USA > Massachusetts > Commonwealth history of Massachusetts, colony, province and state, volume 1 > Part 54
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Mather found a number of New Englanders in London, all seeking redress for some personal or group grievance. Among them were Sir William Phips who was much dis- gruntled because Andros and his council refused to let him exercise the full prerogatives of his office of provost marshal general; Richard Wharton, formerly a bitter op- ponent of the theocrats, now seeking support for his land schemes and selling stock in his mining and naval stores company ; Samuel Sewall who had fled to England when the writ of intrusion was issued out against his lands; Elisha Hutchinson, also on matters of business; and many others. Under Mather's leadership these men apparently acted as a sort of informal consulting committee.
A petition was sent to the King asking for a representative assembly based on freehold suffrage, in return for which concession, a fixed sum of five thousand pounds should be established for support of government. As redress for the land grievances a plea was made for confirmation of old titles and recognition of the rights of common in the towns. In religion the petitioners asked only for liberty of conscience for each denomination and security of con- trol of Harvard College. When informed that adverse action was taken on this memorial, Mather and his col- leagues asked that the Council be made territorially repre- sentative, each county having at least one member who must be a considerable proprietor of lands. This too was
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REVOLUTION OF 1689
refused. All that could be obtained was the promise of . liberty of conscience and of property and confirmation of the government of Harvard. At this juncture the Revo- lution of 1689 took place.
From this time on, the agency really centered on In- crease Mather and Sir William Phips. Immediately upon the landing of the Prince of Orange they made a direct ap- peal for the recall of Andros and for the restoration of the old charter. At the same time, the Lords of Trade were urging William to preserve the Dominion because by so doing the northern colonies could best defend themselves against the French in the war which had broken out. In the meantime, while investigating New England conditions, the Lords "upon the application of Sr. William Phips and Mr. Mather" withheld from Andros the general instruc- tions which they were sending. The lack of this notice placed Andros in the embarrassing position of appearing to align himself with James II. It would have been much fairer to him to have removed him at once.
REVOLUTION OF 1689
Revolt against the Dominion had been often suggested long before news came of the change of dynasty in Eng- land, for the conviction was firm in the minds of the theo- crats that the time of deliverance was at hand. It is diffi- cult to determine exactly what was the immediate cause, but it seems probable that Increase Mather suggested it as a means of pushing King William to a decision. Ran- dolph positively states that Mather was responsible and that he urged Bradstreet to "go cheerfully to so acceptable a piece of service to all good people." Gershom Bulkeley, a Connecticut moderate asserted that the theocrats of his colony were told in a letter from England that "they were a company of hens" if they did not assume their charter government. There were also many hints that encourage- ment to depose Andros was given by "the Authority of England."
News of the invasion of the Prince of Orange, brought to Boston by John Winslow on April 4, 1689, almost pre- cipitated revolt. Boston continued so restless that the
83
The Pretenr Jate af Ge New-Englifh Affairs.
Chis is Publifixo to prebent falle Reports
4 + Extrall of a Letter from Mr. Mather, To the Go- verasur, Dated Sept. 1. 1689 from Deal in Kont. T He Houfe of Commons Ordered a Bill to be drawn up for the Reftoration of Charters to all Corporanons Some Enemies of New England did beftir themfelves on that Occafion. But it has pleafed God to facceed Endeavour and Sollicitation here Co far, as chat N. E, is particularly mentioned in the Bill.
It has been read twice, and after that referred unto a Commitrec for Emendations. What con - cerny N. Eagliid: paffed without any great op- polition. . The Bill has been in pare read the third Time, and the Charters of N .- Eag. then allo pf- fed without Objection. "Only for Additional Claufes refpecting Corporations here, canfed-D :- baigi ; fo that che Bill is not as yet Enacted.
In the latter end of Fame, a Velfel from Mount Har arrived here, which brought your Declarati- on of Abril 18. with an account of the Revoluti- ( in Ner.England, The week after I went to Ilimoren Corre, and had the favour to wait on His Mnette, who told me, That He did accept of, and was well plexfed with what was done in New England, and that be wiult order the Secretary of State te figni- Fe fo maib,and this His Subjects there fould havs their Ascient Rights and Priviledges refored to them,
The King has fent a Gracious Letter ( which was delivered to me, and if I return not my felf, I fhall take care that it be fent to you ) beating Date Angat 11. Wheren He fignifies His Royal Ap- probation of what ha's been done at Beffen, and affures you that the Government there fall be fouled, fo as fball be for the Security and Satisfaction of His Subjects in that Colony, and in the mean time bids you go on to Admmifter the Laws, and manage the Government, according as in your Address you have Petitioned.
