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 boroughs in the realm, was in no humor to be bearded by a few daring sectaries in New England. Legal proceedings were instituted, and before Massachusetts could engage counsel in her defense, judgment was entered by default, and the charter declared to be forfeited. The government of the colony was thus thrown entirely into the hands of the king; and James II, who had now come to the throne, appointed Sir Edmund Andros to be governor of all New England, the charters of the other colonies being either forfeited or in abeyance. The popular legislative assemblies were dissolved, and Sir Edmund, with authority to appoint and remove the members of his council at pleasure, enacted laws and governed as he saw fit. For more than two years, his yoke was heavy upon the necks of the people. Then came a rumor that a revolution had taken place in England, and that the Prince of Orange already was, or would soon be, on the throne, in place of the deposed James II; and without waiting to learn whether it was any thing more than a rumor, the inhabitants of Boston seized their arms, imprisoned Andros and his chief adherents, and reinstated their beloved charter government, with the venerable Simon Bradstreet at its head, April, 1689. Then ensued a negotiation with the government of William and Mary, for the restoration of the old charter. But the king and his ministers were determined to strengthen the royal prerogative, and they would only offer a new charter, far less liberal in its provisions than the old one, with the significant intimation that the colony might take that or none. Finding that they would otherwise be governed at the royal pleasure, the people very reluctantly accepted the new instrument, by which Plymouth and Maine were united to Massachusetts, and the appointment of the governor, secretary, and all admiralty officers was reserved to the crown. The governor might convoke and adjourn the General Court at pleasure; he had a negative upon the election of counsellors and the enactment of laws, and a right to nominate all judges and military officers. The laws were to be transmitted to England, even after he had sanctioned them; and if disapproved by the king within three years from the time of their enactment, they became void. The right of suffrage was no longer confined to church members, but was given to all who had 40 shillings income from freehold property, or 40 pounds of personal estate.

The first royal governor appointed was Sir William Phips, whose administration was distinguished only by the unhappy popular delusion, usually called the Salem Witchcraft, 1692. Some children were, or pretended to be, thrown into convulsions; and they accused certain persons of bewitching them. The mania spread; others declared that they were afflicted, pinched, and bruised, and when the witnesses and the accused were confronted in open court, the former seemed to be thrown into an agony and charged the latter with tormenting them by diabolical means. Every one against whom they 'cried out' was arrested, and the prisons were soon filled. Some weak-minded persons among the prisoners were persuaded or terrified into a confession of guilt, and then bore witness against others; and upon this accumulation of evidence, many were convicted. Twenty persons were hanged, among whom was Mr. Burroughs, a clergyman; and one old man, aged eighty years, was pressed to death. Many others were cried out against, and fled for their lives. At last, the extravagance of the evil began to work its cure. The witnesses accused some persons who stood so high in character and station, that the belief even of the cre