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CONTINUATION
OF THE
HISTORY
OF THE
PROVINCE
O F
MASSACHUSETTS BAT,
FROM THE YEAR 1748.
V/ITH AN
INTRODUCTORY SKETCH OF EVENTS FROM
.
ITS ORIGINAL SETTLEMENT.
By GEORGE RICHARDS MINOT,
If ellovr of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, ani Member of the Mafiachufetts Hiftorical Society.
VOL. I.
accotDing to aa of Congreft.
BOSTON: Printed by MANNING & LORING.
••HM^^n^^^HMM*
FEB. 1798.
J
XX
A S
1 I
T O
JOHN ADAMS, LL. D.
PRESIDENT,
JOSEPH W I L L A R D, D- D. LL. D,
VICE-PRESIDENT ;
The COUNSELLORS and FELLOWS
OF THE
AMERICAN ACADEMT
O F
ARTS AND SCIENCES;
THE FOLLOWING
WORK
IS MOST RESPECTFULLY
SDetiicatet),
SY THEIR HUMBLE SERVANT,
GEO. R. MI NOT.
C O N T E N T S.
CHAP. I.
• -.- of fettling New-England~0bfervation on the
char afters of the frft planters— Council of Plymouth — Charter of Charles I. — Laws, puni/hments^ and judicial Courts — Ecclefiajlical fyftem — General obfervation on tie •whole ..... ^
CHAP. II.
Lofs of the Charter - - - •> 35
CHAP. III.
Androfs*i ad'tJiiniftration — Charter of William and Mary — Controverjies about the inftruftions for fettling and fix- ing the Governor's falary - "53
CHAP. IV.
Military char after of the people — Philip's war — Various expeditions — Taking of Cape Breton in 1745 — Peace of Aix-la-G appelle in 1748 63
CHAP. V.
Debt of the Province — Origin and progrefs of Paper Money — Land Bank — Bills of credit redeemed — Pro- ceedings of the Houfe of Reprefentathes in the cafe of James Allen, Efqtiire — Drought — Conference with the Delegates from the Penobfcot Indians - 8 1
CHAP. VI.
Governor Shirley embarks for England — Affairs pending there — Peace with the Penobfcot Indians — Difpute with the Pigwackets fettled — Claims of France and En- gland to Nova-Scotia — Military operations there — So- ciety for promoting induftry—Propofals for fending Btfhops to America— A quarrel with Indians at Wif-
ca/et-
CONTENTS.
- — Attack upon the Eaftern fdtlsments by the C.-:* r.adian Indians — Law prohibiting Theatrical Enter- tainments— Expenfe of the civil lift - ! I o
C H A P. VI I.
of Parliament for reftreining bills of credit in thf Colonies — Complai?it cf tag ll'ejl- Indian fugar planters againft the Northern Colonies— Cejfation cf hcfliliiits againft the E after n Indians— Meafures fir civilizing the Mohawks — Controversy refpetling the right of ap- pointing the Attorney-General— Aft cf Parliament ta prevent the ersfiing of Siitting-mills— Small-Pox — Cc i- ference ^ith the Eaftern Indians — Governor Shirley returns — The Treaty with the Indians renewed 145
CHAP. VIII.
Comparative view of the policy ', fit nation > and ciahis cf the French and Englijl? In America-— Kofi Hit its com- menced between them in the Weftern Territory — Ex- pedition to Kennebcck—The building of forts there 175
CHAP. IX.
Meeting of Commifjioners at Albany — Their plan of Union — Debates on it in tic General Court — Excife Bill— Objections to it by the people— Cafe of Daniel Fow/e and others for puUiJl:ir.g a Lib el— -Indians in- vade Stockbridge - iS8
CHAP. X.
The taking cf the French forts in Neva-Scotia, and removal of the Neutrals - - - 216
C H A !\ XI.
Plan of military operations for the year 1755-— Supply of the treafnry — Laiv prohibiting correfpondence rwiih the French fct*!tments—Anfw to the Governor's
iieffagc
CONTENTS.
upon the fiibjetl of furmfoing the regular troops with provifions — Caufes operating to weaken ihe force of the Britiflj Colonies — Shirley departs for Ofwego — War declared againjl the Eajlern Indians — The Penobfcots attacked 22%
CHAP. XII.
Braddock's defeat — Diefkaifs unfuccefsful attack upon the Provincials under General Johnfon — General Court addrefs the King and fend Commiflioncrs to Albany — The army fent againjl Crown-Point difcharged — The uttack upon Niagara fruftrated—Obfervatio?! on the military operations of the year — Earthquake 248
CHAP. XIII.
Plan of operations for the year 1756 — Governor Shirley returns to Bojlon — Obftrvation on the refources of tht SritiJJ} Colonies to maintain a war — Objections to the mode of oppofing the French — General Court demand ajjijlance from the crown—They agree to raife another army againjl Crown-Point — General Shirley recalled— Aft of Parliament empowering foreign Protejlants to ferve as officers in A?nerica - - 263
CHAP. XIV.
The army fent againjl Crown-Point joined ly the reg~ ulars — Mode of ailing together fettled — Forts at Of- wego taken ly the French — The Engliflj army put on the defence — Reimburfement money arrives — Reinforce* merits ordered — Governor Shirley embarks for England-— Conduil of the General Court towards hi?n — His char- after — Campaign clofed — Mifcellamons matters
PREFACE.
A SENSE of the obligation incumbent on every one, to devote his leifure time and means of information to fome object of general utility, has excited this attempt to continue the Hiftory of Maffachufetts Bay for a fhort period. As an effort of duty, it is offered without referve j as a completion or the defired tafk, it will doubt- lefs need many corrections, of which the writer could not avail himfelf until he had ventured upon the public attention : and, in this view, he pre- fents it with apprehenfions, and unbounded re- liance on the reader's candour. The difficulty of hiftorical refearch increafes with the obfcurity of the period treated of ; and if fame or reward were to be preferred to the neceffary labour of connecting a feries of tranfactions, it is evident that a more brilliant and productive fpace of time might have been felected, where facts would have prefented themfelves from numerous and familiar records, and where reflection would have emanated from the interefting operation and magnitude of events. But the more re- markable and amuiing eras are, for thefe, among other reafons, fecure from oblivion, and it is only the barren tracts, where the fprings of future important tranfactions lie thinly fcattered, and which are neceffary to be explored merely to connect more fruitful regions of inflruction and amufement, that are in danger of neglect. In travelling through fuch a fpace, the paffenger ftiould be indulged to relieve himfelf by review- ing paft fcenes, and deviating into neighbouring and more pleafant departments, wherever the courfe of his fubjecl: will allow.
To
viii PREFACE.
To purfue a chronological narrative, in all the variety of incidents which ariie, general and lo- cal, permanent and tranfitory in their effects., many of them of that doubtful defcription which feems too trifling to be mentioned, and yet too important to be omitted, will neceffarily occafion diflimilarity of flyle, and produce an unequal ef- fect upon the reader. But it is not a romance, or a feiecled piece, that is to be narrated ; it is a faithful and minute detail of occurrences in 'a country, young, fecluded, and jufl imprefling it- felf on the attention of the elder world.
It is to be regretted that a valuable fource of information, the plantation-office in England, is not eaiily to be made ufe of here. Yet as it may never fall to the lot of the fame perfon to avail himfelf of records and other documents in both countries, it is thought bed not to fupprefs, on this account, the attainments made only in one. What is offered in a bufmefs of general concern is open to the examination of all, and he who is fo fortunate as to obtain further and better means of knowledge, is under an obligation to correct the errors and add to the refult of inquiries, con- fefFecHy made under partial advantages. The manner in which this may be done is more in- tending to the reviewer, than to him who is the fubject of obfervation ; fince the .candour or feverity of criticifm, however it may affect the character of its author, cannot increafe or di- rmnilh the merits of the work which he invefti- gates.
January i, 1798.
?•*
CONTINUATION OF THE HISTORY
OF THE
PROVINCE
O F
MASSACHUSETTS BAY.
CHAP. I.
Caufes of fettling New-England — Obfervation on the char afters of the Jirfl planters — Coun- cil of Plymouth — Charter of Charles L — Laws, pitni/lomentS) and judicial Courts — Ecclefiqftical Jjftem — General obfervation on the whole.
HE prevailing motive to the fettlement of New-England, | is generally known to have been an invincible defire and fixed refolution, to enjoy that moft eflential right of mankind, the free
B exercife
10
».
cxercife of confcience in matters of religion* The reformation in England under Henry VIII. though founded ofteniibly on the prin-* ciple of purifying the Chriftian worfhip from the fcandalous abufes of the Romifh church, did not, in facl, ferioufly engage the royal intereft further than it refpeded the fuprem- acy of the Pope as the great ecclefiaftical head of the kingdom. This point being gained, the principles of the real reformers had few patrons ; and, as they were the enemies of defpotic monarchy, to which the vanquifhed Catholics were not unfriendly, they became, at length, more perfecuted by the government and hierarchy which fprung from the ruins of papal power, than even the votaries of the Pope himfelf. In the reign of Elizabeth, refufal to conform to the cftablifhed church was firft made punifhable by fevere fines, and then by death itfelf ; *3Eiiz.ch.i. and any unlawful aflembly under colour of ch. i. a.' the exercife of religion, was forbidden on the fame penalty.
Upon the acceffion of her diflembling fuc- ceffor James I. the non-conformifts, allured by the circumftance of his education among Prefbyterians in Scotland, fuffered their
hopes
II
hopes to revive. But he demonftrated, as his predeceflbrs had done, that the favourite religion of the crown was that which moft favoured defpotic power : and they found him fo far from accommodating the difcipline of the church to the ideas of Proteftant non- conformifts, that he eftablifhed the canons, by which the Puritans or the moft zealous of the reformers who were diftinguifhed by Nealc<3 that name, were fubje&ed to excommunica- tion ; that is, not only a fufpenfion from church livings, but a difconnexion from the congregation of the faithful, an incapacity of fuing for their debts, imprifonment for life, unlefs they made fatisfadion to the church, denial of Chriftian burial, and, if we may ufe the words of an ardent writer, an exclufion as much as lay in the power of the court* from the kingdom of heaven.
Such {everities drove many valuable fubjefts from the kingdom into the Netherlands, and other countries, of Europe ; and finally, fo firmly were they attached to their form of religion, that a number who had fled to Hol- land, fearing the corrupting influence of other fe£ts, conceived the adventurous idea of fettling in America ; and actually arrived at
New-
It
New-Plymouth in the year one thoufand fix hundred and twenty.
The lot of the Puritans, who, at lad, were compofed both of the diflenters from the eftablifhed church, and the oppofers of def- potic monarchy, and whofe name was mali- cioufly ufed by courtiers to include the moft knavifh enemies of either, was defignated by a remarkable fpecies of perfecution. They were purfued by fuch relentlefs tyranny, as one would fuppofe, would be moft gratified by driving them from their country and what- ever is deareft to man, and yet were either too much refpeded or feared to be fuffered even to banifh themfelves without molefta- tion. Reftri&ions were laid upon their A. D. 1608 efcape, and whilft fome had fled to foreign 1 I4' countries, others were not fo fortunate as to obtain this dreadful privilege, but were de- tained as hoilages for the good conduct of their brethren abroad. The effects of the political and religious principles of the great body of this party who remained in England, w^re matured and unfolded in the fubfequent reign, when monarchy was laid at their feet ; and no wonder if the feelings of fuch of them as crofled the Atlantic, were commenfurate with the ideas of thofe who were detained at home. The
The feverity of religions persecution in- ereafed under Charles I. who was governed by the deteftable maxims of archbimop Laud, which furnifhed further expedients for pur* fuing the Puritans. Among others, a fyftem of fports and recreations on the Lord's day, which had been originated in the laft reign, was revived and eftabliihed by the King. This meafure was directly calculated both to obviate the objections of the Roman Catho- lics to the fuppreffion of feafls and revels, and to wound the feelings of the Puritans, and embarrafs their clergy ; as they were re- markable for a ftrict attention to the fourth commandment, ftill fo decently obferved by their defcendants. The magiftrates had found thefe fports, which confifted of dancing, leaping, vaulting and various other games, to be introductory of profanation, and at- tempted to fupprefs them ; but, fo great was the zeal of the court to root out puritanifrn (which, from the flrict obfervation it enjoined * of the Lord's day, they conceived tended to diminifh the feaft days of the church) that the reprefentations of the magiftrates were overruled, and the order eftahlifhing the book of fports was directed to be read in every parilh. This was a net to entangle the clergy,
and
it
and many loft their livings for confcientioufly refufmg to read the order. In fhort, it be- came evident, in the ftar-charnber language of the Earl of Dorfet, that to be guilty of drunkennefs, uncleannefs or any lefs fault might be pardonable ; but that the fin of puritanifm and non-conformity was without forgive nefs.
In fuch a {Situation of affairs, when it was difficult to fay whether tyranny triumphed moft in, church or ftate, a number of emi-* grants embarked for America, and fettled at; Salem in Maffachufetts Bay, in the year one thoufand fix hundred and twenty-eight, They foon extended themfelves to Bofton and its neighbourhood, and the increafmg troubles in England recruited their numbers,, until they themfelves became a ftock for population, and began to colonize upon the river Connecticut,
In aid of an infurmountable defire of pre- ferving the purity of their religion, and freely exercifmg the rights of conscience, thefe fettlers admitted a fpirit of commerce and agriculture as neceflary to their plans. Merchants became aflbciated with them : nor was it derogatory to the principles of their cmigra-tion to entertain a hope that,
whilft
the caufe of religion was ferved with fo much hazard, fuccefs might alfo attend an honeft attempt at hufbandry and traffic. But the encouragement from this fource was tri- fling indeed. The fettlers at New-Plymouth were thrown upon a more northern and lef* prornifing fhore than the place of their defti- nation, and it does not appear that the com- pany of Maffachufetts Bay ever made any dividend of profits. To the fpirit of religion therefore we muft afcrihe their perfeverance. Had they been placed on the extenfive wa- ters of the St. Lawrence or the Hudfon, where the articles of traffic were to be col- lected from immenfe and almofl exhauftlefs regions, or in the more fouthern climates, where the fpontaneous exuberance of the foil would promife an early return to the labours of the hufbandman, the common motives of commerce and gain might be fuppofed to have eflfe&ually aided the fpirit of emigra- tion ; but where neither of thefe exifted, and inftead of them ficknefs and famine were holding up the fate of preceding adventurers, the hope of enjoying in peace, what exceed- ed all earthly confiderations in value, muft have been the eflential caufe of their adher- ing fo inflexibly to their perilous undertaking.
Thefe
Thefe being the caufes which impelled the colonifts of Maffachufetts Bay to crofs the Atlantic, let us Iketch a few leading fa£bs in their early hiftory, and make fome general obfervations upon them, in order to prepare ourfelves for the more laborious and minute detail of that particular period, which is the profefled fubjed; of the prefent work.
Although the emigration of the American colonifts from the different European nations eventually produced the nobleft revolution ia the minds of men and in political power that the world has ever witnefled, yet we muft not be furprifed to find its operation con- fined in the beginning, and its advances grad- ual in proportion to the greatnefs of the event which was to take place. The fettlers in Maflachufetts Bay, we have feen, left their parent country in an age when, comparing it with fubfequent periods, it may rather be faid that error was falling than that truth was eftablifhed ; when the rights of fociety were but unfolding, and kings, after having re- lieved their fubjecls from the more dread*- ful tyranny of ariftocratic power, were grudgingly conceding, as privileges, what men afterwards underftood to be their own, independent of royal favour ; when religion
was
J7
Was but juft emancipated from the hand of popery, and the relative importance of fcho- laftic learning, and the myfteries of doctrine with refpect to practical piety, had fcarcely fettled to their proper level ; #nd, above all, ^when the great revelation of preferving the fpiritual and temporal kingdoms diflinfl;, had not operated upon the reafon of tire Euro- pean world.
It muft not then be expected, that the great advantages derived from the fettlement of this cbuntry to the civil and religious liberties of mankind, were wholly owing to the perfonal characters of the firft planters : thefe indeed^ were to a high degree exemplary, and the experience of the greateft abufes of political and ecclefiaflical power, in their own cafe, had made them proper inftruments to intro- duce a new fyftem to the world. But they cannot be fuppofed to have been entirely un- influenced by the habits and ideas of the country which they had left ; and among a long train of virtues, we are obliged to con- fefs that, retaliating their injuries upon their perfecutors, they did not give religious toler- ation her merited rank. Yet thofe who fo boldly ftepped out from an old fociety, filled
C witb
i8
with oppreilions and diffracted by periecu- tions, to the unbiafled government of them- felves, and thus proved to mankind experi-
i
mentally the \vhole extent of their claims to , freedom ; although they might have but par- tially anticipated the benefits which they were about to deliver to pofterity, and for a mo- ment, might have taken a retrograde courfe in their progrefs to liberty, muft neverthelefs forever hold an envied ftation in the view of mankind.
