and passions that were let loose in the fury of the witchcraft
proceedings. Nathaniel Ingersol says,--

"This deponent testifieth, that, when my father had fenced
in a parcel of land where the wolf-pits now are, the said
Governor Endicott came to my father where we were at plough,
and said to my father he had fenced in some of the said
Governor's land. My father replied, then he would remove the
fence. No, said Governor Endicott, let it stand; and, when
you set up a new fence, we will settle in the bounds."

This statement is worthy of being preserved, as it illustrates the
character of the two men, exhibiting them in a most honorable light.
The gentlemanly bearing of each is quite observable. Ingersol
manifests an instant willingness to repair a wrong, and set the matter
right; Endicott is considerate and obliging on a point where men are
most prone to be obstinate and unyielding,--a conflict of land rights:
both are courteous, and disposed to accommodate. Endicott was governor
of the colony, and a large conterminous landowner; Ingersol was a
husbandman, at work with his boys on land into which their labor had
incorporated value, and with which, for the time being, he was
identified. But Endicott showed no arrogance, and assumed no
authority; Ingersol manifested no resentment or irritation. If a
similar spirit had been everywhere exhibited, the good-will and
harmony of neighborhoods would never have been disturbed, and the
records of courts reduced to less than half their bulk.

To his dying day, John Endicott retained a lively interest in
promoting the welfare of his neighbors in the vicinity of the Orchard
Farm.