Advice_,
dated the fifteenth of June. It was "laid before the Judges;" and was,
undoubtedly, a response to an application from them. Having, very
improperly, it must be confessed, given the whole matter of the trials
over to Stoughton, and being engrossed in other affairs, it is quite
likely that he knew but little of what had been going on, until his
return from the eastward, in October. And his frequent and long
absences, leaving Stoughton, so much of the time, with all the functions
and titles of Governor devolved upon him, led to speaking of the latter
as "His Excellency." When bearing this title and acting as Governor, for
the time being, the Chief-justice, with the side Judges--all of them
members of the Council, and in number meeting the requirement in the
Charter for a quorum, seven--may have been considered, as substantially,
"The Governor and Council."

Thinking it more than probable that, in this way, great wrong has been
done to the memory of an honest and noble-hearted man, I have endeavored
to set things in their true light. The perplexities, party
entanglements, personal collisions, and engrossing cares that absorbed
the attention of Sir William Phips, during the brief remainder of his
life, and the little interest he felt in such things, prevented his
noticing the false position in which he had been placed by the
undistinguishing use of titular phrases.

Judge Sewall's Diary contains an entry that, also, sheds light upon the
position of the Mathers. It will be borne in mind, that Elisha Cook was
the colleague of Increase Mather, as Colonial Agents in London. Cook
refused assent to the new Charter, and became the leader of the
anti-Mather party. He was considered an opponent of the witchcraft
prosecutions, although out of the country at the time. "TUESDAY, NOV.
15, 1692. M^r Cook keeps a Day of Thanksgiving for his safe arrival."
* * * [_Many mentioned as there, among them Mr. Willard._] "Mr. Allen
preached from Jacob's going to Bethel, * * * Mr. Mather not there, nor
Mr. Cotton Mather. The good Lord unite us in his fear, and remove our
animosities."

The manner in which Sewall distinguished the two Mathers confirms the
views presented on pages 37, 38.

It may be remarked, that, up to this time, Sewall seems to have been in
full sympathy with Stoughton and Mather. He was, however, beginning to
indulge in conversations that indicate a desire to feel the ground he
was treading. After a while, he became