to law for the year ensuing." A precept was also sent to the people of Maine, requiring them, "in his Majesty's name, to yield faithful and true obedience to the government of this [the Massachusetts] jurisdiction, until his Majesty's pleasure be further known." To Waldron's summons Josselyn and Shapleigh replied," We, Henry Josselyn and Nicholas Shapleigh, Commissioners of the Province of Maine under the authority of Ferdinando Gorges, Esq., Lord Proprietor of said Province, do protest against the acts and order of the General Court of Massachusetts, exhibited by Captain Waldron." The excitement was intense. Bradstreet and Norton, sent to England by Massachusetts to answer the complaints brought against her, at an audience before the Privy Council, "being charged for usurping the government of the Province" of Maine, had solemnly declared "that those whom they represented did not claim any title in, or interest to, the said Province; but did only govern the same until orders were sent over for the government thereof." This declaration was known to Gorges's adherents, and was industriously circulated by them, with reports that "they do daily expect Mr. Maverick, with four other commissioners, in two great frigates, and other such like stories," which "put to a great stand" all those who were well-affected towards the Massachusetts Government; and although some ventured to suggest that "the ships were not yet built," in which the Commissioners were to take passage, others, less confident, and perplexed by the bold demeanor of the opposition, expressed their fears lest the Bay Colony "do deal double" with them. Gorges's adherents well knew how to take advantage of these misgivings. They issued warrants, in his Majesty's name, as Commissioners for the Lord Proprietor, countermanding the orders of the Massachusetts General Court, and appointed a meeting to be held at Saco, on the 25th of November, "to see what strength they can gather, and to establish their interest."

Informed by a letter from George Cleeves, written from Falmouth, Nov. 24th, that "Mr. Josselyn doth trumpet abroad that there are many discontented in Boston and to the westward about the King's letter" of June 28, 1662, to the Massachusetts Colony, (which, it may be remarked, took no notice of the claims and complaints of Gorges and Mason,) and that there existed in the Province "a spirit that fain would raise a faction if not timely prevented," the General Court, early the next year, 1663, sent a mandatory address commanding the inhabitants to choose their officers as usual, to yield due obedience to the laws, and to discharge their duties, whether official or civil, with fidelity; and the Massachusetts Assistants, who were deputed to hold the Yorkshire Court, were instructed" to punish every one pretending to possess or exercise adverse civil authority, unless he could show it derived immediately from the King." To this Court the town of Falmouth and Scarborough sent attorneys, formally to declare their adhesion to the Government. But symptoms of disaffection were prevalent, and the Court saw the necessity of vigorous measures. Captain Francis Raynes resigned his military office; and the Grand Jury found bills of indictment against many of the opposition. They presented Champernoon, Jordan, Josselyn, and Shapleigh, for acting against the authority they were under, and so renouncing the authority of Massachusetts, using means for the subverting thereof, under pretence of a sufficient power from Esquire Gorges to take off the people, which is manifest to the contrary." Of five other indictments against Jordan, one was "for breach of the oath of freedom and fidelity to the government of Massachusetts ;" another for raising and fomenting lies," another "for saying that the Governor of Boston was a rogue,

1 Answer of Massachusetts to the complaints of Mason and Gorges, in Farmer's Belknap, p. 445; Hutchinson, i. 234-5, note; Maine Hist. Coll. 1. 104, 106; Williamson, i. 403-4; King's letter to Maine, in Hutch. Coll. Papers, pp. 386-7; Cleeves's letter to the Governinent of Massachusetts, in Maine Hist. Coll. i. 104-6.

and all the rest thereof traitors and rebels against the King." William Hilton, the Constable of Kittery, was presented "for tearing of a special warrant, sent by the Secretary from Boston to Kittery, for sending a deputy to the General Court;" Thomas Booth, "for slandering the country, by saying they were a company of hypocritical rogues, they feared neither God nor the King,' with other uncivil speeches;" Francis Hook, for "granting warrants, summonses, taking depositions, hearing causes," &c., under the authority of Gorges. One Wiggins being arraigned for seditious language, denied the authority of the Court, saying that he was a Marshal under Gorges, and that they had no right to try him. Neal, Staniford, Small, Corbin, and many others, were indicted for breach of the oath of freedom and fidelity, and acts of opposition to the Massachusetts Government. Shapleigh was removed from the office of Major Commandant of the Yorkshire militia, and William Phillips was appointed in his place. The General Court subsequently passed the following Order:-"Whereas it appears that several persons, having been appointed officers by the pretended power under Esquire Gorges, have acted in their respective places, we do order and grant that all such persons whatsoever as have acted peaceably and civilly upon their orders and warrants received as aforesaid, shall henceforth be free and fully discharged from question, presentment, or legal proceeding in any respect to their damage or disturbance in any of such their actings."

