by
the agents of Massachusetts,
As might have been foreseen, this action of the
Massachusetts authorities served still further to in
flame the anger of the king, who, as soon as he
was Informed of it, sent a message to the Gen
eral Court demanding the surrender of the prov
ince by Massachusetts upon repayment of the sum
paid to the Gorges heirs and at the same time de
manding compliance with the long neglected com
mands of himself and his royal predecessors. The
General Court, however, refused to surrender the
province of Maine, nor did It make any haste to
comply with the other commands of the king.
The Gorges and Mason controversy having been
disposed of, the Massachusetts agents were ques
tioned by the Commissioners of Plantations concern
ing their authority to answer other complaints. The
agents amazed the commissioners by answering
"that they had no other power than to defend the
claims of these men [Gorges and Mason] , but were
not authorized to answer any other question than as
private men"-, whereupon they were Informed "that
his Majesty did not think of treating with his own
subjects as with strangers, and to expect the form
ality of powers,"*
Stoughton and Bulkeley remained in England
nearly three years, and, while there, the General
Court forwarded to the king several more addresses,
but it showed no disposition to comply with the most
' Chalmers's Annals, pp. 403-4.

THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE, 365
essential of the king's demands. One of the mat
ters on which the king was most insistent was
compliance with the navigation acts, but in one of
its addresses the General Court had the boldness
to assert that these were "an invasion of the rights,
liberties and properties of the subjects of his majesty
in the colony, they not being represented in Parlia
ment" — thus, for the first time, distinctly putting
forth one of the cardinal points urged nearly one
hundred years later in the Declaration of Independ
ence. The objection now brought forward to the exercise
by the English government of the power to tax the
colonists deserves special attention as clearly mark
ing the beginning of the claim persistently urged
from that time to the Revolution, and emphasized in
the Declaration of Independence.
It was the arbitrary and despotic exercise of the
taxing power by the English rulers which, more than
all other causes combined, led to the revolution. It
is true that by the acceptance of the charter the col
onists had recognized, in a general way, the right of
the English government to tax them. But It was a
cardinal principle of the unwritten English constitu
tion that there should be no taxation without repre
sentation, and, though the charter did not expressly
give the colonists the right of representation, they
might well argue that this was Implied as one of the
conditions precedent to the imposition of taxes upon
them. However this may be, they were clearly
right in contending that it could not have been in
tended, either by those who granted, or by those who

366 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
accepted the charter, that the taxing power should
be perverted from its legitimate governmental function
and used to cripple the commerce and to destroy the
manufactures of the colonists. Such a perversion of
it as was exhibited In the reigns of Charles II and
George III justifies revolution as a last resort, and
wbuld be as certain to lead to rebellion In any land
inhabited by people who have Inherited English Ideas
of constitutional liberty as it did in America in
1776, It being evident that nothing could be accom
plished through the agents then in England, they
were permitted to return, bringing with them a letter
from the king, dated July 24, 1679, in which he de
manded that other agents be sent over within six
months, fully instructed and authorized to make the
answers and transact the business desired by the king,
A synopsis of the king's letter, as given In Chalm
ers's Annals,* shov/s that "among other requisitions,
he commanded: That liberty of conscience should be
allowed to those of the church of England, or other
Subjects, not being papists; that all of competent
estates should be admitted freemen and magistrates;
that the number of assistants, which the charter re
quired, should be chosen In future; that those, who
were Invested with any privilege or office, should take
the oath of allegiance; that military commissions and
process of courts should run in his name; that all
ordinances, repugnant to the laws of trade, should be
abolished; that every assistance should be given to
the collector of his customs, in discharge of his duty,"
' p. 409,

THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE. 367
Randolph followed immediately after the returning
agents, bringing with him a commission appointing
him customs-collector at Boston,
No attention was paid to the king's demand ta
send over other agents, further than to make the
poor excuse, which was probably regarded by the
king as worse than none, "that the country was poor;
proper persons were afraid of the seas, as the Turkish
pirates had lately taken their vessels, and that his
majesty was still employed In the most Important
affairs," The General Court complied with some
of the least important of the king's demands by fill
ing up the number of assistants, requiring oaths of
allegiance, and issuing commissions and process In
the king's name; but no substantial change was
made in the laws or In the established policy of the
commonwealth. When Randolph began to exercise his office, he
was at once met with persistent and violent opposi
tion and was hindered by the authorities In every
way possible. He was prosecuted and fined, and
denied an attorney. His servants were mobbed and
the vessels seized by him were forcibly taken from
him. Toward the end of x68o he returned to Eng
land to make fresh complaints and to get enlarged
authority. When reports of the manner In which his com
mands had been treated were laid before the king,
they served, as might have been expected, to In
crease his resentment and to strengthen his deter
mination to bring the Massachusetts government
under subjection to royal authority. He wrote

368 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
another letter to the General Court, repeating his
former remonstrances and admonitions and directing
that other agents be sent within three months with
authority to settle the matters in controversy.
In the early part of 1681, Randolph came again,
this time armed with a commission as "Collector,
Surveyor and Searcher for all New England," but
no more respect was paid to his authority than be
fore, and when he requested to know of the General
Court "whether it will admit the patent above men
tioned [his commission] to be in force or not, that
he may know how to govern himself," the Court re
mained silent.
The king sent another severe letter to the General
Court (dated October 21, 1681), characterized by
Chalmers as "perhaps the most extraordinary one
ever sent by a sovereign to his subjects; containing a
sketch of the history of the disobedience of Massa
chusetts, as drawn by the then ministers of England,"
We "once more," the letter concludes, "charge and
require you forthwith to send over your agents fully
empowered and instructed to attend the regulation
of that our government, and to answer the irregularity
of your proceedings therein," and threatening that on
failure to do so, quo warranto proceedings would be
Instituted "whereby our charter granted unto you,
with all the powers thereof, may be legally evicted
and made void. And so we bid you farewel,"*
It was now plain that the king could no longer be
put off by addresses, and that failure to comply with
the royal demand for sending new agents would not
'Chalmers's Annals, pp, 443-449.

THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE. 369
be excused by the king, either on account of the ex
pense or of the apprehension of their capture on the
way by Turkish pirates. Indeed, In regard to the
latter contingency, there is little room for doubt that
the king would not have mourned over it as a na
tional calamity if the pirates had captured the agents
and all the members of the General Court. There
was nothing left to do, therefore, but to comply with
the royal demands, and Joseph Dudley and John
Richards were selected as agents and sent to England.
They sailed on May 31, x68i. Randolph was at
their heels to dispute anything they might say, and
to thwart any efforts that might be made by them to
allay the displeasure of the king.
The colonial agents, in August following their ar
rival in England, submitted to the king's councilors
a voluminous document containing answers to the
various demands and complaints contained in the
king's former letters, and especially to those con
tained in his letter of October 21, x68i, referred to
in the preceding pages,* Some of the most serious
demands and charges, together with the answers
thereto, are here given. They will serve to show
the general character of the complaints made by the
king against the Massachusetts colonists and of the
reasons then urged by the latter in justification of
their former course.
'The document is given in full in Chalmers's Annals, pp. 450-461.
It sets out first in a column entitled "Charges," a brief synopsis of the
various requirements and complaints made in former letters ofthe king;
next in a column entitled "Answers," the matters alleged by the colo
nists in excuse or justification, and next in a column entitled "Proofs,"
the evidence adduced in support of the answers.
PuR. Rep. — 24

370

THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.

Charges.
His majesty's letter,
of the 24 July, 1679, to
the governor and com
pany of the Massachu-
rets colony, requires:
istly. That agents be
sent over in six months,
fully instructed to an
swer and transact
what undetermined at
the time.

2dly. That free
dom and liberty of
conscience be given to
such persons as desire
to serve God in the
way of the church of
England, so as not to
be made thereby ob
noxious, or discoun
tenanced from sharing
in the government.
Much less that they,
cr any other of his
majesty's subjects,
(not being Papists,)
who do not agree in the
congregational way, be
by law subjected to
fine or forfeitures, or to
other incapacities, for
the same.

Answers,
To which the agents of the
said colony humbly answer:
That the delay of sending
such agents hath been occa
sioned by the danger of the
seas; Connecticut agent and
several others having been
taken by the Turks, and ran
somed at extreme rates. That
the arrear of debt, by reason
of the late war with the In
dians, had so far impover
ished them, as to make them
almost incapable of the ex-
pence of such attendance.
There is no law nor usage
there to bar the use of the
English liturgy, nor have any
persons been obstructed who
desired the same; nor is there
any law to hinder any per
sons of the church of Eng
land from being chosen into
the government, but the vote
and suffrage of the people
are free and without any re
straint for such, as well as
any others.
Whatever has been form
erly, there is now no law
put in execution against dis
senters but what is consonant
to the law of England, and
of like force against those of
the congregational way as
any others.

Proofs.

This the agents
know.

And the debt
of the colony
was, at the re
ceipt of those
letters, about
20,000 1.
New Engl.
Laws, p. 56. The
law, prohibiting
all persons, ex
cept members of
churches, from
being freemen, is
repealed. And
the agents know
the practice to
be as in their an-

The agents
know this to be
true. Vid.Lawsi
fo. 45-67: Meet
ing-houses: And
absence from
meeting.

3dly. That no oth- There is no other distinc- The Laws, p.
er distinction be ob- tion made in the making of 56, make out
served in making of freemen, than that they be this.
freemen, than that freeholders of los. rateable
they be men of com- estate, and of the protestant
petent estates, rateable religion.

THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE.

371

Charges.
at los. according to
the rules of the place;
and that such, in their
turn, be capable of
magistracy, and all
laws to be made void
that obstruct the
same, * » *
His majesty, by let
ter of the 13 Septem
ber, 1680, complains:
istly. That few of
his directions in his
former letter had been
pursued by the general
court in New England,
and that the considera
tion of the remaining
part of them were put
olF on insufficient pre
tences. * * *
His majesty, by let
ter of 21st of October,
1681, complains:
istly. That Mr. Ran
dolph, being appointed
searcher, collector, and
surveyor, of his ma
jesty's customs, in
Massachusetts colony,
to prevent the breaches
of the acts of naviga
tion. That all his care had
no effect ; in regard,
attachments were
granted against hira
and his officers for
doing their duties.

A nswers.
And all freemen are capa
ble of being chosen to any
trust in the magistracy there;
and all laws, obstructing the
same, repealed on his maj
esty's particular commands
for the same.

That their delay, or slow
ness of procedure, proceeded
not from any want of allegi
ance or doubt of giving his
majesty all satisfaction there
in, nor was it any disadvan
tage to any his majesty's sub
jects there for whose avail the
said complaints were made;
but that they might proceed
with satisfaction amongst
themselves.

Proofs.
And men of
the church of
England are ad
mitted freemen;
as also all Pro
testants of los
rateable estate.

That Mr. Randolph, on
sight of his majesty's letters
patents, was received and
acknowledged as collector,
searcher, and surveyor, of his
majesty's customs, and his
letters patents accordingly
enrolled. That no other complaint,
or suit, against his majesty's
officers hath been at any time
countenanced, or damage
given thereupon, but such as
in their best judgment has
been pursuant to the pro
viding damages for the officers
just vexing the subjects.

This the agents
know to be true.

Vid. the act.

372

THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.

Charges.
And, when any of
fenders were prosecu
ted in his majesty's
name, the officers were
obliged (against law)
to deposit money be
fore trial could be ob
tained, and afterwards
forced to pay costs and
suffer other hardships.

That appeals to his
majesty in matters of
revenue were refused to
be admitted.

A nswers. Proofs.
That, for ordinary trials
in his majesty's stated courts,
nothing hath been demanded
or taken of Mr. Randolph
but in extraordinary cases;
where juries were summoned
at his instance, and travelled
far on purpose, so much has
been taken as to defray their
necessary attendance; which
will be prevented in future,
and all cases reserved to the
ordinary terms if the officer
be directed thereto.
That if, without either
restriction of the sum or diffi
culty of the case, all matters
indifferently may, by the offi
cer or his deputy, be re
moved from his majesty's
courts there, and the subject
forced to transport himself
into this kingdom of Eng
land, it will force them to
quit their woods upon any
pretence rather than suffer (No proof is
such inconvenience, and cited in support
thereby wholly discourage all of the last an-
trade in that his majesty's swer.)
plantation, of which we
humbly pray his majesty's
gracious consideration.
It must be admitted that the answers were in
geniously drawn and that probably they were the
bast that could be devised, but considering the facts,
with which the king by this time was thoroughly con
versant, it is not surprising that the answers were far
from being satisfactory to him. It is questionable
whether the old adage "a poor excuse is better than
none," holds true when applied to the excuses given
by the agents to the king. The probability is that

THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE, 373
they were viewed by him as mere subterfuges and
that they served still further to inflame his resent
ment. At their first hearing before the Privy Council, the
agents were required to produce their Instructions
from the General Court, when it was found that
they contained no such powers as the king had re
quired them to be invested with, whereupon they
were informed that unless they "speedily obtained
such powers as might make them capable to satisfy
on all points, a quo warranto should proceed,"* The
position of the agents was most embarrassing. They
were pressed by the king's councilors to make con
cessions which they could not make wrlthout violating
instructions which they dared not violate. But they
could see plainly that, without such concessions. It
would be impossible to avert the impending destruc
tion of the commonwealth. They wrote home, ex
plaining to those in authority the state of affairs in
England, and plainly indicated that there was no
hope for the commonwealth except by submission to
the king's demands.
Their letters carried dismay to those who still hoped
for the preservation of the charter. The General
Court again ordered days of fasting and prayer.
More addresses were sent to the king. Addresses
were also distributed among the people of the com
monwealth, and the advice of the elders was sought,
"In general it was thought better to die by the hands
of others than by their own," and Instructions were
sent to the agents In England to give up the province
t 'Hutchinson, Vol. i, p, 302.