My Lord Mordent ( now Earl of Monmouth ) bade wie affare you that He would be your Friend, and he bade me tell you from him, That your Charters Should be reflured to you by All of Parliament.
I have been with moft of the Kings moft Hon- ourable Privy Council, who have promited to be- friend New England as there Shall be occation for it. The like I may fay, of all the Leading men in the Parliament.
I have been in the Doums a fortnight, and Ad board Mr. Clark, feveral Nights, but the Wind has bech againft us. And we now hear that the Nem-fuind Land Convoyes ( on whole Afliftance we had a Dependance) are gone
Superferived To the Honourable Simon Braditreet, Efg;
Gwversum of the Maffesbufets Colony in N- England.
DA Paffage extracted from the publick Neiss, ·Letter, Dated July 6. 1689.
The people of New- England having made # thorow Revolution, and tecured the publick Criminals. On Thursday laft, the Reverend and Learned Mr. Mather, Prefident of the Col- ledge, and Minifter of Boffow, waited on the King ; and in a moft Excellent Speech laid be- fore His Majefty, the State of that People ; faying, That they were fober, and Indefrieus, and fit for "Martial Service ; and all with their Lives and Interefs were at His Mujeffies Com- mand, to tender the fame unto His Majefly : That they defred nothing but His Majefties Ac- ceptance of what they had done, and His' Prote- Ction; and that if His Majesty pleafed te encon- rage and Commifion them, He might cafly be Empereur of America. His Majefty affured him, that He was pleafed with what was done for Him, and for themfelves in the Revoluti- on, and that their Priviledges and Religion fhould be fecured unto them.
Extralled from a Letter of Mr Mather, to his Son, Dated Sept. 2. 1689.
'On July a. The King faid unto mie, That He did kindly Accept of what was dine in Bo- fton. And that His Subjects in New-England Should have their Ancient Rights and Priviledges Refered and Confirmed were them. Yes, He told me, That if it were in bis power to canfe it to be done it should be done, and bade me reft affured of it.
The Charter-Bill is not finifhed,; beceufe fome Additional Claufes refpecting Corpora- tions here in England caufed a Debate ; and the Parliament is for fome weeks Adjourned.
Befides the Letter from the Kings Majetty,' whereof, we have notice as above; there is now arrived, an Order from His Majefty to the Government, bearing Date, July 30. 1689. Requiring, Thet Sir Edmund Androfs, Edward Randolph, and others, that have been Seized by the people of Bolton, and fall it at the Receipt of these Commands, Detained there , ander Confinement, be Jent on Board the frp Ship, bound to England, to anfwer what may be objetted againft. them.
Bolton, Printed and Sold by Samael Green, 168g.
From the original in the Massachusetts Archives
BROADSIDE NEWS OF 1689
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REVOLUTION OF 1689
more cautious made their plans as to what they would do in case trouble broke out. The crisis came on the morning of April 18 with the arrival of mutinous troops from the frontier. Immediate action was necessary on the part of their friends to save them from arrest. It happened also that Cotton Mather was that day to be apprehended for incendiary writings unless such action could be forestalled.
In some way the alarm was given and armed people began to swarm the streets intent upon seizing the Do- minion officers. Andros was not taken entirely by surprise and was in the fort on Fort Hill. Captain Hill and his company soon marched up King Street escorting the ven- erable Bradstreet and others of the old magistrates who set up a de facto government in the Town House. Ran- dolph, Justice Bullivant, the Sheriff and others of the Andros party were apprehended and taken to the jail. The jailor himself became an inmate and was superceded by a worthy bricklayer named Scates.
