USA > Massachusetts > The history of Massachusetts, the colonial period. 1492-1692 v. I > Part 41
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In vain did the people plead that, if these exactions were continued, the country would be ruined. " It is not for his Majesty's interest you should thrive," was the answer. In vain did Lynde, and Hutchinson, and others, produce Indian deeds as original titles. They were told such titles were "worth no more than the scratch of a bear's paw."7 Even the records of Lynn were pronounced " not worth a rush."8 If " the men of Massachusetts did
1 Rev. Just., 26.
2 Rev. Just. 36.
3 Rev. Just. 22.
4 Usurpation Papers, at the State House, in 4 vols. large folio.
5 Rev. Just., 26 ; Hutchinson, 1. 422-3.
6 Rev. Just. 27.
7 Inter-Charter Papers, vol. 1. fol. 169.
8 Inter-Charter Papers, vol. 1. fol. 183. Lewis, Hist. Lynn, chap. 8, gives interesting particulars of the oppressions which that town expe- rienced under the arbitrary sway of Andros.
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495
MAINTENANCE OF THE GOSPEL IMPAIRED.
much quote Lord Coke," they were defeated by Andros, CHAP. who was a lawyer of some talent. If John Higginson, of XVIII. Salem, went back to the book of Genesis, and, remem- March, 1688-9. bering that " God gave the earth to the sons of Adam and Noah to be subdued and replenished," declared that the people of New England held their lands " by a right of just occupation from the grand charter of God, as well as by purchase from the Indians," Andros, incensed at this denial of his power, tauntingly replied, " either you are subjects or you are rebels."1 Lands reserved for the poor, and for the uses of education, were coveted by favorites. In Plymouth and in Massachusetts the harpies were equally exacting. Juries were packed, and justice was perverted. " Our condition," said Danforth, " is little inferior to abso- lute slavery." "The governor," says Mather, "invaded liberty and property after such a manner, as no man could say anything was his own."2 Even a woodshed could not be built in Boston, without the permission of the Gov- ernor. 3
Nor was this all. The maintenance of the gospel was impaired and neglected ; the schools of learning fell into decay ; invasions were made upon the rights of the Col- lege ; and the municipal rights of towns were trampled upon or withheld. To the agents of tyranny, it was exces- sively annoying " to behold poor coblers and pitiful me- chanics, who had neither home nor land, strutting and making noe mean figure at their elections, and some of the richest merchants and wealthiest of the people stand by as insignificant cyphers ;" and hence the vote by ballot was Mar. 16, rejected ; to a committee from Lynn, Andros replied, 1687-8. " there is no such thing as a town in the whole country ; "
1 Inter-Charter Papers, vol. 1. fol. 145.
2 Rev. Just., 18-24, 55-6; Bos- ton Decl'n., 9-10; Bancroft, 2. 428-9.
8 Usurpation Papers, vol. 2. fol. 24. This may have been a neces- sary regulation, to prevent danger by fire. Council Rec's., 28-9.
496
A NEW GOVERNMENT ESTABLISHED. 1
CHAP. and to assemble in town meeting, for purposes of delibera- XVIII. tion, was esteemed an act of sedition and riot.1 Personal liberty and established customs were alike disregarded. The Governor, with four or five of his Council, levied what taxes they pleased. No hopes were entertained of a resti-
Oct. 22, 1688. tution of their charter privileges. If any petitioned for redress of their grievances, complaints to his Majesty were represented as useless. The condition of the country was gloomy in the extreme. 2
Mar. 23, 1687-8. Meanwhile the whole scaboard, from Maryland to the St. Croix, was united into one extensive despotism, and, as a reward for his compliance with the demands of the King, the entire dominion, of which Boston was the capital, was abandoned to Andros, the Governor General, and to Randolph, his Secretary, with his needy associates.3 But the eastern part of Maine had already been pillaged by Palmer and West, who, to use Randolph's language, had . been as " arbitrary as the Grand Turk; " and in New York there was little good to be done, for the people had been " squeezed dry by Dongan."+ Hence the impoverished state of the country disappointed avarice ; and Andros, upon the arrival of his new Commission, which was " pub- lished with great parade from the balcony of the Town
July 19, 1688. House," hastened to the South to supercede Dongan, and assume the government of New York and New Jersey. 5
Apr. 18, 1688. Before his departure, however, he issued a Proclamation for a day of Thanksgiving, to be observed on the 29th of
