Sir Harry Vane; His Life and Times 1613-1662

Boston: Gambit Incorporated, 1973. First Printing [Stated]. Hardcover. Very good/Good. xiii, [3], 498, [6] pages. Frontis illustration. Foreword. Acknowledgments. Illustrations. Epilogue. Bibliography. Index. Has 23 chapters: A Baptism (1613); The Wonderful Year (1625); Diplomacy and Conscience (1631-1634); New England (1635-1636); Mistress Anne (1635-1637); Young Harry and Black Tom (1638-1641); The Parliamentary Revolution (1640-1642); The Drift to War (1642); Young Vane and the Scots Alliance (1643); Maelstrom (1644); The End of the War (1645-1646); Vane and the Army (1647); The Death of the King (1648-1649); Vane and the Commonwealth (1649-1653); Retirement and Reflections (1653-1658); The Cave of the Winds (Richard's Parliament: January 27-April 22, 1659); The Rump Sits Again (May 7-October 13, 1649); The Army's Interruption (October 13-December 26, 1659); The Rump Roasted (December 26, 1659-August 28, 1660); The Furies (August, 1660-January, 1662); A Summing Up (q660-1662); Due Process of Law (1662); Martyr and Witness (1662). Jack Hale Adamson (1918-1975) was a literary scholar, biographer, teacher, and university administrator. He earned a Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1956. He was appointed as professor of English at the University of Utah. Along with co-author Harold F. Folland, he wrote The Shepherd of the Ocean, a biography of Sir Walter Raleigh. The book was named a "Notable Book of 1969" by the New York Times. In 1974, Adamson and Folland published a biography of Sir Henry Vane the Younger, early governor of Massachusetts and central figure in the English Revolution. It was nominated for the National Book Award. Sir Henry Vane (baptized 26 March 1613 - 14 June 1662) (often referred to as Harry Vane and Henry Vane the Younger to distinguish him from his father, Henry Vane the Elder) was an English politician, statesman, and colonial governor. He was briefly present in North America, serving one term as the governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and supported the creation of Roger Williams' Rhode Island Colony and Harvard College. A proponent of religious tolerance, as governor, he defended Anne Hutchinson and her right to teach religious topics in her home which put him in direct conflict with the Puritan leaders in the Massachusetts Colony. He returned to England after losing re-election. He was a leading Parliamentarian during the English Civil War and worked closely with Oliver Cromwell. He played no part in the execution of King Charles I, and refused to take oaths that expressed approval of the act. Vane served on the Council of State that functioned as the government executive during the Interregnum, but split with Cromwell over issues of governance and removed himself from power when Cromwell dissolved Parliament in 1653. He returned to power during the short-lived Commonwealth period in 1659-1660. His fight for government reform, a constitution along with civil and religious liberties made him a man "Too Dangerous to Let Live" in King Charles' II view. Therefore, he was arrested under orders from King Charles II following his restoration to the throne. After long debate, Vane was exempted from the Indemnity and Oblivion Act, and was thus denied amnesty granted to most people for their roles in the Civil War and Interregnum. Although he was formally granted clemency by Charles II, he was indicted on high treason by a Middlesex grand jury after charges were presented by the king's attorney general Sir Geoffrey Palmer in 1662. In a court proceeding in which he was denied counsel and the opportunity to properly prepare a defense, he was convicted by a Royalist jury. Charles withdrew his earlier clemency, and Vane was beheaded on Tower Hill on 14 June 1662. Vane was recognized by his political peers as a competent administrator and a wily and persuasive negotiator and politician. His politics was driven by a desire for religious tolerance in an era when governments were used to establish official churches and suppress dissenting views. Although his views were in a small minority, he was able to successfully build coalitions to advance his agenda. His actions contributed to both the rise and downfall of the English Commonwealth.