After feveral grants of territory upon the continent of North-America had been made by the crown of England, and fome attempts
d NOV to fettle it nad Prov£d ineffectual, King James I.
1620. Jn the eighteenth year of his reign, erected a body politic or Council in the town of Plymouth in the county of Devon, confifting of forty refpeftable adventurers. To them he granted New-England, including fo much of that continent as lies from forty to forty- eight degrees of northern latitude, and as, continuing that breadth through the main land, extends from fea to fea. At the fame time he gave to this body politic ample powers for the planting and governing of this territory, by laws agreeable to thofe of
the
the realm of Engla.ni!, as nearly as circutn- ftances would permit. The Council of Ply m- outh thus eftablifhed, in the third year of King Charles I. granted the country which may be called Maflkchufetts proper, extending from three miles northward of Merrimack River to three miles fouthward of Charles River, unto Sir Henry Rofwell and others, 4th. who alfo received a charter from that King 4th.yi.chM. confirming their grant, and vefting them with powers of jurifdidtion over the country.
This charter, from the omiffions of feveral powers neceffary to the future fituation of the Colony, fhows us how inadequate the ideas of the parties were to the important confequences which were about to follow from fuch an a£t. The Governor, with the affiftants and freemen of the company, it is true, were empowered to make all laws not repugnant to thofe of England ; but the pow- er of impofmg fines, mulcts, imprifonment or other lawful correction, is exprefsly given according to the courfe of other corporations in the realm ; and the general circumftances of the fettlemeut, and the practice of the times, can leave us no doubt that this body politic was viewed rather as a trading com-
• pany
pany refiding within the kingdom, than, what it very foon became, a foreign govern-* ment exercifmg all the eflentials of fovereign- ty oyer its f objects. The removal of the charter to Maflachufetts Bay began to unfold the defeds of it, and the confequences of the fettlement there. So many of the inhabit- ants were made free of the company, that it became impoffible for t{ie whole to ad ia making the laws, and hence arofe the necef- fity, perhaps top the firft idea, of a reprefent- ative body among them. This they created of their own motion in fix years after the grant of their charter, which was wholly filen,t upon fo important an inftitutipri. The high- efl ad of fovcreign authority likewife became neceflary to be exercifed upon criminals in the privation of life, concerning which the charter made no mention : but the govern- ment undertook to inflid capital punifh^ ments-. without recourfe to the crown for adr ditional powers, In the fame manner did they fupply a defecT: of authority to ere£t ju- dicatories for the probate of wills ; to con- ftitute courts with admiralty jurifdidion ; to impofe taxes on the inhabitants ; and to cre- ate towns and other bodies corporate.
All
2T
All authority being thus given by the people, and exercifed by tlie government of their own deftim:, in the form prefcribed by
C * 'A »
the charter for every neceffary purpofe o.t fociety, there feemed to be nothing but the force of habits and prejudices, formed in En- gland, to preferve diilinctions ?riid unequal privileges among the dalles of citizens ; and little more than an undefined allegiance to the King, the form of fwearing to which the Colony dared to dLfpute* to prevent its being an independent republic. Many dignified characters were aware of this ; and, appallecl at the hazard of lofing their fuperiority, fo much more furely recognized by the confti- tution of the mother country, declined emT barking for this unfettled world. ^
But fuca was the force of thefe habits prejudices, and fo prone are mankind to place unlimited confidence in their government, when unprovoked by the usurpation and abufe of power, that the people of Mafla- chufetts may be faid to have fubmitted to a fyftem of laws by which the freedom of ac-
tion
* See certain proposals mack by Lord Say and other per- fbns of quality, as conditions of' their removing to Nevr- England. Hutch. Vol. I. Appendix, No. 2.
tion was abridged, and to have voluntarily- yoked themfelves to an ecclefiaftical author- ity, by which the rights of confcience loft, for a time, the very principles that their emigra- tion had avowed, It would ill become the defcendants of thefe adventurous heroes to look back with reproach upon inftitutions from which they are now deriving the mo ft tranfcendent bleffings ; but it would ftill more ill become them to mow a diftruft of the prevailing merits of their anceftors, by an attempt to conceal defects which are incident to human affairs ; defects too fo exceedingly overbalanced, upon the whole, by wifdom, perfeverance and fucceis. Let us then obferve, that having their own government fecured by the right of election, all their fears arofe from that of England ; and being of the fame fen- tiinents with their clergy, they feemed to con- template no encroachments upon their re- ligious privileges but from the hierarchy there.. Common misfortune and danger having uni- ted them at this early period in opinion and intereft, the government became rather a vol- untary effort of felf prefervation, than an im- pofing act of authority. The great refine- ment of fecuring the rights of the minority was not fearched for where all were agreed ; and .jdiilft the community was unreftrained
by
by foreign tyranny, the idea of its becoming an inftrument of oppreflions within itfelf, was not prefented ftrikingly to view. The general freedom was the firft objed: ; it re- mained for pofterity, by the checks and divif- lons of power which have fmce been more fully adopted in political conflitutions, to guard againft evils which the higheft mutual confidence, and a common exertion to pre- ferve the enjoyment of their own religious opinions, the only expected reward of all their labours, prevented our forefathers from an- ticipating.
A body of men receding from the eftab* lifhed government and religion of a country ^ cannot be fuppofed to have carried with them any great affe&ion for its laws, nor to have been provided with many affiftants profeflion- ally {killed in its judicial inftitutions. The want of fuch counfel is acknowledged by the General Court, and had they been pofleffed of all the jurifprudence of the old world, the peculiarity of their fituation would have ren- dered it a partial directory. Under fuch cir- cumftances, the immediate exigencies of their affairs could not but dictate local regulations ; and the general principles of government
would
Would naturally be fuggefte'd from that rc- fpected guide of their confidences and morals^ which they had followed through fo many trials. They therefore adopted the Bible as their principal code of law, and declared as an article in their bill of rights, that no man imroduftiori fhould fuffer but by an exprefs law fufficiently publifhed, yet in cafe of a defect of law in ny particular inftancej by the word of God*
It is obvious to all in the" prefent age, that the peculiarities of the Jewifli nation muft render their jurifprudence inapplicable, in a variety of infiances, to a people fo differently circumftanced ; arid the rights of individuals could gain nothing by neglecting the experi- ence of mankind in former judicial proceed- ings, where they were in any degree fimilar to the cafes which might arife. The code of laws became marked with many additional Capital crimes, unknown as fuch to thofe of England ; and fmaller offences were multi- plied with rigorous exactnefs. As this fever- ity had for its object an exemplary purity of morals and religion, which mould extend to every perfon in fociety, it, of courfe, reached the more private actions of its members, and included all the relationflbips fubfifting be- tween them.
Their
1L
Their capital offences were idolatry, witch- Craft, blafphemy, murder, befdality, fodomy, adultery, man-ftealinz, bearing falfe witnefs,
/ • Laws pnnt-
conip'uacy and rebellion, curfing or fmiting a ed l66°- parent unlefs when negle&ed in education, or provoked by extreme and cruel correction, rebellious and ftubborn conduct in a fon, dif- obeying the voice and chaftifement of his parents, and living in notorious crimes, rape and arfon ; other offences were alfo made capital upon a fecond or third convidion, and the degree of the offence was, in fome in- ilances, increafed by the circurnftance of its
being committed on the Sabbath,
i
In the inferior claffes of crimes were many peculiar to the fituation of the Colony, efpecially with regard to fumptuary regula- tions, and the enforcing of induftry. In thefe there are ftrong proofs of the difpofition which prevailed, of mewing refpeft to partic- ular defcriptions of families, by diftindions ia their favour.
Their punifhments bore a refemblance to the general rigour of their penal code, and were fometimes, even in capital cafes, left to id. page 67, the difcretion of their judges. There is a
D law
law on the fubjecl of torture, which is a ftairi rather upori the volume in which it is re- corded, than upon the practice of the coun- try ; to the honour of which it may be faid, that the ufe of this ftatute has been fo little contemplated, that it became wholly obfolete.- This law prohibits torture generally, but ex-^ cepts any cafe in which the criminal is firft fully convicted by clear and fufficient evi- dence ; after which, if it be apparent from the nature of the cafe, that there be confeder- ates with him, he may be tortured, yet not with fuch tortures as are barbarous and in- human. The very terms of this- ftatute feem to difarm it of the power of injuring, and would render it, if it were in force, a lefs dreadful engine of inhumanity, than the pqine forte et dure of the Englifh law.
The rigour of juftice extended itfelf well to the protection of the rights of prop- erty, as to the moral habits of the people ; and a remarkable inftance of this is ihewn in the power given to creditors over the perfons of their debtors. The law admitted of a free- man's being fold for fervice to difcharge his dejpts, though it would not allow of the facri- fice of his time, by his being kept in prifon, unlefs fome eftate was concealed*
The
The Governor and Affiftants were the firft judicial court ; to this, inferior jurif- didtions were added ; and, upon the lloufe of Reprefentatives coming into exiftence, the judicial authority was fhared by them, as (in the words of their law) the fecond branch of the chief civil power of this Commonwealth. The fubordinate jurifdi&ions were the indi- vidual magiftrates, the commifficners of towns, and the county courts. Thefe feem, in forne fenfe, to have a£ted as- the deputies of the General Court, fmce in difficult points, they were allowed to ftate the cafe without the names of the parties, to that court, and re- ceive its declaration of the law,:
t
The perpetual controversy incident to di- viding power among feveral orders difpro-
• i i TIT. See laws
portionate in their numbers, took place be- A. D. 1643 tween the Affiftants and Reprefentatives, to I 53' Whether they fhould vote in feparate bodies or collectively, became a ferious difpute. As, by a defect in the conftitution, they held both legislative and judicial authority, it was at laft compromifed, that, in making the laws, the two Houfes mould vote feparately, with a negative upon each other ; but, in trying caufes, in cafe they fiiould differ in this mode, they fhould proceed to determine the qucl-
tion by voting together.
As
As in their government hereditary claims were rejected, their public officers being all periodically chofen from the body of the free- men, and without regard to diilincl: orders, fo in the defcent and diftribution of the real and perfcnal eftates of inteftates, the exclufive cjairn of any one heir was not admitted, but equal divifion was made among all, refer ving only to the eldeft fon a double portion. This, efpecially in cafe of a numerous family, which is not an uncommon inftance in a young country, effectually prevented the undue ac- cumulation of property. Thefe two regula- tions may be faid to be the great pillars, on which republican liberty in Maffachufetts is fupported.
There was an ineftimable advantage gain- ed to the caufe of freedom by a law of 1641, which declares the lands of the inhabitants free from all fines and licenfes upon aliena- tion, heriots, wardlhips, and the whole train of feudal exactions, which have fo grievouf- ly opprefled mankind in other parts of the world. They tendered hofpitality and fuc- cour to all Chriftian ftrangers flying from the tyranny or oppreffion of their perfecutors, or from famine, wars, or the like compulfory
caufe,
caufe, and entitled them to the fame law and juitice as was adminiftered among themiclves.
But whilft they thus ferupuloufly regulated the morals of the inhabitants within the Colony, and offered it as an afylum to the opprefied among mankind, they neglected not to prevent the contagion of diffirnilar habits and heretical principles from without. A law was made in the year 1637, that none ihould be received to inhabit within the ju- rifdidion, but fuch as mould be allowed by feme of the magiftrates ; and it was fully un- derfcood, that, differing from the religious tenets generally received in the country, was as great a difqualificaticn as any political opinions whatever. In a defence of this or- der it is advanced, that the apoftolic rule of rejecting fuch as brought not the true doc- trine with them, was as applicable to the Commonwealth as the Church ; and that even the profane were lefs to be dreaded than the able advocates of erroneous opinion*
LS.
The platform of Church government which they fettled, was ? the Congregational mode, connecting the feveral churches tor gether to a certain degree, and yet exempt-
ing each of them from any jurifdiftion by way of authoritative ceniure, or any church power extrinfic to their own. This was evidently oppofed to the hierarchy; and, in order to fecurc to thernfelves the rights which they had been denied in England, they pro- jecled the fame expedient which was praclif- ed there, of uniting what ought forever to be feparate, the Church and the State. Accord^ ing to the notion of the times, it was confid-. ered as an eflential teft of a true church, that it could be moulded to the civil government ; and they had been reproached by the advo-. cates for the eftablimment at home, that theirs was incapable of fuch a union. How un-* founded this reproach was, foon became evi-. dent : though the intellect of man has fmce> in its progrefs in this country, firft difcoveiv ed the abfurdity of religious tefts, and wiped away this blot upon human reafon, whilft the mother country remains, in this refpecr., itt ker ancient abfurdity..
f
No man could be qualified either to ele<3y or be elected to office, who was not a church member, and no ch.irch could be formed but by a licenfe from a magiftrate ; fo that the civil and ecclefiaftical powers were intimately
combined*
combined. The clergy were coniulted about the laws, were frequently prefent at the paff- ing of them, and by the neceffity of their in- fluence in the origination, derrionftrated how much the due execution of them depended upon their power*
But the error of eftablifliing one rule for all men in eccleiiaftical policy and difciplinc (which experience has proved cannot be maintained even in matters of indifference) could not fail of difcovering itfelf in very ferious inftances as the fociety increafed. The great body of the Englifh nation being of a different perfuafion in this refped:, num- bers belonging to their church, who carne into the country, neceflarily formed an op- pofition, which, as they had the countenance of the King, could not be crufhed like thofd of other fe&aries. It became a conftant fubjeft of royal attention, to allow freedom and liberty of confcience, efpecially in the ufe of the book of common prayer, and the rights of facrament and baptifm as thereby prefcrib- ed. The law confining the rights of free- men to church members was at length re- pealed ; and pecuniary qualifications, for fuch as were not church members, with good
morals,
iriorais, and the abiurd requliite of orthodoxy of opinion, to be certified by a clergyman, were fubitituted in its piace. But the great afcendancy which the Congregationalifis had gained over every other feet, made the chance of promotion to ofHce, and the iliare of in- fluence in general, very unequal ; and was, without doubt, one of the moft important caufes which confpirecl to the lofs of the charter.
Upon the whole, although if we examine thefe political and ecclefiailical fyftems, efpe- cially when taken in connexion with each other, upon the free principles of jurifpru- dence and religious toleration, they muft ap- pear alarmingly dangerous to the rights of individuals ; and, although there were acts of feverity exercifed by the government, efpe- cially upon petitioners for redrefs of griev- ances growing out of their conilitution, which would not be endured at the prefent day ; yet the peculiar circumftances under vvhic-h this handful of emigrants were placed, rendered their government lefs ineligible at firft, than we mould be led to fuppofe. They had all felt or were obnoxious to the penal- ties which, during feveral reigns^ had been
annexed
33
annexed to non-conformity and oppofition to the church of England ; and had procured permiffion to leave the kingdom rather on the principle of riddance than favour. The dictates of felf-defence therefore might well be expected to direct their meafures in mat- ters of public worfhip. The wildernefs which they had entered was a contemptible mare of dominion, compared with the fair inheritance which they had left the mother church at home : and, having unlimited confidence in their own government, it was natural that they mould avail themfelves of every expedi- ent to fecure their confciences againft the op- preffions of that from which they had fled. Nor is it to be wondered, fmce the fpirit of the age feemed to confider fome church- eftablifhment as neceflary to all governments, that they preferred their own to that of their enemies. The rigorous fyftern which they adopted, confidered as it refpected them- felves, certainly evidences a kind of heroifm in virtue, a felf-martyrdom in the caufe of morals and religion, which muft ever rank them foremoft amongft the moft zealous advo- cates for thefe important objects ; and confid- ering it as it refpected the reft of mankind, of whom they may be faid to have been the re-
E prefentatives,
34
prefentatives, in a common caufe the moft beneficiary that the world could be political- ly interefted in, if it wanted latitude and ac- commodation to extend its bleffings immedi- ately to many, who, in this view, rightfully claimed them, the misfortune may be rather attributed to the nature and operation of things than to any culpability on their part. It mould be realized that their policy was rather to eflablifh a Chrifdan community of a particular kind, and to preferve it pure from any foreign principles, efpecially religious, than to form a great fociety either for fplen- dour or power. Their fettlement was rather a flight to the defart from religious perfecu- tion and for the propagation of the gofpel, than an emigration upon political or national principles. In this nafcent ftate of a revolu* tion in favour of human happinefs, it is im- poffible not to obferve with admiration, the peculiar aptitude of their character to the purpofes which Providence had deftined them to effect. They had a wildernefs to culti- vate, a foe to fubdue, who united the inftinct and fiercenefs of the brutal creation with the fagacity of human reafon. The European fel Clements in their neighbourhood were gen- erally hoftile 5 and, what feemed ftill more
afflicting,
35
afflicting, a conflant watch \vas to be kept upon their mother country to prevent en- croachments upon thofe liberties which they had placed themfelves, in this forlorn fitua- tion, to protect. Under fuch circumftances, the ftrength and firmnefs of their fpirit \vas their only refource. Lefs rigour would have difqualilied them for difcharging the heavy duties which they had to perform ; and per- haps, more liberality would have introduced fectaries, who would have weakened the community by divifions, and profligates, who would have corrupted it by vice.