1 Council Rec's., 154; Narr. Mis. N. E., 4; Rev. Just., 12; IIutchin- son, 1. 324; Bancroft, 2. 426.
2 Rev. Just., 12, 55; Hutchin- son, 1. 323; Inter-Charter Papers, vol. 1. fols. 187-92, statement of some of Andros's Council.
3 Orders in Council, in 4 M. II. Coll., 2. 298; Chalmers, Ann., . 425; Bancroft, 2. 431. The date of
Andros's new commission is Ap. 7, 1688, in Usurpation Papers, vol. 4. fol. 72.
+ Rev. Just., 36-8; Hutch. Coll., 564-5.
" Usurpation Papers, vol. 4. fol. 72, where is the Proclamation of Andros. See also Hutchinson, 1. 332; Ban- croft, 2. 431.
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497
INCREASE MATHER OPPOSES ITS MEASURES.
April, for the "pregnancy of the Queen."1 Such an event, CHAP. in Old England, was celebrated with marks of the liveliest XVIII. joy ; but in New England, little interest was felt in the 1688. matter. Hence it was a grief to our fathers, when the appointed day arrived, that Allen, the pastor of one of the churches in Boston, from the literal version of the improved Bay Psalm Book, gave out the words of the 21st Psalm to be sung :
" Jehovah, in thy strength The king shall joyful be, How vehemently shall hee !
And joy in thy salvation
That which his heart desired,
Thou grantest hast to him And thou hast not withholden back That which his lips required."
The course of Mr. Willard was more highly approved ; for while, before prayer, he read, among other notices, the occasion of the Governor's gratitude, and, after Puritan usage, interceded largely for the King, he " otherwise altered not his course one jot," and, as the crisis drew near, goaded the people with the text, " Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, warring against sin." 2
In the midst of the distresses of the people, the ministers of the colony, at the head of whom stood Increase Mather, the "great metropolitan clergyman of the country," were generally faithful, and openly and boldly condemned the tyranny and oppression of their rulers, - preaching rebel- lion, and planning resistance. Mather had opposed the surrender of the charter, and for this cause was hated by Andros and his minions. Randolph often speaks of him as one of the " factious," and he had even the audacity, personally or by another, to forge a letter in his name,3 as " full of treason as an egg of meat," which was pretended to be forwarded to England by a circuitous route, and
1 Mather MSS., vol. 7 .- Bancroft, 2. 432, mistakes in dating this the 7th of April. Staples, Ann. Prov., 178, gives the right date. 42*
2 Bancroft, 2. 432.
3 Probably some time in 1687, as Mather's Lett. in reply, is dated Jan. 24, 1687-8.
498
MATHER SENT AS AGENT TO ENGLAND.
CHAP. afterwards intercepted, and shown to Sir Lionel Jenkins, XVIII. whose conduct was censured in it; but Jenkins either 1688. suspected the forgery, or had the good sense to treat the letter with contempt, - only asking whether " that star gazer wrote it," - so that Randolph failed of his aim.1
The feelings of the people at this date were highly exasperated ; yet before the storm burst, it was resolved to make one effort to excite the clemency of the King; and, by the consent of part of the civil and nearly all the eccle- siastical authorities, Mr. Mather was selected as the fittest person to be entrusted with this mission. The consent of his church was asked for his absence; and when the subject was proposed to them, he observed : " If you say to me, Stay, I will stay ; but if you say to me, Go, I will cast myself on the providence of God, and, in his name, I will go."2 But, though the church concurred cheerfully in the proposition for his departure, it was no easy matter to escape the vigilance of Randolph, who had instigated Dec. 24, Dudley to issue a warrant for his arrest. At length, after 1687. hiding in disguise for some time, and changing his dress as he went from house to house, with the help of his friends Apr. 7, he was conveyed on ship board in the night, and sailed for
1688. England.3 Great anxiety was felt for the success of his mission, and several letters were written him by his friends urging him to undertake it.4 The Declaration of Indul- Apr. 4, gence of the King had been received in the colony some Aug.24, time before ; but when the ministers of Boston had agreed 1687, ¿1687. with their congregations solemnly to praise God for the same, Andros " entertained them with threatening words,
1 Mather MSS., vol. 7. There is an admirable and discriminating no- tice of Increase Mather, in Robbins's History of the Second Church, Bos- ton, in which justice is done to the memory of the man.
