[
326]
But the monopolists endeavored to establish their
claims.
One
Francis West was despatched with a commission as admiral of
New England, for the purpose of excluding from the
American seas such fishermen as came without a license.
But his feeble authority was derided; the ocean was a wide place over which to keep sentry.
The mariners refused to pay the tax which he imposed; and his ineffectual authority was soon resigned.
In
England, the at tempt occasioned the severest remonstrances, which did not fail to make an impression on the ensuing
parliament.
The patentees, alike prodigal of charters and tenacious of their monopoly, having given to Robert
Gorges, the son of Sir Ferdinand, a patent for a tract extending ten miles on
Massachusetts Bay, and thirty miles into the interior, now appointed him lieutenant-
general of
New England, with power ‘to restrain interlopers,’ not less than to regulate the affairs of the corporation.
His patent was never permanently used; though the colony at
Weymouth was renewed, to meet once more with ill fortune.
He was attended by
Morrell, an Episcopal clergyman, who was provided with a commission for the superintendence of ecclesiastical affairs.
Instead of establishing a hierarchy,
Morrell, remaining in
New England about a year, wrote a description of the country in verse; while the civil dignity of
Robert Gorges ended in a short-lived dispute with
Weston.
They came to plant a hierarchy and a general government, and they produced only a fruitless quarrel and a dull poem.
But when parliament was again convened, the con-
troversy against the charter was once more renewed, and the rights of liberty found an inflexible champion