C H A P. II.
Lofs of the Charter.
r I^HE nrft great political alteration which the Colony underwent, was occafioned by the lofs of its charter in the year 1684. In examining the reafons of this change in their conftitution, it will be proper to remark, that the manner in which they left their native country ; the valuable confideration which they gave for their new pofleffions, firft to the Council of Plymouth, and afterwards to
the
the natives ; the want of all protection and aid from the government of England, when ftruggling with the difficulties of their fettle- ment, and the cruel warfare of favages ; the trifling circumftances on which the claim of the crown was founded to this vacant dwell- ing place in the earth ; all confpired to give them ideas of independence fcarcely compat- ible with any degree of allegiance to the King ; whilft on the other hand, whether from a de- fire of freeing the realm of fubje&s whom he confidered as its enemies, or from a want of forefight of the full extent of his grant under the future circumftances of the Colony, or from whatever motive, the King had conceded by his charter, fo much power to the colonifts, at leaft according to their conftruction of it, as left him little or no control over thefe dif- tant fubje&s. In fearching for the caufes of the lofs of the firft charter, thefe circumftances feem greatly to explain the fubjecl:. Inciden- tal occafions and events ferved to direct the manner in which the controverfy was con- ducted ; but whilft rights exifted fo incon- fiftent with the prerogatives of the monarch, as they had been generally underftood by him, they could not but be deftined by one means or another to be deftroyed : and it
happened,
happened, that the fpirit and inflexibility of the colonifts at this early period rather tended to furnifh opportunies for this defign to take effect, than to overcome the power of the crown.
The firft attempt upon the charter was made in the year 1635, when Sir Ferdinando Gorges, to whom the province of Maine had been granted, and Capt. Mafon, the proprietor of lands between that province and MafTa- chufetts, projected a plan of dividing New- England into twelve lordfhips, under the di- reftion of a general governor. This bufi- nefs feems to have made great progrefs at court, but never to have produced any real divifion of the country, or material injury to the rights of the fettlers,
In the fame year a commiflion was iflued to the great officers of the crown, at the head of whom was archbifhop Laud, for the regu- lation of the Colonies, which, among other things, contained a power of revoking any patent or other writing, or any privileges or liberties granted by the crown concerning the planting of the Colonies. In 1638, an order was tranfmitted by them to governor Win-
throp
throp to fend over the patent ; and they were threatened, in cafe of refufal, to move his Maj- efty to re-aiTunie the whole plantation into his hands. A procefs was carried a great length againft the charter, but no judgment finally given againft all the patentees. The General Court fent an humble addrefs, in which they dared not queftion their lordihips' power, but prayed for his Majefty's clemency. The caufe of the order as exprefled in it, was the frequent petitions and complaints of the plant- ers and traders in New-England, for want of a fettled and orderly government there. Per- haps the real caufe was owing to the effects of the fettlement on the prerogatives of the crown, which the removal of the patent had, by this time, made evident.
Thefe petitions and complaints, which never ceafed to rife up againft the country till the charter was deftroyed, proceeded from various caufes. It was the misfortune of New-En- gland, that the geography of the country was fo little known to thofe who claimed the propriety of it in England, that the bounds of their grants never could be afcertained, nor any rational conftruftion be put upon them, without throwing them upon each .
other,
39
other, and fo raifmg a multitude of interfering claims. The Colony was therefore in difpute with all its bordering neighbours ; and from the nature of thefe controversies, perhaps too from the fuperior ftrength and influence of the Colony, there could be no probability of their being terminated to the fetisfa&ion of all the parties. This ferved to excite the other Colonies, as well as individual grantees, to complain againft Maflachufetts to the crown.
To this clafs of complainants we may add particular perfons who were luppofed to fuf- fer from the judicial decifions of their govern- ment ; the natives of the country who ex- preffed their difcontent at what they afferted to be breaches of faith and intolerable oppref- fions ;* and the various diffenters, who could not but arife in a community fo particular m the fundamental principles of its political and
•religious conftitution.
.
Whether all or any of thefe various com- plainants had grounds for their accufations or not, it is foreign to our plan to examine : and probably the mere exiftence of thefe con- troverfies was more the caufe of the confe- quences which followed, by affording an oc-
cafion
* Secretary Morris's Letter, 1664.
4o
cafion to examine into the ftate of the coun- try, than the merits of the fubjeds in difpute.
After the decapitation of King Charles L however, the confufed fituation of England prevented any particular attention to the Col- ony, till Cromwell's government. The very qualities which exifted in the character of the inhabitants to render them difpleafing to the late King, operated as much with the Protector in their favour ; and he diverted all the com- plaints of their enemies againft them. Yet he procured the Navigation Adi to be pafled by the Parliament, which was a fource of fu- ture difficulty to the Colony, though it was evaded in New-England at firft, as they ftill Hatchinfon. traded in all parts, and enjoyed a privilege peculiar to themfelves, of importing their goods into England free of all cuftoms.
Upon the reftoratlon of King Charles II, the old jealoufy of their principles revived ; and in the year 1661, they received an order that perfons fhould be fent over to anfwer to complaints againft the Colony, with which they complied, and fent an addrefs by their agents to the King,
The
The refult of this agency feemed not un- favourable to the Colony, as they received a letter from the King, confirming and offering to renew their charter, tendering pardon to all his fubje&s, except fuch as flood attainted, for all offences ; but requiring the following conditions, that all laws made in the late troubles, derogatory to the royal authority and government, fliould be repealed ; that the rules of the charter for adminiftering the oath of allegiance be obferved ; that the adminiflra- tion of jnftice be in the King's name ; and charging the government that freedom, and liberty of confcience in the ufe of the book of common prayer, be allowed ; that all perfons of good and honeft lives and converfations be admitted to the facrament of the Lord's fup- per according to it ; with an exception, however, to any indulgence to Quakers. The letter alfo enjoined impartiality in the choice of magiftrates ; that their wifdom and integrity alone fhould be confidered, without
».
regard to any faction with reference to their opinion or profeffion ; that all freeholders of competent eftates, not vicious in their lives and orthodox in religion (though of different perfuafions concerning church government) fhould be admitted to vote ; and that at the
F next
next General Court this letter fhould be com- municated and publifhed.
Thefe feem to be the terms on which the privileges of the Colony were to be continu- ed : and we can account for their not being promptly complied with, only by recurring to the ideas of the colonifts, concerning the nature and extent of their allegiance and ob- ligations to the Britiih crown. A people who were of opinion that their common- wealth was eftablifhed by free confent ; that the place of their habitation was their own ; that no man had a right to enter into their fociety without their permiflion ; that they had the full and abfolute power of governing all the people by men chofen from among themfelves, and according to fuch law& as they ihould fee fit to eftablifh, not repugnant to thofe of England, they paying only the fifth part of the ore of gold and filver that fhould be there found, for all duties, demands, exac- tions and fervice whatfoever ; of courfe, that they held the keys of their territory, and had a right to prefcribe the terms of naturaliza- tion to all noviciates :* fueh a people, I fay,
whatever
* See the defence of the order of Court of 1637, relative to the admiffion of inhabitants ; and their addrefs to the King 1664*
43
whatever alterations they might make in their polity, from reafon and conviction, of their own motion, would not be eafily led to com- ply with the fame changes, when required hy a King to whom they held themfelves fub- ject, and upon whofe authority they were dependent, only according to their charter : and we mall find that their compliance was, accordingly, flow and occafional, as neceffity impelled them to make it.
In the next feflion of the General Court, all procefies were directed to be carried on in his Majefty's name ; the letter was commit- ted for confideration, till the fubfequent fit- ting ; all the inhabitants were invited to give their opinions upon it ; and it was ordered to be published, but with an exprefs injunc- tion, that all acting upon it ihould be fuf- pended, until the next feflion fhould take place.
The imperfect and reluctant manner in which the King's letter of 1662 was obeyed^ or fome other caufe, occafioned a commiffion: to be iffued (April 5th. 1664) to four perfons* of whom one was an inveterate enemy to the Colony, to hear all complaints and appeals in
all
44
all matters, military, criminal and civil, and to fettle the peace and fecurity of the country, according to their found difcretions. This eommiffion placed the management of the controverfy in a much more mortifying and critical fituation than it flood before ; as not only the merits of the difpute were to be fet- tled, but the place and manner of fettling them feemed derogatory to the government ; and all the accidental mifunderftandings, natr urally engendered by a jealoufy of their im- portance on the part of the commiffioners, and by an indignation at being called before fellow-fubjecl;s$ to anfwer to every complaint that could be folicited againft them, on the part of the court, were added to embarrafs a bufinefs5 otherwife fufficiently perplexed.
After the arrival of the commifEoners, the General Court altered the law that all free- men mould be church members, as has beeu mentioned ; and, having refolved to bear faith and true allegiance to hisMajefty and adhere to their patent, they agreed upon an addrefs to the King, in which they fet forth their rights under their patent, and the exercife of their own government for above thirty years ; the aflurances of favour which they had re-c
ceived
45
ceived from the crown ; and, as for the par^ ticulars of the King's letter of 1662 of a civil and religious nature, they faid they had ap- plied themfelv.es to the utmoft to fatisfy his Majefty, as far as did conilft with conference of their duty toward God, and the juft liber- ties and privileges of their patent. They Ihewed the appointment of the commiflioners with the powers they poffelTed to be againft the fundamental privilege of their charter, and prognosticated that, fhould they proceed, it would end in the fubverfion of their all. They fuggefted that the object was to gratify fome individuals by livings and revenues, who, however, would be difappointed in the refult, through the poverty of the country ; and if by taking fuch meafures, the people fhould be driven out of the land (for they never would coalefce in them) it would be hard to find others who would endure the fame. They maintained that the body of the people were fatisfied with the govern- ment ; and in regard to his Majefty, they ac- knowledged a juft dependence and fubjedion according to their charter.
This addrefs hac] no tendency to check the progrefs of the commiflioners, who, among
many
46
many other things, urged a compliance with all the particulars of his Majefiy's letter of 1662.
The General .Court ordered the oath of allegiance to be taken by all freemen and other houfeholders in the form prefcribed by the Charter, which ftated the allegiance as qualified by, if not the refult of, the charter and colonial government. As the word of God was the rule of trying offences in their temporal affairs, fo they directed their clergy to make it the rule of ecclefiaftical privileges, which they confidered as a fufficient compli- ance with the demands for liberty of con- fcience in matters of religion.
They declared, that hearing and determin- ing appeals from their judgments was in- compatible with their charter. This of ne- ceffity led to a denial of the commiffion in a moft eflential point : and they explicitly avowed this denial, when the commiffioners began to exercife their appellant judiciary power, which the court protefted againft, and foon terminated all further proceedings 0f this reprobated tribunal.
If
—
If the General Court a£ted with lefs com- pliance than their fituation required, the nar- rative of the commiffioners breathed a moft exafperated fpirit. Even the college and its corporation were held up as the fource of fchifm and rebellion. Perhaps the want of dignity and moderation was one caufe of its not having a more immediate and decifive operation upon the Colony. However,on the loth, of April, 1666, the King iffued an or- der, requiring the General Court to fend per- fons to be heard refpe&ing the complaints againft the Colony, and the report of the com- jniffioners,and to receive hisMajefty's pleafure thereon; but they declined to comply with this, and re-aflumed the jurifdidion of the province of Maine, which the commiffioners had put under the government of the King, until his pleafure fhould be known, and which the King, by his letter to the inhabitants of Maine of June i ith. 1664, had ordered to be reftored
to Sir Ferdinando Gorges, as the proprietor,
/
Againft this want of compliance with the King's order, the commiffioners failed not to proteft, though without effe£t ; but in 1676, agents were chofen to anfwer to the com- plaints which Gorges and Mafon preferred
againft
ll
agahift the Colony : and affairs fee'gan wear ib ierious an afpecT:, as to influence the meafures of the government; and in 1679^ certain difputed points were no longer main- tained. The General CoiTrt ordered the oath of allegiance to be taken -without refervation ; they pafled an acl: for punifhing high treafon with death ; they ordered the King's arms tt> be fet up ; and, although they informed their agents that they apprehended the laws of trade to be an invafion of their rights, as they were not reprefented in Parliament, yet they yielded compliance to them alfo*
But if a moment of accommodation ever exifted it feems now to have been pafled. Their agents were difm-ifled with a letter from the King of July 4th. 1679, requiring that agents fhonld be fent over in fix months to anfwer what was undetermined, repeating the fubftance of the letter of 1662 ; demanding that the Colony fliould affign to his Majefty the province of Maine, which they had pur- chafed of the heirs of Sir Ferdinando Gorges, upon their being repaid the fum of £.1200 fterling, the amount of the purchafe money ; and that they ihould resal all commiffions
for
49
for governing that part of New-Hatnpfhire which was granted to Mafon.
Obedience was fhewn to all the requifitions of this letter except the fending of agents, which they excufed themfelves from doing, on account of their poverty occafioned by the late expenfive war, and the affigning of the province of Maine, concerning which they were filent. This negled was the fubjed: of a royal letter the next year, which required them to fend the agents in three months ; and on the 21 ft. of October, 1681, the King wrote again, acquainting them of complaints that his colledor had not been able to execute his office, and requiring that fit perfons be fent over without delay to anfwer thefe com- plaints, with powers to fubmit to fuch regula- tions of government as his Majefty fhould think fit, and that appeals fhould be admitted.
In the anfwer of the General Court they denied the charge refpeding the colledor, but hoped that the fubjed of admitting appeals would be further confidered. However, the choice of agents was to be no longer defer- red, yet their inftrudions to the agents were, not to do or confent to any thing that fhould
G violate
violate or infringe the liberties and privileges granted by charter, or the government there- by eftablifhed.
Upon infpecting the powers of the agents in England, they were found to be inade- quate to what was required ; and the council ordered, that unlefs fuch fhould be fpeedily obtained, a quo warranto fhould iflue againft the charter. This being ftated to the Gen- eral Court by their agents, left them to decide, whether the interefts of the country were to be beft ferved by refigning the government to his Majefty's pleafure, or by (landing the iflue of the threatened procefs. Such a dilem- ma was truly interefting, and awakened all the feelings of the people. The danger was rather irritating than difmaying in its opera- tion ; and the majority, difdaining the idea of political fuicide, were for leaving the charter to the direction of its fate. The General Court agreed upon an addrefs for themfelves, and another to be figned by the inhabitants, to be preiented to the King by the agents, or withheld, at their difcretion : but they were inftrufted not to give up the deeds of the province of Maine unlefs it would fave the
charter ;
5*
charter ; and to make no conceffions of any charter privileges conferred on the Colony.
From this period we may date the origin of two parties, the patriots and prerogative men, between whom controverfy fcarcely in- termitted, and was never ended until the feparation of the two countries. Such as were for adhering to their patent naturally won the feelings of the people, and received their confidence in proportion to their zeal ; whilft fuch as hoped to affuage. a power which, in their opinion, could not at this period be overcome, were fubjecl: to the reproach of cowardice, or felf-interefted motives,.
This appearing to be the difpofition of the Colony, it was determined that a quo war- ranto fhould iffue, and the agents returned to Bofton on the 23d. of October, 1683. In a few days after them the procefs arrived, with a declaration from the King, that in cafe of a full fubmiffion from the Colony before pro- fecution, he would regulate their charter for his fervice as well as their good, making no further alterations than fhould be neceflary for the fupport of his government. This pro- pofition divided the legiflature. TheGovernor
and
and major part of the affiftants voted not to contend in law, but to fubmit to the pleafure of the King ; but the reprefentatives, after a fortnight's confideration, refufed to give this vote their concurrence ; and a letter of attor- Hutchinfon. ney was fent to a fuitable perfon to appear and anfwer in behalf of the Colony,
It feems that this procefs was iffued from the Court of King's bench, where the attor- ney was accordingly authorifed to appear ; but for fome reafon or other proceedings were not further profecuted there, and a fcire facias was iffued againft the Colony from the Court of Chancery, on the i6th. day of April, and was not received until the return day had expired ; by means of which, judgment was given againft the Colony on the i8th. Revoi. inN. June, 1 684, fubje& to an appearance and de- fence at the next term, without their being heard, or receiving timely notice to appear.
