prevent it, and to keep up the nonsense about witch

es.

But the truth is sure to prevail in the end.

A day came when the people of Salem were perfectly enraged with the ministers for having done so much mischief and started so much folly about witchcraft. PARRIS, the preacher, who had been so active in persecuting the witches, was driven out of the place; and another named NOYES, was forced to beg pardon in public for the share he had taken.

The Chief Justice, SEWALL, stood up in church one Sabbath, and in presence of the congregation confessed that he had been all wrong in condemning so many poor creatures to death, and begged the people present to pray God to forgive him. Cotton Mather never repented, but meanly pretended that he had not persecuted the witches.

The Governor of Massachusetts at this time was Sir William Phipps, whose history you read in the last chapter. But the chief power was in the hands of the Mathers, Increase and Cotton. Phipps was rather thick-headed, and was quite content to do what they ordered, and they had a good time generally. After a time, however, disputes arose with the king's officers at Boston; and Phipps, being of a fiery disposition, thrashed one or two of them with his stick. King's officers do not like to be thrashed any more than other men, and they sent tremendous complaints to England of Phipps's conduct, which led to his being summoned to answer to the King for what he had done. He died in England, and a short while afterward the Earl of Bellamont, an Irish nobleman, was appointed Governor in his stead.

Meanwhile the Governor of New York, Sloughter, had died, and King William had sent out a fighting man, named BENJAMIN FLETCHER, to be Governor in his place. Troubles having arisen in Pennsylvania, the King, something like the fox in the fable, stepped in, said hereafter that he would govern the Province himself, and bade Fletcher see to it.

A short while before the people of the lower counties of Pennsylvania had separated themselves from the other counties of the Province, and taken the name of DELAWARE. Over them, too, Fletcher had authority.

He said he wanted very little of them: a trifle of money would answer his purpose perfectly. Would they be kind enough to give him some?

The Quakers of Pennsylvania said they would rather not.

"But," said Fletcher, "you see how expensive it is to carry on this war with the Indians; won't you give me something for that?"

The Quakers answered that, in their opinion, throat-cutting, and stabbing, and shooting were great sins, not by any means to be encouraged, and that they would not give a penny.

Then Fletcher went away.

After a short time he returned, and said that the poor people at Albany were starving, and that their houses had been burned by the Indians; and he asked for money to clothe and feed them. To this the Quakers had no objection, and gave him accordingly a sum of money, on the condition that it was not to be "dipped in blood."

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He said

In New York the people gave Fletcher money enough, but other causes of dispute arose. he must have the power of appointing the ministers to the churches: the people said they must have the power. So when Fletcher bade them pass a law, giving him the power, they said bluntly they would do no such thing.

Fletcher flew into a great rage, and abused them as if they had been thieves or pickpockets. But they stuck to their resolution, and he was obliged to make the best of it.

King William had given Fletcher the command of the militia of Connecticut and New Jersey; and he sent word to the people of Connecticut that they were to turn out on a given day, as he intended to review them. The people of Connecticut had made up their minds not to submit to Fletcher, as they thought their own officers could command their militia as well as any stranger.

When the day came, Fletcher arrived at Hartford with a splendid company of officers, and a great flourish of trumpets. The militia were all drawn up to receive him, with bold CAPTAIN WADSWORTH at their head. Fletcher ordered his Secretary to read the King's order, appointing him to command the militia. The moment the Secretary began to read, Captain Wadsworth made a sign and the drums began to beat, so that not a word of the King's order could be heard.

Fletcher, in a rage, commanded silence, and ordered the Secretary to proceed. But the moment he began again, Wadsworth gave the signal, and the

drums beat louder than ever. Boiling with fury, Fletcher ran to the soldiers roaring,

"Silence!"

Then Captain Wadsworth stepped up, and shouted,

“Drum, drum, I say!" and turning to Fletcher : "If you interrupt my men again, I will make daylight shine through you directly."

This was quite enough for Colonel Benjamin Fletcher.

After him the EARL OF BELLAMONT became Governor of New York as well as Massachusetts. He was an easy-going, good-tempered Irishman, who quarreled with nobody; and as most of the other governors were terrible tyrants, he has come to be regarded as a very respectable man indeed. I notice, however, that he contrived to squeeze nine thousand dollars out of the people of Massachusetts in the space of fourteen months, which is doing better than any governor of Massachusetts ever did before or since, and may perhaps account for his being in such a very good humor.

He was succeeded by LORD CORNBURY, who was cousin to the Queen of England. He ruled New Jersey and New York. His plan was very simple.

He said to the people:

"I know of no rights that you have but such as the Queen is pleased to allow you."

The people thought differently; and when Lord Cornbury tried to screw money out of them to fill his lordly pockets, they refused to vote it.

He contrived to cheat them, however; for a sum

of money being voted to build fortifications at the Narrows, Lord Cornbury got hold of it, and pocketed the whole. When a man had any favor to ask of the government, the best way to get it was to go to Lord Cornbury, and say to him: "I want such or such a thing;" at the same time slipping a purse into his hand.

He made rules, too, obliging merchants and every one who traded to pay him large fees, and by these dirty means he succeeded in scraping together a great deal of money.

After

The more he got the more he wanted. robbing the merchants he said the preachers must have a license, which he was ready to sell, of course. But the old Dutch Reformers were very sturdy men when their church was meddled with; they said they saw no use in licenses, and would have none of them. Accordingly, one of their ministers at New York went on preaching as usual without a license. The Governor had him arrested, and tried.

As he was in every way a bad, corrupt man, he thought others were like him; and managed to find a jury, none of whom belonged to the Dutch Reformed Church, hoping, of course, that they would find the minister guilty without hesitation. It happened, however, that they were honest men: and they gave a verdict of not guilty, to the delight of the people, and to the unspeakable disgust of Lord Cornbury.

The same thing he did in New Jersey. The Quakers of that Province, who were plain, straightforward men, and never said no when they meant