USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Plymouth > Lives of the governors of New Plymouth, and Massachusetts bay; from the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth in 1620, to the union of the two colonies in 1692 > Part 16
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four chief places often desire my help amongst them, at their courts, and often do appeal from the sentence of the Indian Judges to my determination, in which they quietly rest, whereby I have much trouble and expense o! time among them, but if God please to bless my endea- vours to bring them to more civility and Christianity, I shall account my time and pains well spent. A great obstruction whereunto is the great appetite many of the young generation have after strong liquors, and the cov- etous evil humor of sundry of our English, in furnishing them therewith, notwithstanding all the court orders and means used to prohibit the same."*
Governor Hinckley, in his religious views, more close- ly resembled the rigid Governor Prence, than the tolerant Winslow .¡ While a deputy, a law was passed, at his instance, and for that reason sometimes called "Hinck- ley's law," which provided, " that if any neglect the wor- ship of God in the place where he lives, and set up a worship contrary to God, and the allowances of this Gor- ernment, to the publick profanation of God's Holy Day. and ordinances, he shall pay 10 shillings." When the Quakers made their appearance in New Plymouth, it was attempted to enforce the penalty of this law; but the attempt failed, "because the offender must do all things therein named, or else break not the law." General Cud- worth states the curious fact, that in March, 1658, a court of deputies was called, when, after passing sundry acts touching the Quakers, they contrived to make this
* Hinckley Papers, Lib. Mass. Hist. Soc. In Davis' Morton, 407-415, 14 an interesting memoir of the situation and number of the Christian Indians, at that period in Massachusetts and New Plymouth colonies.
1 Randolph, in a letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury, dated 27 October. 16-6, characterizes Governor Hinckley as "a rigid independent."
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act serviceable, by erasing the word "and" in the act, and inserting the word "or," which, being disjunctive, made every branch a law. The alteration, (says Cud- worth, ) though made in 1658, stands upon the record as the act of 1651, and was enforced to the letter against the Quakers .*
When Mr. Hinckley came to the government of the colony, he endeavored to carry out the policy of sus- taining and extending a system of free schools, which he had advocated in the council of assistants, as well as to secure a competent support for the ministers of religion, then much neglected. . When the first school was estab- lished by law in Plymouth in 1672, Mr. Hinckley had been appointed steward of the income set apart for its support, and had remained its faithful and consistent champion.
Prior to the year 1677, there was no law compelling the people to contribute for the support of public wor- ship. There had been no occasion for one. The people were as much devoted to religion as their ministers; but as the ministers in a manner monopolized the learning of the colony, much of their time was employed in sec- ular affairs, and they were possessed of a leading influ- ence in the colony, and had sometimes consented to act as public officers.
Whatever was bestowed upon them was by volunta- ry donation ; but as the colony increased in population, and new avocations engaged the attention of the people, they neglected the support of their teachers. New plan- tations also had been commenced, in which the poverty of the people afforded a plausible excuse for this neglect.
* See Cudworth's Letter, in Deane's Scituate, 217.
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Many came into the settlement, who voted in all secular affairs, and who felt but little interest in supporting pub- lic worship.
The government of New Plymouth now saw or illa- gined, a necessity for enforcing the support of religion by law. Mr. Hinckley was an earnest and influential ad- vocate of this policy. An act was passed in 1677, pro- viding for a tax upon the people for the support of their ordained ministers, and in the following year another act was passed, requiring each town and village in the colo- ny, to erect, finish, and keep in repair a house for pub- lic worship.
The law required that all taxable persons, irrespective of their particular faith or belief, should contribute to the support of the regular congregational ministry ; and though it was much complained of, Governor Hinckley insisted on the enforcement of its provisions against the Quakers, who were the most numerous and wealthy of the dissenting sects. After Dudley's short rule com- menced in 1686, the Quakers complained of the ex- action, as contrary to the King's design of universal toleration. Dudley's commission did not include New Plymouth, but Randolph, in a letter to Governor Hinck- ley, dated 22 June, 1686, undertakes to admonish the latter in the following terms :- " Perhaps it will be as reasonable to move that your colony should be rated to pay our minister of the church of England, who now preaches in Boston, and you hear him not, as to make the Quakers pay in your colony."# Governor Hinckley complained of this as a great grievance, and contended that if the government was refused the right
* Hutchinson's Hist. Colony of Mass. 357.