Thus fell the good old charter, valuable for its defects fo happily fupplied, as well as its powers. But with it fell not the habits it had engendered, nor the principles which the fettlement of the country had infpired. Thefe were for a time flightly hidden in its fall, but
foon
53
icon fprung up again more deeply rooted, and renovated with perennial ftrength : nor have they ceafed to flourifh till, in their turn, they have overrun, and probably forever buried, every germ of defpotifm and royal authority, in this republican foil,
CHAP. III.
Androfs*s adminiftration — Charter of William and Mary — Controverfies about the infiruc- tions for fettling and fixing the Governor s falary.
^OTHING could have better juftified the jealoufy which the people had enter- tained of their charter-rights, however it may increafe our admiration at the want of pliancy in the early ftages of defending them, than the adminiftration which fucceeded the affump- tion of the government by the crown. James II. who was at this time on the throne, ap- pointed Sir Edmund Androfs Governor of the Colony, and vefted him and his council with all the legiflative and executive powers. The firft appearance of this Governor was
abated
54 .. I
abated by the more dreadful idea which had taken place, that Kirk, a moil bloody inftru- ment of tyranny, was to have had the com- miffion. But the fubdeties and rigour of defpotifm foon convinced this free people of the change that was operating in the ground- work of their liberties. He held that their lands had been given by the King on condi- tions not performed ; and that, upon the lofs of the charter, the foil reverted to the crown. By this feudal principle, he endeavoured to create a neceffity for the renewal of every man's title to his real eftate, which, in fac~t, made him the vender of the lands at his own price ; Jfince the fees of .office for confirming titles were at firft unlimited, and when eftab- limeci by law, were fixed at the moft unrea- fonable rates. He levied taxes without the confent of the people, and punimed with feverky fuch as refufed obedience. The rights of the fubject in criminal trials were grofsly violated, and the corporate powers of the towns, the inhabitants of which were al- lowed to meet but once annually, and that for fpecial purpofes only, were fwept away with the charter. The people were told by the judges in open court, that they had no more privileges left them, than not to be fold
for
55
for flaves, and that the benefit of the laws of England did not follow them to the end of the earth : and this they, in fact, found to be true, though their diftance did not exempt them from the penalties.
Happily for them, the revolution in the mother country in 1688, afforded an exam- ple which they wanted not fpirit to imitate. Upon hearing of the Prince of Orange's land- ing in England, whilft his fuccefs was wholly doubtful, they aflembled in arms, imprifoned the Governor and his aflbciates, and re-af- fumed their government, in the form in which it exifted under the charter. Sir Ed- mund Androfs and his coadjutors were after- wards fent home, to receive fuch punifhment as the King and Parliament fhould think meet for their crimes ; but, under pretence of the charges exhibited againil them before the King and Council not being figned by the colonial agents, both parties were difmifT- cd, and this tyrant of New-England was af- terwards appointed Governor of Virginia.
No part of the Britifh dominions had more to exped from the acceflion of William and Mary to the throne than the people of Maf-
fachufetts.
fachuietts. By the privation of their charter they were thrown upon the mercy of the crown. Their rights feemed to be confider- ed as fo effentially dependent upon this, that, when it was deftroyed, they flood not upon the footing of their brethren at home. They conftituted no part of a Parliament, which was the natural guardian of the national lib- erty againft regal encroachments. They could neither purchafe privileges by adminif- tering to royal profuiion, nor gain an influ- ence by adding to the weight of faction. Placed beyond a commanding diftance, they had only to plead their fervices in extending the Britifli dominions, and in diffufing the doctrines of Chriftianity among the idolaters of the wildernefs. But a prince educated in the military habits of King William, and with whom the reftoring of the rights of his new fubjedts was, perhaps, a fecondary motive, in accepting their throne, to that of humbling a rival crown, could not again commit all the powers of government into the hands of the colonifts.
The fubjeftsof difpute therefore informer years, it was to be expeded would be fettled in favour of the crown. Accordingly, when
at
SL
at the requeft of the colonial agents, a new charter was granted, a fufficient guarantee was inferted in favour of the members of the Church of England, by a claufe allowing lib- erty of confcience in the worfhip of God to all Chriftians excepting Papifts ; appeals to the King and council were fuppcrted in all perfonal actions above three hundred pounds fterling in value ; and the exercife of admi- ralty jurifdiclion was referved to the crown. But the great reftraint laid upon the Province confided in the appointment of the Governor, Lieutenant-Governor and fecretary by the King ; veiling the Governor with a negative upon all laws and elections made by the council and houfe of reprefentatives ; and iubj acting the laws, even when thus fanc- tioned, to rejection by the King, within the term of three years from their paffing. Be- fides thofe aforementioned, the differences between the old charter and the new, con- fifled in an exprefs authority for exercifmg powers which had been in conftant ufe from fuppofed neceffary implication. Thefe were the privilege of a houfe of reprefentatives as a branch of the legiflature, the levying of taxes and erecting courts for the trial of capi- tal crimes, and the probate of wills and grant-
H ing
ing of admiaiftrations on inteftate eftates, which were exprefsly given to the Governor and council.
Whilfl the privileges of the people were thus diminifhed, the territory of the Province was enlarged. The colony of New-Plym- outh, the province of Maine, and the coun- try of Nova-Scotia, with the lands between the two latter, were joined to MaflTachufetts, and formed an extenfive tract of not lefs than, eight hundred miles in length.
Out of this fpacious domain, the only new refervations made were the timber fuitablc for the mafts of the royal navy, and grants of land between the river of Sagadahock and the gulph of St. Lawrence and Canada rivers, which were not to be valid without the King's approbation.
In order to reconcile the inhabitants to their new .charter, the nomination of the firft Governor was left to their agents in England, with the reftri&ion only of his being a mili- tary character. Sir William Phips, a native of the province of Maine, who had com- manded the forces that took Port Royal and
conducted
59
conducted the Canada expedition in 1690, was therefore appointed to the office. Du- ring his fhort adminiftration, no important difpute upon the rights of the Colony ap- peared, and, in the abfence of the Earl of Bellamont, who was his fuccefibr, when Lieutenant-Governor Stoughton was com- mander in chief, the continual hoflilities with which the Province was furroimded, engrofT- ed the general attention. Upon his Lord- fhip's exercifmg the functions of his office in perfon, the liberality of the General Court prevented any complaints refpedting his fala- ry ; but upon the appointment of Governor Dudley, the crown, realizing a fecurity for enforcing its inftrudtions to the Governors, in their dependence upon its authority, and hav- ing vefted them with ample powers by the new charter, had only to render their falaries permanent, to eftablifh its control over the proceedings of the legiflature. He accord- ingly produced inftrudtions, among other things, that the falaries of the Governor and Lieutenant-Governor, for the time being, ihould be fettled and fixed ; but the confe- quence of this was too well underftood for the meafure to be adopted, and the houfe of reprefentatives, having declared that it would
be
6o
be of no fervice to her Majefly's intereft to comply with the inftru£tions, the council alfo advifed directly againft it.
After Governor Shute had found his in* ftru colons for encouraging Britifh manufac- tures thwarted by a propofed impoft on En- glim goods, and had fuffered a diminution of his falary both in the nominal fum granted to him and in the depreciation of the curren- cy, he produced a like inftruction with no better fuccefs. Controverfies multiplied. His right of negativing the fpeaker of the houfe of reprefentatives was denied, and they a {Turned the right of adjourning for a week without his knowledge. His powers as com- mander in chief were ufurped by them. They refufed granting falaries until he had acted upon the proceedings of the General Court ; and, in fine, rendered him fo uneafy in his government, as to compel him to re- turn to England with complaints againft the Province ; of which the refult was, that the government of the Province was obliged ta accept an explanatory charter, dated Auguft 1 2th. 1 724, confirming the right of the Gov- ernor to approve or difapprove of the fpeaker of the houfe, and declaring their right of
adjourning
adjourning -without his confent to mean only from day to day, or, at moft for a term not
exceeding two days.
The great theme of Governor Burnetts adminiftration was the fubject of litigation, in which his predeceflbrs had been fo unfuccefs- ful. He entered into it fully and with fpirit* Yet his exertions were not only ineffectual., but he moft probably deftroyed an amiable life, by the exercifes and agitations of fo un- grateful a contention.
Governor Belcher came into office with confiderable advantages from the ftruggles of thcfe who had gone before him : for, although the General Court had hitherto perfevered in refilling to eftablifh a falary, yet the contro- verfy in other points had terminated againft them ; and they were evidently willing to do more, particularly as to the amount of the grant, than when they firft entered upon the difpute*
Finding, however, that the General Court would not recede from their reiblution againft fettling a falary upon the Governor fcr the time being, he direded his exertions to pro- curing
curing an eflablifiiment during his continu- ance in office. But, after flattering profpe&s of fucceeding thus far, he failed even in this, and thenceforth gave up all ideas of carrying the meafure. He finally obtained leave of the crown to accept fuch fums as fhould be granted ; and fo terminated, for this time, one of the moft memorable conflicts between the crown and the Province, which its politi- cal hiftory hitherto affords. When in fub- fequent years, the fcheme for rendering the Governor independent of the people was revived, in connexion with extenfive plans for fubjngating the country, controverfies of this nature were fuperfeded, by his being paid immediately by the King himfelf, out of the royal exchequer,
It was the good fortune of Governor Shir- • ley's adminiflration, that, although parties cxifted who had given much trouble to the chair, and had exercifed the deepeft arts of intrigue in difplacing Governor Belcher, yet j he found the means of oppofing them to each other, and gradually drawing them from the objeds to which they were attached. But he was foon affifted by a more fure and gen- eral principle, in the hatred of the French and
the
the indignation entertained at their encroach- ments. This feemed ingrafted in every one's mind in connexion with the fafety of the Province ; and animated all to exertions for the effentiai fervice of the crown and country, in which the finaller and lels hon- ourable conliderations of party intcreits were fwallowed up.
CHAP. IV.
Military charafter of the people — Philip's 'war — Various expeditions — 'Taking of Cape Breton in 1745 — Peace of Aix la Chappellc in 1748.
TN reviewing the early hiftory of Maflachu- fetts, it is impoffible to pafs by the military chara&er of its inhabitants. Modern igno- rance, againft the influence of climate, the habits of conftant danger, and the ftock from which they originated, has, for a moment, pretended, that they were deftitute of that degree of courage, which is generally bellow- ed upon the other nations of the globe. If this groundlefs affertion had not been dif-
proved
64
proved by the victories they have fmce gain- ed over a powerful enemy, it would {till have remained unfounded from the train of events in their more ancient hiitory. If it can be confidered as an apology for this fuggeftion, that it was founded on a comparifon of their troops always newly levied, with forces of long eftablifhment, the truth would be highly exaggerated ; and a comparifon of them with the people of any other country, under the fame circumftances, would deftroy the affer- tion, or in foine inftances, perhaps, completely reverfe it.
In {ketching this part of our fubjed, one of the moft painful ideas which occurs in con- templating the fettlement of America by Europeans, I mean the decayed and unim- proved condition of the natives, will rife into view. So irreconcileable is the Cavage mind to a ftate of civilization, that one is almoft led to confider it as in an inacceffible depart- ment of nature ; too independent to be fub- jeded to art, and rather prefuming to com- pare its bleffings with thofe of regular fociety, than coveting the more refined enjoyments which the latter affords. And, as though it
was to be conceded that the favage ftate of
man
man in its full flrength is too powerful for civilization, it is remarkable that, when the European fettlers were introduced to New- England, a moil definitive malady had pre- vailed among the aboriginals, which had made the country, comparatively, a deferted wild, prepared for the reception of its foreign viiitors without immediate conflict. How- ever, the remains of the five great tribes in this country, whofe force in their flourifhing flate might have amounted to 18,000 war- riors, were ftill fufficient to have exterminated the Engliih, had it not been for the inferi- ority of their arms ; and perhaps even this circumftance would not have effected their conquefl, had they preferved that mutual in- telligence and communication which their common intereft required. Fortunately for the people of Maflachufetts, either the com- . mercial and peaceable difpofition of their tribe, or the progrefs of civilization and con- verfion to Chriflianity, which fometimes af- forded flattering profpects of fuccefs among the Indians, preferved the Colony, for near half a century, from the hoilile fhedding of blood within its boundaries ; and fo averfe were the natives from an appearance of war, that when doubts of their pacific intentions were
I made
66
made known, they removed them by a faith- ful furrender of their arms ; not that the Colony was, during all this time, a quiet fpedtator of the wars which were carrying on without its limits. In 1637, it joined the forces of Connecticut and Plymouth, employ- ed in waging war againft the Pequods, who inhabited a country near the mouth of Con- necticut River, by which this martial tribe was extinguifhed. But this conflict was at a diftance, and peace continued at home, whilft the principles of the gofpel were en- circling the Colony for near fifty miles with a converted race, who were the watchmen of its fafety. Never were the labours of the primeval apoftles more faithfully copied than by the venerable Eliot, and the other miffion- aries, who taught the doctrines of Chriftianity to the Indians ; and never was a meafurc adopted more prefervative of the exiftence of the Colony. This finally defignated among the natives its friends from its foes, and by enervating their bloody fyftem of warfare, threw them upon the Englifh for defence againft the moft dreaded of all their enemies, the cannibals, compofing the nation of Mo- hawks. The fachems beheld their progrefs with fo much jealoufy and terror, that they,
at
at times, endeavoured to make it an article of treaty, that no more converfions fhould be attempted : and, when the ufe of fire- arms began to be underftood among the favages, Philip, the chief of the Wamponoags, con- templated the great objecl: of exterminating the religion and its profeflbrs from the whole land of his forefathers.
This fachem was the third who had head- ed the tribe fmce the arrival of the Englifh. He had feen his father and brother die in fubjedion to their fovereignty, and daily obfervation convinced him what would be the effed: of advancing their fettlements upon the waters and forefts which had been hither- to ranged by his people for their fupport. However his early predeceffors might have afcribed the emigration of the Europeans to the want of fuel or other fimple caufes, yet the combined flate of their fociety, fo unlike the loofe incorporation of his own national fami- ly ; their exclufive mode of occupying lands, and enjoying moveable property, fo different from the common ufe made of the one by the favages, and from their furtive ideas con- cerning the other ; their power in war fo definitive to their enemies ; the rapid in-
creaie
68
creafe of their numbers, and their fpirit of enterprife and encroachment, exceeding even their increafe, muft have driven him, from fpeculative conjectures of fuch a nature., to a realizing view of the effects which were about to follow their fuccefs. Thefe operated fo forcibly upon his fears and his ambition^ as to induce him to engage the furrounding tribes in his undertaking ; and, although the chriftianized Indians were faithful to their fpiritual leaders, yet their numbers were com- paratively fmall, and an. extenfive. circle of allies were not wanting to his plans. The murder of a converted native difclofed his intentions, and anticipated their execution. The frontiers of New-England, excepting the fortunate fettlements of Connecticut, were ftruck with fire and Daughter. Efforts of defperate refolution, in penetrating the treach-. erous receffes of the wildernefs, were the only means of preferving the inhabitants from the iubtle furprifes and mercilefs ravages of their enemy. In this ftruggle for the country^ feats were performed on both fides, which, had they been difplayed on a more confpicu- ous theatre, would have excited univerfal ad- miration. The nature of fuch a conflict is
hardly to be realized in a territory invaded by
a civilized
a civilized foe, where the regular operations of war afford fome rule for calculating the times and degrees of its calamities, and where defeat is not the certain prefage of tor- ture and death,
After a jeopardy of more than a year to the whole fettlement, a conclufion was put to the war on the weftern borders, by the death of Philip, the author of all the diftrefs, on the 1 2th. day of Auguft, 1676, and a treaty was fettled with the e after n enemy on, the I jth. day of November following.