2 Robbins, Hist. Sec. Ch., 51; N. E. Gen. Reg., 2. 16.
3 Chalmers, Ann., 424; Prince, in Mather MSS., vol. 7. The writ is in ibid., vol. 6. fol. 58.
+ See Letters from Jno. Cotton, of Mar. 8, S. Mather, of Mar. 9, and Jno. Bishop, of Mar. 20, in Mather MSS., vol. 7.
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499
HOPELESSNESS OF HIS MISSION.
saying it was faction in them, and bade them meet at their CHAP. peril, and that he would send soldiers to guard them and XVIII. their meeting houses." Yet some suspected the object of 1687. this Declaration, and Mr. Danforth proposed that, in the Nov. S. address to the King, no mention should be made of his proclamation, as it was not absolutely necessary, and dan- gerous rocks would be shunned thereby. But other counsels prevailed, and addresses were sent, not only from Massa- chusetts, but from Plymouth ; and these, with letters from several congregations, relating to the same subject, were duly presented,1 with petitions from Plymouth and Mas- sachusetts, and from "the dissenters of New England," complaining of the usurpations of Andros; setting forth the grievances which the people had sustained in conse- quence of the measures of the Governor, in wresting from them their lands, removing the records from Plymouth to Boston, and compelling the Probate of all wills to be attended there; and besceching his Majesty that " there - may be no laws or taxes on us without a General Assembly, as is granted to some of the plantations in America."2
The enterprise before Mr. Mather was nearly a hopeless 1688. one. The monarch was advancing rapidly in despotism in England, and how could he be expected to favor liberty in the colonies ? Yet the messenger, nothing daunted, kept on his way, and, being joined in London by two persons who had been formerly Assistants under the charter, Sam- uel Nowell, and Elisha Hutchinson, a remonstrance was presented to the King. Mr. Richard Wharton, one of the June 1. new Council, concurred in this remonstrance ; and father Peters, the royal confessor, is said also to have aided it ; but all was to no purpose. At first, indeed, with the
1 Mather MSS., vol. 6, fols. 44, 45, 46, 47, 50; vol. 7. fols. 13, 14; Hutchinson, 1. 320; Chalmers, Ann., 426; Council Rec's., 134.
' Mather MSS., vol. 7, where the Petitions from Plymouth may be seen. Sec also Hutchinson, 1. 328- 30.
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500
THE REVOLUTION IN ENGLAND.