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to lay taxes, for the support of the ministry, the people would sink into barbarism. He knew that the puritans had now nothing to hope, but much to fear from the im- position of new laws by King James. He believed, as did most of the people of New Plymouth, that though it was pretended that the King was about to allow a uni- versal toleration, it was only the prelude to the introduc- tion of popery, and the imposition of grievous burthens upon the protestants. He continued, as heretofore, to enforce the collection of the tax for the clergy, until An- dros, in March, 1687, sent him the following instruc- tions :- "I am very much surprised you should issue forth so extraordinary a warrant as is now brought to me, under your hand and seal, dated the 12th of De- cember past, so much mistaken and assuming (for pay- ment of your minister) extrajudicially to command dis- tress to be made on the goods of his Majesty's subjects. Out of respect to you, I have put a stop to the execution thereof, that neither the constable nor you may be ex- posed. Hoping you will be mindful of the station you are in, for his Majesty's service and the quiet of his sub- jects, that they be not amused nor troubled by mistaken notions, or clandestine illegal practices," &c.
The despotic rule of Andros had now commenced. Plymouth had no charter to surrender, but the govern- ment was changed, and the colony was allowed no other voice in public affairs, than the votes of the seven men whom Andros had selected to be of his council. Gov- ernor Hinckley, although he had experienced rude treat- ment from Andros, accepted a seat in his council.
King James the Second came to the throne in Febru- rary, 1685, and was proclaimed at Plymouth in April.
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He determined to consolidate the governments in New England into one. Dudley, while the scheme was per- fecting, was commissioned temporarily as president of New England. But the royal grasp did not at first take in all of the colonies. New Plymouth and Connecticut were left out of the commission, until the appointment of Andros, in June, 1686, whose commission included all New England, excepting Connecticut, and of their char- ter he was subsequently authorized to receive the sur- render.
Being without a charter, the government of Ply- mouth, having distinguished itself for loyalty, could now offer no resistance, and at once acknowledged and endea- vored to make the best of the rule of Andros. Seven persons were selected from the colony of New Ply- mouth to be of the council of Andros, Governor Hinckley being the first named upon the list. For a time, Mr. Hinckley, acted as a judge of the prerogative court in Plymouth, established by Andros; but the governor as far as possible exercised the supreme power, civil and judicial, and tolerated no man in office, who was not his ready and willing instrument.
Some writers have considered it a stain upon the character of Governor Hinckley, that he consented 10 accept office under Andros. Baylies says, "the reader who reflects upon the transactions of that day in the pilgrim colony, cannot but think that when Governor Hinckley consented to act as a counsellor to Andros, he fell from his elevation, and the brightness of his charac- ter was dimmed. When the government of any country is thrown into such hands, it is the wisest and best policy to retire to that station which then emphatically
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becomes the post of honor. It is true that Governor Hinckley went far to redeem his character eventually, by his manly resistance to the tyranny of Andros, but it would have been better, both for his own reputation and the public good, had he never consented, by acting as his counsellor, to have swelled the vanity of a petty despot, and to have lent for a time the sanction of his high char- acter to lessen the odium of measures which soon be- came intolerable." "We regret to find, (says Judge Davis,) that Governor Hinckley accepted a seat in the council, which suspended the ancient authorities of the country, and authorized or countenanced a course of arbitrary, vexatious, and oppressive proceedings .- It should be observed, however, that many of this council were sincere well wishers to their country, and accepted a seat at the board, with a view of preventing injurious measures."