But nothing feemed to be feverer in the fortune of the Britim Colonies, than that after they had purchafed and conquered their terri- tory, unaided by foreign interference, the peace which was the natural effect of their exertions, fhould be fubjeft to be difturbed by the broils of the parent countries ; and that, after the bravery of their people had relieved them from the natural ftrength of the aboriginals, they fhould be devoted to attack it again, when infpired with auxiliary force
from European enemies,
After
o
After an Interrupted peace, hoftilities were openly renewed, by the eaftern tribes, in the year 1688, and the Colony was inceflantly harafled till after the peace of Ryfwick was declared at Bofton, in 1697. ^n ^e fecond year of this war, they loft their Fort at Pema- quid ; but in 1690, they reduced Port-Royal, taking poffeffion of near ninety leagues of fea coaft. Encouraged by this fuccefs, with un- equal fortune, they equipped a fleet with two thoufand men, upon an expedition againft the city of Quebec, the failure of which ne- ceflitated the government of Maflachufetts to have recourfe to paper money for relief. In 1693, a peace was concluded upon with the Indian enemy, who broke it in the year enfuing ; and in 1 696, the ftrong fort at Pemaquid, which had coft the Province im- menfe fums, confidering its pecuniary re- fources, was taken by the French and demol- iihed.,
After a refpite of only five years, the ene- my renewed their attacks at the weftward in the year 1703, and peace was not reftored to the Province till the treaty of Utrecht in 1713. During this period, the Maflachufetts government fwept the coaft from Pifcataqua
to
zi
* * *
to Nova-Scotia with five hundred and fifty men, taking the town of Menis in 1704^ and in three years afterwards, one thoufand men were tranfported to capture Port-Royal, who made two unfucccfsful attempts upon that fortrefs. In the year 1710, the Province furnifhed two complete regiments, with the neceffary (hipping, in aid of the fquadron and army who captured that place. They fup- plied, with great inconvenience and diurefs to themfelves, ten weeks provifion to the forces under Nicholfon, who were difperfed by fhipwreck in an expedition againft Canada in 171 1. In fhort, in one fummer, one fifth part of their inhabitants capable of bearing arms had been in pay ; they are computed to have loft from five to fix thoufand of their youth fince Philip's war, and, of courfe, to have fuffered by the check in their popula- tion, not lefs than 100,000 fouls in that period.
Thefe diftrefies formed a difproportionate {hare of the general calamity of the Britifh. Colonies on the part of Mafiachufetts and New-Hampihire, who were the chief objects of the vengeance of the enemy. They were a fhield to Connecticut and Rnode-Iiland ;
and
21
and New-York was io fortunate as to be in an actual ftate of neutrality for a number of years*
Even wheri the French and Englifh kings were at peace, the influence of the Catholic priefts operated upon the favages to diftrefs the Province. In the year 1720^ they com- mitted hoflilities at Canfo, and on the 2jth. of July, 1722, they having repeated them at Merry-Meeting Bay, the Governor declared war againft them. After fuffering as ufual from their bloody ravages, the Province made a fpirited attack upon their fettlement at Nor- ridgewock, and entirely deftroyed it in the year 1724; and peace was concluded in the year enfuing.
It is not within our plan to give a minute detail of thefe diftrefsful wars ; and moft of our readers would be glad to be exempted from viewing the mocking fpe&acle, were we to exhibit it in all its terrors. It is fuffi- cient to obferve, that the favage generally fu- perfedes the neceffity of valour by his cun- ning in planning the attack, which is always made with the greateft advantage. When he is overpowered, he fights rather with def-
pair
73
pair than courage. The manly defence of an enemy infpires only revenge, and bravery conquered mares the fame fate with timid refiftance. The death of a warrior is atoned for by the blood or flavery of a captive ; and as fuccefs infpires not magnanimity, fo im- potency and defeat befpeak the malignant feelings of his heart, by high-fwoln threats and tantalizing irony. Let us therefore be excufed from relating the actions of fuch a being ; the deliberate murders from which fex or age could not refcue a vidim ; the perfidious violations of plighted faith ; and the black revenge, which has lafted even after the privation of life, exercifmg its mocking ingenuity to burlefque the remains of the hu- man figure, by caracatures that one would be led to fuppofe> were abhorrent to the native fenfe of man.
After the New-England Colonies had ftruggled, for more than a century, againft the arms both of the aboriginals and the French with various fuccefs^ the period arrived when fortune was to do juftice to their val- our, by events which operated with prevail- ing force on the belligerent powers of Europe. One of the firft objects of the French, at the
K opening
74
opening of the war in the year 1744, was the capture of the province of Nova-Scotia, which was garriibned by Maflachufetts, and had been fecured by its protection. The ifland of Canfo was taken, and the forces who defended it were carried to Louifoourg, before the proclama- tion of war was known at Boftori. Anna- polis-Royal became then the only fortrefs which remained to awe this contefled terri- tory. The enemy were not infenfible of it, and directed all their ftrength at this object Twice the government of Maflachufetts ref- cued it from their hands ; and, at laft, find- ing the port of Louiibourg, in the ifland of Cape Breton, to be the fource of conftant in* vaiion ; and that from various circumftances, it had become expofed, and might probably be carried by a vigorous aflault ; they deter- mined, at the motion of their enterprizing Governor Shirley, to attempt to reduce it. The expedition to effe£t this, which likewife relieved Annapolis-Royal the third time, was an achievement refulting from an high fpirit of enterprize ; maintained by confiderable refources ; and evidencing a generous partici- pation in the war of the mother country, which raifed a ftrong claim to her future
patronage and fuppon.
The
If
The forces employed by Maffachufetts to f - reduce the ifland of Cape Breton confided of upwards of 3,200 of their own men, who were aided by 500 from Connecticut and 300 from New-Hampfhire. In addition to thefe, 300 arrived from Rhode-Ifland, but not un- til the enemy had furrendered. Ten veffels, of which the two largeft carried only twenty guns each, with the armed floops of Con- necticut and Rhode-Ifland as cruifers, confti- tuted the whole naval force, until the arrival of the forces at Canfo, where they were join- ed by a fquadron of the King's ihips under Admiral Warren. The men embarked on the 24th. day of March, 1745, and being landed on the ifland of Cape Breton the 3Oth. of April, the operations were continued againft Louifbourg until the I yth. of June the siege of
following, when it was furrendered. The New-England men loft only 101 men, killed by the enemy and accidental caufes, and S^ke of about 30 who died of ficknefs ; whilft the French were fuppofed to have loft 300, who were killed within their walls. The ftrength of Louifbourg, which was regularly fortified, and garrifoned by 650 veteran troops and 1,300 effective men of the inhabitants, and the relative confequence of the ifland as af-
fecting
76
fe£ting the other fettlements of the contend- ing powers, places this voluntary enterprize of New-England in an important point of view. Cape Breton was ufeful to France in various refpe&s. Its local connexion with the fifh- eries, whence her naval power began to draw a degree of refpe&ability that threatened to rival that of her enemy, made it a commo* dious ftation for their encouragement. Its dividing the principal ftations of the Englifh fifheries at Newfoundland and Canfo gave a check to them. Louifbourg, the chief port in the ifland, was the French Dunkirk in America, whence privateers were fitted out to infeft the coaft of the Britiih plantations, and where prizes were conveyed in fafety : The French Eaft and Weft-India fleets found a fecure harbour here, and the fupplies of fifh and lumber could be carried with conven- ience from this port to their fugar colonies*. Befides which, Cape Breton had the com^ mand of the entrance into the gulph of St. Lawrence, which led to Canada, the increaf- ing and favourite colony of France. If all thefe local advantages did not accrue pofitively to Great-Britain upon the capture of this ifland, yet wrefting them from the hands of her enemy, was almoft equal to it ; and there
was
77
was one of great confequence arifmg to her from the exifting ftate of Nova-Scotia at this time. An expedition was proje&ed by the French to re-conquer that province. The taking of Cape Breton fruftrated the execu- tion of the plan, and gave the Englilh an additional bridle over this half-revolting country,
The exertions of New-England in this conqueft drew the military preparations of the contending powers the enfuing year into America, On the one hand, Great Britain confidered it as an important preparatory operation to the conqueft of Canada ; and France received an alarm from it, which led her to feek the re-conqueft of Acadia. The Englifh plan was to fend eight battalions of regular forces, with thofe of New-England, up the river St. Lawrence to Quebec ; and the troops to be raifed in New-York, Penn- fylvania, Maryland and Virginia, after affem- bling at Albany, were to prpceed acrofs the country by land to Montreal. The whole number required of the Britifh Colonies wras five thoufand fighting men, of which MafTa- chufetts voted to raife three thoufand five hundred, with an adequate fum of money
for
78
for defraying the expenfes of their transports and provifions.
The armament from England not arriving, the managers of the war in America con- cluded upon an expedition againft the French fort St. Frederick, fituated upon Crown-Point, which lay in the route of the troops from Albany to Montreal ; and ferved as a place of rendezvous to the enemy, whence they made their excurfions upon the Englifh fet- tlements. Fifteen hundred of the Maffachu- fetts forces marched to Albany upon this ex- pedition.
\
On the other hand, the exertions of France though ineffectual beyond all expectation in a general view, yet checked the effect of the zeal of the Britiih Colonies, in attacking her American dominions. The Canadians and Indians drew themfelves down from their province, in order to co-operate with a re- fpedable armament fitted out from Breft and the Weft-Indies, faid to have confifted of near half the naval force of France, for the reduc- tion of Acadia. This induced the Gover- nor of Maffachufetts to order fix hundred of the provincial forces for the fupport of An- napolis.
napolis. That part of the French fquadron, which proceeded from the Weft-Indies, un- der M. Conflans, not meeting the European fleet under the Duke D'Anville, on the coaft of Nova-Scotia, quitted the expedition. A tempeftuous paffage delayed and fhattered the latter ; and a multitude of unforefeen difafters wholly deftroyed their projected conqueft : not, however, until they had alarmed all the fea-coaft, drawn a very large number of the militia into Bofton, and put the Province to the expenfe of adding very refpedable works to the caftle in the harbour. This event delayed the expedition againft Crown- Point until fome of the Colonies thought it too late in the feafon to fucceed.
The Canadian forces determining to win- ter in Nova-Scotia, rendered this province a fubjecl: of continued anxiety and expenfe to Maflachufetts. Governor Shirley refolved, after again reinforcing the garrifon at Anna- polis, to drive them out of Minas, where they were feated ; and, in the winter of the year 1746, a body of troops was embarked at Bofton for the former place. After the lofs of a tranfport, and the greateft part of the foldiers on board, the troops arrived ; and
re-embarked
8o
re-embarked for Grand Pre, in the diftricl of Minas, in the latter end of December, when the rigour of the climate might have beeri iuppoied to have operated as a guard againft an attack. The iffue was5 that, being can- toned at too great diftances from each other^ and La Corne, a commander of the French^ having intelligence of their fituation, forced a march from Schiegne£to, through a mo ft tempeftuous fnow florin, and furprifed them at midnight. After lofmg one hundred and fixty of their men, in killed, wounded and prifoners, the party were obliged to capitu- late, not, however, upon difhonourable terms ; and the French, in their turn, abandoned the poft.
In September, 1747, m obedience to or- ders from the King, the troops were difband- ed, excepting; fo many as were riecefiary for
Gen. Court r ' J
Record*. the defence of Nova-Scotia, after having Memoirs of created an expenfe to the Province of near the principal f 8 Ooo fterlinp; for their fubfiftence only :
tranfafhons ^ J
of the late ancj oll ^ g^^ jay of May, 1 749, the
war, reprint- * ' /^^3
ed at Bofton Governor received the King's proclamation for a general peace,
By
SHIRLEY. Si
By the articles of this peace, New-England had the mortification to find her boafted conqueft of Cape Breton taken away, in a compromife for reftoring the French conquefts in the Low Countries, to the Emprefs Queen of Hungary, and the States General, and for a general reftitution of places captured from the other belligerent powers* This ifland was delivered back to its former matters, on the 1 2th. day of July, in the year 1749; and Maflachufetts was left to calculate the cxpenfes of her warfare.
C H A P. V.
Debt of the Province — Origin and progrcfs of Paper Money— Land Bank — Bills of credit redeemed — Proceedings of the Hoitfe of Re- prefentatives in the cafe of James Allen, Efquire — Drought — Conference with the Delegates from the Penobfcot Indians.
HPHE war which terminated in the treaty I74s,
of Aix-la-Chappelle, on the eighteenth • day of October, 1748, difplayed the charac-
L ter
82 SHIRLEY,
ter of the New-England Colonies in an ele- vated point of view, and with profpe&s of increafmg greatnefs. Before this period, as we have fhown, there had not been wanting in their inhabitants a zeal and fortitude, pe- culiar to the principles on which they had emigrated, and to the habits which they ai- fumed upon their fettlement in the country. They had planted a wildernefs, and the favage tribes in their neighbourhood had been either fo far civilized as to affociate up- on friendly terms, or had been controlled, conquered, and in fome inftances extermi- nated, by the force of their arms. This too had been effected without affiftance from the crown which they were under, and without involving it either in expenfe or war. When they became objects of invafion to the French, who had fpread themfelves in America, through the internal paffages of the St. Law- rence, Mifhfippi, and the intermediate lakes, their exertions increafed with their enemies. But in the war which commenced with France, on the thirty-firft day of March, 1744, opportunities occurred of exhibiting fpecimens of that ftrength and fpirit, which afterwards contributed fo eflentially to the aggrandizement of the mother country, and
finally
SHIRLEY. % 83
finally to their own fovereignty and inde- pendence.
At the conclufion of this war, let us ex- amine the Hate of the Province of Maffachu- fetts Bay, recent from the conflict, and pre- paring itfelf for that change of its primeval
manners and cuftoms, which wars and com-
» 7
mercial intercourfe with foreign nations, in- creafe of population and other neceffary al- terations in a growing country, will never fail to produce.
Military glory is commonly followed with national debt, and the pecuniary circumftances of the Province were fuch as amounted to a very liberal price for the fame acquired in the purfuit of victory. The nominal value of the unredeemed bills of credit was about Hutch- vol>
20. p. 435,
£.2, 200,000 currency ; the value when iflu- ed about ^.400,000 fterling, and the provi- fion made for redeeming them was fomewhat JJ0' *2 lefs than two hundred and fourteen thoufand pounds of the fame money.* But the fum of this debt ought not to be eftimated by figures
alone.
* Viz. ^*.i83,649..2s.7i: fterling, the reimburfement money, and ^.75,000 tax, payable in pieces of eight at us. 3d. each, equal to ^".30,000 fterling.
84 SHIRLEY.
alone. The general iituation of public affairs afFords the ia-.-dt calculation of its total amount. AV that part of the people who depended upon :he income of monies loaned, were under the diftreiTes of poverty, from its operation. Public inititutions fupported by funds, with which the caufe of literature and education was intimately blended, were in a conftant progrefs of decay. Officers and ibldiers of the army, with all the civil officers of the government, were paying the price of depreciation, in a moft injurious difpropor- tion. So violent was the effect of it upon the clergy, to whom the parifhes were tardy in making up the deficiency in the value of their falaries, that the Governor told the Governor's General Court that it feemed probable many speech, Feb. of them would be neceffitated to betake them- felves to fecular employments for a liveli- hood.* Trade was, in a manner, reduced to
a ftate
* An idea of the aclual depreciation of the currency, and of the baneful operation of it upon the happinefs of the defencelefs part of the community, may very well be formed from the following note in the Rev. Nathaniel Apple- ton's Sermon, preached on the faft day in the year 1748. " I am credibly informed of an ancient Widow, whofe hufband died more than forty years ago, who had three pounds a year fettled upon her, inftead of her dower ; which three pounds would, at that day, and at the place
where
SHIRLEY. 85
a ftate of barter ; and, above all, the tempta- tion every man was under, almoft in felf-de- fence, to avail himfeif of an advantage in his contract, not guarded againft by the par- ties at the time when it was made, was daily corrupting the morals and good faith of the whole body of the people,
All muft have feen, though very few judg- ed rightly of, the evils which the wrant of a ftable medium of commerce had thus intro- duced. The community feemed to have been under the operation of an invifible fcourge, until, like an envenomed adder, it flung its own body, and increafed the caufe of its irritation. Mutual reproach was the refult of a misfortune for which no one or- der of men was exclufively to blame. As trade has the fir ft control over and is firit
affeded
where fhe lives, -procure towards her fupport the following articles ; viz. Two cords of wood, four buihels of Indian corn, one bufhel of rye, one bufhel of malt, fifty pounds of pork, and fixty pounds cf beef ; which would go a con- fiderable way towards the fupport of a fingle woman. Now fhe can at moft demand but feventesn foill'ings and three pence, new tenor ; which is but about an eighth part of her original three pounds ; and be fure won't purchafe more than half a quarter of the above neceiTaries of life : and this fhe muft take up \yith ; becaufc there is no remedy in law for her. And this is, in a meafure, the deplorable •afe of manv widows in the land."
86 SHIRLEY.
Dr Apple- affe£ted by the currency, fo the merchants ton's serm, feeme(j to ftand foremoft among the fubjecls
aforecited. J
of cenfure. Had they adhered to the laws for fupporting the credit of the bills, by giving no more for filver and gold than the feveral governments had valued them at, and fo putting no additional advance upon their goods, the hufbandman and the tradefman, it was laid, would not have been neceffitated to have raifed the prices of their produce and labour. Thefe latter were not excufed for their indifcreet ufe of foreign luxuries. The members of the AfTembly had their {hare of reproach, for iffuing a currency in its nature unftable, and incapable, in the courfe of things, to fupport its credit ; and pious men refolved the whole into the profanenefs and wickednefs of the times.