CHAP. consent of Powis, the Attorney General, a report was XVIII. agreed upon by the Committee of Foreign Plantations, in
1688. which an assembly was mentioned ; but the clause was stricken out by Lord Sunderland before the report was presented. 1
At this stage of affairs, a new movement occurred, des- tined to effect important changes in Europe and America. This was the revolution, by which the reign of the Stuarts was brought to an end, and the House of Hanover became the possessors of the English throne. For the accomplish- ment of this revolution, the nation was as much indebted to those who dissented from the Anglican Church, as to its more moderate friends of the whig aristocracy. It was the fruit of opposition to ecclesiastical as well as politi- cal despotism. Puritans, Quakers, Presbyterians, and all . who were in favor of toleration, saw, in William of Orange, the ablest Protestant Prince in Europe, one in whom they confided for the redress of their spiritual grievances ; and the liberal nobility saw in him one to redress their civil wrongs. There was a blending together of the interests of men who had hitherto acted separately, and who had been immeasurably jealous of each other's ascendancy ; and out of these combined forces grew up the whig party, the
1 Narr. Mis., N. E., 6-8; Hutch- Prince of Orange " alone " pre- inson, 1. 328 ; Chalmers, Ann., 426- vented the execution of what had been thus humanely promised." How much credit is to be given to these assertions, we are unable to say. It the " aged persons " here alluded to were freemen of the colo- ny, the conduct of the King was manifestly at variance with his gen- eral policy towards Massachusetts ; and as the authority which we quote is that of an usual pleader against the colonies, we incline to the opin- ion that the petitioners were dissi- dents, and hence the favor with which they were treated. 7, 466-8. Chalmers asserts that his Majesty was pleased to declare, upon the petition of several aged persons of New England, that he would grant " full and free liberty of conscience and exercise of re- ligion, and their several properties and possession's of houses and lands, according to their ancient records ; and also their College of Cam- bridge, to be governed by a presi- dent and fellows, as formerly ; all to be confirmed to them under the great Seal of England." And he like- wise says that " the approach of the
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501
THE NEWS REACHES BOSTON.
XVIII. 1688.
patrons of liberty, in distinction from the tories, the patrons CHAP of despotism.
Yet the downfall of the Stuarts was hastened by the infatuation and folly of the Monarch ; and the withdrawal of his favor from the national hierarchy scaled his doom. Throughout the nation, the way was prepared for the elimination of the old dynasty, and the introduction of a new. "Tories took the lead in inviting the Prince of Orange to save the English Church; the whigs joined to rescue the privileges of the nobility; the Presbyterians rushed eagerly into the only safe avenue to toleration ;" and the bulk of the people acquiesced in their measures. Without bloodshed James the Second was hurled from his throne, and William, the Stadtholder of Holland, welcomed by all, assumed, in the right of his wife, the sceptre which had fallen from the grasp of his father-in-law, and was proclaimed the lawful Sovereign of England. 1
The news of the projected invasion of England seems to have reached Boston in the winter of 1688; for a procla- mation was then issued by Sir Edmund Andros, command- Jan. 10, ing all officers, civil and military, and all other of his Majes- 1688-9. ty's loving subjects to be in readiness, upon the approach of any fleet or foreign force, to use their utmost endeavors to hinder any landing or invasion that might be intended. 2 But the tidings of the success of the Prince of Orange did not arrive until the following spring; and, while the people were agitated by rumors from Pemaquid, Mr. John Wins- low landed from a ship from Nevis, with the "Prince's Apr. 4, Declaration." 3 Directly Mr. Sherlock, the Sheriff of Gov- 1689. ernor Andros, was despatched to demand his papers ; and
1 Burnet, Hume, Macaulay, Ban- croft, &c.
2 Rev. Just., 10.
8 The letter of the Prince of Orange, to the Lords spiritual and temporal, of Jan. 22, 1688-9, and the address of the Lords, in reply,
with other documents on the same subject, were printed in Boston by R. P. for Benj. Harris, at the Lon- don Coffee House, in 1689, on a folio sheet ; and a copy of this docu- ment, which is probably unique, is in the possession of S. G. Drake, Esq.
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502
MASSACHUSETTS ASSERTS HER RIGHTS.
CHAP. accompanying the officer to his Excellency, the Governor XVIII. inquired why he had not brought him the news ? Mr.
1689. Winslow replied, he was not aware it was his duty to do so. The surrender of the Declaration was then required, and refused ; at which Andros was so exasperated that he caused him to be imprisoned, notwithstanding he offered bail to the amount of £2000.1
But neither the imprisonment of the messenger, nor the mandate of the Governor, could delay for a long time the outburst of popular fury and indignation. The flame, which had been smouldering, "fanned by the agents in England," burst into a blaze. There was a " general buzzing among the people, great with expectation of the old Charter."2 The preachers had already matured a rev- olution. And two days after Andros had written to Brock- , holt, acquainting him with the agitation which prevailed, everything was ready for the gathering struggle.