When it was known that Charles had determined to send Commissioners to New England, he received the "humble petition of Robert Mason, of London, merchant, Pattentee of the Province of Hampshyre, and the heyre of Edward Godfrey, inhabitant of the Province of Mayn, in New England," reciting his former petition, and the report of the referees thereon, and praying that his Majesty "would be pleased to referr and recommend the complaynts of the petitioners, with the report of the referrees, unto the further examination of his Majesty's Commissioners for New England, with power to determine thereof as they shall see fitting."

tor.

Gorges, too, represented to the Sovereign the loyalty of his grandfather, Sir Ferdinando, and the losses which he had sustained in the civil wars, and besought that he might be restored to the possessions of his ancesHis petition was referred "to the consideration of counsel learned in the law," who entered into an examination of the claims of the petitioner, and reported in his favor; whereupon the King, “finding the petitioner's allegations and [the] report of [his] learned counsel so consonant," thought fit to make the matter the subject of a special letter to the inhabitants of the Province of Maine, in which he commands them "forthwith [to] make restitution of the said Province unto him [Gorges] or his commissioners, and deliver him or them the quiet and peaceable possession thereof; otherwise without delay [to] shew reason to the contrary."

This letter, dated at Whitehall, June 11, 1664, was put into the hands of John Archdale, as agent for Ferdinando Gorges. He embarked with the royal Commissioners, and, after a boisterous passage, arrived at Piscataqua, in company with Sir Robert Carr and Samuel Maverick, about the 23d of July, 1664.4

Maverick-the "known and professed enemy" of Massachusetts--had no sooner set his foot on shore than he exhibited his hostility to that Colony; for we are told that, "on his first arrival in Piscataqua River," he menaced the Constable of Portsmouth, "whiles he was in the exercise of his office, on which the people thought it necessary to apply to Sir Robert Carr for a full understanding of such motions, who judged it meet to declare, that they

1 Cleeves's letter; Williamson, i. 403, 404-5, 658, 693; Maine Hist. Coll. 1. 106-9, 283; Folsom's Saco and Biddeford, pp. 92-3; Sullivan's Maine, pp. 372-3.

2 See the petition in Hazard, ii. 633-4.

3 The King's letter is in Hutch. Coll. Papers, pp. 385-8.

4 Josselyn, p. 272; Hutchinson, i. 211; Maine Hist. Coll. 1. 109.

ought to continue in their obedience to the present government till they had further orders." 1

Archdale, immediately upon his arrival, granted Commissions to Josselyn, Jordan, Neale, and Rishworth, and to persons in every other town in the Province, who thereupon took upon themselves the management of affairs, independently of Massachusetts. Josselyn, Jordan, and Rishworth, with Archdale, addressed a letter to the Governor and Council, requiring them to surrender the government to Mr. Gorges, or his Commissioners, according to his Majesty's commands. The Council replied that they may not give up the interest of the Colony without the consent of the General Court." The General Court declared, on the 30th of November, "that they had deter. mined to yield none of their rights in the Province until their duties in this particular were made plain and palpable. If the King's will were known, it was only through his Address to the inhabitants, not by any mandate or express communication to the Government of Massachusetts." To Archdale, when he produced an order, under the royal sign manual, requiring Gorges's Province to be restored to him, the answer was, that the "distracted condition of the people in Yorkshire required rather their protection and assistance, and that a government of their choice should never be hastily withdrawn from them; while they plainly told the royal Commissioners that they "had nothing to do betwixt them and Mr. Gorges, because his Majesty either commanded them to deliver possession to Mr. Gorges, or to give his Majesty reason why they did not." 2

The General Court, at their session in May, 1665, announced to the people of Maine their determination "still to extend their government over them as formerly," and further inform them "that they intend to return to his Majesty an account of the reasons why they have not rendered the government to the agent of Mr. Gorges, and a map of their north bounds or line, which demonstrates the ground of their government there."

