all through 1678, and it was only in 1679 that they were able to leave, because England was too busy with the Popish Plot to worry about the affairs of the far distant Massachusetts. The matter, however, was by no means finished. Randolph was determined to bring the colony to book; and when he was again sent out in 1680 to supervise the customs he at once renewed his charges. "The Bostoners, after all the protestations by their agents, are acting as high as ever, and the merchants trading as freely; no ship having been seized for irregular trading, although they did in 1677 make a second law to prevent it."[134] He then says that his life was threatened by these smugglers, and that as he has only life and hope left, he is unwilling to expose himself to the rage of a bewildered multitude. He concludes by beseeching for strong measures, which he considers are essential, and "for his Majesty to write more letters will signify no more than the London Gazette."[135] This appeal had its effect, and the King practically threatened to land redcoats in Boston "a century before their time, when there should be no Washington to organise resistance, no European coalition to distract their operations, and no French fleet and army to drive them from the Continent."[136] Even after this thundering declaration the actions of the settlers were not always in accordance with strict loyalty, and in 1684, though their agents loudly protested, the Court of Chancery decreed the Massachusetts Charter to be null and void. James II.'s well-intentioned efforts carried out in the wrong way by the wrong methods, and generally by the wrong men, deprived him of popularity both in his home dominions and in his growing Empire in the West. His great scheme for the colonies was one of union; but his action was far more destructive than anything that George III. ever proposed or imagined. The representative principle was snatched from the youthful colonies; and they were deprived of their legislative, executive and financial rights, which were given to a royal Governor and Council, ruling an united province entitled New England, and bearing a special flag of its own. The Governor appointed by the King was Colonel Sir Edmund Andros, a very active and most capable administrator, but an ardent churchman, and therefore particularly unacceptable to the Puritan colonies of the New England group. He was by no means a young man when he arrived to take over the administration in December 1686, but with surprising energy he set about doing what he could by extending the frontier against the Indians, and establishing a line of garrisoned forts to keep them in awe. Discontent, however, was visible on every side; Connecticut refused to give up its charter, which, according to tradition, was hidden in an oak; while the town of Ipswich, Mass. refused like Watertown many years earlier to pay taxes without representation. When James issued his Declaration of Indulgence