374 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
of Maine, If that would save the charter, but "to
make no concessions of any privileges conferred upon
the colony by the charter."
Randolph, fearing for his life, "as a subverter of
the constitution, by virtue of an ancient law," had
petitioned In September, 1682, to return to England,
and the permission asked was given,*
About this time an exposure was made of an al
leged attempt of the Massachusetts authorities to
bribe the king by a present of £2,000, The ex
posure excited derision and tended to bring the col
onists into still greater disrepute.^
The king and his councilors were now fully bent
upon bringing to terms his rebellious subjects in
Massachusetts, and, as a first step, Randolph, whom
Chalmers styles "the general accuser during those
days against the governor and company of Massa
chusetts," in June, 1683, filed with the Lords of the
Council articles of high crimes and misdemeanors
against the Governor and Company of Massachusetts,
which we may be sure embody all the causes of com
plaint having any foundation upon which to base
them. It was charged:
"istly. They assume powers that are not warranted by
the charter, which is executed in another place than was
' Chalmers's Antials, p. 411,
^ Subsequent investigation of this improbable story of attempted
bribery has shown that it grew out of a premeditated scheme, concocted
by the perfidious Cranfield, the roj'al governor of New Hampshire, to
trap the magistrates of Massachusetts and to render their cause still
more odious to the king. But it served its purpose at the time. It
greatly embarrassed the agents in England and mortified the friends of
the commonwealth on both sides of the Atlantic. See Palfrey, Vol. 3,
p. 410, note i; Hutchinson, Vol. i, p. 303.

THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE. 375
intended. 2ndly, They make laws repugnant to those of
England, 3rdly, They levy money on subjects not in
habiting the colony: (and consequently not represented in
the general court). 4thly, They impose an oath of
fidelity to themselves, without regarding the oath of allegi
ance to the king. Sthly, They refuse justice, by withholding
appeals to the king in council, 6thly. They oppose the acts
of navigation, and imprison the king's officers for doing
their duty. 7thly. They have established a naval office
with a view to defraud the customs. Sthly, No verdicts are
ever found for the king in relation to customs, and the courts
impose costs on the prosecutors, in order to discourage trials.
9thly. They levy customs on the importation of goods from
England. lothly. They do not administer the oath of
supremacy, as required by charter, iithly. They have
erected a court of admiralty, though not empowered by
charter. I2thly. They discountenance the church of Eng
land. I3thly. They persist in coining money, though they
had asked forgiveness for that offence.'"
The quo warranto proceedings, so long threatened
and so long delayed, were now begun in earnest, but
this time in the Court of Chancery. The reason given
for this was that the jurisdiction of the Court of Chan
cery extended to the colonies, and it was desired to
avoid the objection, before made to the judgment of the
Court of King's Bench, that it did not bind the mem
bers of the company residing in America and that
hence their charter was not forfeited.
Randolph scurried across the Atlantic to serve the
writ, but at the same time he brought a declaration
from the king "that if the colony, before prosecution,
would make full submission and entire resignation to
' Chalmers's Annals, 462.

376 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
his pleasure, he would regulate their charter for his
service and their good, and with no further alterations
than should be necessary for the support of his gov
ernment there."
In the "Hutchinson Collection of Papers"* is
found a paper entitled "Arguments against relin
quishing the Charter," which the editor of the col
lection supposes to have been written in November,
1683, and which Is noted as "characterlstick of the
early habits of resistance to tyranny in New Eng
land." It was doubtless prepared by some of the
ministers whose advice was sought, and gives, in the
form of "objections and answers," some of the ar
guments which probably were then influential in in
ducing the colonists to refuse "full submission and
entire resignation to his pleasure" required by King
Charles. Among the objections and answers are the
following: "Obj. 4. But what Scripture is there against this full
submission and entire resignment?
"Ans. There is the sixth commandment. Men may not
destroy their political any more than their natural lives. All
judicious casuists say. It is unlawful for a man to kill him
self when he is in danger, for fear he shall fall into the hands
of his enemies, who will put him to a worse death, i Sam.
31.4. There is also that Scripture against it, Judges 11.
24, 27; and that i Kings, 21.3. The civil liberties of the
people in New England are part of the inheritance of their
fathers ; and shall they give that inheritance away ?
"Obj. 5. They will be exposed to great sufferings if they
do it not.
^ Mass. Hist, CoU,, 3d Ser., Vol. 1, pp. 74-81.

THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE. 377
"Ans, Better suffer than sin, Heb. 11,26,27. Let
them put their trust in the God of their fathers, which is
better than to put confidence in princes. And if they suffer
because they dare not comply with the wills of men against
the will of God, they suffer in a good cause, and will be
accounted martyrs in the next generation, and at the great
day." The desperate nature of the situation was now
evident to every one, and none could fail to see the
handwriting on the wall, portending the revocation
of the charter and the destruction of the common
wealth. In England, the "Merry Monarch" now felt secure
of his crown. A large part of the people there, who
had long chafed under the galling restraints of Puritan
rule, but had been awed by It into at least outward
decorum, now gave themselves up to the enjoyment
of all the vile pleasures which a dissolute monarch
and his dissolute favorites sanctioned by their own
example. Not only were the Puritans no longer
influential in the government, but to the rulers in
England and to a large part of the English people
they had become objects of contemxpt and derision.
Only a few months before, quo warranto proceed
ings had been begun against the city of London and
its ancient charter had been declared forfeited on the
most flimsy pretexts, one of which was that the city
had imposed a small toll upon goods brought to
market there, in order to defray the expense of re
building the market buildings which had been de
stroyed by the great fire in \666, The cause of the
city was pleaded by the ablest lawyers of the time.

378 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
but without avail. "The office of judge was at that
time," says Hume, "held during pleasure, and it
was impossible that any cause, where the court bent
its force, could ever be carried against it."* SimUar
proceedings were begun against all the municipal
corporations in the kingdom which had excited the
displeasure or tempted the cupidity of the king and
his favorites.
On the other hand, the commonwealth had been
impoverished by the heavy expenses of King Philip's
war, and by two great fires in Boston, one In 1676
and one in 1679, It had many enemies within Its
own borders and Randolph, by his machinations,
was continually stirring up fresh discord and discon
tent. There were also, by this time, many in the
colony to whom the rigid restraints of the common
wealth had become distasteful and who longed to see
them broken down. And there were time-servers
and place-hunters who hoped to profit by a change
of government.
In such a situation of affairs further resistance by
the poor and feeble Massachusetts commonwealth
would have been a hopeless undertaking. The gov
ernor and a majority of the assistants voted to sub
mit to the pleasure of the king, but the deputies held
out to the last and entered of record this short but
emphatic dissent: "The deputies consent not; but
adhere to their former bills."
However, more addresses were sent, and Robert
Humphreys, a London lawyer, was employed by the
¦ History of England, Vol, 6, Chap. 69,

THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE. 379
Geneial Court to defend and was instructed "to spin
out the case to the uttermost."
The addresses and petitions of the General Court
fell on deaf ears and excited only ridicule in Eng
land. No time w^as lost in pushing the quo warranto,
and, for once, no complaint could be urged against
the slow action of the Court of Chancery, Hum
phreys, obeying his instructions from the General
Court, endeavored to delay the proceedings and to
obtain more time for filing an answer, but the court
refused to grant It, The case was pushed to a
speedy hearing. Of course Randolph was on hand
with the requisite amount of proof, and on October
23, 1684, final judgment of forfeiture was entered.^
The precise grounds of forfeiture specified in the
judgment were these:
First, That the governor and company had as
sumed "the unlawful and unjust power to leavy money
of our Subjects and lelge people to the use of them
the said Governor and Company of Mattachusetts Bay
aforesaid under colour of Lawes or Ordinances by them
de facto ordained and established without any other
right title or Authority whatsoever," — in the levy
and collection of taxes and duties.
Second. That they had also, pursuant to the laws
and ordinances established by them, "and without
any other right and against Our Will," erected a mint-
house and coined money.
Third. That they had also made and published
another law or ordinance "to the effect following,
that Is to say: That noe man should be urged to take
1 Mass. His. Coll., 4th Ser., Vol, 2, pp. 246-278.

380 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
an oath or subscribe to any Articles Covenants or
Remonstrances of publlque and Civill nature but such
as the Generali Court (meaning the publlque Assem
bly aforesaid) had considered allowed and required.
And that noe oath of any Magistrate or other Officer
should bind him any further or longer then hee was
resident or reputed an Inhabitant of that Jurisdiction
(meaning the bounds and premisses in the said
Letters Patents above specified and granted),"
Fourth. That they had also required an oath of
fidelity to their government (the oath required being
copied in full in the judgment) to be taken by "all
setled Inhabitants amongst them who had not already
taken the same," also by "all strangers who after
two moneths had their abode there,"
The judgment then recites that by reason of such
usurpations, "Our service of and for the keeping of our peace and
good Rule and Government of Our people there was and is
much impeded to the great damage of Our People residing
there and to our noe small prejudice and grievance. By
reason whereof the said Governor and Company of Matta
chusetts Bay aforesaid have forfeited the said Letters
Patents," and "Therefore by the said Court here itt is ad
judged That the aforesaid Letters Patents soe as aforesaid to
them the said Governor and Company made and granted
and the Inrollment thereof be vacated, Cancelled and annihi
lated and into the said Court restored there to be cancelled."
There was some delay, probably owing to the
death of King Charles, and the exemplification of
the judgment was not Issued until after the crowning
of his successor, James II, Of the latter no favors

THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE. 38 1
could be expected by the colonists, "He had no
sooner ascended the throne," says Chalmers,* "than
he transmitted proclamations of that event, to be pub
lished in New England, The letter which conveyed
official notice of that deplored event to the governor
and magistrates, informed them, in the language of
insult, which ought never to be spoken to the af
flicted, 'that they were not written to as a govern
ment, their patent being cancelled'; which, by put
ting them in remembrance of what they had lost,
served onty to throw a gloom over a transaction
where gladness should alone have presided," One
of the first acts of the new king was to issue the ex
emplification of the judgment vacating the charter,
which bears date October 13, 1685,
Regarding the legality of the judgment rendered
it Is not now necessary to inquire. When the king
wanted a thing done in those times it was easy
enough to find a way to do it. He had determined
to have the charter annulled and it was done. The
precious document, to which the colonists had clung
so long and so tenaciously, was now of no more
value than so much waste paper, and a death-blow
had been struck to the commonwealth.
All were about to be placed upon an equality — not
as freemen, but, as nearly as Andros could make
them, his vassals — and they and their descendants
were to wait for nearly a hundred years for the full
development of the republic. But the seed had been
planted and It did not die with the commonwealth.
Soon the people of Massachusetts were to see new
^ Annals, p. 417.

382 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
and strange sights — a royal governor, gay equipages,
brilliant uniforms, and, more galling than all these,
an Episcopalian minister in his surplice, reading the
Book of Common Prayer in the South Church in
Boston, while the members of the Puritan congrega
tion stood in the streets, waiting until he had con
cluded before they could enter and hold services in
their own church.

XVII
THE ANDROS SEQUEL
The charter had been overthrown, but the common
wealth itself was not yet quite dead. It was some
time before the fate of the charter was known in
America, and some time after that before the official
announcement of it was received. Meantime the
officers of the commonwealth exercised their offices
as usual, the General Court continued its meetings,
and elections were held as before. On May 14, 1686,
the triumphant Randolph appeared in Boston with a
copy of the judgment against the charter and a com
mission for the officers of a provisional government,
of which Joseph Dudley was to be the president. The
General Court was in session, and on the 1 7th a copy
of the commission was presented and read. The last
session was held on the 20th, when the Court ad
journed to meet "on the second Wednesday in Oc
tober next at eight of the clock in the morning."
But it never convened again.
And now the charter was gone; the General Court
was no more; the Theocracy had been overthrown;
of the commonwealth nothing was left but the ruins.
Great changes had taken place between the begin
ning and the end of the commonwealth. The popu
lation of Massachusetts, in 1665, Is supposed by Pal-
(383)

384 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
frey* to have been about twenty-five thousand, in
habiting fifty-two towns. By the year 1676 it is said
that five hundred and fifty vessels had been built in
Massachusetts, of which two hundred and thirty
ranged from fifty to two hundred and fifty tons
burden.^ At the end of the commonwealth these ships were
not only carrying on a large trade with the other
colonies, but they were crossing the Atlantic bearing
fish, lumber, furs and other products of domestic in
dustry, and returning laden with stores of foreign
goods suited to the wants and tastes of the colonists.
Captain Cleyborne, of the Garland frigate, who
was in Boston In 1673, reported that "the trade of
New England is very great to all parts. It hath be
come a magazine of all commodities. Ships daily
arrive here from Holland, France, Spain, &c,, bring
ing with them the productions of these countries,"^
There had been a great increase in the number of
artisans and in manufactures, Josselyn said that
"some of their merchants are damnable rich," and
that "there are none that beg in the Countrey,"
Randolph also said that there were "no beggars,"
In the rural regions large tracts of land had been
brought into cultivation, the farms were well stocked
with domestic animals, and there was abundance of
fruit of many kinds,
Boston had grown greatly. Its population at the
end of the commonwealth probably considerably ex
ceeded five thousand. In 1637, according to Josse-
>Vol, 3, p. 35.
"David A. Wells in First Century of Republic, 151.
"Chalmers's Annals, p. 433, See also Id., 416.

THE ANDROS SEQUEL. 385
lyn,* there were not many houses, and but two ordi
naries, "into which if a stranger went he was pres
ently followed by one appointed to that Office, who
would thrust himself Into his company uninvited,
and if he called for more drink than the OflScer
thought in his judgment he could soberly bear away,
he would presently countermand it and appoint the
proportion, beyond which he could not get one
drop," But in 1671 he speaks^ of many fair shops
of "Brick, Stone, Lime, handsomely contrived,"
"three meeting-houses," of streets "many and large,
paved with pebble stone," and says that "the town
is rich and very populous," and he does not forget to
mention that "at the Tap-houses In Boston I have had
an ale-quart spiced and sweetened with sugar for a
groat," The inhabitants, especially of Boston and the
neighboring towns, were not only enjoying the com
forts of wealth, but had begun to aspire to the pos
session of its luxuries, and this change showed itself
in better houses, furniture and dress than the early
colonists could have afforded or would have desired.
In a short time after the end of the commonwealth
period, we find even the pious Sewall sending to
London for goods for his wife, his daughter and
himself — "a pattern of good silk to make my wife a
Gown," a "piece of flowered Lute string q t be
tween 30 and forty yards to make Gowns and Petti
coats for my daughters," "good black Paddlsway,
enough to make Two Womens Suits," an "end of
' Two Voyages, p. 173.
' Two Voyages, pp, 161-162.
PuR. Rep. — 25

386 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
coloured Brodcloath to make myself a suit, shaloon
to Line it. Buttons, Silk, &c.," a "good strong black
Silk Damask, or Lutestring Flowered (no silk Grass
to be in It) To make two Jackets and two pair of
Breeches," and "two pair of good black silk Mens
Stockings." He was also sending to London for
"Fring for the Fustian Bed the Worsted is for, and|
also Fring for half a doz. Chairs suitable thereto,"
and for a finer wedding outfit for his daughter Judith
than could be bought in America.
Great changes had taken place among the people.
Winthrop and Endicott, and the great preachers.
Hooker and Cotton and Norton, had passed away
and new men had come to the front.*
The manners and tastes of the people had
changed — especially in Boston and in the larger
towns. In Roxbury^ "the more wealthy inhabitants
kept one or more slaves and were enjoying the luxu
ries, as well as the comfort's, of life at the time of the
vacation of the Charter."
"Everywhere," says Mr. Drake^ "the too rigid
austerity of the social and religious life of the Puritan
pioneers had given place to a freer and more un
restrained play of the social forces. Intemperance
had greatly Increased, Attendance at church had
grown less constant. More costly dress and equi
page, and greater refinement of manners, began to
be observed."
* Hooker died in 1647; Winthrop in 1649; Norton in 1663; and Endi
cott in 1665.
' Henry H. Edes, Charlestown in the Colonial Period, i Mem. His-
Boston, 400.
'Roxbury in the Colonial Period, i Mem. His. Boston, 401-422.