The King's Commissioners, meeting with no success in their negotiations with Massachusetts, gave up in despair. Nichols returned to New York; Carr, Cartwright, and Maverick, turning their faces eastward, visited Piscataqua, early in June, 1665. Here they enquired into the bounds of Mason's Patent. They received the testimony of Wheelwright, who, when “banished out of the jurisdiction of Massachusetts, was permitted to inhabit immediately beyond the bound-house," and took the affidavit of Henry Jusselyn respecting the agreement between Matthew Cradock and Captain John Mason" that the Massachusetts should have that land which was granted to Captain Mason about Cape Ann, and Captain Mason should have that land which was beyond Merimack River and granted to the Massachusetts." The Commissioners "forebore to do anything about the limits of this Prov. ince till this might more fully be proved;" but calling the inhabitants together, Sir Robert Carr, in the name of his associates, told them that they would release them from the government of Massachusetts, whose jurisdietion should come no farther than the bound-house." They then appointed justices of the peace, and other officers, authorizing them to act according to the laws of England, and such laws of their own as were not repugnant thereto, until the King's pleasure should be farther known. Among those in this Province who were disaffected towards the "Bay Government" was one Abraham Corbett, of Portsmouth, who undertook to issue warrants in the King's name, probably by virtue of authority from the Commissioners.

1 General Court's Address, in Hutchinson, i. 461; Danforth Papers, in Mass. Hist. Coll. xv. 94-5.

2 Folsom, p 92; Maine Hist. Coll. 1. 110; Williamson, i. 411, 414-15; Sullivan, p. 285; Josselyn, p. 272; Commissioners' Narrative, in Hutch. Coll. Papers, p. 419. 3 Maine Hist. Coll. 1. 111; Williamson, i. 415.

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For this, which was considered a high misdemeanor, inasmuch as he had never been commissioned by the Colony, he was called to account by the General Court, admonished, fined, and committed until he should have complied with the sentence.'

Before the Commissioners left Piscataqua they received orders from the King, “to see the harbors fortified," &c. They immediately "sent warrants to four towns upon the river, requiring them to meet at such a time and place, to hear his Majesty's letter read; senger with a warrant to Boston, giving notice of the King's commands; they also despatched a mesand then crossed over to Kittery, in the Province of Maine. Here they harangued the people, foretelling their inevitable ruin if they remained subject to Massachusetts, and denouncing the rulers of this Colony as rebels and traitors. Visiting York they received "several petitions" from the disaffected inhabitants, "in which they desire to be taken into his Majesty's immediate protection and government," whereupon they issued a formal proclamation, on the 23d of June, declaring that they, having seen the several Charters granted to Sir F. Gorges and to the Corporation of Massachusetts Bay, and having considered that it would be of ill consequence if the inhabitants of this Province should be seduced by those of Massachusetts Bay, and being desirous that the inhabitants of this Province may be at peace among themselves and free from the contests of others, do, by the powers given by his Sacred Majesty under his Great Seal of England, receive all his Majesty's good subjects, living within the Province of Maine, into his Majesty's more immediate protection and government; and constitute Mr. F. Champernoon, Mr. E. Rishworth, Mr. William Phillips, Mr. H. Josselyn, Mr. R. Jordan," &c. &c., "Justices of the Peace, to hear and determine all causes, both civil and criminal, and to order all the affairs of the Province for the peace, safety, and defence thereof; and in his Majesty's name require and command all the inhabitants to yield obedience to the said Justices; and forbid, as well the Commissioners of Mr. Gorges, as the Corporation of Massachusetts Bay, to molest any of the inhabitants of this Province with their pretences, or to exercise any authority within this Province, until his Majesty's pleasure be further known, by virtue of their pretended rights." This proclamation was the death-blow to the authority of Gorges in the Province of Maine.?

The time for the sitting of the County Court drawing near, the Commissioners resolved to oppose the two Assistants who were expected from Boston, whose influence over the people they had reason to fear, and thus to prevent a session. Carr, therefore, issued an order, on the 2d of July, to the commander of the militia company, requiring him to assemble his men, under arms, on the Tuesday following, on their training-ground, there to attend further orders. When the Assistants reached Piscataqua, on their way from Boston, they were informed of the threats of the Commissioners, and also, that the militia had been called out; and not caring to contest the point, they proceeded no further, but returned home, and reported the state of affairs to their Government."

