A Memoir of Sir Edmund Andros, Knt., / Governor of New England, New York and Virginia, &c., &c.

by William Henry Whitmore

So in two cases cited by his accusers, in pages 107 and 111 following: when certain impertinent busy-bodies brought an Indian to testify that Andros was engaged in a conspiracy to bring on an Indian War,—a story whose folly was only equalled by the harm it might cause if believed by the people,—Andros contented himself with ridiculing them, though afterwards they were fined by the courts. To prove that he discountenanced making defence against the Indians, his opponents offer the testimony of certain village officials, whose affidavits prove only that Sir Edmund probably had read Shakespeare.

We fail, therefore, to see any evidence that Andros was cruel, rapacious, or dishonest; we know of no charge affecting his morality, and we find a hasty temper the most palpable fault to be imputed to him.

To return to our sketch of his public acts. He arrived at Boston, a place which he had before visited in October, 1680, to wait upon Lord Culpepper, (N.Y. Col. Doc. iii. 308,) in the "Kingfisher," Sunday, December 19, 1686, and landed the next day attended by about sixty soldiers. He was received with great acclamation of joy, and was escorted by a great number of merchants and others, to the Town House. He at once proceeded to organize his government, which it must be remembered, as constituted by his commission, was composed of the Governor and his Council. The other officers, judges, collectors, &c., were at hand, and the objects of the new rulers were soon disclosed. By losing their Charter and its representative form of government, the colonists had lost the privilege of taxing themselves. The Governor and Council imposed the tax; and when the inhabitants of the town of Ipswich attempted to resist the law, the patriotic leaders of the movement were tried, fined and imprisoned. The judges were Dudley, Stoughton, Usher and Randolph. This trial ended all attempts to dispute this claim of the government, but it was only the natural result of the forfeiture of the Charter, and in no sense the act of the Governor.

The other claim of the Crown was to the ownership of all the land, which involved two questions, viz. as to lands already owned by the settlers, and waste lands. The government held that private titles were invalid, unless confirmed by the Crown on the payment of a quit rent. Preposterous as this doctrine may seem, it had staunch defenders, and Andros was in earnest in enforcing it. Many complied with the requirements of the government, but the work was not completed when the Revolution came. As to Andros's share of the blame, Palmer makes the best defence, when he points out that Writs of Intrusion were brought only against a few persons to test the right, and these persons were those able to contest the question, and not obscure individuals. The moral question as to waste lands is more difficult of decision, since the argument is not without force, that it was better for Andros to grant them to persons who would improve them, than for the towns to hold them, unimproved, as commons.

Among the earliest acts of Andros, was his extending his authority over New Hampshire, Plymouth and Rhode Island, as well as Maine and Massachusetts. In October, 1687, he visited Hartford, and took the government of Connecticut also into his hands, and he afterwards traveled through that Colony. The first few months of 1688 were spent at Boston in consolidating the legislation necessary for the future guidance of the government.

He had at this time the misfortune to lose his wife, who died January 22, 1687-8, and was buried in the church-yard adjoining King's Chapel.[6]

In April, 1688, Andros visited Portsmouth and Pemaquid, where he repaired the fort, and proceeding to Penobscot, he seized some property of Castine, a Frenchman who had settled there among the Indians. Returning to Boston, "he found a great promotion awaiting him in a new commission, creating him Governor of all the English possessions on the mainland, except Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia."[7] His command embraced New England, New York and New Jersey, with its capital at Boston.

In July, August and September, 1688, Andros made a tour through the Colonies, going through the Jerseys, and visiting New York city, Albany and Hartford. During this visit he had held a conference with the chiefs of the Five Nations, and had notified the Governor of Canada that these tribes were under the protection of the English. He must therefore have been surprised and disgusted to find that hostilities were imminent in the Colony of Maine. The cause of this outbreak was probably the resentment of Castine, whose property had been taken by Andros in the spring, and whose influence with the Penobscots was great.

At first, the Governor tried the effect of conciliation, but finding this useless, he collected some seven hundred troops,[8] and in November, 1688, he proceeded to Maine to defend the settlers there. He established and garrisoned several forts, a list of which will be found in Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll. 3rd S. i. 85. At Pemaquid, he received information of the probable designs of the Prince of Orange upon England, and January 10th, 1689, he issued the Proclamation which will be found on p. 75 of the present volume.

He returned to Boston early in March,[9] and the chief event of that month was the accusation that he had entered into a conspiracy with the Indians against the Colony, a base and foolish calumny. On the 4th of April, 1689, the news of the landing of the Prince of Orange in England was brought to Boston from Nevis by John Winslow, who had a copy of the Prince's Declaration. Andros had been previously warned however, by his friends in New York.