THE ANDROS SEQUEL. 387
Such was the situation when, on December 20, 1686,
the King Fisher, a fifty-gun ship, reached Boston Har
bor, bringing the new governor. Sir Edmund Andros.
He had a commission as "Captain General and Gov
ernor in Chief" of aU New England. Thirty-nine
persons, of whom five might constitute a quorum,
were appointed to act as his Council. One of these
was the hated Randolph. In the governor and
council were vested all legislative, judicial, and exec
utive powers, with full authority, subject only to
revision by the king, of making laws, establishing
courts and administering the government.
The alarm of the colonists was allayed at first by
the fair professions of Andros and his profuse expres
sions of a desire to administer the government for
the benefit of the people; and, for a time, the colo
nists felicitated themselves that in the appointment of
Andros they had escaped the dreaded butcher. Col.
Kirk, whom the king had originally selected to act
as governor. But they had escaped Charybdis only
to be devoured by Scylla.
It was not long before Andros threw off all disguise
and his designs became apparent. One of the first
notable acts of the new administration was the levy
of a tax to defray the expenses of the government.
For protesting against this tax, John Wise, the min
ister of Ipswich, and several of the inhabitants of
the town, were thrown into jail, denied the right of
habeas corpus, and heavily fined, and several of
them were forbidden to hold office. At the trial
Joseph Dudley, one of the judges, taunted the de
fendants, when they endeavored to set up their priv-

^88 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
ileges as English subjects, by telling them that they
had now no further privilege left than "not to be
sold as slaves," and insolently asked them If they
believed that "Joe and Tom may tell the king what
money he may have."
Fines and imprisonment were visited upon all who
ventured to question the authority or to protest against
the tyrannical proceedings of the new rulers.
A few months after Andros arrived forcible pos
session was taken of the South Church for Episcopal
services. The General Court was abolished and the town
governments were ignored. Andros said to a com
mittee from Lynn that "there is no such thing as a
town In the whole country." Even the assembling
of the citizens for deliberation was liable to be pun
ished as riotous or seditious.
Exorbitant fees were exacted. "The harpies
themselves," says Hutchinson, "quarreled about
their share of the prey," Taxes were levied by the
governor and his council as they pleased, and the tax-
gatherers were relentless In their exactions. Spies
and informers were in every town.
All court records were removed to Boston, so that
those having business in relation to the settlement of
estates were forced to go there, and were compelled
sometimes to travel two hundred miles and to pay
extortionate fees to the officers until "the cry of poor
Widows and Fatherless is gone up to Heaven against
them on this account."* No one was secure In the
^ Revolution in New England Justified, in Andros Tracts, Vol, i
pp, IIS, ii6.

THE ANDROS SEQUEL. 389
title to his land. When a land-owner showed a deed
from the Indians he was told that It was "worth no
more than the scratch of a bear's paw," and Ran
dolph, the chief spirit of the Andros administration,
boasted that "all the inhabitants of Boston will be
forced to take new grants and confirmations of their
lands, which will bring in vast profits," and he
threatened to issue writs of ejectment by the cart
load. The judges appointed by Andros had been selected
in. the expectation that they would prove themselves
servile tools to aid him in his tyrannical efforts to
strip the inhabitants of their liberty and their property.
They rarely disappointed his expectations. If they
followed any English precedents, they were those
established by the infamous Jeffreys and Scroggs.
Everywhere the courts were turned Into engines of
persecution. Many were ruined by enormous fines;
others were imprisoned on vague charges, denied the
writ of habeas corpus, and held for months without
trial. Moreover, "as if to mock the people of New
England," says Professor Washburn, a new great
seal for the government was adopted showing on one
side the royal arms with the inscription "Sigillvm
Nov^ Anglic in America," a figure of James II
seated and two figures kneeling before him, one
tendering a petition, the other offering tribute, and.
having inscribed upon it also this insulting motto,,
'•'•Nunquam Libertas gratior extat." '^
" Washburn's Judicial History Mass., pp. 103-4; Thomas C. Amory,
paper read before Mass. His. Soe. Proceedings Mass. His. Soe, 1867-

390 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
The royal bandits were holding high carnival.
Massachusetts was still suffering from King Philip's
war, which had entailed immense destruction of
property and a frightful loss of life. Now she lay
prostrate and helpless under the feet of her bitterest
foes — foes dreaded far more than those whom the
colonists had vanquished; for her new enemies
seemed to be resolved upon robbing the people of
all the possessions for which they had labored so
hard, and of effacing every vestige of the institu
tions they had struggled so long to establish,*
The "emancipation" from Puritan control was
going on at a great rate. The action of Cranfield,
the royal governor of the neighboring province of
New Hampshire, in sending the Rev, Mr, Moodey
to jail for his refusal to administer the sacrament ac
cording to the liturgy of the established church, was
a fair sample of the kind of religious toleration that
the Puritans of Massachusetts might expect soon to
i86g, p. 98. The motto viras garbled out of the following quotation from
Claudianus: "Fallitur egregio quisquis sub principe credit
Servitium. Nunquam libertas gratior extat
^uam sub rege pio."
Translated in Ramage's Beautiful Thoughts from Latin Authors, 5th
ed,, p. 161, as follows: "That man is deceived who thinks it slavery to
live under a noble prince. Liberty never appears in a more gracious
form than under a pious prince."
'Barry's His. of Mass., Vol. i. Chap. 18; Washburn's Judicial
History of Mass., Chap. 6. A complete history of the administration
of Andros will be found in the Andros Tracts, published by the Prince
Society. Included in the collection is a catalogue, prepared by a com
mittee of seven, consisting of Thomas Danforth and six others, of the
"charges against Andros and others." In this catalogue will be found
a brief synopsis of the principal charges. The editor, Mr. Whitmore,
gives the committee "the credit of great industry in collecting all the
fables as well as the truths agjainst Andros's administration."

THE ANDROS SEQUEL, 39!
be extended to them. Gloom enveloped the land,
and, although the Puritans of the old commonwealth
were men of stout hearts, it must have seemed to
them that all had been lost. But all had not been
lost. While Andros was at the height of his
power the people of England again rebelled against
their monarch. In 1689 news was brought over
of the landing in England of the Prince of Orange,
and the people of Massachusetts rose in arms, de
posed Andros, captured him while he was trying
to escape, disguised in woman's clothes, put him
and Randolph and Dudley in prison, set up a provis
ional government and, for a period of about five
weeks, until the proclaiming of William and Mary,
again enjoyed the privileges of self-government.
Still the people of Massachusetts were a long way
from independence. The new king of England,
though far more In accord with the religious views of
the people of Massachusetts than was his predecessor,
had no Idea of permitting them to set up a republic
of their own. Other monarchs followed who viewed
with jealous eyes the growth of republican ideas in
America. In order to curtail the commerce of the
colonies, and to cripple their industries, oppres
sive laws were enacted in England, of which the
odious Acts of Trade and the still more odious Stamp
Act were examples. The Boston Port Bill was en
acted avowedly to punish Massachusetts and to wipe
out Boston, English soldiers were quartered on the
people and a vain attempt was made to awe their
representatives into subjection by surrounding the
State-house with armed soldiers and planting cannon

392 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC. *
to command its doors. The culmination of all these
efforts to subdue the people of Massachusetts was
seen at Lexington and Concord,
But in all these years a republic was growing. In
the beginning the colonists thought that liberty could
not live without the charter; events proved that the
charter had become as useless to liberty as the shell
of the acorn is to the oak after it has struck its roots
deep into the soil. When the time came to put forth
the Declaration of Independence there were found
reasons far more cogent than the violations of the
charter, of which the people complained in the time
of Charles II; a broader foundation was secured
upon which to base a republic than any charter which
had been granted by any English monarch. The
republic which had been planted in the Massachusetts
commonwealth had been further developed In the
United Colonies of New England; it became of
tougher grain under every effort of kings and parlia
ments to uproot it, until in the end it became part of
the still greater republic — The United States of
America.

XVIII
THE PASSING OF THE PURITANS— LOOKING
BACKWARD AND ALSO LOOKING FORWARD
"O Time, the fatal wrack of mortal things.
That draws Oblivion's curtains over kings —
Their sumptuous monuments men know them not.
Their names without a record are forgot.
Their parts, their ports, their pomps, all laid i' the dust —
Nor wit, nor gold, nor buildings, 'scape Time's rust.
But he whose name is graved in the white stone,
Shall last and shine when all of these are gone!"
— Anne Bradstreet,
It Is to be hoped that Anne Bradstreet and her
Puritan friends and neighbors have found the "white
stone," and in it the "new name written," promised
in the Book of Revelations, The names of many
of them and their deeds on earth are deeply graven
in human history.
In recording the history of the Massachusetts Pur
itans there has been a great change in style from
that of fulsome eulogy, characteristic of the early
historians, to the unsparing censure of modern
writers, notably of some in Massachusetts, whose
cardinal idea seems to be that we magnify ourselves in
proportion as we belittle our ancestors. In the writ
ings of this new school the history of the Puritan
age In Massachusetts is delineated as a dreary waste.
We look in vain for historic figures. AU have dis-
(393)

394 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
appeared or dwindled into insignificance, and in their
places we find only an intolerant and narrow-minded
set of fanatics. We search for heroic achievements
and noble deeds; we find nothing worthy of note
unless it be something to call forth denunciation or
ridicule. The very age in which our Puritan an
cestors lived has been obliterated and we see only an
"ice age — sterile, forbidding, unproductive, its his
tory dotted only with boulders and stunted growth,"
After all has been said about the bigotry and in
tolerance of the Massachusetts Puritans, much re
mains to be said In their favor.
It may be that if Winthrop and Endicott and their
associates had never been heard of, and their places
in the Massachusetts commonwealth had been filled
by Roger Williams, Gorton, Coddington and the
motley brood that flocked to the shores of Narragan
sett Bay, we should have had a grotesque conglomera
tion, that, for a time, might have assumed the sem
blance of a government, of which possibly the chief
features might have been religious and political
toleration; but it is probable that the discordant ele
ments would soon have resolved themselves into
chaos. All this, however, is conjecture. The solid
historical fact Is that Winthrop, Endicott, and their
Puritan associates, founded a commonwealth and
held it together long enough to make It the corner
stone of the New England confederacy and the begin
ning of a great republic.
The Puritans believed in morality In public and In
private Hfe, Undoubtedly their preachers preached
long sermons and inade long prayers. They required

THE PASSING OF THE PURITANS. 395
a rigid observance of the Sabbath, and they did not
concern themselves about making either their churches
or their religion attractive. The unique methods of
some of our modern preachers and the sensational
performances carried on in some of our modern
churches, as reported from time to time in the news
papers, show that in the effort to make churches
popular and religion entertaining we have hit upon
some schemes entirely unknown to our ancestors,
and compel us to think more kindly of the old
Puritan minister with his hour-glass, his long ser
mons and his long prayers.
The Puritans also believed in education. The
school-house was as characteristic a feature of every
New England settlement as was the meeting-house.
Their principles and practice were in striking con
trast to those of the royal governor of Virginia, In
1670 the English Lords Commissioners of Planta
tions proposed to Sir William Berkeley, who was
then governor of Virginia, a series of questions con
cerning the condition of affairs in his jurisdiction, to
one of which that eminent apostle of ignorance
made this remarkable answer: "But I thank God
there are no free schools nor printing, and I hope
we shall not have these hundred years, for learning
has brought disobedience, and heresy, and sects into
the world, and printing has divulged them, and libels
against the best Government, God keep us from
both,"* The Puritans were intense lovers of liberty and
natural rebels against tyranny. As shown in former
1 Hening's Statutes, Vol, i, p. 517.

^q6 the PURITAN REPUBLIC.
chapters, their first body of laws contained all the
cardinal principles of Magna Charta and the common
law of England for the protection of the liberty of
the citizens and of the rights of property.
They were economical in their ways of life. There
were no great fortunes in those days in New Eng
land. None were then to be made by gigantic
trusts and combinations, by wrecking railroads and
watering stock and cornering wheat. Most of the
early Puritans had large families; the soil was poor;
and, to make both ends meet, they were compelled
to be thrifty and frugal. But, if they did not spend
great sums in gambling and horse-racing and cock-
fighting, they were not stingy in providing comforta
ble houses for their families and barns for their stock,
meeting-houses and school-houses, and a substantial
education for their sons and daughters.
They were economical also in their public expen
ditures. It might be well if some modern legislature
would Imitate — but it is useless to hope that any ever
will imitate — the example of the General Court of
Massachusetts in its declaration made in 1646:
"We spend nothing superfluously in buildings, feasting,
pensions, public gratuities, officers fees, or the like; nay we
are ashamed sometimes at our parsimoniousness, but that
we had rather beare shame and blame than over burden the
people. Such as are in chief office amongst us are content)
to live beneath the power of their places, that they might
ease the Common charge,'"
But in the defense of their country the Puritans of
Massachusetts were never niggard with their contribu-
' Hutchinson's Coll. of Papers, p, 209,

THE PASSING OF THE PURITANS. 397
tions. Not only did they contribute liberally for their
own defense in allthe Indian wars during the common
wealth period, but they contributed more liberally
than any other American colony to the expenses of
carrying on the Revolutionary War, Official statis
tics show that from the beginning of the revolution to
1790 Massachusetts's excess of expenditures over re
ceipts in behalf of the general government was nearly
equal to that of all four of the states of New York,
Pennsylvania, Virginia and Maryland, and nearly
ten times as much as Virginia, Maryland, North
Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia.*
Wherever the Puritans went they impressed on
the community the characteristics which made them
a moral, law-abiding, liberty-loving and thrifty peo
ple. When General Putnam and his New England
colony emigrated to the Northwest Territory and
settled at Marietta, they took their preacher and
teacher along with them, and the first thing they
did, after building a stockade to protect themselves
from the Indians and houses to shelter their famUies,
was to erect a building for a church and a school.
They next framed a code of laws, and, as they had
no printing press, the laws were published by nailing
a copy of them to a tree on the banks of the Muskin
gum .^ Thus they grasped the essential principles of
republican government: morality, education and
obedience to law. They were doing this when the
people of France were murdering their priests, hold
ing their drunken orgies In the churches, putting in
' Hudson's Hist, of Marlborough, 185.
« Walker's His. of Athens Co., Ohio, p. 86.

