sity, they saw him coming into the possession of a power to which they had no mind to be subjected. They distinctly knew, not only what a despotism is liable to become, but what a despotism is, in its essential nature; and that their business was alike to watch and avoid, and, if need should be, to repel it, whether administered by the heir of a line of monarchs, or by the bearer of a name of hitherto humble sound. If their friends in England had not been able to rid themselves of an oppressive King, would "forbear to disseminate or publish anything on either of those tenets." (See Quincy, History, &c., I. 25.) In the year in which this volume is published, a manuscript book of three or four hundred pages has come to light, containing the original accounts of Thomas Chisholm, Steward of Harvard College, from March, 1650, to November, 1659. A debit and credit account, in which quarterly entries are made, is kept with each member of the College. Undergraduates are charged for "commons and sizings;" "tuition;" "gallery" (which I suppose is a contribution to the church, in the form of hire of a place in the meeting-house, see Magnalia, Book IV. Part I. § 4); "study-rent; ""bed-making," and "fire and candle." The most noticeable fact is the nature of the payments. There are some credits of "silver"; but far the greater part consist of commodities, carried out in the column at so much 66 = 66 66 a money; as a sheep, weighing sixty- Dudley paid a large part of his son's Accounts are in several instances kept in this book, for four successive years, with students who do not appear, from the College records, to have taken any degree. It is known that in or before the year 1655, the course of study for a Bachelor's degree was extended from three years to four, and that in consequence of this change some students left the College. (Mather, Magnalia, Book IV. Part I. § 10.) But this fails to explain the fact which I have mentioned, not only because several instances occur later than the time when this motive for quitting the College would have been felt, but because those on whom it acted would not in any case have been chargeable for four years of residence. It seems to follow, either that residence for four years did not entitle to a Bachelor's degree, as it has done in recent times, or else that the list of early graduates in the Triennial Catalogue is incomplete. This may well be, as President Quincy says, in his History of the College (I. 450), that "nearly one hundred years had elapsed before any catalogue of gradwas entered in the College uates books." without bowing to the rod of an autocrat with a dif ferent title, they did not therefore conclude that their own experiment must also fail. The valor and conduct with which Cromwell, in the days of his least doubtful fame, had scattered the conspirators against the birthright of Englishmen, could not but command their grateful admiration; and, in religion, he was the foremost champion of their own cherished theories. But their enthusiasm never seduced their vigilance from its post. When a Puritan Parliament created a Council for the Colonies, Massachusetts carefully abstained from any such solicitation for its favor, as would have been an acknowledgment of its authority. The favor she might have been sure of, but her cautious outlook discerned the danger of the precedent. When England made Cromwell a monarch, Massachusetts preserved a steady silence. He went to war with the Dutch, and proposed to her to help him conquer the Dutch colony on her border. True to her policy of keeping, as far as possible, clear of responsibility for, or connection with, the relations of the parent country to other states, she treated the demand as subject to her own consent or refusal. In the language of administrators of a friendly, rather than of a subject government, the General Court expressed themselves "ready at all times, wherein they might with safety to the liberty of their consciences, public peace, and welfare, to their utmost to attend his Highness's pleasure." And, instead of raising an auxiliary force for the projected expedition, they "freely consented and gave liberty to his Highness's commissioners" to enroll five hundred volunteers, if they could find so many;1 at the same time apprising him of their conviction that the course "most acceptable to his Highness" would be the course which in their judgment they should see fit to choose, as "most consistent with their peace and wel 1 Mass. Rec., IV. (i.) 195. fare." The death of the Protector is not so much as referred to in the public records.2 Massachusetts had been early put upon her guard against relying on the change of government that had taken place in England for her own security from usurpation. In the third year after the execution of the King, the General Court3 were startled by infor 1651. mation from Winslow, "that it was the Parlia- Oct. 24. ment's pleasure that we should take a new patent from them, and keep our courts and issue our warrants in their names." The Court took a year to deliberate on the manner of their answer, or to await some favorable turn of events to determine its form. The time which they chose for making it was when the Dutch war had just begun. The coincidence is striking, even if the reader should hesitate to ascribe to the Court an intention of hinting to Parliament, that, if pushed too far, they would not be at a loss in what quarter to look for the protection of a powerful alliance. In their reply, they represented their right, by charter, " to live under the government of a Governor and Magistrates of their own choosing, and under laws of their own making." They recounted their exertions and sacrifices, and bespoke generous treatment in consideration of the purposes with which these had been made. And they claimed the more 1 Letter of the General Court of Massachusetts to Cromwell, August 24, 1654 (Hutchinson, I. 452.) After the peace between him and the Dutch, the Governor of New Netherland applied to the Commissioners of the Four Colonies for an acknowledgment of it, so far as related to the boundary line between the English and Dutch possessions in America. But the Commissioners took no notice of the application. (Records, &c., in Hazard, II. 363-365.) 