American colonies with very different feelings;
the loyal colonies, from the Bermudas to Plymouth, hailed and proclaimed
the restored King without hesitation; Virginia proclaimed him before he
was proclaimed in England;[114] the rulers of the Massachusetts Bay
Colony alone stood in suspense; hesitated, refused to proclaim him for a
year, until ordered to do so. When it was ascertained that the
restoration of the King, Lords, and Commons had been enthusiastically
ratified by the people of England, and was firmly established, the
General Court of Massachusetts Bay adopted a most loyal address to the
King, and another to the two Houses of Parliament, notwithstanding the
same Court had shortly before lauded the power which had abolished King,
Lords, and Commons. The Court also thought it needful to give practical
proof of the sincerity of their new-born loyalty to the monarchical
government by condemning a book published ten years before, and which
had been until now in high repute among them, written by the Rev. John
Eliot, the famous apostle to the Indians. This book was entitled "The
Christian Commonwealth," and argued that a purely republican government
was the only Christian government, and that all the monarchical
governments of Europe, especially that of England, was anti-Christian.
It appears that this book had been adduced by the complainants in
England against the Massachusetts Bay Government as a proof of their
hostility to the system of government now restored in England. To purge
themselves from this charge, the Governor and Council of Massachusetts
Bay, March 18, 1661, took this book into consideration, and declared
"they find it, on perusal, full of seditious principles and notions
relative to all established governments in the Christian world,
especially against the government established in their native country."
Upon consultation with the Elders, their censure was deferred until the
General Court met, "that Mr. Eliot might have the opportunity in the
meantime of public recantation." At the next sessions, in May, Mr. Eliot
gave into the Court the following acknowledgment under his hand:

"Understanding by an Act of the honoured Council, that there is offence
taken at a book published in England by others, the copy whereof was
sent over by myself about nine or ten years since, and that the further
consideration thereof is commended to this honoured Court now sitting in
Boston: Upon perusal thereof, I do judge