Meantime the warrant which had been sent to Boston, from Piscataqua, had reached its destination. This proceeding of the Commissioners was highly offensive to the Government of Massachusetts; and the Governor and Council immediately sent two Marshals, with another warrant, dated July 12th, "to forbid the towns either to meet, or do anything commanded them by the Commissioners, at their utmost perils." They also sent" an unbeseeming letter" to the Commissioners. The Commissioners, who had returned to

1 Farmer's Belknap, p. 60; Adams's Annals of Portsmouth, p. 46; Commissioners' Narrative, Hutch. Coll. pp. 422-3; Randolph's Narrative, ibid., P. 488.

2 Commissioners' Narrative, Coll. pp. 419, 423-4; Williamson, i. 411, 415-17; Folsom, pp. 93-5; Maine Hist. Coll. 1. 111-12, 117.

3 Williamson, i. 417, 418.

VOL. VI. SECOND SERIES.

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Piscataqua, for the purpose, doubtless, of meeting the inhabitants, and making arrangements for the contemplated fortifications, were exaspera ted beyond measure at this deliberate opposition to their commands. They wrote a most violent letter to the General Court, on the 16th inst., in which they say:

...

"We have received a letter from your Marshal, subscribed by the Secretary, so full of untruths, and, in some places, wanting grammar construction, that we are unwilling to believe it penned with your knowledge and approbation, though in the name, and by the order, as it is said, of the General Court. Though it was great reason and high time for us to give over treating in private with those who, by the sound of trumpet, denied that authority which the King had over them, and by which we were to act; yet, neither that denial, nor anything they can do, can enervate the King's Commission, or hinder us from obeying the King's commands, as near as we can. . . . That last letter we received from his Majesty was the ground of the warrant we sent to Portsmouth, and of those we sent to several other towns. His Majesty's commands are, and shall be, our directions. When we are convinced of our error, we shall be ready to acknowledge and amend it; but shall not concern ourselves with your sense in this, who have already, and, we fear, wilfully, misconstrued too many of his Majesty's most gracious letters.... Remember, we pray you, seriously, that the pardon you so much pretend to from his Majesty's clemency, in his letter of June, 1662, was promised to you upon the condition of being, for the future, his good subjects, which must necessarily imply obedience. Striving to grasp too much may make you hold but little. It is possible that the Charter which you so much idolize, may be forfeited. . . . . The deserved destruction and punishment of some of those who of late made use of the King's authority to oppose his Majesty's power, and raised armies, and fought against his Majesty, and yet pretended the defence and safety of the King, we think might deter all from broaching or acting according to such illusive and destructive sophisms. Many of your actions, and the warrant sent to the constable, the 12 July, 1665, give us just ground to fear, that, if you had power, you would try your success the same way. Gentlemen, remember, we pray you, that you profess yourselves to be Christians, and pretend to be of the best sort; pray make it apparent that you are so, by obedience to the King's authority, by your peaceableness towards your neighbors, and by your justice among yourselves. The other Colonies have set you many good examples, even that of Rhode Island, one whom you have so long despised and disowned, and now lately derided for its submission to his Majesty. . . . . In fine, we desire, and, in his Majesty's name, require you, not to contradict those orders which we made by virtue of his Majesty's Commission, nor to disturb the peace and quiet of those whom we have taken under his Majesty's government, nor to molest those who, in obedience to his Majesty's authority, have observed any orders or warrants made by us."

We cannot suppose that this letter would change the sentiments of the General Court, or soften, in any degree, their feelings towards the royal emissaries. This body, although it would not suffer the Commissioners to meddle with the internal improvements of the country, yet, on its own authority, ordered a committee to examine the ground, and select the most suitable place for a fortification; and, in accordance with the report of that committee," the neck of land on the eastward of the Great Island, where a small fort had been already built, was sequestered for the purpose, taking in the Great Rock, and from thence all the easterly part of the said Island."

Narrative of the Commissioners, Hutch. Coll. p. 419; Farmer's Belknap, p. 62; Adams, pp. 47-8. The Letter of the Commissioners, dated at " Piscataqua River," and signed by "Rob. Carr, Geo. Cartwright, Sam. Maverick," is in Chalmers's Political Annals, pp. 502-4.