It is certainly to be regretted that we have been led to form our opinion of Andros from the reports of men who were deeply interested in maligning him. That his government was distasteful to the citizens of Massachusetts is undeniable, but no man sent here to perform the same duty would have been acceptable. In reality the grievance of the colonists lay in the destruction of their Charter, and filled with hatred to those who had thus deprived them of this accustomed liberty, they were at enmity with every form of government that might be imposed in its place. The leaders indeed found that a restoration of the Charter was impossible, but Increase Mather's letters testify how reluctantly the people acquiesced, and how sharply he was blamed for not effecting impossibilities. As to the government of Andros, we fail to see in it any special hardships or persecution. He himself declares that he levied for the expenses of the State only the usual annual tax of a penny in the pound, which had been the rate for the previous fifty years. If other officers, not appointed by him, nor under his control, charged unmerciful fees, that was a matter to be urged against them. It is a significant fact, however, that most of these officers remained in America and were unmolested. If under instructions from the Crown, and fortified by the opinions of English judges, he attempted to collect rent for lands which the settlers claimed were their own, unless he used fraud or violence, he should no more be blamed than the lawyers employed in the cases. We see then no reason to doubt that Sir Edmund Andros was an upright and honorable man, faithful to his employers, conscientious in his religious belief, an able soldier, possessed of great administrative abilities, a man worthy to be ranked among the leaders of his time. He may have been hasty of speech, yet his words were followed by no acts of revenge; he may have been proud of his ancestry and his position at Court, yet we find no evidence that his pride exceeded the bounds of decorum. He was singularly fortunate in acquiring the affection of the Indians at a time when their good-will was of immense importance; and his overthrow was the precursor of one of the most disastrous Indian wars that New England ever experienced.