. A brief history of the United States . ginia,was exceedingly oppres-sive in Massachusetts,which possessed a thriv-ing commerce. In spiteof the decree the colonyopened a trade with theWest Indies. The roy-alists in England deter-mined that this bold re-publican spirit should bequelled. An Englishofi&cer who attempted toenforce the NavigationAct having been com-pelled to return home, Charles II. eagerly seized upon theexcuse thus ofEered, and made Massachusetts a royal pro-vince. The king died before his plan was completed, butJames II. (1686) declared the charters of all the New Eng-land colo
. A brief history of the United States . ginia,was exceedingly oppres-sive in Massachusetts,which possessed a thriv-ing commerce. In spiteof the decree the colonyopened a trade with theWest Indies. The roy-alists in England deter-mined that this bold re-publican spirit should bequelled. An Englishofi&cer who attempted toenforce the NavigationAct having been com-pelled to return home, Charles II. eagerly seized upon theexcuse thus ofEered, and made Massachusetts a royal pro-vince. The king died before his plan was completed, butJames II. (1686) declared the charters of all the New Eng-land colonies forfeited, and sent over Sir Edmund Andros,as first royal governor of New England. He carried thingswith a high hand. The colonies endured his oppressionfor three years, when, learning that his royal master wasdethroned, they rose against their petty tyrant and put himin jail. With true Puritan sobriety they then quietlyresumed their old form of government. This lasted forthree years, when Sir WiUiam Phipps came as royal gover-. KING PHILIP. 60 EPOCH II. [1692. nor over a province embracing Massachusetts, Maine, andNova Scotia. From this time till the Revolution, Massachu-setts remained a royal province. Salem Witchcraft (1692).—A strange delusion knownas the Salem witchcraft,* produced the most intense excite-ment. The children of Mr. Parris, a minister near Salem,performed pranks which could be explained only by supposingthat they were under Satanic influence. Every effort wasmade to discover who had bewitched them. An Indianservant was flogged until she admitted herself to be others were affected, and the terrible mania spreadrapidly. Committees of examination were appointed andcourts of trial convened. The most improbable stories werecredited. To express a doubt of witchcraft was to indicateones own alliance with the evil spirit. Persons of thehighest respectability, clergymen, magistrates, and even thegovernors wife were implicated. At last, after fifty-
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