obably fully aware of the difficulties
that confronted the new experiment, but as a soldier he was ready to
obey orders. His natural disposition and military training rendered him
impatient of obstacles, and his unfamiliarity with any form of popular
government--for New York had been controlled by a governor and council
only--made extremely uncertain his success in New England, where affairs
had been managed by the easy-going, dilatory method of debate and
discussion. As a disciplinarian, he could not appreciate the New
Englander's fondness for disputation and argument; as a soldier, he was
certain to obey to the full the letter of his instructions; and, as an
Anglican, he was likely to favor the church and churchmen of his choice.
He was not a diplomat, nor was he gifted with the silver tongue of
oratory or the spirit of compromise. He came to New England to execute a
definite plan, and he was given no discretion as to the form of
government he was to set up. He and his advisory council were to make
the laws, levy taxes, exercise justice, and command the militia. He was
not allowed to call a popular assembly or to recognize in any way the
highly prized institutions of the colony.

On December 20, Andros, his officers, and guard, clad in the brilliant
uniforms of soldiers of the British establishment, landed at Leverett's
wharf and marched through the local militia up King's Street to the Town
House, where he read his commission and administered the oaths. Except
for the royal commissioners of 1664, no British officer or soldier had
hitherto set foot on the streets of Boston. Redcoats had been sent to
New York and Virginia, but never before had they appeared in New
England, and this visible sign of British authority must have seemed to
many ominous for the future.

Andros's early impressions of what he saw were not flattering to the
colony. He found the people still suffering from the devastating effects
of the late war and further harassed by bad harvests, disasters at sea,
and two serious fires which had recently done much damage in the city.
He found the fortifications in bad repair, almost all the gun-carriages
unserviceable, no magazines of powder or other stores of war, no small
arms, except a few old matchlocks, and those unsizable and in poor
condition, no storehouses or accommodations for officers or soldiers,
and no adequate ramparts or redoubts.

Now the work that Andros had come over to perform, and that w