226

ADDRESS TO THE KING.

court was immediately convened, and an address voted to the king, in which the colonists justified their whole conduct, professed a dutiful attachment to the sovereign, and entreated his protection and favour, which they declared themselves the more willing to hope for from one who, having been himself a wanderer, was no stranger to the lot and the feelings of exiles. They solicited the king to protect their ecclesiastical and civil institutions, declaring that they considered the chief value of the latter to consist in their subservience to the cultivation and enjoyment of religion. A similar address was made to parliament, and letters were written to Lord Manchester, Lord Say and Seal, and other persons of distinction, who were known to be friends of the colony, soliciting interposition in its behalf.*

Leverett, the agent for the colony in London, was instructed, at the same time, to use every effort to procure a continuance of the exemption from customs, which the colonists had hitherto enjoyed. But before he had time to make any such vain attempt, the parliament had already established the duties of tonnage and poundage over every portion of the empire. The disappointment, however, was softened by a gracious answer returned by the king to the provincial address, which was accompanied by an order for the apprehension of Whaley and Goffe. So prompt a display of good-will and confidence excited general satisfaction; a day of thanksgiving was appointed, to acknowledge the favour of Heaven in moving the heart of the king to incline to the desires of the people. With regard to the regicides, the provincial authorities were not a little perplexed between their acknowledged duty to the sovereign and their desire to screen the offenders from his vengeance. It is supposed that a private intimation was conveyed to them, which enabled them to elude the vigorous pursuit which was immediately set on foot. They were enabled by the assistance of their friends, by dexterous evasion from place to place, to end their days in New England. Dixwell, another of the regicides, lived more openly among the colonists.

* Grahame.

THE ROYAL LETTER.

227

But the apprehensions which the colonists had originally entertained of danger to their civil and ecclesiastical institutions, were speedily revived by intelligence that reached them from England of the successful machinations of their enemies at court. It was reported that their commercial intercourse with Virginia and the West Indies was to be cut off; that three frigates were preparing to sail from England in order to facilitate the introduction of arbitrary power; and that this armament was to be accompanied by a governor-general, whose jurisdiction was to extend over all the North American plantations.

This intelligence gave rise to the famous declaration by the general court, in which the nature of the provincial government, its rights and duties were clearly defined and firmly asserted. This act was followed by the public proclaiming of the king as their undoubted sovereign.

In consequence of an order from the court, Simon Bradstreet and John Norton were soon after despatched to England as agents for the colony, (December, 1661). They were received with unexpected favour, and were soon enabled to return with a letter from the king, confirming the provincial charter and promising to renew it under the great seal, whenever this formality should be desired. The royal letter likewise announced an amnesty for treasons committed during the late troubles, extending to all persons not attainted by act of parliament, taking refuge in New England. But it contained other matters by no means acceptable to the colonists. It required the repeal of all ordinances passed under the commonwealth; the taking of the oath of allegiance by all persons; the administration of justice in the king's name; the toleration of the Episcopal church; and the omission of any test of religious faith in the choice of governor and assistants, and in the qualification of voters.

However reasonable some of these requisitions may now appear, the greater number of them were highly disagreeable to the persons to whom they were addressed. In fact they were regarded as menacing the very existence of their civil and

228

DEPUTIES SENT TO ENGLAND.

religious institutions. The only one that was complied with was that which directed the judicial proceedings to be carried on in the king's name. The letter was published in compliance with the royal command, and the other matters were reserved for advisement. So unpopular did this result of the mission of Bradstreet and Norton render these gentlemen, that they were overwhelmed with reproaches; and while the firm consciousness of having done his best in the public service sustained the former through this severe trial, the latter sunk under it, and died of a broken heart (1662).

The Restoration proved highly favourable to the interests of Rhode Island in one respect. The charter granted to this colony by the Long Parliament had been suspended by the same authority. The agent of the colony, John Clarke, now succeeded in obtaining a charter, which assured to the inhabitants of Rhode Island and Providence the amplest enjoyment of religious liberty, and the most unlimited concession of municipal jurisdiction. The supreme power was vested in an assembly, consisting of a governor, deputy-governor, ten assistants, and representatives from the towns. No oath of allegiance was to be exacted from the citizens; and no man was to be molested for his religious opinions. This charter was received with great joy by the inhabitants, and has remained the fundamental constitution of that state until a very recent date.

The inhabitants of Connecticut also sent their deputy to England, on the restoration of the exiled sovereigns, as we have already had occasion to say in connection with the early history of the colony. They were fortunate in the choice of the man to whom they committed this important duty: John Winthrop, the son of the eminent person of the same name, who had presided with such distinguished honour and success over the province of Massachusetts. Winthrop, deriving a hereditary claim on the kindness of the king, from a friendship that had subsisted between his own grandfather and Charles I., employed it so successfully as to obtain for his constituents a charter, in most respects similar to that which

had been granted to Rhode Island,* but differing from it in requiring the inhabitants to take the oath of allegiance.

The consequences which would naturally result from the liberal character of these charters, appear not to have been distinctly understood by the British government at the time; but the anxiety to recall them, which was subsequently exhibited, shows that their importance was ultimately appreciated in its fullest extent.

Among the acts of the restored government of England, one of the most flagrant was the sacrifice of a noble champion of human rights, who had commenced his political career as governor of Massachusetts, Sir Harry Vane. We copy the account of this atrocious transaction from a British historian.†

"The house of commons demanded the trial, or rather the execution, of Lambert and Vane, state prisoners since the Restoration. It is necessary to repeat here, that they were excepted from the act of oblivion, that both houses at the same time petitioned the king for their lives, and that the king promised his compliance. The new parliament disdained the moderation of the convention, and clamoured for their blood. They were accordingly brought to trial in a few days after the prorogation. Neither had sat in judgment upon Charles I.: their crime was their having served the usurpation-now the style and title of the commonwealth. Lambert, a brave soldier, but a weak man, confessed himself guilty, made abject supplication for the royal clemency, and was suffered to reach the end of his natural life in the island of Guernsey, either wholly unthought of, or remembered only to be despised.

"Vane had the reputation of wanting personal firmness. He defended himself on his trial with undaunted resolution, and never gave more shining proof of the elevation of his talents and his principles. The indictment charged him with treason against the person and government of Charles II.; and the overt acts to sustain it were his official acts, as a public servant of the commonwealth. His defence was, first,

* Grahame.

+Continuation of Mackintosh's England, Vol. xvii., p. 18.