e poorer
classes, and many died. Were it not for the abundance of clams,
mussels, and fish gathered from the bay there might have been a
"starving time," like that of Jamestown in 1609. Winthrop appointed a
fast to be kept February 22, 1631; but February 5 the _Lyon_ arrived
with supplies, and a public thanksgiving was substituted for a public
fasting.[9]

From this time the colony may be said to have secured a permanent
footing. The court of assistants, who had suspended their sessions
during the winter, now began to meet again, and made many orders with
reference to the economic and social affairs of the colonists. There
were few natives in the neighborhood of the settlement, and
Chickatabot, their sachem, anxious to secure the protection of the
English against the Taratines, of Maine, visited Boston in April and
established friendly communications.[10] At the courts of elections of
1631, 1632, and 1633 Winthrop was re-elected governor. His conduct was
not deemed harsh enough by some people, and in 1634 Thomas Dudley
succeeded him. In 1635 Jonn Haynes became governor, and in 1636 Henry
Vane, known in English history as Sir Harry Vane, after which time the
governorship was restored to Winthrop.

Puritanism entered the warp and woof of the Massachusetts colony, and
a combination of circumstances tended to build up a theocracy which
dominated affairs. The ministers who came over were among the most
learned men of the age, and the influence which their talents and
character gave them was greatly increased by the sufferings and the
isolation of the church members, who were thus brought to confide all
the more in those who, under such conditions, dispensed religious
consolation. Moreover, the few who had at first the direction of civil
matters were strongly religious men, and inclined to promote the unity
of the church by all the means at hand.

We have noticed the turn of affairs given by Endicott at Salem, and
how Winthrop followed his example on his arrival at Charlestown. After
the court of assistants resumed their meetings in March, 1631, the
upbuilding of the theocracy was rapidly pushed. Various people deemed
inimical to the accepted state of affairs were punished with
banishment from the colony, and in some cases the penalties of
whipping, cropping of ears, and confiscation of estate were added. In
some cases, as that of Sir Christopher Gardiner, a secret agent of Sir
Ferdinando Gorges, there was reason for part