1

and still over the accursed soil; the faint gleam of the pools and sluggish lakes on every side, in the starlight, and the howl of the wolf, fitfully, as if it warned that the hour was nigh." On the 12th of August, Church arranged his men so that it was scarcely possible for Philip to escape. At this moment a single shot was heard in the distance, and a ball whistled through the air over their heads. Church supposed that it had been fired by accident; but before he could speak an entire volley was discharged. The battle had begun. Philip, unexpectedly aroused, throwing his belt and powderhorn over his head, seized his gun and fled. Unaware of the ambush, he ran directly towards two of Church's men. When he was quite near, the colonist levelled his gun, but it missed fire. He bade the Indian fire, which he did with effect. Philip of Mount Hope, the bravest of braves, and the most merciless of foes, fell pierced to the heart. Captain Church, forgetting that the honor of the conqueror is measured by that allotted to his foe, exclaimed that, "forasmuch as he had caused many an Englishman's body to be unburied, and to rot above ground, not one of his bones should be buried." The head was cut off and the body quartered.2

"Such was the fate of Philip, which was immediately followed by a termination of the war in every quarter except the eastern frontier. It was a war of extermination between his followers and the whites: happy if the kindred tribes had learned wisdom from the fatal lesson. Thus fell King Philip! Yes! the savage fought a relentless war; but he fought for his native land, for the mound that covered the bones of his parents; he fought for his squaw and pappoose; - no, I will not defraud them of the sacred names which our hearts

Carne, Life of Eliot.

2 Authorities, Hubbard, Church, Drake, Baylies, &c.

understand; he fought for his wife and children. He would have been, not a savage, he would have been a thing for which language has no name, for which neither human nor brute existence has a parallel,—if he had not fought for them." 1 "The death of Philip in retrospect," says Holmes, "makes different impressions from what were made at the time of the event. It was then considered as the extinction of an insolent and implacable enemy; it is now viewed as the fall of a great warrior, a penetrating statesman, and a mighty prince. It then excited universal joy and congratulation, as a prelude to the close of a merciless war; it now awakens sober reflections on the instability of empire, the peculiar destiny of the aboriginal race, and the inscrutable decrees of Heaven. The patriotism of the man was then overlooked in the cruelty of the savage, and little allowance was made for the natural jealousy of the sovereign on account of the barbarities of the warrior. Philip, in the progress of the English settlements, foresaw the loss of his territory, and the extinction of his tribe, and made one mighty effort to prevent those calamities." 2

The war was ended; and there was scarcely a family in all the colonies that was not arrayed in mourning. Six hundred of the English had fallen upon the battle-field; twelve or thirteen towns had been destroyed; and the whole expense, including losses and disbursements, exceeded half a million of dollars. No Indian war which has occurred within the limits of the United States was ever attended with such disastrous results as this of King Philip. The advance of New England was retarded by it fifty years; but its evil effects were, in process of time, entirely obliterated.

Everett, Oration on Lathrop.

* Holmes, Annals.

CHAPTER VI.

THE DOWNFALL OF THE CHARTER.

SINCE the accession of Charles II., England had chafed under the independent attitude of the colonies. The commission of 1664 had signally failed of its object, and all attempts to reduce the colonies to servile obedience had likewise been foiled. But not yet was the English court willing to relinquish the effort to subdue the spirit of a people whose very perverseness stung its pride. Accordingly, in 1672, it voted to send new agents to America, who should "from time to time report how that people stood affected." These agents never came over, however; and as an offset to the apparent lack of courage on the part of the court, the Council for Plantations resolved itself into a Council for Trade and Foreign Plantations, and delayed further proceedings.1

From the very first, Massachusetts had shown herself the most defiant of all the colonies, and in the face of opposition had found prosperity. Her commerce was reaching out its arms in every direction, and wealth was pouring into her treasuries; while New Hampshire and Maine, and even a part of the province of Acadia, were included within her jurisdiction. But a dark hour in her history was rapidly approaching.

While England viewed with jealous eyes the widely ex

1 Evelyn, Diary, i. 434–459.

tended traffic of the colony, fearing that the latter "would not only ruin the trade of this kingdom, but would leave no sort of dependence from that country to this," Gorges and Mason again offered to dispose of all their claims to the crown; but the monarch was too poor to purchase them. The General Court of Massachusetts, although it had in its employ no standing agent in England, managed to gain a knowledge of this and other proceedings dangerous to its future welfare, and at once adopted measures of defence. The king, resolved upon "reassuming the government of Massachusetts," sent the insolent Edward Randolph to New England. He arrived at Boston in the early summer of 1676, and at once waited upon Governor Leverett. He had come with full powers to carry out the will of his sovereign a duty scarcely possible to be performed at such a time. Without paying much attention either to his credentials or his proposals, the governor regarded him "as Mr. Mason's agent," and bade him withdraw. The governor also gave him to understand that "the laws of England were binding no further than consisted with their interests; that by the charter, full legislative powers were conferred upon the company; that all matters in dispute were to be concluded by their determination, without any appeal; and that his majesty ought not to retrench their liberties, which he had agreed to confirm, but leave them to enjoy, or even to enlarge the same, inasmuch as upon their own charge, and without any contribution from the crown, they had 'made so large a plantation in the wilderness.' "2 Randolph returned to England one year later, execrated by all whom he left behind.

In this same year, William Stoughton and Peter Bulkley

Hutchinson, Coll., 505.

Barry, i. 456.

sailed for England, for the purpose of "making answer to the complaints of Gorges and Mason," and of negotiating that “affair with safety to the country." Hearings were granted to them shortly after their arrival, which resulted, however, only in the defeat of their mission. The claims of Massachusetts to the right of jurisdiction over Maine and New Hampshire were rejected; and "the former province was confirmed to Gorges and his heirs," while for the government of the latter province the crown issued a special commission. At this point John Usher, a merchant of Boston, purchased the whole right and interest of Gorges' heirs, and assigned it over to the governor and company. Massachusetts rejoiced in such a victory, and the king became sorely enraged. So the end was not yet.

Pending these proceedings, the court had determined to send over a royal governor, "wholly supported by his majesty," and also a collector for the port of Boston. Randolph was chosen to fill the latter office, and again arrived in Boston in December, 1678, where he was welcomed "more like a spy than one of his majesty's servants," and was soon made by everybody the object of abuse.1 The agents of the colony did not reach home until the following year, bearing letters from the king. According to these letters, the king demanded that new agents should visit England within six months, "to attend to such business as remained unsettled;" that freedom of conscience should be allowed to members of the church of England; that all freemen were to be eligible to office; that military commissions and proceedings of justice should run in his majesty's name; and that an assignment of the purchase of Gorges' claim should be made to the king, on repayment of the

11 Mass. H. Coll., vi. 92-94. Chalmers, Annals, 408.