This immenfe mafs of public obligation derived its exiftence, in one fenfe, from the neceffities of the Colony, after the unfuccefs- ful expedition againft the province of Canada, in the year 1690; when the plaufible idea of only anticipating the annual tax firft in- troduced bills of credit of an annual exiftence. Punctuality was obferved in the redemption of them until the year 1 704, when the pref-
fure
SHIRLEY. 87
fare of public expenfes, arifmg from diftrefs-
ful wars, induced the General Court to poft-
_ r c cies of the
pone the payment of taxes for two years at Britifh Pla firft, afterwards for a greater number, and, at America" length, for thirteen, until the pofcponement &c' I74°- was at laft confined, by the operation of royal Hutch. VO inftrudions, to the year 1741. A difcount a>p'°93* upon the bills, in the purchafe of filver and other articles of traffic, was the neceffary confequence. Bills of a new tenor, and of a greater relative nominal value, were emitted ; but all flid down the fame lapfe of deprecia- tion, as the probability of their being re- deemed decreafed. Various fchemes were propofed for calling in the aid of private credit, which, at a time when the nature of money was fo little underftood, did but in- creafe the embarraffinents of the community ; and the popularity of the bills of credit growing with their mifchiefs, feemed to ren- der all remedy hopelefs.
Such was the inclination of the legislature Anno to avoid taxing the people, that a fcheme was
xxiiLcn* v oi«
formed to raife a capital upon the fecurity of l- P- 403. individuals, and with the profits to provide for the annual charges of the government- They emitted ^.50,000 at firft, and after-
wards
S H I R L E Y;
wards ^.100,000 more, in bills of public credit, which were placed in the hands of truitees for a loan to private perfons, who fhould be obliged to repay it, with intereft, at itipulated periods ; and this intereft was appropriated to defraying the public expenfes. project: was afterwards formed by fimilar
A J
concerning
the curren- means to fupplant 2i paper currency by filver Bmifhpian- coin. The loan was to confift of ,£.60,000,
tations in 1111 i
America,&c. and the borrowers were to be held to replace it with fpecie. Banks became favourite ob- jects ; and as the very remedy fuppofed the want of money, land was the moft perma- nent fubftitute on which it was imagined a
~n «• * credit could be raifed. There is a propofal
Diftreffed
state of the among others, printed in the year 1720, by Bofton,with which real eftatc was to be mortgaged by
a Scheme for . ' J
a Bank, private pcrions tor the payment or the . bills which they fhould iffue, and the profits were to be laid out in the purchafe of filver, as a depofit for discharging the bills, when fufficient, and fo releafing the landed fecurity. But when the reftriclion upon the poftpone- ment of taxes to the year 1741, was about to take effect, a Land-Bank was actually carried into execution, for the oftenfible purpofe of fupplying a currency, when the bills ©f cred- it iffued by the government fhould be ab-
forbed.
SHIRLEY.
forbed. The fubfcribers or partners were to pay in their intereft and principal in bills ; or the produce and manufactures of the Province (as taxes in former times had been in part paya- ble) at fuch rates as the directors ihould eftab- lifh. In order to counteract this institution, a company was formed to iffue their private notes, payable on demand in filver or bills of credit equivalent, according to their current value ; but their fcheme was ineffectual, Seelli thouerh countenanced by Governor Belcher. speech,NoY.
/ az, 1740, &
The partners in the Land-Bank pufhed Jan-9- the operation of their project to the great- eft extent, and being uncontrollable by any means within the Province, they were diffolved by an Act of Parliament, which de- Hatclu Vot clared the law, prohibiting fimilar inftitutidns in England, to extend to the Britifh Plan- tations.
If the operation of the King's inftructions, in limiting: the period for redeeming the bills
O 1 <--'
of credit to the year 1741, and in prevent- ing others being iflfued till the redemption took place, but by acts fubjeet to his Majef- ty's approbation gr.tnted previous to their .effect, gave rife to fchemes for emitting
M fimilar
<jo SHIRLEY.
fimilar bills by private corporations, it never- thelefs produced an arrangement with refpecT: to thofe of the public, which was highly productive of juftice ; and, no doubt, muft have been a principal caufe in checking their obferva- depreciation for four fucceffive years. They above. had been made a fubftitute for the payment JheHoufeof of debts in the year 1712, by fcreening the i7e|3. a eftate and perfon of any debtor who fhould tender them to his creditors. But in this
1743™' year, a law was pafled, enacting that bills of credit then to be iffued fhould be valued at
ijth.Geo.' the rate of fix fhillings and eight pence for an ounce of filver ; and that the fame fum, in all debts to be contracted within five years from the laft day of March, 1 742, (fpecialties and exprefs contracts excepted) fhould be deemed equal to the fame quantity of filver, and fhould be paid therewith, or by bills of credit, allowing for depreciation, if any fhould happen. In two years afterwards, it appearing that the bills of credit were the moft natural ftandard for contracts to be formed by, all debts to be contracted within the period above fpecified (excepting as be- fore) were ordered to be confidered as equal only to the real value of the bills, at the time of their being made ; but depreciation was
flill
SHIRLEY. 91
ftill allowed, from that time to the rendering of judgment ; and by a fubfequent law, pro- ch. «!' vifion was made for the allowance of depre- ciation upon more ancient debts, during the fame period of time.
»
The emiffion of bills of credit, however, did not ceafe at this period, the wars in Governor Shirley's adminiftration requiring voLi.P.5a*. a quantity equal to the whole amount of the exifting debts we have before ftated ; nor did the laws, providing: for the allowance of
Hutch. Vol.
depreciation, extend by the practice of the *<*• p- 437- Courts further than to debts on fpecialties, that is, where the contract was exprefled to be for fomething other than bills of credit ; but on fimple contracts, which were by far the moft numerous, no allowance was made. And thus continued this fluctuating and deceitful medium, taxing all clafles of inhabi- tants infenfibly, but unequally ; drawing away, by a kind of magic ftealth, real pro- perty from its pofTeffors, and fubftituting imaginary wealth in its place ; difaffecting the people with each other, and threatening to overwhelm pofterity with its evils, till a caufe, which had greatly contributed to its
increafe,
92 SHIRLEY.
increafe, at lenth happily furnimed the means of its abolition.
The efforts made by the New-England Colonies in the late expedition againil Cape Breton, were fo fignal, and had involved the inhabitants in fuch deplorable perplexity and misfortunes, that an equitable claim aroie up- on the Parliament of Great-Britain for com- penfation for fo unequal and beneficiary an
exertion in the common caufe.
.
The eitablifhing of this claim, and procur- ing fatisfacHon for the expenditures of the Province, was attended with a variety of dif- ficulties from different caufes. Among thefe, however, we cannot in juftice reckon a want of liberality on the part of the Parliament, confidering the reimburfement as it refpecled the Louifbourg expedition alone ; and in- deed it would have been a remarkable in- fiance of inconfirlency, if the generofity of a nation, who was fpending millions to fup- port the Houfe of Auftria and the Provinces of Holland againil France and Spain, who gave an hundred thoufand pounds to Ruffia only to keep a force for one year on the herders of Livonia to afiijl his Maiefiy s allies,
«-4/ +J fc/ *s ^
and
SHIRLEY. 93
and who was opening her wealth to Hanover
with the ufual prodigality, had been checked
at the juft demand of' fome of her Colonies
to be reimburfed their expenfes in obtaining
a conqueft by land, to which the Britifh
arms had not been much accuflomed in the
courfe of this war. If it w^as of fo much
confequence to her, who fhould poffefs a part
of Italy or the barriers of the Netherlands,
as to induce her to lavifli millions upon
powers who retained but little gratitude for
the aid, of how much more confequence See c°nfid-
muft it have been to her, who pofTeffed the
erations on
of impofing
-commanding; ports in the neighbourhood of taxes on th«
' Britifh Colo-
her colonies, whofe trade would return her nies. virg. the whole of the reimburfement within a 1765. few months !
Accordingly, after the application of the government of Maffachufetts Bay had fo far obtained the affent of the King and Council, as to induce them to determine that the Province fhould have reafonable fatisfadion for their expenfes, the main queftion which was Reoorttothe brought before the Parliament refpe£ted the I:ord? of thc
Treafury oil
amount, and the manner or time of payment, the demands
r J ofthenorth-
The fums expended by Maflachufetts in this em colonies,
J December
expedition were equal to £.26 1,700.. os.. 3, in 2P>
the
94 SHIRLEY.
the Province bills of the new tenor, or £. i83,649«.2s.7i fterling, reckoning the ex- change at ^.142.. i os, per centum, which, however, was fuppofmgthe bills equal to filver, at feven {hillings and fix pence an ounce., as expreffed in the face of them. This was the real rate of exchange for draughts on London, in 1 744, when the firft aft forifiuing bills of credit for the expedition was paiTed. But the exchange had rifen, before any grant was effeded by Parliament, to ^,250 per centum, of the new tenor bills, or 1000 per centum of the old. Thefe extremes made a differ^ ence in the claim of the Province of nearly feventy-nine thoufand pounds fterling. But the Parliament, juftly confidering this depre- ciation as a tax upon the people, thought that it ought to be reimburfed them, and voted the larger fum. However, it was thought expedient to regulate the appropria- tion of the money, fo that the great differ- ence between the value of the bills of credit when iflued, and the value at the time of their redemption, fhould operate juftly to the holders of them. This gave rife to varioua projects from interefted and officious men. Some wifhed all this difference to go to the pofleffors of the bills, which would have been
making
SHIRLEY. 95
making the grant a fpeculation for the emol- ument of perfons, who, perhaps, not having had the bills in their hands any length of time, fuffered little or nothing of the depre- ciation. A discrimination was alfo fuggefted, in order to make good the depreciation to thofe who had held the bills of credit for any considerable time, without making the fame allowance to others ; but, befides the impoffi- bility of afcertaining the true time the pof- feffors had held them, this fcheme would Letters of have unjuftly rewarded the hoarders of the to their bills, whilft thofe who had fuffered infenfibly, 4.&&° but as much, in the rapid circulation of the currency, would have been denied what, of thefe two claffes of men, they beft deferved. It was likewife propofed, that 'the money fhould be paid to the Province by inftalments, having reference to the years, when it was provided by law that the outflanding bills fhould be called in by taxes, which would have procraftinated the laft payment until about the year 1754. Two more fchemes, ftill more injurious to the country, were held out : one, that the paper currency fhould be redeemed by a bafe coin ; the other, that it
{hould be abforbed by bills of exchange.
j
drawn upon England, and payable there in
fpecie,
96 SHIRLEY.
fpecie, which would have annihilated the old medium of trade, without introducing a new one.
Such a fruitful fuojecl: for projections and intrigues could not well be fettled by the Parliament ; and, upon the lords of the treafury offering to take upon themfelves the burden of fettling the proper manner in which the money mould be paid, the a£l was paffed for reimburfing the Colonies, under a general underftanding in the Houfe, that the manner of iffuing the fpecie mould reft with them.
When the money had thus become ftation-
terto Sec. . r .
wmard, ary, all parties had a fair opportunity or m-
1748. ' terfering in a bufmefs, which Mr. Bollan,
the indefatigable agent for the Province, in-
fifted no one but his employers had any right
to meddle with.
The merchants, and others, trading to and interefted in New-England, preferred a peti- Gen °court **on to ^ treaful75 ftating the evils arifing
by from the bills of credit iffued there : that it
. Bclhn.
would be very difficult for the affemblies to agree upon an equitable rule as to the man- ner
SHIRLEY. 97
rier in which the money mould be applied, as perfons in the adminiftration of the gov- ernment had purchafed the bills at a depre- ciated value, in order to gain by the ex- change of them for filver ; (a reflection which Letter to the General AiTembly denied, but which they NOV. Md."' hoped would facilitate the redemption of the bills, according to their lowed rate) praying that no part of the grant might be iffued, until fome effectual meafures mould be taken by the feveral governments for eilablifhing fuch a rule, and putting a period to the paper currency ; or, in cafe of their refufal or neg- le£t> not until the whole could be regulated by Parliament.
The attorney and folicitor-generaL after copy of their
opinion on
hearing the parties, gave their opinion, that the files Of
the G. Cour$.
the powers of the agents from Maliachuletts and Connecticut^ being only votes of the Affemblies, and not letters of attorney under the feals of the Provinces, who were corpo- rate bodies by charter from the crown, did not give proper authority to receive the money ; even if the agents would give bond Boiian'sLct-
i 1 r tertoHutch>
to account at the exchequer, as the lords or sept. 26. the treafury had once propofed. The fub- miflion of this point to the opinion of thefe
N officers,
98 SHIRLEY.
officers, was not done without exciting a fuf- picion in the mind of Mr. Bollan, that the whole was a contrivance to aid the miniftry under an embarraffment, arifmg from their having placed the payment of the money upon unjuftifiable conditions, by the propofal * above-mentioned ; and Mr. Kilby, the other agent, fuppofed the money would undoubt- edly remain in the hands of the adminiftra- tion, till refolutions were perfected as to the Kilty's Let- appropriation of it, which might furnifh an- wiUaroT^ other motive to the miniftry for raifmg this O&.I748. impediment to the paying of money, that there was nothing on record to juftify them in withholding.
Whilft fo much was pending upon the ap- propriation of the money, the General Court did not neglect their right of providing by Hutch, vol. ]aw for the rates at which the bills of credit
2d. p. 438.
fhould be redeemed. For reafons already mentioned, the whole benefit of the grant arifmg from the depreciation of the bills fmce they were firft iffued, notwithstanding they were eftimated by the Parliament at the value they were of at an early period, was not given to the poffefTors of them, but was chiefly applied to the benefit of the Province
at
SHIRLEY. 99
at large, the redemption being fixed at about
one fifth lefs than their loweft current value, JdJoeo^.
or at fifty {hillings for an ounce of filver. A> D*
As the defign of this law was the abolition of the paper currency, and the amount of the grant of Parliament was not fufficient for effecting that object wholly, the refidue was provided for by a tax of ^.75,000, payable in bills at the rate above-mentioned : and all future debts, after March 31, 1750, it was declared, ihould be underftood to be made for filver coin at fix ihillings and eight pence an ounce ; and all debts after that time were jnade payable in fuch coin accordingly.
But the evils of bills of credit were not to be overcome, w^hilft the neighbouring govern- ments had it in their power to iffue them upon little or no foundation, and by fiiding them into the Province, to take away its real wealth for an imaginary value. Penalties were therefore laid for receiving fuch bill.% and all town officers, reprefentatives, mem- bers of the Council, the civil and military of- ficers of the Province, creditors taking out executions from the courts of juftice, tav- erners and ianholders, were obliged to iwear
thai
IOQ SHIRLEY,
\
that they had not been concerned in receiv- ing or paying them, after the operation of the law : and it was provided, that any inhabi- tant who fhould be fued by a perfon belong- ing to fuch government, fhould be allowed to difcharge his debt in thefe bills, if poflefled of them before the acT: fhould come into force, excepting that this provifion fhould ceafe in refpect to any fuch government which fhould fink its bills of credit before the thirty-firft day of March5 1 754.
The lords of trade reported to the Council,
x;4S>.X1' that upon the whole, it might be advifeable to
lay this ad before his Majefty for approba-
tion ; and, the mode of redeeming the bills
of credit, being thus fettled to the fatisfadtion
of the lords of the treafury, his Majefty's
order was delivered for paying the money
June 14, to gjr peter Warren, and William Bollan,
Efq. who were authorifed by the law to give
a difcharge for it in behalf of the Province.
The difficulties in effecting the important change in the currency, which we are now relatin arofe within the Province from the
,
s Even- friends of the old tenor money, both in the $3, 1749. General Court and without doors. They
relied
SHIRLEY. 101
relied upon objections of the following na- ture. That the time allowed for redeeming the bills, which was about fifteen months, was too fhort, and would ftimulate creditors to purfue their debtors for the purpofe of procuring payment in bills, in order to gain by the exchange for illver ; that the rate of redemption was too high, and would, there- fore, not only tend to forward the fame evil, but would likewife reward thofe who had purchafed them upon principles of fpecula- tion ; that the filver could not be retained as a medium, and commerce would be re- duced to a ftate of barter for want of one, as the old medium would be withdrawn ; nor would the means remain of paying outiland- ing taxes. Befides which, great injuftice would be done to the people of Maffachufetts who would be the holders of the bills of other governments unredeemed, and not current by law within their Province, whilft the in- habitants of fuch governments would receive payment in coin for the Maffachufetts bills in their hands.
