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

Fletcher

in New York.

A new attempt at colonial consolidation soon occurred. occurred. Colonel Benjamin Fletcher, a man of 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

ness.

The troubles implied in the various colonial relastrict- tions 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

The perils of the frontier are yet to be described. the fron- All around the colonists, there extended a line, or tier. 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.

Spirit

CHAPTER III.

INDIAN WARS.

TROUBLE between the European and the Indian of the was inevitable. It did not generally originate with Indians. the Indian, for he was disposed to welcome the.. stranger, and to help him in his trials. One of the very earliest visitors of the Plymouth settlers, as their first winter of suffering drew to an end, was Squanto, who had been kidnapped by an English vessel, seven years before, sold to slavery in Spain, released by Spaniards, and restored to his native country. Instead of revenging himself upon the English, he caught fish for them, and showed them how to plant and dress their corn. Indeed, there are few passages in history more honorable to human nature than those which recall the trustful and generous spirit of the red men towards the white men on these shores.

It was far from being always, or even habitually, Spirit of the Eu- requited. From the other side of the ocean, men ropeans. looked upon the American natives with a magnanimous kindliness, which on this side was too often transformed into distrust and hostility. A European thought himself bound by no obligations to an Indian. His treaties were to his own advantage, his bargains to his own profit, his efforts to his own supremacy. The noblest of the English missionaries to the Indians, John Eliot, called them "the dregs of mankind." Only from a distance that lent enchantment to the view could a gentler estimate be

formed. "Concerning the killing of those poor Indians," wrote John Robinson, the Puritan minister, from Holland to his brethren at Plymouth, in relation to the slaughter of several natives suspected of conspiring against that settlement, “O, how happy a thing had it been if you had converted some before you had killed any! Besides, where blood is once begun to be shed, it is seldom stanched of a long time after. It is also a thing more glorious in men's eyes than pleasing in God's, or convenient for Christians, to be a terror to poor barbarous people," (1623.)

Missionary labors.

It was the idea of King James of England, in issuing the patent of Virginia, to civilize and convert the natives of the country which he was giving to his companies. The London Company, accordingly, in conjunction with individuals both in England and în America, made some exertion to carry out the royal design. A school for natives was planned, as has been mentioned, but without being established. The colony of Plymouth, listening to Robinson's appeal, recognized the possibility of brotherhood with the Indians. Laws were formally enacted to provide for the conversion of the natives to the Christian faith, (1636.) Massachusetts framed what may be called a code of “necessary and wholesome laws to reduce them to civility of life," (November 4, 1646.)

The May

Obtaining an English grant of Martha's Vinehews and yard, and then confirming his title by purchase Eliot. from the natives, Thomas Mayhew began almost immediately to teach those who remained with him upon the island, (1643.) A more active missionary, however, was his son Thomas, who, after ten years' exertions, perished on a voyage to England, whither he was going for aid to his mission, (1657.) His father, and afterwards his son, continued the work to which he had sacrificed himself. Meanwhile John Eliot had begun his labors on the Massa