234 



which meetings wel-c to he called, as the charter ordains, the 

 " Four Great and General Courts" of said Company. 



Under this Charter the Company went into operation, and 

 its affairs were conducted. Matthew Cradock was elected 

 Governor. The meetings were held in London, generally at 

 the house of the Deputy Governor, Thomas Goife. The Char- 

 ter expresses the following hope,—" that our said people and 

 inhabitants there, may be soe religiously, peaceably and civilly 

 governed, as their good life and orderly conversation may win 

 and incite the natives of the country to the knowledge and 

 obedience of the only true God and Saviour of mankind, and 

 the Christian faith, which, in our royal intention and the 

 adventurers free profession, is the principal end of this plan- 

 tation." 



While this was the principal end of the plantation, it could 

 only follow the efficient, durable, and extensive settlement of 

 the country, and well organized establishment of society. To 

 this end, therefore, the deliberation and arrangements of the 

 company were, in the first instance, almost wholly directed. 

 The records exhibit, in interesting detail, the steps taken and 

 provisions made, to plant a colony and meet its immediate 

 necessities and wants. 



Soon it became apparent that the presence of one of the 

 leading proprietors, clothed with the authority of the company, 

 was required on the spot, and Captain John Endicott was sent 

 over for the purpose of superintending the work, — and not long 

 afterwards the frame of a regular local government was erected 

 under the name of the " Goveenor and Councell for Lon- 

 don's Plantation in Massachusetts Bay, in New England." 

 This government w^as subsidiary to that in London. Endicott 

 was elected governor and was surrounded with a Councell to 

 aid him in his responsible trust, and continued to preside with 

 great energy and fidelity over the colony, until the charter was 

 transferred to New England. He afterwards was elected 

 Governor of the colony ; he was re-elected for a greater num- 



