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NEW HAMPSHIRE

PROVINCIAL PAPERS.

VOLUME II.

Commission of Sir Edmund Andros, as Governor of the Territory and Dominion of New-England.

[From a Copy in the office of Secretary of State.]

JAMES the Second, by the Grace of God King of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, &c., To our trusty and well-beloved Sir EDMUND ANDROS,* Knight, greeting:

Whereas the government of that part of our Territory and Dominion of NEW-ENGLAND hereafter mentioned, is now in our hands, and being minded to give all protection and encouragement to our good subjects therein, and to provide in the most effectual manner for their security and welfare-WEE, therefore, reposing especiall trust and confidence in the prudence, courage and loyalty

* Sir Edmund Andros was born in London, Dec. 6, 1637. His ancestors were from Northampshire, of considerable note, and always devoted to royalty. AMICE, the father of Edmund, married Elizabeth Stone, sister of Sir Robert Stone, knight, cupbearer to the Queen of Bohemia, and captain of a troop of horse in Holland, and was Master of Ceremonies to King Charles the First at the time of his son Edmund's birth, who was brought up from a boy in the royal family, and in its exile commenced his career of arms in Holland, under Henry, Prince of Nassau. After the restoration of Charles II., having been inviolably faithful to His Majesty, Edmund was made Gentleman in Ordinary to Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia, the King's aunt. Subsequently he distinguished himself in the war waged by Charles II. against the Dutch, and which ended in 1667. He married, in 1671, Mary, daughter of Sir Thomas Craven; and, in 1672, was commander of the forces in the Barbadoes, and had obtained the reputation of being skilled in American affairs. In 1674, on the death of his father, he became Seigneur of the Fiefs, and succeeded to the office of Bailiff of Guernsey. The same year he was constituted, by the King, Governor-General of the Province of NewYork. He arrived in this country, accompanied by his wife, on the 1st of November,

of you, the said Sir EDMUND ANDROS, out of our especial grace, certain knowledge and mere motion, have thought fit to constitute and appoint, and by these presents do constitute and appoint you, the said Sir Edmund Andros, to be our Captain General and Governor-in-chief, in and over all that our Territory and dominion of New-England in America, comonly called or known by the name of our Colony of the Massachusetts Bay, our colony of New-Plymouth, and our provinces of New-Hampshire and Maine, the Narragansett Country, otherwise called the King's Province, with all the islands, rights and members to the said colonies and territories in any wise appertaining; and, for your better guidance and direction, WEE do hereby require and command you to do and execute all things in due manner that shall belong unto the said office, and the trust Wee have reposed in you, according to the several powers, instructions and authorities mentioned in these presents, or such further powers, instructions and authorities as you shall herewith receive, or which shall at any time hereafter be granted or appointed you under our Signet and Sign manual, or by our order, in our Privy Council, and according to such reasonable laws and statutes as are now in force, or such others as shall hereafter be made and established within that our territory and dominion aforesaid; and our will and pleasure is, that you, the said Sir Edmund Andros, having (after your arrival in NewEngland, and publication of these our Letters Patents), first taken the oath of allegiance, together with the oath of duly executing the office of our Captain-General and Governor-in-chief of our said

1674, and entered on the government on the 10th of that month. In 1677 he returned to England, and was knighted by Charles the Second in 1678; on the 27th of May, the same year, he sailed again for New-York, in the ship "Blossom," Richard Martin, of New-England, master; and resumed the government of New-York. In 1686, James II. appointed him Governor, Captain-General, and Vice-Admiral of Massachusetts, New-Hampshire, Maine, New-Plymouth, and afterwards of Rhode Island and Connecticut, comprehending the whole of New England, - -to which, in 1688, New-York and New-Jersey were added. On the 22d of January, 1689, his wife died at Boston, and was buried by torchlight; the corpse having been carried from the Governor's residence to the South Church in a hearse drawn by six horses, attended by a suitable Guard of Honor. Sir Edmund was eminently unpopular in the administration of his government, and was deposed by a sudden uprising of the people in Boston, on the 18th April, 1689. Notwithstanding, he retained the royal favor; in 1692 was appointed by William III. Governor of Virginia, to which was adjoined that of Maryland. He founded William and Mary's College, 1692. He encouraged the cultivation of cotton, sorted and regulated the public papers and records in the Secretary's office, and was popular in his office till 1698. In 1704, under Queen Anne, he was appointed Governor of Guernsey. Sir Edmund married three times, but died without issue, in the parish of St. Anne, Westminster, in February, 1714, in his seventy-sixth year. [N. Y. Col. MSS., vol. ii., pp. 740-42.]

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