Apr. 18. At eight o'clock on the morning of that day, rumors were spread that the town was rising, and that Andros intended to fire it at one end, and Capt. George at the other, and "then go away in the smoke for France." Within an hour, as Capt. George, the commander of the Rose frigate, stepped on shore, he was surrounded by Green and the ship carpenters of Boston, and secured as a prisoner in the house of Mr. Colman. An alarm was then given. Boys ran through the streets with clubs in their hands encouraging one another to fight ; and a dense crowd gathered, ready to act as occasion required. Sheriff Sher- lock endeavored in vain to quiet the multitude : - he was arrested without ceremony. Proceeding to the Major of the regiment, colors and drums were demanded. The offi- cer resisted : they threatened. Companies hastily formed
1 Rev. Just., 11, 12; Hutchinson,
1. 333 ; Inter-Charter Papers, vol.
2· fols. 216, 218.
2 Chalmers, Ann., 429, 469.
503
PROCEEDINGS IN BOSTON.
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under Nelson, Foster, and Waterhouse ; by ten o'clock CHAP. Bullivant, Foxcroft, and Ravenscroft were seized; and XVIII. before noon White, Farwell, Broadbent, Crawford, Larkin, 1689. Smith, and others, were hurried to jail. Mercey, the old jailor, was taken into custody, and "Scates the Bricklayer" took his place. Bradstreet, Danforth, Stoughton, Richards, Cooke, and Addington, of the old magistrates, were brought to the Council House by a company of soldiers under Capt. Hill ; and thither the other companies were speedily gathered, with Captains Shrimpton and Winthrop, who had been of Sir Edmund's Council. Dudley's son, and Col. Lidget escaped to the fort. Andros, who was already there, with Randolph, West, Palmer, and a few more, sent young Dudley to request an interview with Mr. Joyliffe and the ministers of the town. But Allen, Moody, Willard, and Cotton Mather, declined his summons. At mid-day the people reinstated the old magistrates as a council of safety. The whole town was in arms, "with the most unanimous resolution that ever inspired a people ; " and a Declaration, read from the balcony of the the Court House, defended the insurrection as a duty to God and the country. " We commit our enterprise," were its closing words, " unto the blessing of Him who hears the cry of the oppressed, and advise all our neighbors, for whom we have thus ventured ourselves, to join with us in prayers and all just actions for the defense of the land." 1
A shout went up from the multitude as the Declaration finished ; the jack was set up at the fort; and a pair of colors floated at Beacon Hill, to give notice abroad that the struggle was begun. Oliver and Eyres were next sent to the fort to demand its surrender. Sir Edmund refused. It was now two o'clock. The regular Lecture for the day was postponed. People from the country came thronging
1 This declaration is in Force, vol. 4. Tract 10. Sce Chalmers, Ann., 430, and Neal's N. Eng., 2. 433.
504
A GENERAL RISING.
CHAP. into the town; on Charlestown side over a thousand XVIII. soldiers were ready to cross; and twenty military com- 1689. panies were marshalled in Boston streets.
The Rose frigate, upon intelligence of these proceedings, hoisted her colors, and opened her ports ; and, under the command of her Lieutenant, who swore he would die before she should be taken, preparations were made for a vigorous defense. About four o'clock, a boat was espied making from the frigate to the fort ; and a company hastening thither to watch her movements, it was ascer- tained that Governor Andros, and those who were with him, were purposing to escape. The boat was accordingly seized, and found to be filled with small arms, and hand grenades, and a quantity of match. The Governor, disap- pointed, once more withdrew ; and the soldiers dividing, part came up on the back side of the fort, and part went underneath the hill to the lower battery, or sconce, where " the red-coats" were, who, immediately upon their ap- proach, fled for safety. Andros rebuked them for not firing, and even beat some for their cowardice. Scizing the guns of the sconce, these were pointed at the fort, and a surrender demanded by Nelson, the leader of the troops. This was refused until West and another should go to the Council for instructions ; and at their return, Andros came forth unarmed, and, through the very streets where he had first displayed his scarlet coat and his arbitrary commission, he and his followers were marched to the Town House. Here he was received by the aged Bradstreet ; and Stough- ton, acting as spokesman for the rest, told him " he might thank himself for the present disaster that had befallen him." Thence, under guard, the prisoners were conducted to the house of Mr. Usher, where they were detained for the night.