At noon the old magistrates read their declaration from the Town House gallery. They stated their grievances, acquitted a minority of the Council and embraced the Or- ange cause. Andros from the fort sent young Edward Dudley with a message asking a conference. It was de- clined. He was summoned to surrender. The English frigate in the harbor sent a boat to take off the governor, but it was intercepted. By this time twenty companies were under arms in Boston, and several hundred soldiers were on the Charlestown side ready to cross over. Siege was laid to the fort. Cannon were brought up. Then the Governor capitulated. He went proudly and without per- sonal protection to the Town House; thence he was taken under armed escort to the house of Usher the treasurer. Next day the castle capitulated and the frigate was made impotent, though it was not formally surrendered, in order that the sailors should not be deprived of their pay.
Two days later a Council of Safety was formed which called a convention to settle the government. The great question was whether to install the officers who were elected in 1686 or to call a new election. The latter was preferred by many theocrats because they hoped an elec-
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REVOLUTION OF 1689
tion would eliminate the moderates. The assumption of charter government as it had been when interrupted was determined upon as the safer method. The leaders of revolt realized that the best chance of permanent success for the revolution lay in the colony's presenting a united front against the Dominion, for which reason it would be far better to keep in office such moderates as had been there in 1686 and win over the rest of the party by a liberal grant of the franchise.
Meanwhile revolution spread to other parts of the Do- minion. Although opinion on such procedure was by no means unanimous in any of the colonies, the revolutionists finally prevailed everywhere, even in New York. Andros sent word to the New York councillors to demand of the Bostoners his release from prison, but they too were un- able to stem the tide of revolution.
ANDROS AND HIS FRIENDS (1689-1690)
Owing to Increase Mather's encouraging reports, the rebels expected an immediate and approving response from William. His delay in sending it kept them for months on a nervous tension until the morale of the pro- visional government was almost broken. England's treat- ment of the New York rebels as traitors against the Do- minion drove the Bostonians nearly to panic. Cotton Mather and others were preparing for flight when reassur- ing news came. The revolution was recognized as a friendly gesture toward the new dynasty by whose favor the the- ocracy was to have one more chance to re-establish itself.
The Governor was finally taken to the castle. There he had his choice of rooms, light, warm and dry, and was given the freedom of the island until he was discovered in an effort to escape. He lay in prison and was then sent home for trial. That he escaped further punishment is not a matter for regret. It was the system more than the man that was at fault.
Dudley experienced many vicissitudes. He was cher- ished as a renegade in the hearts of the colonists; bone of their bone, flesh of their flesh, who had leagued with the oppressors. He was returning from holding court on
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OUTCOME OF THE CONTEST
Long Island when the rebellion broke out. He sought refuge on Rhode Island but was detected and brought to Boston and lodged in jail. He was ill and was for this reason released on bond, on condition that he keep with- in his house and grounds. At Bradsteet's suggestion he voluntarily surrendered himself at the jail where for ten months his person was safe. Then the King ordered his release and transportation to England. He was destined to return as a Royal Governor thirteen years later.
Randolph shared the vicissitudes of Andros and re- turned to England with him. Like Andros he returned to America at a later day a provincial official but Massachus- etts was to know him no more.
Dudley's friend Stoughton made his peace with the col- onists, and his name on the summons of the provincial government to Andros shows how entirely the Governor had solidified the old element against him.
OUTCOME OF THE CONTEST
The Dominion of New England was the most complete expression of England's colonial policy in the seventeenth century; yet because of certain defects there was little chance for its success unless revised. In passing judg- ment on it one must view it not as a mere episode in New England history, but as the culmination of a slowly de- veloping policy.
England has been often criticized for vaccillating and temporizing in dealing with Massachusetts in the first part of the Restoration Period, then later suddenly imposing an arbitrary government on the colony. For the early pol- icy there was really no alternative, because severity would have driven the colony into open revolt. Pressure from without could not safely have been applied until change first took place within. England's hope of ultimate con- trol of the colony lay in strenthening the moderate party by demanding that the colony grant the suffrage to prop- ertied non-freemen. No governmental change could have been risked until the two chief groups were nearly equal in strength.
Down to the time when the Lords of Trade showed the
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REVOLUTION OF 1689
rough sketch of their Dominion scheme to Charles II about 1684, England's policy could scarcely warrant criti- cism. The new program was doomed to failure because of the King's stipulation that there be no representative assembly in the new Dominion. Such a decision ran counter to the best judgment and wishes of colonials and Englishmen alike. Even Edward Randolph never con- templated such innovation. The death of Charles in 1685 and the succession of James did not alter this feature of Dominion policy. Nor was the king willing to grant an assembly when in 1688 the coalition agency under the leadership of Increase Mather petitioned for it.