398 TKE PURITAN REPUBLIC.

O

the pulpits prostitutes costumed as Goddesses of
Reason, and trying to establish a Utopian republic
on the ruins of law, religion and the rights of prop
erty. Our laws and customs would not have fitted the
Puritans any better than theirs would now fit us.
And I imagine that, if the other side could be heard^,
and If we could listen to some of the accusations
which the Puritans, if living, might justly bring
against the people of this age, their laws and cus
toms, their public and private life, it would probably
appear that, notwithstanding our great advance In
some things, yet, in other things essential to good
government, we have not improved so much on the
ways of our ancestors as we are In the habit of tak
ing for granted.
The old Puritans have passed away, and most of
their kind have also passed away, "The old order
changeth, yielding place to new," Between the be
ginning and the end of the commonwealth great
changes occurred in the religious, industrial and
social life of the Puritan settlers of Massachusetts,
noticeable especially in Boston and in the adjacent
towns, but not so noticeable in Sudbury, Marlborough
and the other frontier settlements. To-day, however,
the changes from early times are manifest every
where, so manifest that no one can overlook them or
fail to perceive their significance.
Great manufactories now flourish in regions once
devoted almost exclusively to agriculture. The peo
ple, native and foreign, are flocking to the cities and
in the cities they are crowding the manufactories.

THE PASSING OF THE PURITANS. 399.
Notable changes have taken place in the character
of the population. One marked peculiarity of the
early settlers of Massachusetts and the other parts of
New England was, that, almost to a man, they were
Englishmen or of English descent. Most of the first
settlers came from the eastern and southern counties
of England, It has been estimated that at the be
ginning of the nineteenth century more than ninety-
eight in one hundred of the New England people
were of pure English descent,* Jedldlah Morse pub
lished the 7th edition of his geography in 18x9, and
In this, speaking of the New England population, he
said: "The great mass of the inhabitants are of
English origin. New England was settled entirely
by Englishmen, except a few towns in the hilly
country of the county of Hampshire in Massachu
setts, which were settled by a colony from Ireland,
and a few in Londonderry in New Hampshire. With
these exceptions, the settled Inhabitants of New Eng
land are even now entirely of English origin,"^
In an address before the Massachusetts Historical
Society in 1844, Dr. Palfrey sald:^ "With scarcely
exceptions enough to deserve any account In the
enumeration, we who now constitute the states of
New England are descendants of Englishmen estab
lished here before the year 1643."
But now New England is being rapidly filled with
those of foreign birth and their descendants. The
invasion is not as war-like, but it seems to be as cer-
1 Fiske, Beginnings of N, B., 141.
* Morse, Universal Geography, Vol. i, p. 211.
SMass. His. Coll., 3d Ser., Vol. 9, p. 178.

400 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
tain and as irresistible as that of the fierce Goths and
the fiercer Huns who stood at last before the gates of
Rome. To-day, what the writer observed some
years ago in Marlborough, Mass., is noticeable in
many parts of that state, as well as in other places
in New England, In early times the inhabitants of
Marlborough were exclusively of English Puritan
stock. Now the names of the Rices, the Brighams,
the BIgelows, the Howes and others, once so num
erous there, must be sought In the inscriptions
upon the tombstones, while In the streets, at every
step, one meets the Canadian and the Irishman,
What has become of the descendants of the first
settlers.? The stock has not run out. Those who
left New England pushed forward to other regions,
constituting the advance guard In the settlement of
the states originally comprised within the limits of
the great region known as the Northwest Territory,
and forming no inconsiderable portion of the early
settlers of New York and other states. They have
largely helped to leaven the character of the nation.
"The twenty-six thousand New Englanders of 1640,"
says Mr. Fiske,* "have In two hundred and fifty
years Increased to something like fifteen million.
From these men have come at least one-fourth of
the present population of the United States."^
But, more striking than any other change, is that
in the religious character of the people. In the time
of the commonwealth it would have been accounted
^Beginnings of New England, 143.
* See chapter by Francis A, Walker on Growth and Distribution of
Population: First Century of Republic, p. 211.

THE PASSING OF THE PURITANS. 40 X
sacrilege to read in church the, Book of Common
Prayer. Endicott had torn from the English flag the
emblem of the cross because it was a symbol of
Popery. But now, near the site of the old Puritan
meeting-house In Marlborough, stands by far the
most stately edifice in the town. Its spire overlooks
the old Puritan cemetery and casts Its shadow across
the plain stones marking the places where rest those
to whom, in life, nothing was more hateful than the
doctrines now taught over their graves. It is almost
needless to add that this edifice is a Roman Catholic
cathedral. It is evident that the "emancipation" of Massa
chusetts Is still going on at a rapid rate. Without
offering any criticisms or theories as to the cause of
these changes, or their probable effect upon the gov
ernment, the laws, the customs, and the moral and
social life of New England, Dr, Ellis has concisely
summed up the present situation In these words:
"We put the sum and substance, the facts and their
import, of all the transformation that has been
wrought there, in a single sentence when we say that
men, principles, habits, and institutions have now
the ascendancy In the Puritan heritage of which the
fathers intended and hoped to have rid themselves
and their posterity for aU time,"*
What will New England and Massachusetts be
two hundred and fifty years hence, when rural New
England shall have been deserted, when countless
thousands yet to come from Canada and across the
^Puritan Age, 8.
Pur. Rep. — 26

402 THE PURITAN REPUBLIC.
ocean shall have settled on the Merrimac, and
when, as the Rev. Joseph Cook predicts, Plymouth
Rock shall have become the corner-stone of a factory.?
"The Past at Least is Secure."

THE END.

INDEX

Adams, Charles Francis: on the
literature of the theologico-gla
cial period, 184.
Address: issued by Puritan emi
grants from England to Amer
ica, 17.
Agriculture: allotment of lands,
131; fertiUty of soil, 131; do
mestic animals, 132 ; agricul
tural implements, 132 ; laws for
benefit of farmers, 132, 133;
inventory of a prosperous farm
er, 157.
Ainsworth: version of Psalms, 110.
Alden, John: wooing of Priscilla,
163.
Allegiance: oath of required, 37,
354 ; colonists' idea of their al
legiance to England, 319,324;
additional proof of, 328.
Almanacs: early, 187.
Amendments and Jeofails: re-en
actment of English statute of,
51.
Amsterdim: English Puritans at,3.
Amusements, Games, Etc. : laws
against, 110; effect of absence
of, 155.
Andover: in King Philip's war, 92.
.4ndros,Edmund,Gov. : his arrival,
387 ; powers given him and
council, 387; his fair profes
sions, 387; his tyrannical rule,
387; his judges, 389; changes
the great seal, 389 ; deposed and
imprisoned, 391. See Chap.
XVII, The Andros Sequel.
Andros Sequel, The: Chap. XVII,
pp. 383-392.
AntinomianContToveTay,215 ; prev
alence of religious vagaries dur
ing this period, 248.
Apparel: laws against extrava
gance in, 97; Ward's sermon

against female fashions, 99 ; de
bate between Roger Williams
and John Cotton on women's
veils, 100; punishment for
wicked apparel, 101 ; recogni
tion of rank in laws regulating,
128.
Apprentices : to be kept employed,
131 ; education of, 174.
Aquidneck : Ann Hutchinson goes
to, 232.
Articles of Confederation : of New
England, 308.
Assistants: first meeting in Amer
ica, 34; efforts to perpetuate
their power, 35, 284; presided
as magistrates, 64; struggle
with deputies for a right to a
negative vote, 288; action of
on trial of Gorton, 292 ; vote to
submit to demands of King
Charles II, 878.
Austin, Ann: invades the com
monwealth, 237.
Banishment: for immoral conduct
41 ; for heretical opinions, 41
without any specific charge, 44 :
what crimes so punished by,
57.
Baptists: laws against, 200 ; doors
of flrst meeting house nailed up
by order of General Court, 204 ;
persecution of, 235, 237 ; finally
established a church in Boston,
237 ; majority of people opposed
to persecution of, 252 ; persecu
tion of in other colonies, 258,
' 261.
Barbadoes: trade v/ith, 134.
Bartholomeio , Rev. : at trial of
Ann Hutchinson, 228.
.BotcAeior, Eev, Stephen: attempt
of General Court to compel him

(403)

404

INDEX.

and his wife to live together,
123
Bay Path, 108.
Bay Psalm Book : used in church
services, 170; its great popu
larity, 186,
Becke, Alex.: gets damages of
Joyce Bradwick for breach of
promise, 124.
Beecher, Rev. Henry Ward: an
ecdote by of introduction of
stove in meeting-house in Litch
field, Ct., 166.
Beginning, The, Chap, I, pp. 1-26.
Bellingham, Gov. Richard: one of
committee to draft code of laws,
45, 46; a lawyer, 68.
Bellingham, Widow: Sewall's re
gret as to her case, 72.
Bennett, Samuel: fined for speak
ing disrespectfully of the town,
60,
Berkeley, Gov. : As an apostle of
ignorance, 395,
Biblical Commonwealth : effort
to establish, 193.
Bigelows of Marlborough, 400.
Bishop,  : at trial of
Ann HutchinsoU, 227.
Blackstone, William: Settlement
at Shawmut, 25.
Blackstone, Sir William: his be
lief in witchcraft, 63.
Blasphemy: defined and punished,
200, 204.
Blue Anchor Inn : at Boston, 107.
Body of Liberties : adopted, 47 ;
Rev. Nathaniel Ward's work in
framing, 49 ; why so called, 49 ;
principal provisions of, 49 ; con
tained essential provisions of
Magna Charta, 63 ; amendment
of as to churches, 203.
Bonks: private libraries, 175; cost
of books, 177 ; governmental
supervision over printing, 179;
number and kind of early pub
lications, 179; the religious
books, 188 ; comparison of the
ological and law books of the
17th century, 191. See Chap.
IX, Education, Books and Lit
erature.
Book- Stores: in Boston in early
times, 175.

Boston: settlement of William
Blackstone there, 25; streets
not lighted until 1774, 95 ; dis
tinction between Ufe there and
on the frontier, 145; book
stores in, 175; great fires in,
378; growth during common
wealth period, 332, 384 ; changes
in manners and tastes of peo
ple between beginning and end
of commonwealth, 386, 398.
Bradstreet, Anne: her poems, 181. i
Bradstreet, Governor Simon: he
and Norton sent as agents to
England, 340; answer brought
by them from Charles II to Gen
eral Court, 340.
Bradwicke, Joyce : sued by Alex.
Becke for breach of promise,
124.
Branding: what crimes punished
by, 57.
Brattle, Thomas : his coat of arms,
129.
Brenton: answer of General Court
to, 308.
Brewster, M. : the Quaker, 245.
Brewster, Elder, residence at
Scrooby, 1 ; member of Leyden
congregation, 4 ; his library,176.
Bridgewater: in King Philip's war,
92.
Brighams: of Marlborough, 400.
Brimsmead, Bev. : his learning,
196.
Brookfield, in King Philip's war,
92.
Brown, James: punished for
drunkenness, 104.
Brown, John : at Harper's Ferry,
23,
Browne, Samuel : a lawyer, 68.
Brotones: banishment of, 210.
Bulkeley, Richard: one of com
mittee to draft code of laws, 46 ;
he and Stoughton sent as agents
to England, 363 ; remain nearly
three years, 364; their return,
366.
BuUivant, Dr. . a patron, 69.
Burgess, Robert: presented for
bad corn-grinding, 60.
Burns, Robert: "The Cotter's Sat
urday Night," 160,
Bussaker, Peter: punished for
slighting the magistrates, 40.

INDEX.

405

Cambridge : General Court of elec
tion held there, 218.
Cambridge Platform : adopted,251.
Candles: in the time of common
wealth, 95.
Canonchet, Chief: gathers war
riors in fort, 90 ; his escape, 91 :
death and barbarity of his exe
cution, 89, 91.
Capital Punishment: for what
crimes, 50, 56; based on scrip
tural authority, 50, 57.
Cards and Dice: prohibited, 110.
Catholics : persecution of in Rhode
Island, 265; in New York, 259.
Chancery: courts of, 38.
Charles I : his accession, 5 ; death,
329.
Charles II ; message to Governor
Endicott in behalf of the Quak
ers, 239; his dissolute reign,
299, 377; ingratitude to old
friends inEngland, 316 ; shame
ful treatment of Virginians, 317 ;
his restoration, 337; address of
General Court to, 338 ; another
address, 340 ; failure to comply
with his demands, 342; sends
commissioners, 342; their re
ception by General Court, 343 ;
its evasion of his demands, 343;
General Court sends a petition
to, 344 ; claim of governmental
powers in, 344 ; Clarendon's re
ply, 345; treatment by General
Court of those favoring compli
ance with his demands, 350;
General Court makes present
to him of load of ship masts,
350; frivolous conduct while
De Ruyter was blockading Lon
don, 357 ; his threat to annul
the charter, 361 ; sends letter
by Stoughton and Bulkeley to
General Court, 366 ; continued
failure of General Court to com
ply with his demands, 367 ;
sends another letter, 368 ; again
sends letter threatening annul
ment of charter, 368; sends
Randolph with another letter,
threatening a quo warranto, 368 ;
story of attempt of Massachu
setts authorities to bribe, 374;
governor and assistants favor
submitting to his demands, but

deputies refuse, 378; more ad
dresses sent to, 378 ; his death,
380,
Charlestown: settlement of, 25;
plan of town government, 273.
Charter: (of governor and com
pany ofthe Massachusetts bay) ;
procured, 16 ; transfer to Amer
ica, 16; question as to legality
of transfer, 25 ; why prized by
the colonists, 28, 321 ; proprie
tary rights granted by, 28 ; gov
ernmental powers conferred by,
29 ; conferred on all inhabitants
the liberties and immunities of
Englishmen, 31, 242; jurisdic
tional territory left undefined,
32; construction of it by the
colonists, 33, 319, 325 ; conferred
no authority to banish Quakers,
242 ; effect of revocation on the
Theocracy, 253 ; colonists based
claim of right to independent
government upon, 318 ; demand
of Privy Council for its produc
tion, 322 ; institution of first quo
warranto to annul, 323; further
demand for return of, 323 ; why
colonists did not ask for en
largement of charter powers,
327 ; no authority in it for gov
ernmental powers exercised by
colonists, 355 ; second quo loar-
ranto begun, 375; arguments of
the elders against relinquishing,
376; Robert Humphreys em
ployed to defend, 378 ; judgment
and grounds of forfeiture, 379.
See Chap, XV, XVI, The Strug
gle for Independence, etc.
Checkly: a patron, 69.
Chelmsford: in King Philip's war.
92.
Child-Life: in commonwealth pe
riod, 158, 168.
Child, Robert: petition of him
and others to General Court,
234; complaints in England
against Massachusetts, 324.
Children: See Child-Life ; Parents
and Children.
Christison, Wenlock: trial and
sentence, 238, 239,
Christmas: celebration of forbid
den, 109.

