THE CONTEST WITH CHARLES II. CONTINUES. 87 XII. to what seemed a usurpation, were punished for CHAP. "irreverent speeches;" some some even reproached the authorities of Massachusetts "as traitors and rebels against the king;" but the usurpers maintained their ascendency till Gorges recovered his claims by adjudication in England. From the southern limit of Massachusetts to the Kennebeck, the colonial government maintained its independent jurisdiction. The agents of the king left not a trace of their presence. Having been recalled, they had retired in angry petulance, threatening the disloyal with retribution and the gallows. 1666. The frowardness of Massachusetts was visited by reproofs from the English monarch; to whom it was well known that "the people of that colony affirmed, his majesty had no jurisdiction over them." It was resolved to transfer the scene of negotiations to England, where Bellingham and Hawthorne were, by a royal mandate, expressly commanded, on their alle- April giance, to attend, with two or three others, whom the magistrates of Massachusetts were to appoint as their colleagues. Till the final decision of the claims of Gorges, the government of Maine was to continue as the commissioners had left it. 10. 11. The general court was to execute such commands as exceeded the powers of the magistrates; the general court was therefore convened to consider the letter Sept. from the king. The morning of the second day was spent in prayer; six elders prayed. The next day, after a lecture, some debate was had; and petitions, proposing compliance with the king, were afterwards forwarded from Boston, Salem, Ipswich, and Newbury. 1 Extracts from records communicated by George Folsom. 2 Hutchinson's History, 1. App. xix. 88 THE CONTEST WITH CHARLES II. CONTINUES. CHAP. "Let some regular way be propounded for the debate," XII. said Bellingham, the governor, a man who emphatically 1666. hated a bribe." The king's prerogative gives him power to command our appearance," said the moderate Bradstreet; "before God and men we are to obey." "You may have a trial at law," insinuated an artful royalist; "when you come to England, you may insist upon it and claim it."-" We must as well consider God's displeasure as the king's," retorted Willoughby; "the interest of ourselves and of God's things, as his majesty's prerogative; for our liberties are of concernment, and to be regarded as to the preservation; for if the king may send for me now, and another tomorrow, we are a miserable people."-" Prerogative is as necessary as law," rejoined the royalist, who perhaps looked to the English court as an avenue to distinction." Prerogative is not above law," said the inflexible Hawthorne, ever the advocate of popular liberty.1 After much argument, obedience was refused. "We have already"—such was the reply of the general court-" furnished our views in writing, so that the ablest persons among us could not declare our case more fully." This decision of disobedience was made at a time when the ambition of Louis XIV. of France, eager to grasp at the Spanish Netherlands, and united with De Witt by a treaty of partition, had, in consequence of his Dutch alliance, declared war against England. It was on this occasion, that the idea of the conquest of Canada was first distinctly proposed to New England. It was proposed only to be rejected as impossible. "A land march of four hundred miles, over rocky mountains and howling deserts," was too terrible an 1 Mass. Hist. Coll. xviii. 98. DELIBERATIONS OF THE PRIVY COUNCIL. 89 XII. obstacle. But Boston equipped several privateers, and CHAP. not without success.1 in 1666. At the same time, colonial loyalty did not content itself with barren professions; it sent provisions to the English fleet in the West Indies; and to the navy England, a ship-load of masts; "a blessing, mighty Dec. unexpected, and but for which," adds Pepys, "we must have failed the next year." 2 3. The daring defiance of Massachusetts was not followed by immediate danger. The ministry of Clarendon was fallen, and he himself was become an exile; and profligate libertines had not only gained the confidence of the king's mistresses, but places in the royal cabinet. While Charles II. was dallying with women, and robbing the theatre of actresses-while the licentious Buckingham, who had succeeded in displacing Clarendon, wasted the vigor of his mind and body by indulging in every sensual pleasure "which nature could desire or wit invent "-while Louis XIV. was gaining influence in the English cabinet, by bribing the mistress of the chief of the king's cabal-England remained without a good government, and the colonies flourished in purity and peace. The English ministry dared not interfere with Massachusetts; it was right that the stern virtues of the ascetic republicans should have intimidated the members of the profligate cabinet. The affairs of New England were often discussed; but the privy council was overawed by the moral dignity which they could not comprehend. There were great debates, in which the king took part, "in what style 1671. to write to New England." Charles himself com- 26. mended this affair more expressly, because "the colony 3 May 1 Mass. Hist. Coll. xviii. 109. VOL. II. 12 ? Pepys, i. 489. 3 Evelyn, ii. 343. 90 6. 21. DELIBERATIONS OF THE PRIVY COUNCIL. CHAP. was rich and strong; able to contest with all other planXII. tations about them;" "there is fear," said the mon1671. arch, "of their breaking from all dependence on this nation." "Some of the council proposed a menacing letter, which those who better understood the peevish and touchy humor of that colonie were utterly against.” June After many days, it was concluded,' “that, if any, it should be only a conciliating paper at first, or civil letter; for it was understood they were a people almost upon the very brink of renouncing any dependence upon the crown." "Information of the present face of things was desired," and Cartwright, one of the commissioners, was summoned before the council, to June give "a relation of that country; "2 but such was the picture that he drew, the council were more intimidated than ever, so that nothing was recommended Aug. beyond "a letter of amnesty." By degrees, it was proposed to send a deputy to New England, under the pretext of adjusting boundaries, but "with secret instructions to inform the council of the condition of New England; and whether they were of such power as to be able to resist his majesty, and declare for themselves, as independent of the crown." Their strength was reported to be the cause "which of late years made them refractory."3 What need of many words? The king was taken up by "the childish, simple, and babyface," of a new favorite; and his traffic of the honor and independence of England to the king of France. The duke of Buckingham, now in mighty favor, was revelling with a luxurious and abandoned rout, having with him the impudent countess of Shrewsbury, and his band of fiddlers; and the discussions at the 3. 1 Evelyn, ii. 344. 2 Ibid. 345. 4 3 Ibid. 346; see, also, 358. PROSPERITY OF MASSACHUSETTS. 91 XII. council about New England, were, for the present, as CHAP. fruitless as the inquiries how nutmegs and cinnamon might be naturalized in Jamaica. Massachusetts prospered by the neglect. "It is," said Sir Joshua Child, in his discourse on trade, "the 1670. most prejudicial plantation of Great Britain; the frugality, industry, and temperance of its people, and the happiness of their laws and institutions, promise them long life, and a wonderful increase of people, riches, and power." They enjoyed the blessings of selfgovernment and virtual independence. The villages of New England were already the traveller's admiration; the acts of navigation were not regarded; no custom-house was established. Massachusetts, which now stretched to the Kennebeck, possessed a widelyextended trade; acting as the carrier for nearly all the colonies, and sending its ships into the most various climes. Vessels from Spain and Italy, from France and Holland, might be seen in Boston harbor; commerce began to pour out wealth on the colonists. A generous nature employed wealth liberally; after the great fire in London, even the miserable in the mother country had received large contributions. It shows the character of the people, that the town of Portsmouth agreed for seven years to give sixty pounds a year to the college, which shared in the prosperity of Boston, and continued to afford "schismaticks to the church;" while the colony was reputed to abound in "rebels to the king." Villages extended; prosperity was universal. Beggary was unknown; theft was rare. If "strange new fashions" prevailed among "the younger sort of women," if" superfluous ribbons " were worn on their apparel, at least "musicians by trade, and dancing schools," were not fostered. It |