and declared him a rebel. But he was not the only one to be put down. William Drummond, the first governor of North Carolina, and Richard Lawrence, both men of energy and of culture, came out at Jamestown on Bacon's side. At their demand, supported by other colonists of influence, the assembly by which the governor had been blindly supported was dissolved. Bacon, elected to a new assembly, carried various measures of reform, besides obtaining a commission of commanding officer against the Indians. Again declared a rebel, he called a convention, who promised to stand by him while he proceeded against the foe upon the frontier. But on the governor's taking the field with armed servants and Indians, supported by some English men-of-war, Bacon and his party returned to meet him. Berkeley retreated, Bacon fired Jamestown, and soon after died. The cause which he had staked his all to support soon fell to pieces, and his chief adherents, Drummond amongst them, were hanged. Lawrence disappeared. "That old fool," said the good natured Charles II., on hearing of his governor's revenge, "has hanged more men in that naked colony than I did here for the murder of my father." Berkeley died of shame, it is said, in England He left Virginia crushed and desolate.

Andros

New England, consolidated into one province, In New was given over to Sir Edmund Andros, formerly England. governor of New York, (1686.) He made his ap pearance with troops, overthrowing the colonial assemblies, if there were any left to overthrow, declaring the town organizations at an end, prohibiting the printing press, and threatening even the property of the colonists by requiring them to take out new deeds of their estates from him. It was a part of his commission to procure toleration, especially for the church of England. To do this in Boston, he saw fit to seize upon one of the Puritan churches to celebrate

the church service. Resistance was not attempted, and Andros and his council ruled supreme; nor only over New England, but likewise over New York and New Jersey, both of which were attached to his government, (1688.) In fact, he was on the high road to dominion over all the colonies. The charters of the Carolinas and of Maryland

that is, of every other colony which had a charter, save Pennsylvania alone were menaced, (1686-88.) A waste of despotism seemed to be opening wherever freedom had found a foothold.

Revolution.

Just then came the news of the revolution in England, (1689.) It was welcomed by a revolution in America. Boston rose against Andros, deposing him, and declaring Simon Bradstreet governor. The reaction was by no means gentle. The churchmen, whom Andros had favored, and who supported him, sent an address to King William, bewailing the peril to them from the returning" anarchy and confusion of government under which this country hath so long groaned." Rhode Island and Connecticut went farther than Massachusetts, and resumed their treasured charters. New York took up arms under Jacob Leisler and a committee of safety. The other colonies, less sorely oppressed than those of New England and New York, received the news in comparative tranquillity. A party in Maryland rose, but not against oppression so much as for the sake of sedition. The proprietary government fell, as has been told. But not It soon appeared, however, that the English liberty. revolution was not intended to be interpreted as setting the colonies free. The charter of 1691 proved it in Massachusetts. The execution of Jacob Leisler and his son-in-law, Milbourne, in New York, by orders, however, of the new governor, Colonel Sloughter, rather than by those of the king, was equally conclusive, (1691.)

The appointment of Andros- the same Sir Edmund who had trampled upon both Massachusetts and New York to the government of Virginia* was a still more stunning demonstration, (1692.)

Fletcher

in New

A new attempt at colonial consolidation soon occurred. Colonel Benjamin Fletcher, a man of York. far less character than Andros, was made governor of New York and Pennsylvania, including Delaware; the proprietary government in the latter colonies being then suspended, (1692.) He was also declared commander-in-chief of the Connecticut and the New Jersey militia. Soon after taking possession of New York and Pennsylvania, Fletcher proceeded to Connecticut to take command of the militia. They assembled at his orders; but instead of listening to his commission, the senior officer, Captain Wadsworth, cried, "Beat the drums!" On Fletcher's attempting to persevere, Wadsworth exclaimed, "If I am interrupted again, I'll make the sun shine through you in a moment," (1693.) Thus baffled in his military functions, the governor returned to his civil powers in New York and Pennsylvania. The latter province, after resisting his demands for a grant of money, yielded only on condition that it should be disbursed by the provincial treasurer · a condition which Fletcher would not, and, if obedient to his instructions, could not allow, (1694.) New York itself was restive under his control. A tax for the support of ministers and the erection of churches had led to a debate between the council and the assembly; the council proposing that the governor should nominate the new clergy, but the assembly opposing. "You take it upon you," declared Fletcher to the assembly," as if you were dictators;" but the assem

* He proved, however, to be a comparatively good governor there

bly stood fast, and soon carried their point, "that the vestry and the churchwardens have a power to call their own minister," a dissenter, if so they pleased, although the governor was strong for the church of England, (1695.) It had been proposed by a clergyman of this church to combine New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Rhode Island in a single province, with a bishop, residing at New York, for its civil as well as ecclesiastical head. But this, more naturally even than Governor Fletcher's designs, came to nought. Fletcher himself, falling into disgrace at home, was recalled, leaving his attempts at consolidation an utter failure, (1698.)

General

strict

ness.

The troubles implied in the various colonial relations, account for much that has been ascribed to other causes. It has been so common to consider the Puritan severity as a thing apart, that one does not immediately seize upon the fact of the almost universal strictness that prevailed. Virginia, for instance, gave no harbor to Puritanism. Yet the Virginia code thunders against "mercenary attorneys," (1643,) burgesses "disguised with over much drink," (1659,) tippling houses, (1676,) and Sunday travelling, (1692.) Maryland declares with as much solemnity as Massachusetts against profanity, (1642.) Nor were precautions of a different nature neglected. Both Maryland (1642–1715) and New York (1665) make it necessary to procure a passport before traversing or leaving the colonial precincts. It was from a similar impulse that the "handicraftsmen" of Boston petitioned the General Court of Massachusetts to be protected against "strangers from all parts" who were interfering with their trade, not to say their influence in the community, (1677.) All over the colonies, there reigned a spirit of watchfulness, perhaps more grim, but certainly not more resolute, in one place than in another.

It might be increased or diminished by the social or the religious temper of the colonists; the New Englander was likely to be more upon his guard than the Virginian. But the spirit was the common growth of the new country, whose depths were still hid in the wilderness, whose borders were still bristling with the arrow or the steel.

Perils of

tier.

The perils of the frontier are yet to be described. the fron- All around the colonists, there extended a line, or rather a series of lines, one after another, of suspected neighbors or of open foes. The Indian lay in ambush on this side; on that, the European, Swede, Dutchman, Spaniard, or Frenchman, stood in threatening attitude. Nor was the land alone overspread with enemies; the waters swarmed with pirates and with buccaneers; nay, the very air seemed to be filled with ghostly shapes and with appalling sounds. The world of spirits, as the colonists believed, was agitated by the wars amongst the races of America.