Apr. 19. On the following day, the people came swarming across the Charlestown and Chelsea ferries, headed by Shepherd,
505
A COUNCIL OF SAFETY APPOINTED.
a schoolmaster of Lynn; and two colonels were sent to CHAP. demand the surrender of the castle. The principal cry XVIII. was against Andros and Randolph; but it was conceived 1689. there was no safety so long as the castle and the frigate were on their side. The commander of the former, John Pipon, at first refused to yield ; but on being informed that he would be " exposed to the rage of the people " if he persisted, he consented, though with curses, and the com- mand of the same was entrusted to Capt. Fairweather.
By this time the guns of the fort, and of the ships in the harbor, were brought to bear against the frigate ; and the valiant Lieutenant, notwithstanding his threats, deemed it prudent to surrender. Thus the new government was overthrown, and the people were delivered from its iniqui- tous oppressions! The next day a portion of the prisoners . were sent to the Castle, and a council of safety and peace Apr. 20 was organized, of which the venerable Bradstreet, the sole surviving associate of Winthrop, an indefatigable magis- trate of sixty years standing, still in a green old age, though his head was silvered with the frosts of eighty-seven winters, was chosen president ; Isaac Addington was elected secretary ; Wait Winthrop was intrusted with the com- mand of the militia ; officers were placed in the several ports ; and John Foster and Adam Winthrop were ap- pointed Treasurers. 1
The Charter was not immediately resumed, though town meetings were recommended to be held before the news May 2 arrived of the proclamation of William and Mary. Excep- tions might have been taken to this step while the former decree was in force ; and many, who were conscious of
1 The authorities are the Tracts, George, in Chalmers, Ann., 469-70. in Force, vol. 4; Hutchinson, 1. Palmer, Grahame, West, and Tre- 334-40; Mather MSS., vol. 7. fols. froy were sent to the Castle, Apr. 20, and Sir Edmund Andros on the 7th of June. 82, 84; Revolutionary Papers, fols. 1, 2; the Inter-Charter Papers, vol. 1. fol. 90; and the letter from Capt.
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506
PROCEEDINGS IN THE OTHER COLONIES.
CHAP. defects in the charter, preferred to wait for a settlement XVIII. from England. Yet sixty-six persons met, from forty-three May 9. towns, and desired the Council of Safety to continue their 1689. May 22 station for two weeks ; and at that date, a meeting of the representatives of fifty-four towns was held in Boston, and . forty at least voted in favor of resuming the charter. The Council opposed the measure, and the people of Boston May 24. were divided in opinion ; but, after two days debate, the Governor and magistrates, chosen in 1686, signed a paper signifying their willingness to take conditional charge of the government according to the rules of the charter, for the conservation of the peace and safety of the people, until an orderly settlement arrived from England. 1
Apr. 22. In the meantime, tidings of the proceedings at Boston had spread to Plymouth, and Nathaniel Clark, the agent of Andros, was scized and imprisoned, and Hinckley, the former governor, resumed his place. . In both colonics, the government of Andros was deposed without bloodshed : - a remarkable circumstance, when we consider how highly the people were exasperated. Joseph Dudley was absent when these events transpired, holding a Court on Long Apr. 21. Island. It was at Newport that he first heard what had been done; and receiving letters the next day, advising him to delay his return, he passed over privately to Major Smith's, at Narraganset, where a party of a " dozen young men" took him prisoner, and conducted him to Boston. 2
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