e of King James, given away to a corporation
within the realm, composed of but forty individuals."--Bancroft, vol.
i., p. 273.]

[Footnote 326: "The very extent of the grant rendered it of little
value. The results which grew out of the concession of this charter form
a new proof, if any were wanting, of that mysterious connection of
events by which Providence leads to ends that human councils had not
conceived."--Bancroft, vol. i., p. 273.

The Grand Council of Plymouth resigned their charter in 1635.]

[Footnote 327: "The circumstance which threw a greater luster on the
colony than any other was the arrival of Mr. John Cotton, the most
esteemed of all the Puritan ministers in England. He was equally
distinguished for his learning, and for a brilliant and figurative
eloquence. He was so generally beloved that his nonconformity to the
ritual of the Established Church, of which he was a minister, was for a
considerable time disregarded. At last, however, he was called before
the ecclesiastical commission, and he determined upon emigration, 'Some
reverend and renowned ministers of our Lord' endeavored to persuade him
that the forms to which he refused obedience were 'sufferable trifles,'
and did not actually amount to a breach of the second commandment. Mr.
Cotton, however, argued so forcibly on the opposite side, that several
of the most eminent became all that he was, and afterward followed his
example. There went out with him Mr. Hooker and Mr. Stone, who were
esteemed to make 'a glorious triumvirate,' and were received in New
England with the utmost exultation. It was doubtless a severe trial to
these ministers, who appear really to have been, as they say, 'faithful,
watchful, painful, serving their flock daily with prayers and tears,'
who possessed such a reputation at home and over Europe, to find that no
sooner did any half-crazed enthusiast spring up or arrive in the colony,
that the people could be prevented only by the most odious compulsion
from deserting their churches and flocking to him in a mass. Vainly did
Mr. John Cotton strive to persuade Roger Williams, the sectary, that the
red cross on the English banner, or his wife's being in the room while
he said grace, were 'sufferable trifles,' and 'Mrs. Hutchinson and her
ladies' treated his advice and exhortations with equal disregard and
contempt. One of them sent him a pound of candles to intimate his need
of more spiritual light. This was then the freedom