If the subsequent acts of Mr. Hinckley, while of the council of Andros, are closely scanned, they will sustain the most favorable construction which has been placed upon his conduct. The colony possessed no charter ; their affairs had been conducted under a constitution of their own, democratic in its forms and administration ; the people professing loyalty to the crown which had suffered them to enjoy their privileges. But they now saw that they were at the mercy of one of the most des- potic monarchs who ever filled the British throne-and it may well be conceived, that the object of Governor Hinckley might have been to watch over the interests of the colony, as far as it was possible for him to do. He did not consent to the measures of Andros, and very seldom attended the meetings of the council, after the
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first. This was also the case with William Bradford Barnabas Lothrop, and John Walley, who were coun sellors with him from Plymouth Colony .* They never attended more than one or two of the meetings. Most of the counsellors of Massachusetts also absented them- selves, as they did not approve of the conduct of Gover- nor Andros. It appears from documents which remain, that Governor Hinckley was decidedly opposed to the exceptionable proceedings of Andros and his adherents. In his letter to Mr. Blaithwait of the Plantation office, dated June 28, 1687, there is a full and free expression of the many grievances which the colony suffered under Sir Edmund Andros' administration. A petition to the King, on the same subject, in October of that year, is more minute and emphatic. It is signed, "Thomas Hinckley, in behalf of your Majesty's most ancient and loyal Colony of New Plymouth in New England."-In reference to the new patents and grants, which they were compelled to take for their lands, fairly acquired, and so long peaceably possessed, it is observed, that all the money left in the colony, would scarcely suffice "to pay one half the charge for warrants, surveying and patents, if every one must be forced thereto." The whole course
* Of Deputy Governor Bradford, a notice has already been given, in page 88 of this volume. Barnabas Lothrop was son of the Rev. John Lothrop, set- tled at Barnstable, was a deputy six years, and an assistant in 1681. He died in 1715, aged 79. John Walley was of Boston in 1671, was several times com- mander of the Ane. & Hon. Artillery, and colonel of the Boston regiment. Re. moving to New Plymouth, he was six years an assistant, one of the council under Andros in 16:7, and with Bradford and Lothrop, counsellors under the charter of William and Mary, in 1602. He was judge of the supreme court of Massachusetts from 1700 to 1712, when he died at Boston, 11 January, aged 6 ?. Ile commanded the expedition against Canada, in 1690, and his journal is pub- lished in the Appendix to Hutchinson's History of the Colony of Massachu- setts Bay, 551 -- 506.
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„i Governor Hinckley, during this period of difficulty, seems to have been such, as to preserve the confidence of the people ; for immediately after the deposition and imprisonment of Andros, in 1689, the ancient privileges of the colony of New Plymouth were resumed, and Gov- ernor Hinckley was again called to the chief magistracy.
At this period of general despondency, the late gov- ernor of Plymouth, Mr. Hinckley, had the courage to lay at the foot of the throne, the complaints of the people. In their behalf, acting for the Plymouth colony, he pre- ferred a petition, in which the King was asked-
'That his majesty's subjects in New England might be quieted in possession of all property, both in houses and lands, as they enjoyed them before the government was changed on the 24th of May, 1686; and that the ancient records then settled for titles of lands, might be confirmed.
'That there be liberty of conscience in matters of re- ligion ; that their former methods of swearing in giving evidence may be allowed; and that all their meeting- houses might be left free to them, according to the inten- tion of the builders thereof.
' That no laws may be made nor moneys raised there, without the consent of a General Assembly, as it is in the other plantations.
' That all townships may have liberty to assemble and manage the business of their several precinets as under the former government, and have power to reserve and dispose of all voluntary contributions.
'That the college at Cambridge in New England, and the revenues thereunto belonging, be confirmed in the hands of a president and fellows, as formerly.'
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This petition, and all others, were unheeded by the King, who seemed to be influenced by a blind infatuation which, as it rendered him insensible to the perils by which he was immediately surrounded, could scarcely have been expected to have permitted him to become sensible of those which were more remote. But a period to the reign of misrule was at hand. Goaded to resist- ance by the conduct of Andros, the people rose in a body, and deposed him in April, 1689, and the news of the revolution in England immediately followed. It was hailed with joy in New Plymouth.
