 Following the 1660 restoration of Charles II to the throne of England , colonial authorities again became concerned about preserving their charter rights . Bradstreet in 1661 headed a legislative committee to " consider and debate such matters touching their patent rights , and privileges , and duty to his Majesty , as should to them seem proper . " The letter the committee drafted reiterated the colony 's charter rights , and also included declarations of allegiance and loyalty to the crown . Bradstreet and John Norton were chosen as agents to deliver the letter to London . Charles renewed the charter , but sent the agents back to Massachusetts with a letter <unk> conditions to his assent . The colony was expected , among other things , to expand religious tolerance to include the Church of England and religious minorities like the Quakers . The agents were harshly criticized by hardline factions of the legislature , but Bradstreet defended the need to accommodate the king 's wishes as the <unk> course to take . How to respond to the king 's demands divided the colony ; Bradstreet was part of the moderate " <unk> " faction arguing that the colony should obey the king 's wishes . This faction lost the debate to the hardline " commonwealth " faction , who were in favor of aggressively maintaining the colony 's charter rights , led through the 1660s by governors John <unk> and Richard <unk> . With Charles distracted by war with the Dutch and domestic politics in the late 1660s , the issue lay <unk> until the mid @-@ <unk> . Relations between colony and crown deteriorated when the king then renewed demands for legislative and religious reforms , which hardline magistrates again resisted . 
