of the colony, he does not appear to have been influenced
by any hostility towards Massachusetts.

Happening to be in England at this juncture, Maverick was called upon by
the Chancellor to state the case against the colony, and this he did in
several letters, giving many instances of the colony's disloyalty and
injustice, and recommending that its privileges be taken away, just as
it had taken away the privileges of others. To this suggestion Clarendon
paid no heed, for it was no part of the royal purpose to drive the
colonies to desperation at a time when the King was but newly come to
his throne and needed all his resources in the struggle with the Dutch.
But to Maverick's further suggestions that New Netherland be reduced,
that Massachusetts be regulated, and that commissioners be sent over to
accomplish these ends, he expressed himself as favorable, and all were
finally accepted by the Government. Maverick's opinion that British
control should be exercised over a British possession and that the
government of such a possession should not be conducted after the
fashion of an ecclesiastical society happened to coincide with that of
the King's advisers and, as Maverick had lived in America for thirty
years, his advice was listened to with respect and approval. All thought
that, while Massachusetts might not be driven with safety, she could
probably be persuaded to admit some alteration in her methods of
government by tactful representatives.

Had the Duke of York, to whom was entrusted the task of selecting the
new commissioners, chosen his men as wisely as Clarendon had shaped his
policy, the results, as far as Massachusetts was concerned, might have
been more successful. The trouble lay with the character of the work to
be done. On the one hand the Dutch colony was to be seized by force of
arms, a military undertaking involving boldness and executive ability;
on the other, the Puritan colonies were to be regulated, a mission which
called for the utmost tact. The men chosen for the work were far from
the best that might have been selected to bring back to the path of true
obedience and impartial justice a colony that was deemed wilful and
perverse. They were Richard Nicolls, a favorite of the Duke of York and
the only commissioner possessed of discrimination and wisdom, but who,
as governor of the yet unconquered Dutch colony, was likely to be taken
up with his duties to such an extent as to preclude his sharing
prom