ndros had never
interrupted it. An address was sent to the king, asking that the
charter be no further interfered with; but operations under it went on
as before. No decided action was taken by the home government for some
years, except that its appointment of the New York governor, Fletcher,
to the command of the Connecticut militia, implied a decision that the
Connecticut charter had been superseded.

Late in 1693 Fitz-John Winthrop was sent to England as agent to obtain
a confirmation of the charter. He secured an emphatic legal opinion
from Attorney General Somers, backed by those of Treby and Ward, that
the charter was entirely valid, Treby's concurrent opinion taking this
shape: "I am of the same opinion, and, as this matter is stated, there
is no ground of doubt." The basis of the opinion was that the charter
had been granted under the great seal; that it had not been surrendered
under the common seal of the colony, nor had any judgment of record
been entered against it; that its operation had merely been interfered
with by overpowering force; that the charter therefore remained valid;
and that the peaceable submission of the colony to Andros was merely an
illegal suspension of lawful authority. In other words, the passive
attitude of the colonial government had disarmed Andros so far as to
stop the legal proceedings necessary to forfeit the charter; and then
prompt action, at the critical moment, secured all that could be
secured under the circumstances. William was willing enough to retain
all possible fruits of James's tyranny, as he showed by enforcing the
forfeiture of the Massachusetts charter; but the law in this case was
too plain, and he ratified the lawyers' opinion in April, 1694. The
charter had escaped its enemies at last, and its escape is a monument
of one of the advantages of a real democracy.

[1] From Johnston's "History of Connecticut." By permission of,
and by arrangement with, the authorized publishers, Houghton,
Mifflin Co. Copyright, 1887, by Alexander Johnston.

THE COLONIZATION OF LOUISIANA

(1699)

BY CHARLES E.T. GAYARRE[1]

On February 27, 1699, Iberville and Bienville reached the Mississippi.
When they approached its mouth they were struck with the gloomy
magnificence of the sight. As far as the eye could reach, nothing was
to be seen but reeds which rose five or six feet above the waters in
which they bathed their roots. They waved mournfully under the blas