This (1692) was the time of the witchcraft trials in Massachusetts, a delusion in which Rhode Island did not share, for though she gave witchcraft a place on her statute books as a tribute to a superstition of the age, she never brought it into her courts. She was busied with more important questions. Phipps was urging his claim to command the New England forces. John Greene, now Deputy-Governor, went to Boston with one of the assistants to discuss the matter. They got no satisfaction from the aspiring governor, either upon the question of command or upon the equally important question of the boundary line. The whole matter was referred to the Board of Trade and by them to the Attorney-General, who decided in favor of Rhode Island. A distinction, however, was made between peace and war. In time of war the commander-in-chief might, in conjunction with the governor, call out the quota prescribed by the Board of Trade. Rhode Island's quota for service under the Governor of New York was forty-eight men. The eastern boundary question was referred to the New York Council as being disinterested and near the spot. The Narragansett dispute though so often decided in favor of Rhode Island, still reappeared from time to time. Several years were yet to pass before the boundaries both on the east and the west were definitively settled and the stout little Colony secured in the possession of her own territory. I shall no longer attempt to follow the story through its obscure ramifications. It has served thus far to illustrate colonial life, and show with what tenacity of purpose and devotion to a great principle Rhode Island followed up her labor of organization. It was the border war of our colonial history. The necessity of regular communication between the colonies began to be seriously felt, and part of John Greene's mission to Boston in 1692 was to negotiate the establishment of a post office. Early in the following year Thomas Neale, acting under patent from the King, established a weekly mail from Boston to Virginia. Rhode Island came in for her share of the advantage. The rate of postage upon a single inland letter from Boston to Rhode Island was sixpence. And thus was woven one of the first links in the chain which, before another century was passed, had bound all the colonies in an indissoluble union. We have seen a gradual approach towards a just comprehension of the relations of the state to its officers. The decisive step was taken in 1695, when a salary of ten pounds was voted to the governor, six pounds to the deputy-governor, four pounds to the assistants and three shillings a day to the deputies while in session. Absentees forfeited twice their pay.