[52] This enactment is the formal establishment of representative government in the colony,--in accordance with the character of this Court which so decreed. Cf. Introduction, above, to this No. 67 _b._ (2). [53] Not more than four, so the vote stood probably 18 for, and 15 against. But the new claim of the Assistants that at least six magistrates must be "in the vote" (_i.e._ vote yes) prevents action. [54] It is refreshing to see that the gentle Puritan women were not to be controlled in the matter. In 1638, four years later, Winthrop has the following item: "The court, taking into consideration the great disorder general through the country in costliness of apparel, and following new fashions, sent for the elders of the churches, and conferred with them about it, and laid it upon them, as belonging to them, to redress it, by urging it upon the consciences of their people, which they promised to do. But little was done about it; _for divers of the elders' wives, etc., were in some measure partners in this general disorder_." [55] Cf. Ludlow's extreme fear of democracy in No. 64, above. [56] The mid-week (Thursday) religious service, then held in the morning, of which our Thursday evening "prayer meetings" are a survival. Boston had no town government, as yet, with regular town meetings; but the gathering for this religious purpose was utilized for a special governmental purpose. [57] The aristocratic protest won; at the second election, the usual gentlemen were placed upon the committee. [58] The immediate occasion was the desire to satisfy Lord Say and Lord Brooke. Cf. No. 75, below. [59] This provision for "proxies," or written ballots (as the men of that day used the term "proxy" often), was soon extended to all towns at all annual elections. [60] The regulation regarding churches was needful to supplement the restriction of the franchise to church members (No. 63 (4)). [61] Presumably Winthrop and Cotton, who had stayed at Newtown for the Court. [62] Observe the plain threat, cloaked in this language, that the colony would rebel rather than surrender its charter. The real leaders of revolt would have been, not "the common people," but Winthrop and his friends, who drew up this paper. [63] For a brief history of this proceeding, cf. _American History and Government_, # 81. The code was established in 1641. See No. 78, below. [64] This law shows that in 1641 the two orders of the Assembly had come to sit by themselves frequently. For the final separation, see No. 80. [65] The "peremptory challenge" of the Plymouth Code does not appear here. [66] Cf. No. 65 (8). [67] These terms are relative. Winthrop describes, after this date, the cruel flogging of a woman for a matter of opinion, and says that she had her tongue put in "a cleft stick" for half an hour, for "abusing" the magistrates who punished her.