the leading
representatives of the policy of no surrender, were not men gifted with
foresight, and they remained unmoved by the last threat of the
commissioners that it would be hazardous to deny the King's supremacy,
for "'tis possible that the charter which you so much idolize may be
forfeited."

The magistrates were undoubtedly influenced by the character of the
commissioners and their rough and ready methods of procedure. Had all
been as honorable and upright as Nicolls, who unfortunately took but
little part in the negotiations, the outcome might have been different.
But there is reason to think otherwise. The Massachusetts leaders took
the ground that if they yielded any part they must eventually yield all,
and they wanted no interference from outside in their government. Having
ruled themselves for thirty years as they thought best, they were not
disposed to admit that the King had any rights in the colony; and they
believed that by steady resistance or by dilatory practices they could
stave off intervention and that, with the danger once removed, the
colony would be allowed to continue in its own course. In a measure they
were justified in their belief. The King recalled the commissioners,
and, though he wrote a letter declaring that Massachusetts had shown a
great want of duty and respect for the royal authority, he went no
further than to command the colony to send agents to England to answer
there the questions that had not been settled during the stay of the
commissioners at Boston. But the colony did not take this command
seriously and sent no agents. Nicolls, always temperate in speech, wrote
in 1666: "The grandees of Boston are too proud to be dealt with, saying
that His Majesty is well satisfied with their loyalty."

The "grandees" were playing a shrewd but none too wise a game. Affairs
in England were not favorable to the pursuit of a rigorous policy at
this time. The Dutch war, the fire and epidemic in London, and the
consequent suspension of all outside activities, had thrown governmental
business into disorder and confusion. Clarendon, whose influence was
waning, was soon to lose his post as Chancellor. The negotiations which
ended in the treaty of Breda, and the threatening policy of Louis XIV,
now beginning to take a form ominous to the Protestant states of Europe,
distracted men's minds at home, and the Massachusetts problem was for
the moment lost sight of in the presence of the larger issues. T