Such were the ideas of a people ufed to a paper currency for more than half a century, and fo firmly were they attached to it, that
102 SHIRLEY.
it was owing to their fears alone, that the bill for calling in this currency, which was at firft loft in the Houfe of Reprefentatives, finally prevailed. The bills of credit, as they flood at that time, were redeemable by taxes in future years ; and there was a party among thofe who were oppofed to the law under confideration, who wilhed to redeem
*
them gradually by filver coin at the fame periods. This would have eventually made them equal to gold and filver, if no further emiffions took place ; and fuch emiffions
Hutch, vol. were under the control of the crown* No
3. p. 439.
provifion was infured for the relief of debt- ors, in cafe of an appreciation from fuch a caufe. This broke the oppofition ; and the friends of the debtors, of two evils, as they feemed to think them, chofe the law as th§ leaft.
But the people without doors preferred their prejudices, in a great degree, in favour of the old tenor money. Even the altera- tion of the nominal value of the currency.
Sept. 18,
1749. Even- was held up as an objed: of odium 5 and when the fpecie arrived, it rather occafioned gloom than joy. The operation of an acl: for one of the moil important and righteous
meafures
SHIRLEY.
meafures in fociety, was commenced \vith doubts, murmurings, and even attempts at forcible refiftance, inflead of univerfal pleafure and applaufe.
It muft have given the higheft fatisfa&ion to the promoters of the plan, that none of the forebodings of the difaffected party were realized ; but that the moft eflential interefts of the country were greatly ferved, and the principles of commutative juftice fettled on a firm foundation, by the introduction of a ftable currency ; and it is a memorable ex- ample of fuccefs, in the caufe of probity and true patriotifm, againft the clamours of the difcontented pretenders to thofe virtues, which ought always to animate honeft men in the purfuit of their objects, when ftrug- glkig againft the buftle and intrigues of fuch miftaken or counterfeiting characters.
The fubjecl: of the Governor's falary, though lefs productive of virulent proceed- ings than formerly, was neverthelefs a flock for oppofition to ingraft itfelf upon. His reprefentation for augmenting his grant this year, was followed by proceedings in the Houfe of Reprefentatives, which, as they
involved
103
lo4 S H I R L E Y.
involved a queftion of privilege of ipeech in its members, and of the rights of election in the town of Bofton, and tend to (how the ftrength and operation of the Governor's influence, are not undeferving particular notice*
In the debates of the Houfe, James Efq. a member from Boilon, made the fol- lowing remark. " Former Houfes (I do not mean this Houfe, Mr. Speaker) have patted many villanous refolvcs, which the Governor unluckily gave his fiat to ; and how it came to pafs I don't pretend to fay, but, I appre- hend, againft his own judgment, as I humbly conceive appears from his own fpeeches*
" And as to the argument for raifirig the Governor's falary from the rife of provifions, I apprehend, it came with a very bad grace from the Governor's friends, as he had it in' his power to prevent it ; and if the creditors or pofieffors of the bills had a like power, they'd have lefs reafon to complain ; and as
Independent J
Advertifer, to linking the money, I think the Governor 1749- happy that he has not funk his commiflion.'
The
SHIRLEY. 105
0
The Houfe took thefe expreffioas into consideration, under a motion charging the member with reflecting upon the legislature* Mr. Allen having explained himfelf, his ex- planation was voted to be uftfatisfadiory, and a motion for reducing the exprefs words to writing was negatived. After a debate upon the form in which the next queflicn fnould be put, it was determined thus ; " Whether any/expreilions have been uttered by Mr. Allen, in a late debate, reEecling upon any branch of the Icgiflature ?" and was refolved in the affirmative. Mr. Allen then offered a paper as an acknowledgment, in thefe words. " I did not think the words I deliv- ered were any juft matter of offence ; nor did I defign them as fuch ; nor did I im- agine the Houfe could poffibiy take them in fuch a fenfe: but if they Jo judge , I am for ry for it, and that I faid them." This was voted to be unfathfi&ory ; and the Koufe proceeded to vote, That whereas James Allen, Efq. a member of the Houfe, in a late debate has uttered certain expreffions^rc//}/)/ reflecting on His Excellency the Governor, for figning certain late acts or refolves of the General AiTembly, contrary to the decency required by the Houfe in their debates, and has there-
O fore
SHIRLEY.
fore given juft caufe of offence, Refolved that, in order to give fatisfadion, the follow- ing acknowledgment be required from the faid Mr. Allen, viz. " I acknowledge my ex- preffions, in their plain, natural fenfe, con-
< tain juft caufe of offence ; and am forry I ever made ufe of them ; and I humbly aflc pardon.'" When Mr. Allen was ordered into the Houfe to hear this acknowledgment, after it was read, he defired to make a mo- tion ; but the Speaker informing him that he could not be heard until he had figned it, he withdrew : upon which the Houfe voted, that until he complied, he mould not be allowed his feat ; but negatived a motion for expelling him, and referred the affair to the next fitting. Upon the meeting of the AC- fembly about a month afterwards, a motion was loft for Mr. Allen to be admitted into
• the Houfe, and reprimanded by the Speaker; and it was refolved that he, for his contempt of the orders of the Houfe, mould be expelled : and a precept was iffued to the inhabitants of Bofton to eleft a perfon to reprefent them in his room.
The ele&ors were not difpofed to fide with the Houfe in the difpute, and they, in
fad,
SHIRLEY. 107
fad:, re-eleded Mr. Allen to reprefent them. But the Houfe would not fufier their dif- pleafure to be evaded in this mode, and upon the return of the precept they refolved, That James Allen, Efq. was, when eleded by the town of Bofton, and ilill is, incapable of a feat in the prefent Houfe as a Reprefentative of the faid town.
Thefe proceedings, however, operated to exclude Mr. Allen from that Houfe only, as, on the enfuing year, he was returned a member from his town, and by that means placed on a foundation, which, we prefume, it was beyond the influence of the guberna- torial prerogative to make, as he was con- tinued a member until his death, which hap- pened on the 8th. of January, 1755.
The month of June this year, was dif- tinguifhed by exceffive heat and drought : In Neponfet and Concord Rivers, the fifh are faid to have perifhed from thefe caufes, and to have been left on the banks or on the furface of the ebbing waters in great quanti- ties. The heat may be realized by the
thermometer's being on the i8th. at gi in
the
M
io8 ^ SHIRLEY.
11" t'ie ball-flop by Hawkefbee's fcale, and inutes. pofed equal to 101 by Fahrenheit's.
The confequence of this extraordinary in- temperatenefs of the climate, was a fcarcity of provifions, infomuch that hay and other articles were imported from Europe, and this was neceflarily followed by an exceffive ad- vance of the price. Mutual reproaches be- tween the people of the town and country, were carried to a great height ; the former crying out upon the extortion of the latter, whilft thefe retorted the charge, by exclaim- ing, in their turn, againft the extravagance of their accufers. The General Court viewed this drought in fo melancholy a point of light, as to order a fpecial fail to intercede for rain ; and, confidering a connexion be- tween the moral and phyfical evils of the times, they recommended a prayer, that God would rain down righteoumefs upon the people. The fall of the year difplayed that happy conftitution of the climate, which has been frequently experienced in fubfequent years, after fimilar appearances of famine. Nature feemed to be renovated, and produced food for the cattle, with a profufion equal tq her late diftreffing parfimony.
The
SHIRLEY. 109
The treaty of peace, which reftored irn-r mediate harmony to all other parts of the Britiih empire, had not the fame kind ope- ration .on her American Colonies. They were ftill furrounded by favage enemies, whofe refentments and cruelties were not to be controlled at once by the agreement of their allies. And the General Court did not think it fafe to reduce the number of their
f i i «i • ,• Vote Nov. 4,
forces below 474 men, unti negociations I;48/ could be entered into and a peace purchafed of them. Fortunately, the Penobfcot and Norridgewock tribes gave notice of a difpo- fition to treat, and actually fent delegates to Bofton for that purpofe. But at a confer- ence held with them there on the 23d. of June, 1 749, it appearing, to ufe their, own ^"hTcen, words, " that they brought no other creden- Court files- tials with them than their own hearts," and that they had no further po\ver from their conftituents than to give affurances of their defire for peace, the only ufe that it was thought proper to make of this interview, was to propofe a final treaty at Caico Bay, in September following.
no SHIRLEY.
CHAR VI.
Governor Shirley embarks for England — Af- fairs pending there — Peace with the Penob- fcot Indians — Difpute with the Plgivackets fettled — Claims of France and England to Nova-Scotia — Military operations there — » Society for promoting Induflry — Propofals for fending Bljhops to America — A quarrel with Indians at WlfcaJJet — Attack upon the eajlernfettlements by the Canadian Indians — Laiv prohibiting Theatrical Entertain-? meats- — Expenfe of the civil
^ J ^HE operations of war having almoft ceafed on the frontiers of the Province, the abolition of the paper currency being placed in a fure train, and its final extinguim- ment, as well as the decifion of the queftions refpefting boundaries, being to be effected lefs in America than in England, Governor Shirley obtained leave of abfence for a year in order to return there, and embarked on the eleventh day of September. The contro- verfy at this time well known to have fub- fifted between him and Brigadier-General Waldo, who commanded the troops deftined
for
P H I P S.
for the intended expedition againft Canada, as to the right of making up the public ac- counts with the crown in that undertaking, was a neceffary caufe of his voyage ; but to become inftrumental in the right fettlement of affairs which appeared to be fo near his heart as thofe above-mentioned, no doubt, created an additional motive. If fuch were his views, he was not difappointed. The Marquis L'Galifioniere, Governor of Canada, and the future conqueror of Minorca, having been appointed by the French a commhTioner for treating at Paris relative to the unfettled territories of the late belligerent nations in America, Governor Shirley was appointed for the fame purpofe on the part of the Englifh.
This threw the chief command of the Province on Lieutenant-Governor Phips, who continued it until Governor Shirley's return
4
on the yth. of Auguft, 1753.
The departing letter of Shirley to his temporary fucceffor, mows that the fpirit of oppofition, from which former governors had fuffered fo much, was not without its effecT: upon him. He expreffes a folicitude,
that
112 P H 1 P S.
that meafures might not he taken in his al>* fence, to render his government uneafy to him upon his return : particularly that vacant offices might not he filled unlefs indifpenfa* hly neceffary ; that in all preferments, men well affe&ed to the government mould be carefully fele&ed, and that the appointments in the courts of law mould be made only during the Lieutenant-Governor's continu- ance in adminiftration. And after his arrival in England, he complained, in a letter to the NOV. 28, fecretary, of information that a factious 749' complaint was figned againft him, in which
even two of the clergy had joined ; and fug- gefts, that if fuch oppofition mould be made, a neceffity might arife of exciting an Epifco- pal intereft to counterbalance it : and further, that if the ArTembly mould pafs an act to deftroy their laft grant of his falaiy, which was then unpaid, he fhould feel juftified in making himfelf independent of them in future in that refpect, which he thought by no means impracticable.
In the month of January, 1749-50, Mr. Bollan, who had arrived from England in the month of September with the reimburfe- nie-nt money, the great object of his agency,
having
P H I P S. 113
having been re-ele£ted, likewife departed again for England on the bufmefs of his ap- pointment. His perfevering and fuccefsful labours in procuring this reimburfement for the expenfes of the expedition againft Cape Breton, had diftinguifhed him as a fuitable man for obtaining further juftice for fimilar fervices ; and his inftru&ions will give us the beft idea of the ftate of affairs open to nego- tiation in England.
The boundaries of the French pofleffions/ both in the Iroquois country and in Acadia, was an object fo interefting and alarming, that the General Court feemed to prefer the prefent ftate of partial war, to making any conceffions concerning them : and they ac- cordingly impreffed upon their agent the ^ neceffity of his utmoft exertions, particularly to prevent the French having any harbour on the coaft of Nova-Scotia : and Governor Shirley declared, that a defire to prevent a wrong fettlement of the line between the two
. Shirley'*
nations, rather than a hope of eitablilhmg a Letter to right one with the confent of the French, was NOV. as', his great reafon for accepting his appointment I749* treat upon the fubject.
P There
ii4 P H I P S.
There was another boundary of the Prov- ince brought into controverfy, which the government feems to have confidered as once finally fettled. This was the line between Maflachufetts and Connecticut. At an early period, the fouthernmoft part of Charles River was afcertained, and a line run thence three miles fouth according to the charter ; and at the end of this line was fixed a monu- ment, known by the name of Woodward and Sqffcry sjlation. Hence the line run weft, as the needle pointed to Connecticut River, and beyond it : and this was the reputed boun- dary of the old Colony of Mafiachufetts. Whilft this was fuppofed to be the boundary, the charter of Connecticut was granted, and that colony was bounded north on the fouth line of Maflachufetts, whofe government ac- cordingly granted and fettled the towns of Suffield, Enfield and Woodftock, which were all to the northward of the line run as afore-defcribed. A controverfy afterwards arifing between the two governments, com- miffioners were appointed by each in the year I7I3? wno agreed as to the accuracy of the, ftation, but that the line fhould have been run due weft. By this variation, all thefe. three townfhips were thrown into the bounds
of
P H I P S. 1x5
of Connecticut. But in order to obviate the injuftice and inconvenience which would arife to MafTachufetts from a rigid adherence to this courfe, it was agreed that the three townfhips fhould remain to that government, and that Connecticut fhould be compenfated by an equivalent in other lands, the greateft part of which was immediately received, and fold by that colony. Thus affairs remained until the year 1 746 ; when the inhabitants pf the three townfhips, feeling difpofed to revert back to Connecticut, applied to the government there to be received under its jurifdiction, and availed themfelves of the circumftance of the agreement between the two Provinces not being ratified by the crown, nor done under its fanction ; and denied their right to abridge the extent of the Con- necticut charter. To procure a ratification of this agreement by the crown, became, therefore, an important object to the General Court, and they accordingly included it in •their inftructions to their agent.
Qn the fcore of pecuniary compenfations,. the Province had further to demand, from the national juflice, a reimburfement cf monies advanced for the late projected ex- pedition againft Canada ; for clothing taken
and
n6 P H I P S.
and ufed by the Governor at Louifbourg 5 and fome meafures for compelling the prov- ince of New-Hampfhire to refund the ex- penfes of maintaining Fort Dummer, which by the running of the boundary line had fallen within its jurifdi&ion,
In addition to this, the General Court were felicitous to procure fome coercion up-* on the Britifh governments on the continent, in cafe of a future war ; to make a juft and equitable apportionment of the charges of maintaining it, which had heretofore fallen fo unequally to the difad vantage of Mafla- chufetts ; to prevent a renewal of the diftrefs which had fallen upon the inhabitants in the late war, by imprefles on board the King's fliips ; and to effect an equitable redemption of the bills of credit iflued by the other governments in New-England.
. • .
Commiflioners were fent to Falmouth, on the 1 6th. of October, as had been concluded upon in the month of June, and received from the Penobfcot, Norridgewock and St. Francois Indians, what is called their fub- miflion and agreement, founded on Cover- Treaty. nor Dummer's rnuch revered treaty of 1726.
By
P H I P S. 117
By this they agreed to forbear all hoftilitles againft the Engliih ; to reftore all captives ; to permit the Englifh to enjoy all their feN dements and pofieffions in the eaftern parts of the Province ; refervirig, however, all lands, &c. not by them conveyed or pofleffed by the Engliih, and the privilege of riming, hunting and fowling as formerly ; that all trade mould be under the control of th$ Maflachufetts government ; that private re- venge of wrongs mould yield to redrefs in a due courfe of juftice, they fubmitting to be governed by his Majefty's laws 5 and that the government of New-Hampfhire was in- cluded in the treaty. The commiffioners then figned a counterpart to this agreement, and having made the ufual prefents, returned to Bofton, where the Lieutenant-Governor iffued his proclamation of peace on the 2~th. of October following.
