"_I hope you may_."

OLD TIMES IN THE COLONIES.

BY CHARLES CARLETON COFFIN.

No. I.

HOW THE INDIANS WERE WRONGED, AND THEIR REVENGE.

At three o'clock Tuesday morning, December 11, 1688, James II., King of
England, rose noiselessly from his bed, passed with stealthy steps from
his palace, entered a carriage in waiting, and was driven rapidly to the
bank of the Thames, where he stepped into a boat, and was rowed swiftly
down the stream. As the boat shot past the old palace of Lambeth, he
flung into the river the Great Seal of England, used in stamping all the
royal documents to give them validity. He was fleeing from his palace,
his throne, his kingdom, and from people whom he had outraged in his
attempt to set up an absolute and personal government--to do just as he
pleased without regard to law. He believed that the King had the right
to be above all laws. The people had risen against him, and had invited
his son-in-law, William of Orange, to come over from Holland to aid them
in overthrowing James. William had landed at Torbay, and had been so
warmly welcomed that James was seeking refuge in France with Louis XIV.,
whose adopted daughter, Mary of Modena, as she was called, was James's
wife.

"You are still King of England, and I will aid you in securing your
throne," said Louis XIV.

It was not simply a generous act on the part of Louis to a
fellow-sovereign who was in trouble, but there were ideas behind it.
Louis XIV. believed with James in the absolute right of kings to do just
as they pleased: that the people must do their bidding.

"_The state--it is me!_" said Louis, striking his hand upon his breast,
to indicate that there was nobody else who had a right to say or do
anything in regard to law and government.

The people of England, on the other hand, believed that they had the
right to make their own laws through a Parliament of their own choosing,
and that it was the duty of the King to obey and execute those laws.

James had done what he could to crush out the Protestant religion in
England; Louis had driven the Huguenots, who were Protestants, from
France, waging a cruel war upon them. Thousands had been killed. More
than eight hundred thousand had been compelled to flee to other
countries. The war was waged not merely that James might regain his
crown, but it was a great struggle for civil and religious freedom. It
extended to other countries: battles were fought on the banks of the