s assent from this
vote, the house entreated him to accept the grant; and added "we
cannot doubt but that succeeding assemblies, according to the ability
of the province, will be very ready to grant as ample a support; and
if they should not, your excellency will then have an opportunity of
showing your resentment." The governor however persisted to withhold
his assent from the vote.

[Sidenote: Adjournment of the Assembly to Salem.]

The colony generally, and especially Boston, was opposed to a
compliance with the instructions of the crown. At a general meeting of
the inhabitants, the town passed a vote, purporting to be unanimous
against fixing a salary on the governor. In consequence of this vote,
and of an opinion that the members of the house were influenced by the
inhabitants of the town, the governor determined to change the place
at which the court should hold its session; and on the 24th of
October, adjourned it to the 30th then to meet at Salem, in the
country of Essex.

Change of place did not change the temper of the house. This was not,
as in the contests with governor Shute, an angry altercation, into
which the representatives were precipitated by a restless and
encroaching temper, but a solemn and deliberate stand, made in defence
of a right believed to be unquestionable, and of a principle deemed
essential to the welfare of the colony. The ground taken was
considered well, and maintained with firmness. Votes and messages of
the same tenor with those which had been often repeated, continued to
pass between the representatives and the governor, until the subject
was entirely exhausted. Each party being determined to adhere to its
principles, the house met and adjourned daily, without entering on
business.

In the mean time, the governor received no salary. To the members of
Boston, who had not been accustomed to the expense of attending the
legislature at a distant place, a compensation, above their ordinary
wages, was made by that town.

The house, firmly persuaded of the propriety of its conduct, prepared
a memorial to the King praying a change in the royal instructions to
the governor. Agents were appointed to represent the general court in
England, and a vote was passed for defraying the expenses attendant on
the business. The council refused to concur in this vote, because the
agents had been appointed by the house of representatives singly; and
the measure must have been abandoned for want of