dwelt in a cave in the woods. Great rewards were offered for their apprehension. Indians as well as English were urged to scour the woods in quest of their hiding-place, as men hunt for the holes of foxes. When the zeal of the search was nearly over, they retired to a little village on Long Island Sound, till at last they escaped by night to an appointed place of refuge in Hadley, where Goffe and Whalley dwelt undisturbed till their death. Dixwell was fortunate enough, by changing his name, to live unmolested in New Haven, where he married and passed the remainder of his life.

"

Eliot, the Indian apostle.

As the English settlements increased, the number of the Indians proportionally diminished, and, about the latter part of the seventeenth century, the aborigines in all New England are supposed to have been considerably less than thirty thousand, while the whites were double that num

Of the Indians, about five thousand dwelt in the district of Maine, three thousand in New Hampshire, eight thousand in Massachusetts, and the remainder in Rhode Island and Connecticut, which territories had never been → depopulated by sickness. Considerable efforts were made by the early settlers to civilize the savages, and convert them to the Christian faith, but with little success. The

most celebrated of all the Indian missionaries, was John Elot, named the Indian apostle. He was a native of England, and officiated as a minister at Boston and Roxbury. He soon gave his attention to the object of propagating the gospel among the natives, and, having learnt their language, began to preach to them in 1646. Mr. Mayhew, of Martha's Vineyard, had engaged in this work two years before. Eliot continued diligent and persevering in his efforts for the instruction of these rude and ignorant people, and their faithful monitor and friend, till his death, in 1690, at the age of eighty-six. He translated the whole Bible into the Indian language, and it was printed at Cambridge, in the year 1663. He was also the author of an Indian grammar.

1

CHAPTER XIV.

SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND.-Revocation of the charter of Massachusetts-Alarm of the inhabitants-Andros appointed governor— His tyrannical proceedings in Massachusetts-He assumes the government of Rhode Island-He attempts to seize the charter of Connecticut -The charter oak-Oppressions of Andros' government—He is made governor of New York-The Bostonians rise in insurrection and depose Andros-Enthusiasm of the people--Andros expelled the country -The charter governments restored-Fletcher, governor of New York, attempts to assume the military command in Connecticut-Resistance of the people-Barbarities of the French and Indian war— -Savage murder of Major Waldron-Attack of Haverhill—Adventures of Mrs. Dustan-Second French and Indian war—Attack and plunder of Deerfield -Captivity and adventures of Mrs. Williams-Expedition of the New England colonies against Nova Scotia and Canada-Disasters in the St. Lawrence-Peace of Utrecht.

THE charter of Massachusetts was taken away by James II., in 1685, to the great grief of the inhabitants; and this was heightened to indignation and alarm, when they learnt that Colonel Kirke, an infamous tool and sycophant of the king, was destined for their governor. Kirke, however, was not sent to America, but, in December, 1686, Sir Edmund Andros arrived at Boston, and assumed the government of all New England. Andros was instructed to rule the country with the utmost rigor; to tolerate no printing press; to support episcopacy, and to sustain authority by force. He executed his instructions to the letter, and ruled with the most arbitrary sway. Popular representation was abolished, the schools were suffered to go to decay, town meetings were prohibited, and Andros publicly declared, "There is no such thing as a town in the whole country." Taxes were imposed which the people refused to pay. Writs of habeas corpus were withheld;

oppression threatened the country with ruin, and the oppressors, quoting an opinion current among the commercial monopolists in England, answered without disguise, “It is not for his majesty's interest you should thrive."

The next blow was struck against the liberties of Rhode Island, against whose charter a writ of quo warranto had been issued. Andros repaired to Rhode Island, dissolved the government, and broke its seal. He appointed a new council, and an irresponsible commission for the government of the colony. In the autumn of the same year, 1687, attended by a number of his council and an armed guard, he proceeded to Connecticut, to assume the government of that province. The colonial assembly convened at Hartford, and the government continued, according to the charter, until the last of October. About this time, Sir Edmund, with his suite, and a body of sixty regular troops, arrived at Hartford, when the assembly were sitting, demanded the charter, and declared the government under it to be dissolved. The assembly were extremely reluctant and slow with respect to any resolve to surrender the charter, or with respect to any motion to bring it forth. The tradition is, that Governor Treat strongly represented the great expense and hardships of the colonists, in planting the country; the blood and treasure which they had expended in defending it, both against the savages and foreigners; to what hardships and dangers he himself had been exposed for that purpose; and that it was like giving up his life, now, to surrender the patent and privileges, so dearly bought, and so long enjoyed.

The important affair was debated and kept in suspense until the evening, when the charter was brought and laid upon the table, where the assembly was sitting. By this time, great numbers of people were assembled, and men sufficiently bold to undertake whatever might be necessary or expedient. The lights were instantly extinguished, and one Captain Wadsworth, of Hartford, in the most silent and secret manner, carried off the charter, and secreted it in a large hollow tree, ever after famous as the "Charter Oak," fronting the house of the Hon. Samuel Wyllys, then

one of the magistrates of the colony. The people appeared all peaceable and orderly. The candles were officiously

Captain Wadsworth securing the charter of Connecticut.

relighted; but the charter was gone, and no discovery. could be made of it, or of the person who had conveyed it. away. Sir Edmund assumed the government, and the records of the colony were closed in the following words:

"At a general court at Hartford, October 31st, 1687, his excellency, Sir Edmund Andros, knight, and captain-general and governor of his majesty's territories and dominions in New England, by order from his majesty, James the Second, king of England, Scotlar, France, and Ireland, the 31st of October, 1687, took into his hands the government of the colony of Connecticut, it being, by his majesty, annexed to Massachusetts, and other colonies under his excellency's government."

Andros appointed officers, civil and military, through the colony, according to his pleasure. He had a council, at first, consisting of about forty persons, and afterwards of nearly fifty. Four of this number, Governor Treat, John Fitz Winthrop, Wait Winthrop, and John Allen, Esquires, were of Connecticut.

He began his government with the most flattering professions of his regard to the public safety and happiness