2 The brevity of the slight, though serious, notice of Cromwell's death 1652. Oct. 23. in the Diary of John Hull, of Boston, is suggestive. "1658, 25th of 12th. We received the sad news of the death of the Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell, a man of excellent worth, who died September 3, 1658. The Lord give suitable affections to bewail the loss of such choice ones! He was one that sought the good of New England; though he seemed to be wanting in a thorough testimony against the blasphemers of our days." (Archæol. Amer., III. 186.) 3 Mass. Rec., IV. (i.) 72. favor, because their affection to the Parliament, shown by "sending over useful men, who had been of good use, and done good, acceptable services to the army," and by other friendly acts, had exposed them to "the hatred and threats of other English colonies," as well as to "the loss of divers ships and goods, taken by the King's party." At the same time, in a letter to Cromwell, chiefly relating to his offer of lands in Ireland, they "humbly petitioned his Excellence to show what favor God should be pleased to direct him unto, on their behalf, to the most honorable Parliament." 1 1650. 1651. May 22. The "other English colonies," with which Massachusetts, by her attachment to the new government, had been brought into unfriendly relations, were "Barbadoes, Virginia, Bermudas, and Antego." Their persistent loyalty had been punished by an ordinance of ParliaOct. 3. ment forbidding Englishmen to trade with them; a measure which the General Court of Massachusetts seconded by a similar prohibition addressed to masters of vessels belonging to their jurisdiction. The rule was to remain in force "until the compliance of the aforesaid places with the Commonwealth of England, or the further order of this Court;" and the penalty of disobedience was to be a confiscation of ship and cargo.2 In respect to Virginia, it may be presumed that this step was not the less willingly taken, on account of a grudge of some years' standing. At an early period of the civil 1 Mass. Rec., IV. (i.) 110.—Both letters are printed by Hutchinson (History, I. 448-452). He has obscured the subject by erroneously referring them to the year 1651. 2 Mass. Rec., III. 224; comp. 240. - At this Court also the long-banished cross of St. George was restored to the flag. (See Vol. I. 430, 431.) It had become invested with new associations. "Forasmuch as this Court conceives the old English colors now used by the Parliament of England to be a necessary badge of distinction between the English and other nations in all places of the world, till the State of England shall alter the same, which we much desire, we being of the same nation, hath therefore ordered, that the Captain of the Castle shall presently advance the aforesaid colors of England upon the Castle upon all necessary occasions." (Mass. Rec., III. 224.) 1643. war, that Colony had banished Non-conformist ministers who had gone thither from Massachusetts; and the offence had been repeated five years afterward.1 1648. It was about the same time when England had as much business on her hands as could easily be managed, and when, if she should become rigorous to her Coinage of distant children, they were sure of being welcomed money. to the protection of a great Protestant power, now preparing to contest with her the empire of the seas-that the Massachusetts people ventured on what was liable to be interpreted as a pretension of independent sovereignty. They undertook to coin money. The brisk trade with the West Indies introduced a quantity of Spanish silver; and along with it there was "much counterfeit coin brought into the country, and much loss accruing in that respect." The General Court established a mint, and appointed John Hull, a goldsmith, to be 1652. mint-master. He was to receive "bullion, plate, June 10. or Spanish coin," and convert it "into twelve-penny, sixpenny, and three-penny pieces, which should be for form flat, and square on the sides, and stamped on the one side with N. E. and on the other side with xii, via, and iii̇a, according to the value of each piece, together with a privy mark, which should be appointed every three months by the Governor, and known only to him and the sworn officers of the mint." Each piece contained three quarters as much silver as the English coins of the same denomination; and this money and sterling money were declared to be the only legal tender, after three months from the date of the Act. By a later vote 1 Winthrop, II. 96, 334. mittee appointed to oversee its execu * John Hull, Diary, in Archæol. tion "determined and declared that the Amer., III. 145. officers for the minting of money should coin all the money that they minted in a round form." (Mass. Archives, C. 40; comp. Archæol. Amer., III. 288.) There are specimens of this money |