Of the seven counsellors from Plymouth, Nathaniel Clark was the only one, who yielded a ready and servile compliance to the wishes of Andros. He of course be- came obnoxious to the people. The governor rewarded him with the grant of Clark's Island, in Plymouth har- bor .* As soon as the news of the imprisonment of An- dros was received, the people of Plymouth declared their detestation of Counsellor Clark, by a spirited mani- festo, which bears date April 22, 1689, setting forth his oppressions and his crimes, and declaring that they seized upon his person, resolving to secure him, for the hands of justice to deal with him according to his demer-
* This island, which contains a little more than 80 acres of fertile land, was the earliest resting place of the P'ilgruns from amidst the storm which they en- countered on the night of the th December, 1620, while coasting along the bay before their final landing. These circumstances probably led the people to at. tach a particular reverence to the spot. It was never sold, but reserved for the benefit of the poor of the town. When the people heard that Clark had ob- tained the grant, they met in town meeting, and determined at all hazards to reclaim the Island. Their town clerk and committee, together with the minis. ter of Duxbury, were thereupon arrested by order of Andros, and bound over for trial at Boston ; and Clark was already exulting in anticipation of the ch- joyment of his acquisition, when the fall of Andros restored the Island to it - original proprietors. Thacher, 153.
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Its. He was accordingly imprisoned and put in irons, and the next year sent with Andros, his master, in the same ship to England.
The members of the general court of New Plymouth, which was in existence in 1686, when the government of Andros commenced, were now summoned together. They assembled on the first Tuesday of June, 1689, and reinstated the former government, at the same time issu- ing the following declaration : "Whereas, through the great changes Divine Providence hath ordered out, both in England and in this country, we, the loyal subjects of the Crown of England, are left in an unsettled state, destitute of government, and exposed to the ill consequences there- of, and having heretofore enjoyed a quiet settlement of government, in this their Majesties' Colony of New Ply- mouth for more than three score and six years, without any interruption ; having also been, by the late Kings of England, by their royal letters, graciously owned and acknowledged therein ; whereby, notwithstanding our late unjust interruption, and suspension therefrom, by the illegal, arbitrary power of Sir Edmund Andros (now ceased) the general court held here, in the name of their present Majesties, William and Mary, King and Queen of England, &c., together with the encouragement given by their said Majesties' gracious declarations, and in humble confidence of their said Majesties' good liking, do there- fore, hereby re-assume, and declare their re-assuming of their said former way of government, according to such wholesome constitutions, rules and orders, as were here in force, in June, 1686, our title thereto being warranted by prescription and otherwise as aforesaid, and expects a ready submission thereunto, by all their Majesties good
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subjects of this Colony, until their Majesties or this Court shall otherwise order, and that all our Courts In hercafter held and all warrants directed, and officers sworn, in the name of their Majesties, William and Mary King and Queen of England."
On the 6th of June, Governor Hinckley wrote to Sir Henry Ashurst, whom he styles "New England's friend," enclosing an address, from the Colony, to King William and Queen Mary. Governor Hinckley had been requested to prepare it, and it was to include a prayer " for the re-establishment of their former liberties and privileges, both sacred and civil." "You will see," says he, "representations of our present estate, perhaps a little more particular than were proper in such an appli- cation !" This letter is acknowledged August 13, 1689 : "I do not make use of the liberty you gave me," says Sir H. Ashurst, "to alter or add any thing to your address, it being all of a piece, a grave, a seasonable and hand- some representation of your affairs, which I delivered to the King, after I had read it to him. He returned a very gracious answer, that he would take care of the good of his Colonies in New England."
Amongst the evils bequeathed by Andros to New England, was a harassing and destructive war with the Eastern Indians, known as King William's war, which commenced in 1689. Governor Hinckley, as one of the Commissioners of the Colonies, and of the council of war in New Plymouth, appears to have labored with zeal and promptitude in the necessary measures to prosecute the war. Major Benjamin Church, who had so distin- guished himself in the Narragansett war, was singled out for the command of the Plymouth forces by Governor
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ilinckley, and was also invested with the command of the troops raised by Massachusetts. The war had not terminated, when the Colony of New Plymouth ceased to exist.