Viewed from England's standpoint, the Dominion toward the end of the reign of James doubtless appeared more successful than it really was. To be sure, the fron- tiers were well protected, liberty of conscience had been established and government was being administered ac- cording to English law. On the other hand, trade was at a standstill, there was a deadlock in the acceptance of the English land law, and the school system was falling to pieces. The real cause for alarm which England should have heeded, was the gradual alienation of the moderates and the consequent addition of their opposition to that of the theocrats.
One great gain from this strife was the enlargement of the administration of the great common law, the bulwark of order and liberty of all English speaking people. The theocracy based its government on what they thought the sufficient mandates of Genesis and Deuteronomy. They did not go further, to the New Testament, nor interest themselves in the injunction of Jesus to render unto Cae- sar the things that were Caesar's. The centuries had built up the system of common law, based on justice and, what- ever its failures in individual circumstances, it had main- tained the best approximation of that justice possible for fallible mankind and was the most stable of systems. Now it held out its strengthening arms and the body politic came to lean upon it.
The date of 1689 is momentous not only in colonial but in English history and world history. Whatever the weak-
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OUTCOME OF THE CONTEST
nesses and deficiencies of the parliamentary system in Eng- land, it was the freest and broadest popular government of a nation then existent in the world. It was likewise fitted to the aristocratic, social and governmental ideas of that part of the English people who had the opportunity of forming and expressing judgments on questions of gov- ernment. The Protestant revolution in England proved to correspond to the desires of the majority of the politi- cal forces in the kingdom.
In all these gains looking toward free thought and free government the colonies were bound to share and partic- ularly the New England group, for the people of that re- gion were rigidly Protestant, shared in the personal rights and privileges of English subjects throughout the empire, and insisted upon representative assemblies which moved in the same direction for local affairs as Parliament for England. The liberality of the colonial charters after 1689 and of the royal governments, created to take the place of surrendered charters, is in part due to the stub- born resistance of the Massachusetts people to arbitrary power.
For the special colony of Massachusetts, separated from the other elements of the Dominion of New England, the year 1689 marks the culmination of a great experience. The two great obstacles to progress in the colony were removed : the political power of a group of religious per- sons who were not a part of the constitutional govern- ment of the colony, and the religious qualification for the colonial and town suffrage. The removal of those two stumbling blocks could only be brought about by hard knocks; and the acceptance of those two reforms was a proof that they had long stood in the way of the prosper- ity and happiness of the people of Massachusetts.
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
[See also the bibliographies following Chapters V (Charter and Colony) ; vii (Winthrop) ; ix (Confederation) ; xvii (Controversies) ; xx (Crisis) ; and the General Bibliography at the end of Volume V].
BANCROFT, George .- History of the United States (Boston, Little, Brown, 1879) .- See II, Cap. xvii.
ADAMS, James Truslow .- The Founding of New England (Boston, 1921) .- See Chaps. xiii, xv and xvi for an account of the colonial policy under the English Restoration and a brief narration of Andros's administration.
ANDREWS, Charles McLean .- The Fathers of New England (Chronicles of America, VI; New Haven, 1920) .- Chaps. i, vii, ix, and x cover more briefly, the same ground as in Adams.
BARNES, Viola Florence .- The Dominion of New England (New Haven, 1923) .- An intensive study of the Dudley and Andros administrations. BEER, George Louis .- Old Colonial System, II (New York, 1912) .- Chs. xi and xii deal with the commercial aspect of the Dominion policy. CHANNING, Edward .- History of the United States (Boston, 1905) .- Volume I, Chs. iii, vi cover the period in this chapter.
MURDOCK, Kenneth Ballard .- Increase Mather, the Foremost American Puritan (Cambridge, 1925) .- Chaps. xii, xiii and xiv contain a very interesting account of the agency of Mather in England.
OSGOOD, Herbert S .- The American Colonies in the Seventeenth Cen- tury (3 Vols., N. Y., Macmillan, 1904) .- See Vol. III, Part Fourth, Chap. vi, vii, x, xiii, xiv.
