The English statesman Sir Henry Vane (1613-1662), who served as governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, led the Long Parliament and the English Commonwealth.

The career of Sir Henry, or Harry, Vane the Younger epitomizes the close connection between New England and English life in the mid-17th century. He also illustrates the combination of devout religious belief and utterly realistic political action which characterized the Puritans in both places.

The elder Sir Henry Vane was a self-seeking courtier of Charles I who acted as a diplomat and joined the Privy Council in 1630. The younger Vane was educated at Westminster School and Oxford. In addition, he studied at Geneva and Leiden and was sent to Vienna to acquire further knowledge of European affairs. On his return to England in 1632, the road to preferment at court was open to him. But at age 15 Vane had had a profound religious...