140 HISTORY OF C OH ASSET. 



once ; indeed three and a half years passed by before the 

 marshes "over the river" about Bassing Beach were 

 assigned in severalty.* 



In the mean time the changes across the ocean in the 

 throne of England had been affecting the destiny of these 

 distant colonies. The ascendency of Oliver Cromwell, 

 with his Puritan allies in England, loosened the grip of 

 tyranny there, and gave more room for the development of 

 self-government here. The conscientious and magnanimous 

 governor, John Winthrop, " the father of Massachusetts," 

 died in 1649, while these marshes were being measured 

 out ; but a faithful protector of freemen's titles was left, 

 John Endicott, the leading figure in public affairs, who had 

 already visited our shore and had established our southern 

 boundary. 



People as well as governors were growing more reliable 

 in the exercise of colonial authority, and one advantage of 

 the Puritan victories in England was that they kept away 

 from America, giving the settlers here more time to get 

 really settled. 



The same year of Winthrop's death the obnoxious King 

 Charles I was beheaded, and for eleven years, until the 

 restoration of Charles II in 1660, the pioneer colonies 

 enjoyed their independence. But there were many Royal- 

 ists in Boston, and the announcement of the king's restora- 

 tion was loudly made. 



The journal of the Hingham pastor, Peter Hobart, records 

 the notewo .hy item, August 5, 1661 : "King Charles 

 ye second proclaimed at Boston with grate solemnity." 



But the herds of cattle and swine at Cohasset fed 

 quietly year by year, and the sharp scythes swept through 

 the grass each fall, making hay to be transported around 

 the headlands of Hull to Hingham Harbor. 



•February 24, 1650, Nicholas Jacob was voted twelvepence and Nathaniel Baker 

 two shillings sixpence for a day going to Scituate to see about the boundaries of 

 he Threescore Acres. 



