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Page 24
Our friend Charley, too, thought the evening the best time to hear
Grandfather's stories, because he could not then be playing out of
doors. So, finding his young auditors unanimous in their petition, the
good old gentleman took up the narrative of the historic chair, at the
point where he had dropt it.
CHAPTER II.
"You recollect, my dear children," said Grandfather, "that we took leave
of the chair in 1692, while it was occupied by Sir William Phips. This
fortunate treasure-seeker, you will remember, had come over from
England, with King William's commission to be Governor of Massachusetts.
Within the limits of this province were now included the old colony of
Plymouth, and the territories of Maine and Nova Scotia. Sir William
Phips had likewise brought a new charter from the king, which served
instead of a constitution, and set forth the method in which the
province was to be governed."
"Did the new charter allow the people all their former liberties?"
inquired Laurence.
"No," replied Grandfather. "Under the first charter, the people had been
the source of all power. Winthrop, Endicott, Bradstreet, and the rest of
them, had been governors by the choice of the people, without any
interference of the king. But henceforth the governor was to hold his
station solely by the king's appointment, and during his pleasure; and
the same was the case with the lieutenant-governor, and some other high
officers. The people, however, were still allowed to choose
representatives; and the governor's council was chosen by the general
court."
"Would the inhabitants have elected Sir William Phips," asked Laurence,
"if the choice of governor had been left to them?"
"He might probably have been a successful candidate," answered
Grandfather; "for his adventures and military enterprises had gained him
a sort of renown, which always goes a great way with the people. And he
had many popular characteristics, being a kind, warm-hearted man, not
ashamed of his low origin, nor haughty in his present elevation. Soon
after his arrival, he proved that he did not blush to recognize his
former associates."
"How was that?" inquired Charley.
"He made a grand festival at his new brick house," said Grandfather,
"and invited all the ship-carpenters of Boston to be his guests. At the
head of the table, in our great chair, sat Sir William Phips himself,
treating these hard handed men as his brethren, cracking jokes with
them, and talking familiarly about old times. I know not whether he wore
his embroidered dress, but I rather choose to imagine that he had on a
suit of rough clothes, such as he used to labor in, while he was Phips
the ship-carpenter."
"An aristocrat need not be ashamed of the trade," observed Laurence;
"for the czar Peter the Great once served an apprenticeship to it."
"Did Sir William Phips make as good a governor as he was a
ship-carpenter?" asked Charley.
"History says but little about his merits as a ship-carpenter,"
answered Grandfather; "but, as a governor, a great deal of fault was
found with him. Almost as soon as he assumed the government, he became
engaged in a very frightful business, which might have perplexed a wiser
and better cultivated head than his. This was the witchcraft delusion."
And here Grandfather gave his auditors such details of this melancholy
affair, as he thought it fit for them to know. They shuddered to hear
that a frenzy, which led to the death of many innocent persons, had
originated in the wicked arts of a few children. They belonged to the
Rev. Mr. Parris, minister of Salem. These children complained of being
pinched, and pricked with pins, and otherwise tormented by the shapes of
men and women, who were supposed to have power to haunt them invisibly,
both in darkness and daylight. Often, in the midst of their family and
friends, the children would pretend to be seized with strange
convulsions, and would cry out that the witches were afflicting them.
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