it had absolute power. Many denied this
contention of the leaders, asserting that the company was only a
corporation and that any colonist had a right of appeal to England.
Winthrop refused definitely to recognize this right, and measures were
taken to purge the colony of these refractory spirits, among whom were
Dr. Robert Child, one of the best educated men of the colony, William
Vassall, and Samuel Maverick. All were fined, some clapped in irons, and
many banished. Child returned to England, Vassall went to Barbados, and
the rest were silenced. So menacing was the revolt that Edward Winslow
was sent to England to present the case to the parliamentary
commissioners, which he did successfully.

But among those who upheld the freedom of the colony from English
interference and control there were many who complained of the form the
government was taking. The franchise was limited to church members,
which debarred five-sixths of the population from voting and holding
office; the magistrates insisted on exercising a negative vote upon the
proceedings of the deputies, because they deemed it necessary to prevent
the colony from degenerating into "a mere democracy"; and the ministers
or elders exercised an influence in purely civil matters that rendered
them arbiters in all disputes between the magistrates and the deputies.
Until 1634, the general court had been a primary assembly, but in that
year representation was introduced and the towns sent deputies, who soon
began to complain of the meagerness of their powers. From this time on,
the efforts of the deputies to reduce the authority of the magistrates
and to increase their own were continuous and insistent. One bold
dissenter was barred from public office in 1635 for daring to deny the
magistrates' claim, and others expressed their fear that autocratic rule
and a governor for life would endanger the liberty of the people. The
dominance of the clergy tended to the maintenance of an intolerant
theocracy and was offensive to many in Massachusetts who, having fled
from Laud's intolerance at home, had no desire to submit to an equal
intolerance in New England. Between 1634 and 1638 the manifestations of
this dislike became conspicuous and alarming. The Governor's son, the
younger John Winthrop, dissatisfied with the hard regime in
Massachusetts, returned to England in 1634. Henry Vane, though elected
Governor in 1636, showed marked discontent, and when defeated the next
year l