4o6

INDEX.

Churches: laws compelling at
tendance upon church services,
163, 205; the meeting-house,
165; recognition of rank in
seating the congregation, 166;
the minister, 167; the tithing
man's duties at, 168 ; how con
gregation summoned, 169 ; or
der of exerci,?efl, 169; instru
mental music, 170; hymn-books
used, 170; talcing up the collec
tion, 172 ; close of services, 172 ;
provisions of Body of Liberties
to, 202 ; care to see that churches
were orthodox, 202 ; not allowed
to call minister without consent
of neighboring churches, 204;
laws prohibiting disturbance of,
204 ; only church members eli
gible to be commissioners of
New England Confederation,
309, See Meeting-Houses ; Min
isters ; Puritan Sabbath ; Rise
and Fall of Theocracy.
Clarendon, Lord: reply to peti
tion of General Court, 345.
Clark, John : punishment of, 235.
Clay, Henry: reception by Qua
kers at Richmond, Indiana, 267.
Clergy: see Ministers.
Cobbett, Eev. John: expenses of
his funeral, 127.
¦Coddington, Gov, William: at
trial of Ann Hutchinson, 229,
231 ; banishment, 232 ; orders
whipping of Gorton, 262; Gen
eral Court refuses to negotiate
with, 308; answer to his request
for admission of Rhode Island
into New England confedera
tion, 308.
¦Coggan, John: a patron, 69.
Coggsshall, Gov. John: at trial
of Ann Hutchinson, 227 ; ban
ishment, 232.
Coke, John: his execution, 257.
Colburn,  : at trial of Ann
Hutchinson, 231.
Commerce: with other countries,
134; effect of expansion upon
the theocracy, 252 ; increase of
during commonwealth period,
332, 384.
Commissioners, of King Charles
II : sent to Massachusetts, 342 ;
refusal of General Court to rec

ognize their authority, 347; at
tempt to hear appeals, 349;
their recall, 350.
Commissioners, of plantations :
control of colonies vested in,
322,
Commissioners: for trial of small
causes, 64, 275.
Compact: signed in cabin of May
flower, 270.
Concord: cemetery at, 126.
Connecticut: Winthrop's criticism
on submission of its form of
government to vote of the peo
ple, 284; negotiations of for
New England confederation,
303, 304 ; character of early set
tlers, 304; difference between
Connecticut and Massachusetts
form of government, 304, 305;
shyness about entering confed
eration, 305; dissensions with
Massachusetts, 305 ; excellence
of first constitution, 305; be
comes member of New England
confederation, 307; towns and
population at that time, 313;
close of its colonial records, 314.
Connecticut Fa.th: 108.
Constables: powers and duties,
164, 275.
Cook, Eev. Joseph : his predic
tion, 402.
Cotton, Eev. John : one of a com
mittee to draft a code of laws, --
45; his "Moses, his Judicials,".,
45 ; debate with Eoger Williams
on women's veils, 100 ; his rules
for trading, 142; his "Spiritual
Milk for American Babes,"
186; character of his writings,
188, 189 ; quoted as authority in .,
England, 192; had achieved.-
distinction in England, 196;
his learning and industry, 196 ;
fugitive from England, 197;
veneration of people for, 198 ; -
influence in the commonwealth,
207 ; favored committing im
portant business to the elders,
208 ; disputation with Roger '
Williams after latter's banish
ment, 212 ; impressed by teach
ings of Ann Hutchinson, 216;
presence at her trial, 228 ; nar
row escape from condemnation

INDEX.

407

as a heretic, 233 ; finally re
stored to confidence of his
brother ministers, 229 ; zeal for
persecution of Baptists, 236 ;_
opposition to democracy, 282 ;
favored a theocracy, 282 ; fa
vored electing magistrates for
hfe, 282.
Council for New England : grant
by of land to Massachusetts
Company, 15 ; its failure to plant
a colony in America, 15.
Council of Foreign Plantations:
organization, 339.
Counties: organization, 281.
County Courts: organization, 64.
Coxirt of Assistants. See Assist
ants.
Courts (of commonwealth) : no
provision for in charter, 38 ; all
judicial power at first exercised
by General .Court, 38 ; various
courts afterwards established,
38; rules for administering ju,s-
tice in absence of laws, 43 ;
adoption of English statute of
amendments and jeofails, 51 ;
forms of judicial proceedings
and writs, 65; TjCc-hford's ac
count of the courts in the early
commonwealth period, 60; pro
vision allowing jurors to consult
ministers, 65; records of judg
ments required to be kept, 66 ;
litigants and attorneys fined for
speaking over one hour, 74;
process in name of common
wealth, 354; records removed
to Boston under Andros, 388.
See Puritan Laws, etc. ; Law
yers.
Courts (English) : in time of
Charles I, 1, 7.
Courtship : opportunities for. 111 ;
Judge Sewall's courtships, 113 ;
none allowed on Saturday
night, 163.
Craddock, Gov. : directed by com
missioners of plantations to
produce charter, 322.
Crandall, John: punishment of,
235.
Cranfield, Gov. : concocts story of
attempt to bribe the king, 374 ;
persecution of Eev. Moodey,
391.

Crimes : punishment for, 56.
Cromwell, Oliver: attempt to es
cape from England, i) ; attitude
of commonwealth to, 320, 324 ;
letter to from General CJourt,
- 330; colonists not willing that
he should rule over them, 331 ;
steadfast friend of the com
monwealth, 331 ; its prosperity
during his time, 332; position
of England under his rule, 357.
Currency: scarcity of money, 134 ;
wampum currency, 135 ; mus
ket balls, 135; corn and other
commodities, 136 ; establishment
of mint, 186 ; pine tree shillings,
137; no banks nor "fiafmoney,
137.
Dancing: not favored, 110.
Davenport, Justice: Sewall's ad
vice to, 72.
Davenport, Rev. : quoted as au
thority in England, 192.
Declaration of Independence : rea
sons for did not exist in early
commonwealth period, 315 ; sub
sequent reasons, 317.
Deerfield: in King Philip's war,
92; meeting-house at, 166, 167.
Delaware : laws against witch
craft, 63.
Democracy : clergy against, 282.
See Chap. XIII, " How the Re
public Grew," etc.
Dennison, Widow: courtship of
by Judge Sewall, 114.
Deputies : first election of to Gen
eral Court, 285; clashing be
tween them and assistants, 287 ;
finally sit as separate body, 289 ;
in closer touch with the people,
292; action at trial of Gorton,
292 ; vote not to submit to de
mands of King Charles II, 378.
De Buyter, Admiral : blockade of
London, 356,
Descents: statute of, 54.
Dexter,  : Endicott fined
for assaulting, 59.
Dexter, Thomas: punished for
speaking disrespectfully of the
government, 39.
Disfranchisement: what crimes
punished by, 57.

4o8

INDEX.

Dissenting Faiths : rapid increase
of, 248.
Divorce: for what cause allowed,
65.
Doctors: punishment of quacks,
124.
Do»nesiic and Social Life; Chap.V,
pp, 94-129; large families, 94;
dwelling-houses, 94 ; apparel,
97 ; food and drink, 103, tobac
co, 104; inns and ordinaries,
105; roads and travel, 108; pub
lic days, holidays, etc, 109;
amusements, games, etc., 110;
courtship and marriage, 111 ;
doctors, 124; funerals, 124;
¦'¦ rank, 127.
Dorchester: early settlement, 25;
the plan of local government,
273.
Downing,  : one of com
mittee to transcribe copy of
laws, 47.
Dudley, Joseph: asks permission
for his son to call on Judge
Sewall's daughter, 113 ; he and
Eichards sent as agents to
England, 369; their advice to
General Court, 373 ; additional
instructions to, 373 ; president
of the provisional government,
383 ; his insulting taunts to Eev.
Wise and others upon their trial
before him, 387; imprisoned,
391.
Dudley, Gov. Thomas : his account
of the Puritan emigration from
England to America, 13 ; one
of committee to frame code of
laws, 45 ; verses found in pock
et at his death, 184; at trial of
Ann Hutchinson, 224, 227.
Dudley, Col. William: his father
asks permission for him to call
on Judge Sewall's daughter
Judith, 113.
Dunster, Henry: degradation of,
237.
Dunton, ' John: praise of land
lord of Blue Anchor Inn, 107 ;
visits Cotton Mather, 175.
Dutch: condition of Puritans
among, 3; war with England,
356; peace declared, 359.
Dioelling-Houses: construction ,94 ;
how heated and lighted, 95;

oiled paper in windows, 95 ; the:
kitchen, 95 ; furniture, 96.
Eames, Thomas: destruction of
his house hy Indians, 78; in
ventory of his property, 157.
Ears, cutting off: what crimes
punished by, 56.
Eaton, Gov. Theophilus : answer
of General Court to, 307.
Ecclesiastics: danger of vesting
unlimited power in, 209.
Education: first care of frontier
settlements, 159 ; early laws for
education of children and ap
prentices, 174; only orthodox
teachers employed, 174 ; begin
ning of Harvard College, 174.
See Chap. IX, Education, Books
and Literature.
Education, Books and Literature:
Chap. IX, pp. 174-192.
Edwards, Eev. Jonathan: effect
of his sermons on his hearers,,
194.
Election Days : 110.
Elections ; la w against stuffing the
ballot-box, 52; election days,,
110.
Eliot, Eev. John: efforts to con
vert Indians, 78; at trial of
Ann Hutchinson, 224, 266,
230; his "Christian Common
wealth," 338; censured for its
seditious teachings, 339.
Emancipation: of Massachusetts-
from Puritan control, 390, 401.
Emmanuel College : colonists who
came from, 196.
Endicott, Gov. John: leads col
ony of Puritans to America, 15,
17; one of grantees of council
for New England, 17 ; his char
acter, 21 ; one of the commit
tee to transcribe code of laws,
47 ; fined for assault on Dexter,
59 ; protests against men wear
ing long hair, 102; opposes
Vane, 218; at trial of Ann
Hutchinson, 227, 228; at trial
of Clark, Crandall and Holmes,
236; at trial of Wenlock Chris
tison, 239 ; releases the Quaker
prisoners, 239; death, 386; his
influence in founding the com
monwealth, 394.

INDEX.

409

England: persecution of Puritans
in, 2, 5; English courts and
judges in reign of Charles I, 7 ;
inhuman punishments of Puri
tans there, 8 ; diffiiculties in es
caping from, 8; local govern
ment in, 269 ; under the reign
of the "Merry Monarch," 299,
857 ; beginning of trouble be
tween England and colonists,
322 ; their claims as to their re
lation to, 325 ; lull in efforts to
subdue in reign of Charles II,
356 ; war with Dutch and degra
dation under, 356; peace de
clared with Dutch, 359 ; tyran
nical course of English rulers
toward American colonies, 391.
Evening at Home: on the frontier,
153.
Excommunicated Persons : law as
to, 42.
E.vtortion: laws against, 139, 140.
Extravagance: in building and
furnishing houses discouraged,
96; also in apparel, 97.
Fairbanks, Jonas, charged with
"great-boots," 101.
Fairbanks, Richard : appointed
postmaster, 39.
Families: large, 94.
Familists: their doctrines, 240.
Family Arms : use of, 129.
Fanaticism: difficulty in defining,
263.
Fast-days: 109.
Fees: extortionate chained under
Andros, 388.
Fiat Money, none in common
wealth period, 137.
Fidelity : oath required, 37.
Finch, Katherine; punished for
speaking disrespectfully of
churches and ministers, 40.
Fines: what crimes punished by,
57; excessive under Andros,
389.
Fisher, Mary : invades Massachu
setts, 237.
Fishing: as an industry, 133.
Food and Drink: thanksgiving
dinners, 103. See Intemper
ance.
Foreigners: rights of, 50; influx
into Massachusetts, 399.

Forts : establishment of, 149.
Foster, John: the first Boston
printer, 179.
Foster, William: requested to
leave colony, 41.
Fox, George: throws England
into a tumult, 237.
Freemen : required to take oath of
allegiance, 31 ; flrst new free
men admitted, 35 ; resume pow
ers granted by charter, 36;
right of suffrage restricted to,
36; none but church members
admitted, 36, 199.
Frontier Lite : Chap. VII, pp. 145-
159; permission of General
Court required to establish set
tlements, 146; establishing
boundaries, 147; purchase qf
Indian title, 147; allotment of
lands, 147 ; effect of proximity
to the Indians, 148, 151 ; indus
tries in, 1,53; "an evening at
home" on the frontier, 153;
how settlers relieved monotony
of work, 155; prosperity of
frontier settlements prior to
King Philip's war, 156.
Fugitive Slave Law: flrst in
America, 311.
Fugitives from Justice and Serv
ice: provisions of articles of
confederation as to, 311,
Funerals: how conducted, 124;
early burying grounds, 125;
monuments and tombstones,
126; giving presents at, 126;
laws to restrain extravagance
of, 127.
Cfainsborough: congregation of
Puritans at, 3.
Garrison Houses: establishment
of, 149,
Garrison, William Lloyd; perse
cution of, 264
General Court: meetings of, 29;
powers assumed by it, 38 ; mat
ters flrst attended to, 39; how
it enforced respect for its au
thority, 39 ; exercise of author
ity over lands, 64 ; holds a ses
sion at Newtown, 249; last
meeting, 383.
(?!66s. Widow: courtship and mar
riage of by Judge Sewall, 120.

