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from Boston and Roxbury acting as military escorts. On April 14, Dr. Colman preached a funeral sermon containing many sly comparisons with the patriarch Joseph, not wholly to the advantage of the late governor; and in the following number of the Boston News Letter there was an extravagant eulogy. By Dudley's will it is seen that, although a wealthy man, he made only one public bequest, but left the bulk of his property to his family, and chiefly to his eldest son, believing, as he once wrote, that it was the duty of an English gentleman to support his family.

NOTE

The last Will & Testament of Joseph Dudley of Roxbury Esq

revoking all other Wills, & Dispositions of my Estate~I bequeath my Soul into the Hands of Almighty Gode, thrô Jesus Christ my Lorde, in whom I trust for Eternal Life, & my Body to be decently buried wth my Father, at the Discretion of my Executors My temporal Estate, I dispose in Manner following~ I give to Rebeckah my dear Wife, my Servants, Household Goods, Plate, and Two hundrede Pounds in Money, to be at her own Disposale in her Life Time, or at her Death amongst her Children ~And if she dye without any such Disposal then what is left thereof, to be equally divided amongst the Children~I also give my Dear Wife, my Mansion House, (or what part of it she pleases to use) & Gardens for her Life, & one hundred Pounds Annum to paid Quarterly, in equal Portions, for her Support, during her Life, to be paid by Paul Dudley, my Eldest Son, out of yR Issues, & Rents of my Estate, herein given him. ~ I give to my Son William Dudley, my New Farm in y° Woods, in Roxbury contaR One hundred & Fifty Acres more, or less, with yR Woodland there purchased of Devotion Crafts, & others, from whence he shall annually supply & bring home to his mother, her Firewood, during her Life ~I also give him my Farm of One Thousand Acres at Manchaag,

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& Three hundred Pounds toward building him an House I have already by y Favour of God, disposed in Marriage my four Daughters, Sewall, Winthrop, Dummer, & Wainwright, & paid them what I intendede~ I further give each of them, one Thousand Acres of Land to be equally taken out of my six Thousand Acres, in the Town of Oxforde, & to my Nephew Daniel Allin, & my Niece Ann Hilton, Five hundred Acres out of yR same Dividende, to be equally dividede between them, All these Lands to descend to y Children Severally, & the Heirs of their Bodies ~ I further give to my four Daughters One hundred Pounds each, to be laid out in what they please, in Remembrance of their Mother, & to my Niece Ann Hilton, Forty Pounds, to be paid, at age or Marriage~ Further if by y Providence of God my Daughter Wainwright fall a Widow, or her Husbande uncapable of Business, I give her Twenty Pounds Annum to be paid her, in equal Portions by her two Brothers, during her Widowhoode, or his Incapacity for Business. To my Eldest Son Paul Dudley I give the Inheritance of all my Houses, & Lands, in Roxbury, Oxforde, Woodstock, Newtown, Brookline, Merrimack, or elsewhere, all my Stock, Debts, Money, & all y° Estate belonging to me whatsoever, except as above, he paying all my just Debts, Legacys, & Funerale Charges, & his Mothers Annuity as above sett down. And my Will is that my Lands descende to my Heirs after the manner of Englande forever to the Male Heirs first, & after to y Females. If either of my Sons dye without Male Issue, his Brother & his Male Issue shall inherit yR Lands herein bequeathed. I give to the free School in Roxbury, Fifty Pounds, to be put out to use, or to purchase Land to assist yR Support of a Latin Master by y -] of yR S'd Schoole from Time to Time. This & other Legacys in this Will to be paid in that weh passeth for Money, in this

Province.

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I ordain my well belovede Wife, Paul Dudley, & William Dudley, Exec of this my last Will, & do most humbly refer my dearest Wife, & Children to the Grace of Gode, commending them to live in the Fear, & Service of Gode, with Duty towarde their Mother, & sincere Affection toward each other.

I give to yR Rev M' Walter, M' Thair, M' William Williams of

Weston, M' Ebenezer Williams of Pomfret, to each Forty Shillings

for a Ring.~

th

Dated Oct 27 1719

J Dudley & a Seale Publish in Pres. of Penn Townsend, Benj. Gambling, Abijah Weld. Exam John Boydall Reg.

from yR original Will

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A true Copy from y° original Will Exam Jn° Cotton Reg!

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CHAPTER X

THE MOTIVES OF DUDLEY'S ACTIONS

THE lives of the second generation of the Massachusetts rulers fell in a peculiarly unheroic age. Compared with the era of self-sacrifice and adventure which had accomplished the foundation of the colony, and the period of strife and war which resulted in the separation from England, the years from 1660 to 1720 seem dull and uninteresting. Nor did the character of Dudley and his contemporaries rise to the grandeur either of the early settlers or of the Revolutionary leaders. The men of the early eighteenth century lacked the self-sacrifice and almost stubborn opposition to England which characterized Winthrop and his associates, and they also lacked the singleness of aim and the devotion to Massachusetts which distinguished Otis and Adams. They reflected in Massachusetts more clearly than did the men of any other time the thoughts, the life, and the methods of the English politicians. The problems they had to face were neither those arising from privation or persecution, nor those resulting from oppression which might occasion rebellion. Their property and estates were protected, their trade and wealth were increasing, their peculiar religious opinions were tolerated, and they enjoyed a large share in the government. They had to meet an English policy which, consistently pursued, would result in closer union and dependence upon the mother country. To such problems, until the colonists could convince themselves that they had the right to differ from England and

to separate from her, but one answer could be given, the answer which Dudley and his fellow-thinkers gave, - obedience to England and acceptance of her control.

By inheritance and training, Dudley belonged to the ruling class. His strong feeling for prerogative, local or imperial, in no sense exceeded that displayed by John Winthrop and Thomas Dudley, the first governors of Massachusetts. The leaders of the New England immigration had come to Massachusetts to found and rule a community as they saw fit; and Joseph Dudley was never more conscious of his privileges, powers, and responsibilities as a member of the ruling class than were they. As a young man he had rendered his service to the colony as an executive and leader; as an Assistant, a commissioner of the New England Confederation, and an Indian negotiator he was more often called upon to execute, lead, and direct the opinions of the General Court than to follow them. His friends, his family, and he himself sought to be the guides and rulers of Massachusetts, and as such were accepted by the people. When under changed conditions England tried to increase her power over the colonies, and when trade and wealth brought new ideas to them, Dudley, Stoughton, and Winthrop the younger still sought to remain leaders of the community which their fathers had founded. All desired place and honor under the crown, and all accepted royal commissions upon the dissolution of the government; under the new charter Stoughton served as lieutenant-governor, while Winthrop was the unsuccessful rival of Dudley. Dudley's very success aroused envy and jealousy, which his frank acceptance of the policy of England did not diminish," and which his personal character greatly intensified.

The policy that Dudley sought to enforce was one which

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