WINSOR, Justin .- The Memorial History of Boston, 1630-1680 (4 vols. Boston, Osgood, (1880-1881) .- See II. Chap. i, by William H. Whitmore.
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APPENDIX
GOVERNORS AND DEPUTY GOVERNORS OF MASSACHUSETTS (1620-1689) CHOSEN ANNUALLY BY THE PEOPLE
GOVERNORS OF PLYMOUTH COLONY
1620 Nov. 11, John Carver 1638 June 5, Thomas Prence
1621 April, William Bradford 1639 June 3, William Bradford
1633 Jan. 1, Edward Winslow 1644 June 5, Edward Winslow
1634 Mar. 27, Thomas Prence
1645 June 4, William Bradford
1635 Mar. 3, William Bradford
1657 June 3, Thomas Prence
1636 Mar. 1, Edward Winslow 1673 June 3, Josiah Winslow
1637 Mar. 7, William Bradford
1680 Dec. 18, Thomas Hinckley .*
DEPUTY-GOVERNORS OF PLYMOUTH COLONY
1680 Thomas Hinckley t
1682 William Bradford, to 1686
1681 James Cudworth
1689 William Bradford, to 1692
CHOSEN ANNUALLY UNDER THE FIRST CHARTER
GOVERNORS OF MASSACHUSETTS
1629 Apr. 30, John Endicott į 1646 May 6, John Winthrop
1630 Oct. 20, John Winthrop ± 1649 May 2, John Endecott
1634 May 14, Thomas Dudley 1650 May 22, Thomas Dudley
1635 May 6, John Haynes 1651 May 7, John Endecott
1636 May 25, Henry Vane 1654 May 3, Richard Bellingham
1637 May 17, John Winthrop 1655 May 23, John Endecott
1640 May 13, Thomas Dudley 1665 May 3, Richard Bellingham
1641 June 2, Richard Bellingham
1642 May 18, John Winthrop 1672 Dec. 12, John Leverett (act'g)
1673 May 7, John Leverett
1644 May 29, John Endecott 1679 May 28, Simon Bradstreet, to 1686
1645 May 14, Thomas Dudley
* Mr. Hinckley was Governor till the union of the colonies in 1692, except during the administration of Andros.
Previously there was no Deputy-Governor, a Governor pro tem. being appointed by the Governor to serve in his absence.
# By the Royal Charter, which passed the seals March 4, 1628-29, Matthew Cradock was appointed the first Governor, and Thomas Goffe, Deputy-Governor, both of whom had held the same offices before the Charter was granted. On the 13th of the following May the same persons were re-chosen under the Charter; but they never came to New England. On the 20th of October, 1629, John Winthrop was chosen Governor, and John Humphrey, Deputy-Governor. On the 30th of April, 1629, John Endecott was chosen, in London, to be Governor of the Plantation in New England, and held the office until the arrival of the Governor (Winthrop) in 1630.
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APPENDIX
DEPUTY-GOVERNORS OF MASSACHUSETTS
1629 Thomas Dudley§
to 1634
1651 Thomas Dudley
to 1653
1634 Roger Ludlow
1635
1653 Richard Bellingham
1654
1635 Richard Bellingham
1636 1654 John Endecott
1655
1636 John Winthrop
1637 1655 Richard Bellingham
1665
1637 Thomas Dudley
1640 1665 Francis Willoughby
1671
1640 Richard Bellingham
1641
1671 John Leverett
1673
1641 John Endecott
1644
1673 Samuel Symonds, to Oct.
1678
1644 John Winthrop
1646
1678 Oct., Simon Bradstreet
1679
1646 Thomas Dudley
1650
1679 Thomas Danforth
1686
1650 John Endecott
1651
NOTE .- May 25, 1686, Joseph Dudley assumed the office of President under a com- mission of King James II., and, with a council, had jurisdiction over the king's dominion of New England. This office he held till Dec. 20, the same year, when Sir Edmund Andros appeared as Governor of New England, appointed by James II. April 20, 1689, Governor Andros was deposed by a revolution of the people.
§ Thomas Goffe, the first Deputy-Governor, never came to New England. John Humphrey was elected, but did not serve.
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