4XO

INDEX.

Gookin, Daniel: his "Historical
Collections of the Indians in
New England," 180; "Histori
cal Account of the Doings and
Sufferings of the Christian In
dians in New England," 180;
"History_ of New England,"
181 ; banishment from Virginia,
261.
Gorges, Eerdinando : complaints
of him and Mason, 369; the
king writes concerning, 361;
English judges decide in favor
of claims of his heirs to Prov
ince of Maine, 363.
Gorton, Samuel; his contentious
disposition, 234; his experience
in Plymouth, Rhode Island and
Providence, 262 ; his trial, 292 ;
complaints of him and others
in England, 324, failure of
complaints there, 329.
Governor: his powers under the
charter, 34.
Government: establishing seat of,
34 ; progress in making during
first ten years, 42. See Chap.
XI, Making a Government.
Grant, Gen. Ulysses : banishment
of Jews from his department,
23.
6rreoJSeal; See Seal.
Grey Hound Inn: at Roxbury,
107.
Groton: in King Philip's war,
92.
Hadley: in King Philip's war,
92.
Hampton: Quakers at, 244.
Harlakenden, Rev. : on trial of
Ann Hutchinson, 226.
Harvard College: students give
offense by wearing long hair,
102 ; beginning, 175.
Hatfield: in King Philip's war,
92.
Hauthorne, Will : one of commit
tee to draft and copy code of
laws, 46.
Bay nes, Gov. John: one of com
mittee to draft code of laws, 45 ;
confers concerning New Eng
land confederation, 305, 306;
answer of General Court to,
307.

Eeres'y: defined and punished,
201.
Hewes, William : fined for derid
ing the singing and preaching
in church, 60.
Higginson, Francis: his "New
England's Plantation," 181.
High Commission of England : ita
tyranny, 7,
Hingham: meeting-house at, 165;
controversy over train-hand,
290,
Holidays: English hoHdays for
bidden, 109.
Holland: emigration of Puritans
to from England, 3 ; settlement
at Amsterdam and Leyden, 3 ;
condition there, 3.
Holmes, Eev. Obadiah: punish
ment of, 235.
Hooker, Eev. Thomas ; his writ
ings, 189; quoted as authority
in England, 192 ; had achieved
distinction there, 196; fugitive
from there, 197; affection of
his congregation and venera
tion of people for him, 198 ; his
influence in Connecticut, 207;
Winthrop's letter to, 284; con
fers as to New England confed
eration, 291 ; his death, 386.
Hopkins: answer of General Court
to, 307.
Hopper, Isaac T. ; persecution of
by Quakers for his abohtion
views, 267.
Horton, Elizabeth : the Quaker at
Cambridge, 245.
House-raisings: on the frontier,
166.
Howe, Beulah ; her marriage por
tion, 122,
Howe, Col. Thomas: his bond as
inn-keeper at Marlborough, 106.
Howe, Col. Samuel : recommended
for inn-keeper at Sudbury, 107.
Hoives: of Marlborough, 400.
Hull, John: his daughter's mar
riage portion, 120; master of
the mint, 137.
Humphreys, Eobert : employed to
defend quo loarranto proceed
ings, 378.
Hunting Parties: on the frontier,
156.

INDEX.

411

Husband and wife ; husband's au
thority over wife, 66 ; attempt
of General Court to make a hus
band and wife live together,
123. See Marriage.
Hutchinson, Ann : her arrival in
America, 215 ; teachings of her
self and of her disciples, 215;
Wheelright and Vane become
converts, 216; John Cotton also
much impressed, 216 ; effect of
her teachings, 217; proceedings
at her trial, 224; her banish
ment, 231 ; her subsequent fate,
232.
Hutchinson, Francis: banished for
religious opinions, 41.
Hymn-books: those in early use,
170.
Idleness: laws to discourage, 130,
131.
Independence: beginning of colo
nists' idea of an independent
government, 316 ; when idea
first took deflnite shape, 318;
what grounds for existed in
reign of Charles II, 361 ; oppo
sition to English claim of right
of taxation, 356, 365; on what
grounds colonists based their
claims, 362. See The Struggle
for Independence, Chaps. XV,
XVI.
Indiana: persecution of abolition
ists in by the Quakers, 265.
Indians : plague among, 77 ; had
no semblance of organized gov
ernment, 77 ; their title to land
recognized, 77, 147; appetite
for intoxicating liquor, 78; ef
forts to civilize and convert, 78 ;
troubles and war with Pequots,
79 ; respective claims of Indians
and colonists, 82; appearance
of King PhiUp, his character
and abihty, 84 ; beginning and
progress of King Phihp's war,
87 ; effects of the war, 88 ; In
dian currency, 135 ; effect of
proximity to upon frontier life,
148, 152; restrained from pro
faning the Lord's Day, 164. See
Chap. Ill, The Puritans and
the Indians.

Industrial and Commercial Life:
Chap. VI, pp. 130-144; laws
against idleness, 130; agricul
ture, 131 ; flshing, 133 ; me
chanical trades, 133; manufac
tures, 133 ; commerce with other
colonies and countries, 134;
currency, 134 ; wages and prices,
138.
Inns and Ordinaries : as news cen
ters, 106; governmental super
vision over, 105 ; celebrated col
onial inns, 107 ; inn-keepers re
quired to clear their houses of
all persons able to go to church
during the services, 164 ; toward
close of commonwealth, 386.
Intemperance: increase in and
laws against, 104.
Iron: manufacture of, 133.
Jacob,Oli: the praying Indian, 78.
James I : death, 5.
James II : judges in reign of, 7 ;
his accession, 380.
Jefferson, Thomas ; tribute to New
England town system, 280.
Jeffreys, Judge; in reign of
James II, 8.
Jennison, William : at trial of
Ann Hutchinson, 231.
Johnson, Edward: his "Wonder
working Providence," 180.
Josselyn, John: his "New Eng
land Earities " and " Two Voy
ages," 181.
Judges, of Commonwealth ; lack
of legal learning, 70 ; in the
witchcraft trials, 71 ; conse
quences of, 74; subserviency
under Andros, 389. See Chap.
Ill, Puritan Laws, Lawyers and
Courts.
Judges, of England; in reign of
Charles I, 7.
Judicial Powers: see Courts,
Judges, Puritan Laws, etc.
Juries : right of trial by secured
by Body of Liberties, 50; pro
vision enabling them to consult
the ministers, 65.
Justices of the Peace: how ap
pointed, 64.
Juvenile Literature : none in com
monwealth period, 186.

4X2

INDEX.

.lynkes, Ester ; presented for wear
ing silver lace, 60.
Keayne, Capt. Eobert: his trial
for extortion, 140 ; liis law-suit
with Mrs. Sherman, 288.
Kentland, Nathaniel; he and
others flned for drinking Wm.
Craft's "sider," etc., 60.
Kimble, Capt. : punished for kiss
ing his wife on Sunday, 166.
Kirk, Col.: intended as first gov
ernor instead of Andros, 387. _
Kitchen': a prominent feature in
dwelhng-houses, 95; in the
frontier houses, 153.
Knopp, Nicholas : flned for quack
ery, 124.
Lancaster: in King Philip's war,
92.
Lands: tenure of, 53 ; Indian title
recognized, 63; authority of
General Court over, 54 ; towns
authorized to dispose of, 64;
how allotted, 147 ; land titles
under Andros, 389.
Laud, Archbishop; his persecu
tion of the Puritans, 6; his
character, 6 ; head of Commis
sioners for Plantations, 305;
his execution, 257.
Law -Books: in commonwealth
period, 66; Sewall's, 71.
Laws: inconveniences resulting
from absence of code of, 43, 44 ;
effort to establish a code, 44;
adoption of Body of Liberties,
47 ; study of essential to under
standing history of common
wealth, 48 ; explanation of de
lay in adopting, 48; revisions
of 1649, 1660 and 1672, 52 ; Whit
more's edition of Colonial Laws,
52 (note) ; various provisions of,
52 ; penalties for violation, 56 ;
enforced rigidly and impartial
ly, 58 ; examples of early laws
and punishments, 59 ; exten
sive scope of legislation, 69;
great number of local officers
required to execute, 60; how
these old laws should be judged,
61 ; compared with early laws
of England and of other Ameri
can colonies, 62 ; law-books, 66 ; .

enacted in name of General
Court and " by authority there
of," 354. See Chap. HI, Puri
tan Laws, etc.. Body of Liber
ties, Lawyers.
Lawyers: in commonwealth peri
od, 66 ; professional ignored, 67 ;
legal documents drawn by jus
tices and ministers, 68 ; no fees
allowed, 68 ; prejudice against,
68; ineligible to seat in Gen
eral Court, 69; patrons sub
stitutes for, 69; Lechford's at
tempt to practice, 69; no devel
opment of law as a science, 74 ;
evil results of want of learned
lawyers and judges, 74; ab
sence of influence of lawyers in
restraining the Theocracy, 74 ;
conservative tendency of the
legal profession, 75. See Chap.
Ill, Puritan Laws, etc.
Laying the Foundations of a
Greater Republic — The L^nited
Colonies of New England.Chap.
XIV, pp. 301-314. See United
Colonies, etc.
Lechford, Thomas: attempt to
practice law, 69.
Legal Processes : ran in name of
commonwealth, 354.
Legislative Powers: exercise of
by General Court, 38.
Leverett, Gov. John; ominous tid
ings sent by him from England,
337 ; his treatment of Eandolph
when latter brought a letter
from the king, 361 .
Leverett, Eev. 'Thomas: at trial of
Ann Hutchinson, 227, 228.
Leyden Congregation : emigration
to Plymouth, 4.
Libel and Slander: punishment
of, 51.
Liberties: see Body of Liberties.
Libraries: private, 176: Cotton
Mather's, 175; John Win
throp's, 176 ; Elder Brewster's,
176 ; Judge Sewall's books, 177.
Lite hfi eld, Ct. : introduction of
stoves in meeting-house, 166.
Literature, in commonwealth pe
riod: publications of that pe
riod, 179; poetry, 181; juvenile
literature, 186; almanacs, 1li7;
character of religious books,

INDEX.

413

188; early religious and law
books compared, 191. See Chap.
A''1II, Education, Books and
Literature.
Local Government : idea of promi
nent in American government,
269, 272; existence in Eng
land and in Germanic tribes,
269 ; development in New Eng
land, 269, 272; the Dorchester
plan, 273; the Charlestown
plan, 273; adhered to in arti
cles of New England confedera
tion, 311. See Chap. XII, Lay
ing the Foundations, etc..
Towns.
London: plague in, 366 ; great flre,
356; its charter declared for
feited, 377.
Long Hair: protests and laws
against, 102.
Long Parliament : attitude of com
monwealth to, 324; General
Court's remonstrance to, 328 ;
threatened demand by for sur
render of charter, 330; protests
of General Court to, 330.
Lothrop: death at Bloody Brook,
88.
Love, John : given order for books
by Judge Sewall, 177.
Low Countries : see Holland.
Ludlow, Eoger : John Stone pun
ished for abusing him, 40.
Lynn: early settlement, 25; ex
tracts from early court records
of, 69; iron works established
there, 133.
Mail System : beginning, 39.
Maine: why left out of New Eng
land confederation, 307; Gen
eral Court overturns courts es
tablished there by the royal
commissioners, 360 ; English
judges decide in favor of claims
of Gorges's heirs, 363; pur
chase of by Massachusetts, 364.
Malcepeace, Thomas : i n f o r med
that General Court was weary
of his "novile disposition," 41.
Making a Government; Chap II,
pp. 27-47 ; founded on charter,
27; proprietary rights granted
by charter, 28; governmental
powers, 29 ; implied powers, 32 ;

sovereign control not relin
quished, 32 ; powers claimed by
colonists, 33 ; establishing a seat
of government, 34; admission
of new freemen, 35 ; restoration
of suffrage to freemen, 36 ; oaths
of fldelity and allegiance, 36;
exercise of legislative power,
38 ; establishment of courts, 38 ;
exercise of taxing power, 38;
military measures, 38; other
steps taken to establish a gov
ernment, 39 ; enforcing respect
for government, 39; surveil
lance over strangers, 41 ; banish
ment for immoral conduct and
heretical opinions, 41 ; progress
made in flrst ten years in es
tablishing, 42; evils resulting
from absence of a code of laws,
43 ; efforts to establish a code,
44 ; Body of Liberties adopted,
47. See Charter.
Maiden: church at flned, 204.
Manners : change in those of peo
ple of commonwealth, 386.
Manufactures: progress of, 13S.
Marblehead: women of in King
Philip's war, 90.
Marietta (Ohio) : settled by de
scendants of the Puritans, 169 ;
establishment of schools,
churches and laws there, 397.
Marlborough: in King Philip's
war, 92, 151 ; changes in, 318,
400, 401.
Marriage: laws as to. 111; mar
riage etiquette, 113 ; marriage
portions and bridal outflts, 120 ;
attempt of General Court to
compel husband and wife to
stick to each other, 123; suits
for breach of promise, 124. See
Courtship, Divorce, Husband
and Wife.
Martin, Ambros; punished for
speaking disrespectfully of tlie
churches and ministers, 40.
Maryland: laws against witch
craft, 63; trade of Massachu
setts with, 134; persecution of
Quakers in, 258; religious per
secution in, 259.
Mason, Capt. John: commands
Connecticut troops in Pequot

4X4

INDEX.