Soon after the re-establishment of the former govern- ment, the people of Plymouth again turned their attention to the question of obtaining a charter. They were aware that their more powerful neighbors of Massachusetts, and the agents of New York, were each desirous of extend- ing their jurisdiction over the territory of New Ply- mouth. Amongst their own citizens, there were also some, who were beginning to favor the idea of annexa- tion to Massachusetts.
It appears from the letters of Governor Hinckley, that while laboring to forward the measures necessary to ob- tain the charter, he was greatly discouraged at the diffi- culty of providing the means. He well understood the condition of the people. The debts of the colony were at this time not less than £27,000. The general court had voted a tax for the gradual reimbursement of the debt; but the pecuniary distresses of the people were great; angry dissensions distracted the colony, and violent parties had been formed ; some refused to pay any taxes, particularly taxes imposed for the support of the ministers ; the people had become suspicious and irrita- ble; the authority of the government was not only doubted, but openly denied by those who disliked their proceedings.
In this state of things, it was not wonderful that the sum necessary to defray the expenses of obtaining the charter could not be raised. Some of the towns sub- scribed their proportions, on condition that other towns
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should do the same; but others refusing, the subscription failed, as a matter of course.
In February, 1690, the Rev. Ichabod Wiswall, the minister of Duxbury, went to England, in company with Messrs. Elisha Cooke, and Thomas Oakes, who were ap- pointed agents of Massachusetts for procuring the con- firmation of the ancient charter of that colony. Soon after his departure, he was chosen an agent by Plymouth, to obtain the confirmation of their's; and subsequently. Increase Mather and Sir Henry Ashurst were appointed to act conjointly with him. Mather had previously fled from Massachusetts in disguise, during the administration of Andros, and embarked for England, in order to lay the complaints of that colony at the foot of the throne.
The agents were faithful to their trust, but the desir- ed object could not be accomplished. In January, 1691. Cotton Mather thus writes to Governor Hinckley, refer- ring to letters received from his father-"I perceive. that about the middle of last November, God had so blessed his applications, as when all other means of resto- ration to our ancient liberties failed us, he had obtained of the King an order to the Judges, Holt and Pollexfen. and the Attorney and Solicitor-General, to draw up a new charter for us, which was done, but just as the ves- sel came away, and waited for the broad seal, Gover- nor Sclater (Sloughter) of New York, had Plymouth put into his commission, but purely through my father's industry and discretion, he procured the dropping of it. Our friends at Whitehall assured him, that if he had pe- titioned for a charter to be bestowed upon Plymouth, by itself, there had none been obtained for you, nor for us neither ; wherefore he procured Plymouth to be inserted
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in our grant. But when Mr. Wiswall understood it, he came and told my father your Colony would all curse him for it, at which the Solicitor-General, being extreme- ly moved, presently dashed it out, so that you are now again like to be annexed unto the government of New York, and if you find yourselves thereby plunged into manifold miseries, you have none to thank for it but one of your own."
This intelligence excited much uneasiness and alarm in Plymouth Colony. The Rev. Mr. Cotton in a letter 10 Governor Hinckley, Feb. 6, 1691, urges him to re- pair to England, and to use his best endeavors to pre- vent the meditated arrangement. He assures the Gover- nor that this is the opinion of many men of "wisdom, prudence, and piety," with whom he had consulted. "I believe none amongst us," he adds, "will be free to trust any but yourself; and as for the many hundreds of pounds, that must be collected to defray the charge of such an undertaking, I find, amongst us, great readiness, maugre all our great charges, to contribute liberally there- to." Mr. Cotton appears to have overrated the ability or disposition of the people, to make the necessary con- tributions.
The Court met in March, and with " hearty thanks," expressed to Sir Henry Ashurst, Rev. Mr. Mather, and Rev. Mr. Wiswall, besides a grant to Sir Henry Ashurst of fifty guineas, and to the other two gentlemen of twen- ty-five guineas each, voted to raise £200 more, to be re- mitted "toward the charge of procuring a charter." Sir Henry Ashurst was appointed sole agent, but was request- ed to advise with Mr. Mather and Mr. Wiswall. The amount voted, was not in the treasury, and a subscrip-
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tion was opened, to raise the requisite sum, in the several towns, under the direction of the deputies.
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