ested in the colonies.
He had been in the employ of the government, and now, probably at the
instance of Southwell and Blathwayt, he was selected to fill the
difficult and thankless post of commissioner to New England. That he had
ability and courage no one can doubt, and that he pursued his course
with a tenacity that would have won commendation in other and less
controversial fields, his career shows. His devotion to the interests of
the Crown and his loyalty to the Church of England steeled him against
the almost incessant attacks and rebuffs that he was called upon to
endure, and his entire inability to see any other cause than his own
saved him from the discouragements that must certainly have broken a man
more sensitive than himself. He exhibited at times some of the obduracy
of the zealot and martyr; at others he displayed unexpected good sense
in protesting against extremes of action that he thought unjust or
unwise. He was honest and indefatigable in the pursuit of what he
believed to be his duty, and was ill-requited for his labors, but he was
a persistent fault-finder and his letters are masterpieces of complaint.
He was thrice married, his second wife dying at the height of his
troubles in Massachusetts, and he had five children, all daughters, one
of whom proved a grievous disappointment to him. Though he held many
offices, he was always in debt and died poor, at the age of seventy, in
Accomac County in Virginia. He was far from being the best man to send
to New England, but his natural obstinacy and his determination to
overcome difficulties were intensified by the discourteous and tactless
manner in which he was received by the Puritans. He had no sympathy with
the efforts of the "old faction" to save the colony, and the people of
Massachusetts responded with a bitter and lasting hate.

Randolph landed at Boston on June 10, and remained in the colony until
the end of July, about six weeks altogether. He visited Plymouth, New
Hampshire, and Maine, interviewed men in authority and all sorts of
other people, and he came to the conclusion that the majority of the
inhabitants were discontented with the Boston regime. The magistrates
ignored his presence as much as they dared, refusing to recognize him as
anything but an enemy representing the Mason and Gorges claims, and
insisting that though the King might enlarge their privileges he could
not abridge them. Randolph, thoroughly nettled, returned to England
pr