war, 80; his "History of the
Pequot War," 180.
Mason, Eobert; complaints of
him and Gorges, 359 ; the king
writes concerning, 361 ; En
glish judges decide against his
claim to New Hampshire, 363.
Massachusetts: character of flrst
settlers, 19 ; negotiations for es
tablishing New England con
federation, 304, 306 ; admission
into, 307 ; towns and popula
tion at that time, 313; changes
in between, beginning and end
of commonwealth, 383; con
tribution to expenses of revolu
tionary war, 397; changes in
since end of commonwealth,
383, 398; emancipation of still
going on, 401.
Massachusetts Company: charter
incorporating, 16.
Massasoit, Chief: father of King
Philip and friend of the colo
nists, 86.
Mather, Eev. Cotton ; his library,
176; his "MagnaHa," 176; eulo
gizes Anne Bradstreet's Poems,
182; effect of his sermons on
Betty Sewall, 195.
Mather, Eev. Increase : a proliflc
writer, 179, 188; had achieved
distinction in England, 196;
influence over the Theocracy,
208 ; foremost in opposition to
Andros, 254.
Maverick, Samuel: settlement on
Noddles' Island, 25 ; petition of
him and others to the General
Court, 234 ; one ot the commis
sioners sent by Charles II, 342.
May -Days: celebration of prohib
ited, 109.
Mayflower: compact signed in
cabin of, 270.
Mechanical Trades : in early pe
riod, 133 ; few artisans in fron
tier settlements, 152.
Medfield: in King Philip's war,
92.
Meeting-JTouses : construction, 165 ;
how heated, 165; interior ar
rangement, 166. See Churches ;
Ministers .
MiHtary Establishment ; early
military measures, 38; promi

nent feature in frontier life,
148; organization of militia,
148 ; forts and garrison-houses,
149 ; military watches and sen
tinels, 150; training fields and
muster-days, 160.
Militia: See MiHtary Establish
ment.
Mills: early introduction, 133.
Ministers: enforcing respect for,
40 ; legal documents drawn by,
68; visiting, 167; learning and
industry, 188, 192, 196; great
infiuence of their books and
sermons, 192; fearless disposi
tion, 197 ; religious views in ac
cord with those of first settlers,
197; great affection between
them and the members of
their congregations, 197 ; flrst
care of colonists to provide
for, 198; none but orthodox
called, 204; power to exclude
from church membership, 207 ;
great infiuence of, 207; power
in General Court and else
where, 208 ; recognition of their
power by civil authorities, 209 ;
charge that they encouraged
belief in witchcraft, 253 ; stead
fast champions of people against
tyranny of English rulers, 254;
define nature of colonists' alle
giance to England, 326; argu
ments against relinquishing the
charter, 376. See Chap. VIII,
ThePuritanSabbath ; Churches ;
Meeting-houses ; Sabbath ; The
ocracy.
Mint: establishment, 136.
Moderator: presiding officer of
both church and town meetings,
272; duties of moderator of
town meetings, 276.
Monck, George; landlord of the
Blue Anchor Inn, 107.
Mov.ey: See Currency.
Monopolies: forbidden, 51.
Moodey, Eev. : persecution of by
Gov. Cranfield, 390.
Morton, Thomas: a lawyer, 68.
Mothers: Puritan, 187.
Music: instrumental in chtrrches,
170.
Muster Days: in early period, 150,
155.

INDEX.

4^5

Mystic: settlement, 26.
Narragansetts : side with colonists
in Pequot war, 80; troubles
with, 82 ; anniliilated in King
Philip's war, 93.
Navigation Acts : of 1651, a dead
letter in Massachusetts in Crom
well's time, 332; of 1660 and
1663, 339; ignored by Massa
chusetts commonwealth, 354 ;
act of 1674, 359.
Neglectors of Families; punish
ment, 130.
Neicbury : conduct of Quakers at,
244.
New England: English origin of
first settlers, 19; idea of local
government in, 269; town sys
tem in, 269 ; confederation, 301 ;
New England Primer: great cir
culation and influence, 186.
Neiv Hampshire: province of es
tabUshed, 363.
New Haven: admission into New
England Confederation, 307;
towns and population at that
time, 313 ; absorbed in Connec-
);icut, 314.
Newhouse, Thomas: the Quaker
at Boston, 245.
Newtou-n: establishing Harvard
College there, 175; General
Court held a session there, 218 ;
synod there, 246.
New York: trade with, 134; laws
against Catholics, 259 ; troubles
between Dutch governor of,
and Connecticut, 306.
Night-watchmen : of towns, duties,
275.
Noddles' Island: settlement of
Samuel Maverick at, 26.
Noon-houses : connected with
churches, 171.
Norman, Samuel; punished for
speaking disrespectfully of the
ministers, 40.
Northampton: women of ar
raigned for wicked apparel, 101.
iv"ort;i'i«Z(2;inKingPhilip'swar-,92.Norton, Eev, John; Fiske's esti
mate of, 21 ; expenses of funeral
of his widow, 126; eulogizes
Anne Bradstreet's poems, 182;
great worker and proUflc writer,

188; character of his writings,
189; his "Orthodox Evangel
ist," 190; effect of his sermons
on Betty Sewah, 195; had
achieved distinction in Eng
land, 196 ; was a fugitive from
there, 197 ; influence in the
commonwealth, 207 ; he and
Bradstreet sent as agents to
England, 340; answer of
Charles II, returned by them,
340; made a scape-goat of by
the people, 341 ; death, 342,
386.
Noyes, Joseph ; letter concerning
inns at Sudbury, 107,
Nyantics: troubles with, 82.
Oklahoma Territory: local self-
government in, 269.
"Old Jacob:" one of the "Pray
ing Indians," 78.
Old Plymouth Eoad, 108.
Osborn, Charles: persecution of
by Indiana Quakers for his ab
olition views, 268.
Palmer, Edward: put in stocks
built by him for his extortion
in price charged, 140,
Palmer, George: punished for
committing folly with Margery
Eugg, 68,
Parents and Children ; laws en
forcing obedience of children,
55; parents required to allow
children timely and convenient
marriage, 112; and not to ex
ercise unnatural severity, 112;
also to put them to work, 131 ;
and to educate them, 174; and
bring them up in a Godly way,
205,
Parliamentary Commissioners :
send a communication to the
General Court, 324; letter of
General Court to, 328.
Passing of the Puritans — Looking
Backward and also Looking
Forward, Chap. XVIII, pp.
393-402.
Patrons: as substitutes for law
yers, 69.
Penalties: for various crimes, 56.
Pennsylvania: laws against witch
craft, 63.

4i6

INDEX.

Pequots: troubles and war with,
79; extermination, 80.
Peter, Eev. Hugh; one of com
mittee to draft code of laws, 45,
46; at trial of Ann Hutchinson,
224, 226; returns to England,
257 ; heroism when executed,
257.
Philip, King ; as a leader, 84 ; in
justice to liim of Massachusetts
historians, 84 ; master spirit of
the great Indian coalition, 86 ;
his efforts to unite the Indians,
86; King Philip's war begun,
87 ; its sanguinary character, 88 ;
inhuman treatment by colonists
of his little son, 89 ; his death
and barbarous mutilation of his
body, 89, 91 ; results of the war,
92 ; life on frontier settlements
during the war, 156; their re
cuperation afterwards, 158.
Phillips, Eev. : chosen one of the
flrst ministers, 34; one of com
mittee to draft code of laws, 46.
Phipps, Gov. WilHam: his moth
er's large family, 94.
Pinion, Nicholas: fined forswear
ing, 60.
Plymouth: emigration of Leyden
congregation to, 4 ; the colony
4; in King Philip's war, 92
treatment of Gorton in, 262
admission into New England
confederation, 307 ; towns and
population at that time, 314.
Poets: of commonwealth period,
181.
Population, of commonwealth : in
crease during Cromwell's time,
332 ; between beginning and end
of commonwealth, 383 ; changes
in character, 386, 399.
Porter, John : expelled from Vir
ginia house of representatives
because "too loving" to the
Quakers, 260.
Portugal: trade of commonwealth
witii, 134.
Potteries: establishment of, 133.
Praying Indians, The; 78.
Prices: laws regulating, 138; Cot
ton's "rules for trading," 142;
failure to enforce laws regulat
ing, 143.

Privy Council : control of colonies
vested in, 322; demands pro
duction of charter, 322.
Proprietary Eights: granted by
charter, 28.
Providence: treatment of Gorton
in, 262.
Provisional Government ; estab
lished after revocation of char
ter, 383.
Public Days: in commonwealth,
110.
Punishments: inhuman prohibited
by Body of Liberties, 50.
Puritans: persecution of in Eng
land, 1, 5; emigration to Hol
land, 2; condition there, 3;
emigration from Holland to
America, 4; emigration from
England to America, 12; their
motives for emigrating, 12 ; ad
dress issued before going, 17 ;
designs as to setting up an inde
pendent government, 18; from
what parts of England they
came, 19; their character, 19;
their sufferings during the first
winter, 26; change in historic
style in writing about them,
393; their belief in morality,
394; and in education, 395;
intense lovers of hberty, 395;
economical in public and pri
vate expenditures, 396; but
not parsimonious in defense of
countrj', 396; have impressed
their characteristics on every
community established bythem,
397; settlement by their de
scendants of Marietta, Ohio,
397 ; giving place to foreigners
in New England, 399; great
changes in New England in
character of population, 398;
where descendants of the New
England Puritans have gone,
400 ; change from religious be
liefs of the early Puritans in
New England, 400, See Chap.
Ill, Puritan Laws, etc. ; Chap.
IV, The Puritans and the In
dians; Chap, VIII, The Puritan
Sabbath; Chap. XVIII, The
Passing of the Puritans, etc,
Puritans and the Indians, The:
Chap, IV, pp. 77-93.

INDEX.

417

Puritan Laws, Lawyers and
Courts; Chap. Ill, pp. 48-76.
Puritan Sabbath, The: Chap.
VIII, pp. 160-173.
Putnam, Gen. Rufus; settlement
by of Marietta, Ohio, 159.
Pynchon, William ; conference aa
to New England confederation,
305.
Quacks: punishment of, 124.
Quakers: laws against, 200, 201,
205; invade Massachusets, 237 ;
flned, imprisoned and banished,
237 ; four returned and were
hanged, 238 ; danger of uprising
of people against further hang
ings, 239 ; the message in their
behalf fromthekingof England,
239 ; their flnal triumph , 239 ; the
old-time historical excuse for
hanging them, 241 ; no authority
in charter for their banishment,
242; characteristics of early
Quakers, 243 ; their insulting
conduct and indecent behavior,
244 ; majority of people opposed
to their persecution, 252 ; perse
cution of in Maryland, 2,59;
and in Virginia, 269; Quaker
persecution of Catholics in
Ehode Island, 265 ; and of Ab
olitionists in Indiana, 266; re
ception by Quakers of Henry
Clay in Eichmond, Indiana,
267 ; instructions of Charles II
to colonists as to, 341.
¦Quarter Courts : establishment,
64 ; jurisdiction, 65.
Quo Warranto Proceedings: to
annul the charter, flrst begun,
323; second proceedings, 375;
final judgment in, 380; ques
tion as to its legality, 381.
Randolph, Edward : his efforts to
destroy the commonwealth,
359; sent by the king with a
letter, 361; how received by
Governor Leverett, 361 ; busies
himself in fomenting dissen
sions and factions, 362; comes
with commission as customs col
lector, 367; his treatment by
Massachusetts authorities, 367 ;
27 — PuR. Ebp.

again comes with commission
as collector, etc., 368; follows
Dudley and Richards to Eng
land, 369 ; files articles of higli
crimes and misdemeanors
against the governor and com
pany, 374; serves writ of quo
loarranto, 375; continues to cre
ate dissensions, 378 ; after for
feiture of charter appears again
with commission for organizing
a provisional government, 383 ;
one of the council of Governor
Andros, 387 ; pronounces land-
titles of colonists worthless, and
threatens ejectments by cart
load, 389; imprisoned, 391.
Rank: early distinctions in, 127;
exemption of ' 'gentlemen" from
whipping, 128; titles, 128; fam
ily arms, 129; in "dignifying"
the meeting-house, 167.
Rawson, Edward; signs order of
General Court to close Baptist
church, 204.
Refugees: from other countries,
provisions as to in Body of Lib
erties, 50.
Registry Laws; early, 39.
Religion of the Puritans : its som
ber character, 193.
Religious Persecutions; in 17th
century, 258.
Religioiis Sects: great number in
early period of commonwealth,
246.
Religious Services : laws punish
ing disturbance, 204 ; laws re
quiring attendance upon, 205.
Religious Toleration: absence of
in 17th century, 258 ; in Ameri- •
can colonies, 258; in Virginia,
259; to what causes existing
toleration in United States is
owing, 263.
Republic: planting the seed— de
velopment of the town system,
269; how the republic grew—
escape from democracy, 282;
not at first contemplated, 282;
struggle of freemen against ex
ercise by rulers of arbitrary
power, 283 ; opposition of free
men to usurpations of the as
sistants, 284; freemen succeed

4x8

INDEX.

in having deputies to represent
them, 285; struggle to obtain
Body of Liberties, 286 ; opposi
tion to standing council, 286;
opposition to electing Winthrop
governor for life, 287 ; clashing
between the deputies and as
sistants, 287 ; the dispute about
astray pig and its consequences,
288 ; establishment of deputies
and assistants as separate leg
islative bodies, 289 ; opposition
of deputies to claims of clergy,
293 ; growth of retarded by re
strictions upon admission to
privileges of freemen, 297 ; be
fore the close of the common
wealth the government essen
tially republican, 298; circum
stances favored dissemination
of republican ideas, 299 ; laying
the foundation of a greater re
public — the United Colonies of
New England, 301 ; the strug
gle for independence — genesis
of a still greater republic, 315;
the Andros sequel, 383 ; contin
ued growtii of republic during
commonwealth period, 392. See
Chap XII, Planting the Seed of
a Republic, etc. ; Chap. XIII,
How the Eepublic Grew, etc. ;
Chap. XIV, Laying the Foun
dations for a Greater Republic,
etc.; Chaps. XV and XVI,
The Struggle for Independence,
etc. ; Chap. XVII, The Andros
Sequel.
Revenue Laws ; direct taxes, 53 ;
duties, 53 ; license fees, 53 ; in
come taxes, 53.
Revocation oi (Juarier : see Chaps.
XV and XVI, The Struggle for
Independence, etc.
TJiode Island: treatment of Gor
ton in, 262; persecution of
Catholics in, 265 ; why left out
of New England confederation,
307; subsequently refused ad
mission, 308.
Rices: of Marlborough, 400.
Richards, John; he and Dudley
sent as agents to England, 369;
their advice to General Court,
373; additional instructions to,
373.

Richardson, Amos: a patron, 69.
Rise and Fall of the Theocracy,
Chaps. X and XI, pp. 193-268.
See Ministers, Theocracy.
Roads and Travel; in common
wealth period, 108; old colo
nial roads, 108 ; modes of trav
el, 108.
Robinson, Eev. John: of the Ley
den congregation, 4; parting
between him and his congrega
tion, 198. I
Rowley : weaving begun at, 134.
Ro'xbury: at end of common
wealth, 386.
Ruggles, Martha ; courtship of by
Judge Sewall, 119.
Ruggs, MsiTgery: punished for en
ticing George Palmer, 58.
Rural Life; difference between
it and urban, 145.
Sabbath: began Saturday night,
160, comparison of Scotch and
Puritan Saturday night, 160;
laws enforcing observance, 163.
See Chap. VIII, The Puritan
Sabbath, pp. 160-173.
Salem: settlement, 16, 25; pot
tery established at, 133 ; Quak
ers at, 244,
Salt' manufacture, 133.
Saltonstall, Sir Eichard; flned,
59 ; settles Watertown, 145
Sassacus, Chief: endeavors to
form Indian coalition to exter
minate the colonists, 79; de
feated, 80.
Saturday night: in the common
wealth, 163.
/Sato Mills: introduced, 95.
Scituate: in King Philip's war,
92.
Scotch Presbyterianism: in 17th
century, 193.
(Scots, Eoger; flned for sleeping in
church, 59.
Scropgs: judge in reig^ of James
II,' 8.
Scrooby (in England) : location,
1 ; Puritan congregation at, 1.
Selectmen: powers of, 275.
Servants: provisions as to, 55, 205.
Seioall, Betty : hiding from Capt.
Tuthill, llS; her conversion,
195.

INDEX.

419

Seioall, Judith : Gov. Dudley asks
her father for permission for
his son to wait upon her, 113 ;
her wedding outfit, 121.
Sewall, Judge Samuel; his law
books, 71 ; educated for pulpit,
71 ; his legal education, 71 ; re
grets for decision in case of
Widow Bellingham, 72, and
for his part in the witch
craft trials, 72; advice to Jus
tice Davenport, 72 ; opponent of
slavery, 72 ; his diary and let
ters, 72; sends to London for
fine furniture, 97 ; his court
ships, 113; orders wedding out
fit in London for his daughter
Judith, 121 ; inventory of his
accumulation of funeral pres
ents, 126 ; setting the tune in
church, 171; his books, 177;
sends to London for fine cloth
ing, 385.
Shaw, Ch. J. : his explanation of
meaning of "Liberties," 49;
commendation of Body of Lib
erties, 49.
Shepard, Eev. : persecution of by
Archbishop Laud, 5 ; one of
committee to draft code of laws,
45, 46 ; had achieved distinction
in England, 196; a fugitive
from there, 197 ; at trial of Ann
Hutchinson, 224.
Sherman, Mrs. : her lawsuit with
Capt. Keayne, 288.
Sherman, Eev. John: his large
family, 94.
Silvester, Peter; punished for
speaking against the law about
hogs, 40.
Singing Schools ; introduction,
111.
Slavery : in Massachusetts, 50, 55,
311.
Smith, Sydney : Reply to Bilhngs-
gate fish-woman, 100.
South Carolina: laws against
witchcraft, 63.
South Church ; seized for Episco
pal services, 388.
.Spain: trade of commonwealth
with, 134.
Spencer, William: one of com
mittee to draft code of laws, 46.
Spinning : laws to encourage, 133.

Springfield: in King Philip's war,
92.
Stage Coaches, 109.
Standing Council: opposition of
people to, 286.
Stanley, Mathew: fined for win
ning affections of daughter of
John Tarbox, 60.
Star Chamber : of England, 7.
States' Eights; doctrine, 312.
Steele, John ; confers as to New
England Confederation, 305.
Sternhold and Hopkins; version
of Psalms, 170.
Stocks: what crimes punished by
putting in, 57.
Stone, Capt. John : punished for
confronting authority, 40.
Stone, Rev. Samuel; definition of
Congregational church govern
ment, 283.
Stoughton, Israel : commands
Massachusetts troops in Pequot
war, 80 ; at trial of Ann Hutch
inson, 229.
Stoughton, William: one of a
committee to draft a code of
laws, 46; educated for pulpit,
71 ; one of judges at the witch
craft trials, 71 ; he and Bulke
ley sent aa agents to England,
363 ; remain nearly three years,
364; their return, 366.
Stoves: when introduced, 95; in
churches, 166.
Strangers: surveillance over, 41;
strict laws against, 200.
Stray Pig; dispute over and its
consequences, 288.
Struggle for Independence, the:
Chapters XV, XVI, pp. 315-
382.
Stuffing the Ballot-box: law
against, 52.
Sudbury: in King Philip's war,
92, 156; settlement of, 146, 166;
life of early settlers, 156; train
ing field there, 150,
Suffrage : limited to church mem
bers, 36, 199; law as to illegal
voting, 62; effect of failure to
extend to non-church members,
297; no authority in charter
for restricting to members of
Puritan churches, 297.

420

INDEX.

Swift, Eev. John : wrote most of
wills in Framingham, in his
time, 68.
Synods: of 1647, 250 ; subsequent,
251.
Tanneries: establishment of, 133.
Tarbox, John: Mathew Stanley
sued for winning his daughter's
affections, 60.
Taxation: opposition to exer
cise of taxing power by the as
sistants, 38 ; revenue laws, 53 ;
few exemptions from, 53; fix
ing rates, 53; opposition of
people of Watertown to taxa
tion without representation,
285; opposition of colonists to
arbitrary taxation by England,
366, 365. See Eevenue Laws.
Tea: use of, 104.
Teachers: only orthodox em
ployed in schools and college,
174, 206.
Tenure of lands: laws defining,
53.
Thanksgiving: dinners, 103; days,
109.
Theatrical Entertainments : for
bidden, 110.
Theocracy: effort to establish a
Biblical Commonwealth, 193;
Theocracy not recognized as a
distinct body, 196; composed
of a small minority of ministers,
196; its attempts to regulate
men's thoughts, 206; intimate
union between church and
state, 209 ; tendency to religious
persecution, 209; recognition of
its power by civil authorities,
209; banishment of the
Brownes, 210; contest with
Eoger Williams, 211 ; trial and
banishment of Ann Hutchinson,
223, 232 ; banishment of Wheel
wright, 223; persecution of re
monstrants in favor of Wheel
wright, 232 ; proceedings
against Vassal and others, 234 ;
persecution of Baptists, 235;
contest with Quakers, 237 ; con
tained elements of its own de
struction, 245; effect of spread
of dissenting behefs, 246; of
expansion of commerce, 252;

of growth of republican ideas,
262 ; majority of people opposed
to tyranny of, 262; its power
ended by revocation of charter,
253. See Chaps. X and XI.
Rise and Fall of the Theocracy,
pp. 193-268.
Thursday Lecture Days : 109.
Tilley, Widow: courtship and
marriage of by Judge Sewall,
114.
Tithing-men: duty to set idlers to
work, 131; duties in church,
168.
Titles : use of, 128.
Tobacco: laws against use, 104.
Torture: law as to, 60.
Town Clerks: importance of
office, 276.
Towns: authorized to dispose of
lands, 54, 274; great number
of local officers, 60; origin of
the New England town sys
tem, 269; not modeled after
precedent, 271 ; development,
272 ; the Dorchester plan, 273 ;
tbe Charlestown plan, 273;.
when flrst recognized as dis
tinct local municipaUties, 274;
authorized to select deputies to
General Court, 274; chief offi
cers of the town, 275; town
meetings, 276 ; cardinal idea of
the town system, 276; great
importance of the town meet
ings, 276; value as an aid to
education, 277 ; importance as
political factors, 277; advan
tages of to'mi meetings in revo
lutionary war period, 278 ; Jef
ferson's tribute to, 280 ; kind of
business transacted in early
towns, 281 ; towns abolished un
der Andros, 388. See Chap.
XII, Planting the Seed of a
Republic, etc., pp. 269-281.
Transmission of Property : laws
regulating, 61.
Traveling: mode of, 104; forbid
den on Sabbath, 163.
Tuthill, Capt. : abortive attempt
to court Betty Sewall, 113.
United Colonies of New England :
origin, 301 ; reasons for form
ing, 301; preliminary negotia-

INDEX.

42r

tions, 303; negotiations re
sumed, 306 ; articles of confed-
eration adopted, 307; why
Maine and Ehode Island left
out, 307 ; subsequent refusal to
admit Ehode Island, 308; chief
provisions of tlie articles, 308 ;
none but members of Puritan
churches eligible to be commis
sioners, 309; provisions as to
fugitives from justice and from
service, 311; further develop
ment of idea of local self-gov
ernment, 311 ; the confedera
tion the beginning of the Unit
ed States, 312; end of confed
eration, 314. See Chap. XIV,
Laying the Foundations of a
Greater Eepublic, etc., pp. 301-
314.
Vane, Gov. Henry ; sides with
Ann Hutchinson, 216 ; his dra
matic exhibition before the
General Court, 216; contest for
governorship with Winthrop,
218; character, 219; his writ
ings, 220 ; conduct in impeach
ment of Earl of Strafford, 220 ;
remained friend of colonists,
223; his heroic death, 223.
Yassal, William : petition of him
and others to General Court,
234.
Villeinage: in Massachusetts pro
hibited, 50.
Virginia: laws against witchcraft,
63, trade of Massachusetts
with, 134; persecution of Qua
kers in, 259; expulsion of John
Porter from house of represen
tatives because "too loving" to
Quakers, 260; laws against
Baptists and other non-con
formists, 261 ; persecution of
Puritans, 261 ; banishment of
Daniel Gookin, 261; banish
ment of Puritan ministers, 261 ;
shameful treatment of by
Charles II, 317.
Wadsworth, Maj.: death at Sud
bury, 88.
Wages: payable in commodities,
136 ; laws regulating, 138 ; fail
ure to enforce laws, 143.

Walker, Garrison: at Sudbury,
150.
War: power to make conferred
by charter, 30.
Ward, Eev. Nathaniel: work ini
framing Body of Liberties, 47,
49 ; graduate of Emmanuel Col
lege, 67 ; studied and practiced
law in England, 67 ; sermon
against ungodly female attiro,
99 ; eulogizes Anne Bradstreet's
poems, 182; eccentricity in
style of his writings, 189; op
posed to submitting laws to
consideration of the freemen,,
283.
Water: of New England, 103.
Watertown: settlement, 26, 145 j
opposition of people to taxatioir
without representation, 285.
Waters, Lawrence : he and his
wife admonished by General
Court to avoid dancing, 110.
Watson: a patron, 69.
Wealth: increase of wealth and
luxury at end of common
wealth, 385.
Weaving: begun at Eowley, 134.
Weights and Measures: early
laws regulating, 39.
Welde, Joseph : custodian of Ann
Hutchinson after sentence of
banishment, 231.
Welde, Rev. Thomas; at trial of
Ann Hutchinson, 224, 230 ; his
"A Short Story of the Eiee,
Eeign and Euin of Antino
mianism, etc.," 246.
Weymouth; in King Phihp's war,
92.
Whale Fishing : when established,
95.
Wheelwright, Eev, John ; becomes
a convert to teachings of Ann
Hutchinson, 216 ; conviction of
heresy, 217 ; remonstrance in
his favor, 217 ; his banishment,
41,223; persecution of remon
strants, 223 ; difference of opin
ion between him and the other
ministers, 246.
Whipping: what crimes punished
by, 67; exemption of gentle
men, 128,
White, Eev, John ; of Scrooby, 1 ;
his character, 10 ; hia efforts to-

422

INDEX.

establish a colony in America,
12 ; his account of reasons for
emigration of Puritans to Amer
ica, 13,
Whitmore, William H. : his edi
tion of Colonial Laws, 58, note.
Whittier, John G.; "The Old
Burying Ground," 125,
Wigglesworth, Michael: his po
ems, 183,
William and Mary; landing of
William in England, 391 ; not
favorable to independence of
Massachusetts, 391.
Williams, Eev. Roger: debate be
tween him and Cotton on wom
en's veils, 100; his character,
211; his religious and political
views, 211 ; banishment, 212 ;
subsequent disputation between
him and Cotton, 212; modifi
cation of his views in later life,
213 ; his affection for Massachu
setts and for Winthrop, 213 ;
his services to the common
wealth in the Indian troubles,
214; shabby treatment of him
by Massachusetts authorities in
his old age, 214 ; grants Gorton
shelter in Ehode Island, 262.
Wilson, Deborah; the Quakeress
at Salem, 248,
Wilson, George; the Quaker at
Boston, 245,
TTz'Zson, Eev. John: chosen one of
the iirst ministers, 34 ; makes
flrst "stump speecii" in Amer
ica, 219.
Windows: kind of glass used in,
95 ; use of oiled paper, 95.
Winslow, Gov. Edward: com
mands troops in attack on In
dian fort, 90 ; defends colonists
in England against complaints
of Maverick and others, 235;
sent as agent to England, his
instructions, 328 ; information
returned by him, 329.
Winthrop, Gov. John (Sr.) ; signs
the Cambridge agreement, 16;
chosen governor of Massachu
setts company, 17; sails from
Yarmouth, 18; arrival in
America, 18; hia character, 20;
one of committee to draft code

of laws, 45 ; trained as a lawyer
in England, 68 ; reproof of dep
uty for extravagance, 96; his
"History of New England,"
180 ; correspondence between
him and Eoger Williams, 214;
his advice to the latter, 214;
contest with Vane for office of
governor, 218 ; Ids conduct at
trial of Ann Hutchinson, 223;
observed how freemen stuck to
the charter, 284 ; his objections
to Connecticut form of gov
ernment, 284, 305 ; opposition
of people to electing him gov
ernor for life, 287 ; upholds as
sistants in claim of right to a
negative vote, 289; speech de-
flning hberty, 290; opposition
to claims of clergy, 294; his
statement of grounds justifying
colonists in declaring independ
ence of England, 318 ; his death,
386 ; influence in founding the
commonwealth, 394.
Winthrop, Gov. John (Jr.) : hia
library, 176.
Wintlirop, Katherine ; courtship of
by Judge Sewall, 115; family
arms borne at her funeral, 129.
Winthrop, Gen. Wait; family arms
borne at funeral of his widow,
Katherine, 129.
Wise, Eev. John; persecution of
under Andros, 387.
Witchcraft: laws against, 63; Sir
William Blackstone's belief in,
63 ; laws against of England
and of other American colonies,
63 ; judges in the witchcraft
trials, 71.
Witter, William : requests visit of
Baptist brethren from Ehode
Island, 235; presented for be
ing re-baptized, 60, 236.
Woodbridge, Timothy : letter of
Judge Sewall to, 119.
Woods, William: his "New Eng
land's Prospect," 181.
Woolrige, John ; reprimanded for
offenses committed in England,
44.
Yarmouth (Eng.) : Winthrop sails
from, 18.

2554

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