The conclufion of this peace was of the jnore importance, as it facilitated the ex- change of prifoners on the weftern borders, upon which fubjea great difficulties had. arifen. Twenty-fix of the Abenaqui tribe, or as the Engliih would have them called, Pigwackets, againft whom war had been de-
clared
ii8 P H I P 8.
clared in November, 1744, had come into one of the out forts, and declared themfelves fatisfied to remain with the Englifh during the conteft, and fome of them even volun- tarily enlifted themfelves in the expedition againft Cape Breton. Their brethren at home, not, probably, without the interference of the French, affected to entertain great ap- prehenfions, both whh refpe& to their treat- ment, and their intentions of finally remain- ing with their enemy. An officer was fent by the Governor of Canada, to accompany one of the tribe to vifit thefe converts to Englifh fraternity, who was unfuccefsful in his applications, to Governor. Clinton, of New-York, and returned in no favourable humour^ without coming to Maflachufetts. Better ciin- This he declared he was prevented doing by Sov.°ofhip8' Governor Clinton, who, on the other hand, £££'' denied the affertion, and fhewed that both March 7, {kg officer and the Indian thought it unnecef- fary to proceed. Upon their paffage to Al- bany, the Indiau met with ill treatment from, the failors of the veflel in which they em- barked, and ran away in a miferable condi- tion. When he was found, upon approach- ing his village, he thundered out the war- fong, and, informing the Chiefs of his mil- adventure,
P H I P S. 119
adventure, infpired that fpirit of revenge to which Indians, are fo naturally prone. The murder of fome Engliih traders, by way of retaliation, being prevented by La Jonquiere, he fent a fecond meflenger to the Governor of MafTachufetts, upon the fubjedt of the Abenaqui prifoners, and to effect the releafe of two Indians taken by Capt. Gorham from a party who had killed fome of his men in whale-boats, and whom he had carried to Annapolis : and the difcharge of thefe favages was fo ferioufly infilled upon, as to become an abfolute condition of the exchange of prifoners on the weftern borders. Before the arrival of this meflenger, however, the fubjecT: of difpute was fortunately terminated, by the Abenaqui re-aflbciating with their fellow Indians, and fatisfaftion being given Letter of
^i r r\ t i Phips to Lr*
m other reipecls, at the treaty we have men- tioned : and, upon the meflenger's appearing, under pretence of ill health, to remain in the Province after an anfwer was given him, for purpofes not clearly explained, he was conducted to Rhode-Ifland, in his way to New-York, by the Sheriff of the county of
Suffolk, iu a ftyle extremely equivocal.
The
120 P M I P S,
The right of the Governor of Canada to interfere in the cafe of the Abenaqui Indians, was difputed upon the principle of their be- ing inhabitants of a territory included within the boundaries of Nova-Scotia, which had been ceded to the crown of Great-Britain : and, as thefe boundaries will conftantly recur and intermix themfelves with very many important fubje&s in the hiftory of Mafla- chufetts, we truft, it wrill not be thought foreign to our purpofe, briefly to {ketch the outlines of the difputes concerning them.
Acadia or Nova-Scotia in its largeft extent ever contended for, was formed by the At- lantic ocean, which waflied it on the fouth- eaft, and, winding up the Gulph of St. Law- rence, furrounded it on the eaftern quarter, then piercing into the main land by the river of that name, in a retrograde courfe, but al- moft parallel with its front fhore, formed the back of the province ; which, being thus circumfcribed by water on three fides, was feparated from New-England on the fourth, by the river Kennebeck flowing acrofs from the Atlantic ocean towards the St. Lawrence. But this immenfe tracl: had feveral natural and imaginary fubdivifions, on which the
coatroverfies
P H I P S. 121
eontroverfies refpe&ing it materially reftecL Within thefe boundaries is included a penin- fula projecting into the ocean, between which and the main land the Bay of Fundy in- ferts itfelf. This flows up to the ifthmus which connects the peninfula with the reft of the continent, and this ifthmus is wafhed on the oppofite fide by the Bay of Verte, in the Gulph of St. Lawrence, On the inner fide of the ifthmus is Beau Baffin ; at the ibuth-eaftern point of the peninfula is Canfo^ oppofite to Cape Breton ; towards its north-- weftern fhore is Port Royal or Annapolis ; upon an inlet from the Bay of Fundy, and
-
upon the next inlet eaftward, lies Minas.
The peninfula again was divided into fev- eral parts, including certain portions of the fea coaft, one of which, from Cape St. Mary in the Bay of Fundy, and fo round the fhore till it comes to Cape Canfo, comprehended what the French infifted upon was the an- cient Acadia ; and the remainder, including all the fhore on the fouth fide of that bay,
r
comprehended Annapolis and the diftri&s of Minas and Chigne&o ; the internal partition between them and Acadia being an imaginary line, drawn through the peninfula, and not
accurately
122 P H I P S.
accurately defined j but propofed to crofs the points whence the waters take their courfes in oppofite directions ; that is, towards the Atlantic Ocean on one part, and towards the Bay of Fundy on the other.
Whether a part of this peninfula, or the whole of it ; or, in addition to it, a part of the above-deicribed main land, or the whole of that alfo, formed Acadia, was the difpute between France and England*
The grounds on which the refpe£Hve na- tions founded their claims, were, as appeared by a fubfequent difcuffion, cf the following
nature.
The Engllfh conceived therrrfelves to be the firft difcoverers and the firft adual fet- tlers in the country. They urged againft the Prench their own com millions to their gov- ernors, and their exertions to extend the country when they were poflefied of it ; the treaty of Breda, by which the forts on the main were furrendered to the French as a part of Acadia ; and the conduct of Charles II. in difregarding a diftin£Hon of Sir Thomas Temple, the Governor of Acadia, by which
thefe
P H I P S.
thefe forts were attempted to be held as he- longing to Nova-Scotia, as diftinguifhed from Acadia, and in ordering the furrerider of thofe places as belonging to the latter coun- try, at the inftance of the King of France ; the memorial of the French ambafiador in 1685, fetting forth, in order to deny the right of Englifh veflels fifliing on the coaft, that Acadia extended from Ule Per&e to George's liland, at the mouth of St. George's River, and various other inftances wherein the crown of France and its fervants claimed as Acadia, and poflefled as fuch, the territory from Pentagoet or Penobfcot to the moft ex- tenfive limits in difpute ; the grant of Nova- Scotia by James I. to Sir William Alexander, Sept. 10, 1621, which extended to the River St. Croix on the, weft, and to the St. Law- rence on the north, the fpace between the St. Croix and Pemaquid being held by him as one of the council of Plymouth under an- other grant, by aa agreement among the grantees, whence the name of Nova-Scotia was communicated to all Acadia - the char- ter of the Province of Mafiachufetts Bay, which exprefsly extends to the Gulph of St. Lawrence and Canada Rivers ; that France received the fame Acadia, by the treaty of
Bre-dar
124 P H I P S.
Breda, which England at this time demand- ed back again ; the words of the ceflion in the treaty of Utrecht, " Nova-Scotia or Acadia in its full extent," which if thefe names could be fuppofed to apply to two dif- ferent boundaries, muft include the whole ; that if the ceflion intended only the penin- fula, it might as well have been ceded by that defcription ; and laftly, the treaty of Aix-la-Chappelle, which ftipulates that all things fhall be eftablimed on the foot they were or ought to have been before the war.
As to the country between Penobfcot and Kennebeck rivers, the Engliih {hewed the commhTion of the French King's governors to extend as far as north Virginia, or New- England, which muft bound Acadia upon the Englifh territories ; and that the French infifted, when Acadia was theirs, that it ex- tended as far weftward as the latter river : But the Englifh had an indifputable title to this tract, from difcovery, actual fettlement? and continued porTeflion.
The French relied upon the conftrucSion of the treaty of Utrecht, which ftipulated the ceflicn of " Nova-Scotia, otherwife call- ed
P H I P S. 125
ed Acadia, in its full extent, according to its ancient limits ; as alfo of the town of Port Royal, now called Annapolis Royal, and in general of all that depend on the faid coun- tries and iaands belonging to them." They urged, that ceding Acacia according to its ancient limits, was reftriclive, and defignated, not what had, at any time, been called by that name, but what the ancient name com- prehended ; and Port Royal or Annapolis being mentioned particularly, {hows that that place was not a part of Acadia, other- wife the exprefs mention of it \vould have been needlefs ; that the reafon why the cef- fion was not by the name of the peninfula of Acadia, was becaufe that country included only a part of the peninfula ; that if any light was to be thrown upon the conftruction of the treaty of Utrecht, from the principle of the firft difcovery and fettlement of the ter- ritory in difpute, it was in favour of the French ; that the voyage of Sebaftion Cabot, in 1497, when ^e difcovered Newfoundland, was undertaken with the fole defign of feek- ing a paffage by the North-Weft to the Eaft- Indies, and not of forming fettlements, ajid was not judged worthy of the attention of England ; and the French might, with greater
reafon.
. P H I P S..
reafon, arrogate to themfelves the empire of the Weftern Coaft of Africa ; they having not only difcovered it in the fourteenth cen- tury, before it was known to any other na- tion in Europe, but traded thither, and form-* fettlements.
As to acTtual poffeflion, they contended that the firft French project for obtaining a fet- tlement in America, was the attempt by the Baron De Lery in 1518, but the firft project of the like nature formed by the Englifh was not till fixty-five years after, in 1583, when Sir Humphry Gilbert went to view the Ifland of Newfoundland,
That the firft embarkation of the inhabi- tants of France, to attempt an eftablifhment in America, was ia 1535, by James Carrier, when he built a fort in Canada and took pof- feflion of the country ; but the firft frank plantation of the inhabitants by the Englifh, for fettling colonies in North-America, was not till fifty years after, in 1585, when Sir Walter Raleigh landed about one hundred men in the Ifland of Roanoke.
That
P H I P S. <
That the firft folid and durable fettlements made by the French, were thofe on the coaft of the Etehemins, in 1604, who afterwards removed over the Bay of Fundy to Port Royal, in 1 605 ; but the firft of all the fet- tlements made by the Englifh was that of Virginia, which was not begun till 1607? when it was confined to very narrow limits ; thofe of New-England were much later. When Smith went to view the country in 1614, fr was only known by French names, and he relates that that of Canada Jiifled all the others. The Englifh did not begin any fettlements there till 1620, at New Plym- outh; thofe of Maffachufetts Bay, or New-En- gland, properly fo called, were not till 1629, twenty years after the firft French fettlemente were made on the coaft of the Etehemins £ ^
and the foundation of Quebec, the capital of Canada, which was laid in 160$, was twenty- two years before that of Bofton, which was not founded till 1630.
That France did not take the country by the treaty of Breda as a cefiion, but as a ref- titution, {he having been the original owner
That
128 P tt I P 3. '
That the grant to Sir William Alexander, fo much relied upon by the Englifh, was on condition that the country was vacant, which was not the fact > and was alfo pofterior to the grant of the French King to Dumonts, in 1 603 ; that this grant being void, the bounds of the country defcribed by it under the name of Nova-Scotia, never known to the French till the treaty of Utrecht, became a nullity likewife ; and fo the words " Nova*- Scotia or Acadia," uied in that treaty, could imply only the ancient Acadia, or part of the peninfula ; and its being mentioned by " its ancient limits/' was to guard againft the falfe boundaries affigned to it by the modern name ; that the reafon of the country of the Etchemins being included under the name of Acadia, was owing to a controverfy between two French governors, after which the fuo cefsful one took this method to extend his dominion, and that this country had been granted by the French crown as a part of Canada or New France ; and feveral other places, included by the Englifh in their Aca- dia, had been granted only as neighbouring countries with it.
As
P H I P S. 129
As to the weftern bounds of Acadia, the board of trade and plantations had declared that the limits of New-England ought of right to extend to St. Croix Rivdr, by which they would referve to themfelves Kennebeck and the river Penobfcot within thofe limits ; and now Acadia was to be brought tip to Penobfcof ; that by the charter of 1606, the two Virginias ought to extend no farther than to the diftance of fifty miles along the coafl from the place of their firft eftablim- ment; wherefore the moft northerly fettlemenE of them, New Plymouth, is fo far from reaching to the St. Croix, that the charter would not even bring it to Bofton ; that by the charter of William and Mary, the river Sagadahock bounds New England, to which was added all that country to which the En- glifh had given the name of Nova-Scotia, and all the country fituated between that ideal province and New-England, which was to extend from the river St. Croix to that oi Sagadahock. In regard to the country weft of Sagadahock, the provincial government was veiled with full power to make defini- tively all the grants they mould think proper therein ; but with refpe£t to the country eaft ©f Sagadahock, the King referred to himfelf R the
130
Letters on files of the Gen. Court. LaGallifio- niere to Mafcarene, Jan. 15,
1749- Lajonquiere
to Cornwal- lis, 23d. Otf.
1749- Shirley to La
Gallifio- niere, May
9.
P H I P S.
the right of confirming them ; and whence arofe this difference, but from its being known in England that they had no legal right to this country ? and, as a confirmation of this, they did not even give it a name.
The object of the prefent work will not admit of our taking a fuller view of this con- troveriy ; thofe who have a curiofity to purfue it thoroughly are referred to a collec- tion of all the memorials refpeding it, printed in Englifh at the Hague, in the year 1756, from which this fketch was colle&ed.
*
Such being the unfettled limits of thefe rival nations in Nova-Scotia, that province neceffarily became the vi&im of their efforts to gain foot hold within it. One great mean which the French poflefTed was the influence of their priefts. By the third article of the capitulation in the year 1727, the inhabitants of Acadia were allowed to retain their relig- ion, and, by virtue of it, the bifhop of Que- bec continued the right of appointing priefts, and confidered the country as within his diocefs. This authority, among a people devoted to the Roman Catholic religion, was a greater engine of power than even a {land- ing
P H I P S. 131
ing army, and without doubt, it was effeftu- ally ufed to fubferve the interefts of France. Lieutenant-Governor Mafcarene, therefore, immediately fent the prieft from Minas for treafonable pradtices, exafted new fubmiffion from the people of Beau-Baffin and Bay Verte, whence the French had withdrawn a detach- ment of their men, and took meafures for procuring a like fubmiffion from the inhabi- tants of St. John's River, on the north fide of the Bay of Fundy. Of thefe proceedings the Governor of Canada complained, and demanded at the fame time, not only that they ihould not be continued, but that a ref- toration of fome prifoners hereafter-mention- ed fhould be made ; and fuggefled that it was neceflary to the feeurity and tranquillity of the frontiers of Maffachufetts Bay, that his demands fhould be complied with. This, being communicated to Governor Shirley, he juftified the conduct of the Englifh in his anfwer with much fpirit, and obferved, that if the Governor of Canada thought fit to make himfelf a party in an Indian war againfl him, he doubted not that his Majefty's fub- je&s upon the continent, would be able to make juft reprifals upon Canada, when it
fhould
132 P H I P S.
fliould be his Majefty's pleafure to have them
do it, ' ' *
-th. NOV. ^a Jonquiere, on his part, fent three de- ?749* tachments towards the entrance of the pe~ ninfula ; and feveral tribes of the St. John's River Indians attacke4 Minas, killed and took a party of eighteen men, and after fum- moning the fort to furrender, and continually firing upon it for a month, they retired, without effecting any further injury. This determined Cornwallis, the Governor of No- Letter com- va-Scotia, to attempt to chaftife the favages as phips, Dec. foon as the feafon would permit him, and he * »JW requefted the aid of Maflachufetts in his plans. But the Lieutenant-Governor could not prevail upon himfelf to declare war againft the Penobfcots, fome of whom were fufpecled to have been concerned in this at- tack, before they mould be heard, after fo recently concluding a treaty with them.
Letter Com. Cornwallis appears to have entertained the to Phips u. . ..
April 1 1, hignelt indignation at this moderate temper, and to have exprefled it even in terms of ftrong reproach. Neverthelefs, the General . Aflembly voted, that they were unable to aid in expelling the forces which had beea fent from Canada to take pofleffion of Nova-
Scotia ;
to
A
p H i p s. 133
* j
Saotia ; and complained of the exemption of the other colonies from the charge of defend- ing it. But Cornwaliis, without waiting for external aid? difpatched a party of four hun- dred regulars and rangers, un4er the com- mand of Major Lawrence, to diflodge the French and Indians from Chienecto, He L"t!? Corr
o to Phips,
thought hhnielf jiifthied iri this, from the conduct of the French prieils, in exciting tli£ Indians to the late attack, in caufins: the in-
7 ' ' - • •O
habitants of Chigne£to to fwgar allegiance to the French King, in furring up others to re- bellion, and in ufmg promifes and threats to make them retire from the country under his
, . . . . • -. -' « tr *• • •
government.
.• " - • - * • .
Upon this force appearing in light, La Corne, the French Commander, fet fire to Beau-Baffin, carried the inhabitants, with their effects, over the river, where he planted the French colours, fupported them by a force of 2,500 men, with whom he lined the dykes, and declared that he would defend his poft to the laft extremity. The country from Chigne£to, along the north fide of the Bay of Fundy to Kennebeck river, he claimed as belonging to his Moil Chriftian Majefty ; and it appeared to be the wifli of the French
to
134 P H I P S.
to draw the inhabitants to this trad from the peninfula. The effe£t of this affair was, the building of forts at Minas and Beau-Baffin by the Englifh, and others in oppofjtion to them, at Beau-fejour and Gafpareux, by the French,
This fpirited behaviour of La Corne pears to have equally irritated and furprifed Governor Cornwallis, who termed it the faithlefs, violent proceedings and ambitious views of the French, of which he fent an ac- count to England, and again called upon the northern Britifh colonies to take vigorous meafures to aflift him in driving them out of his province,
Although the Maflachufetts government, exhaufted as they were, found themfelves unable again to diflodge the French forces from Nova-Scotia, yet the commander in chief held up the caufe of that province as their own, in his letters to the Governor of Canada, and every exertion within their power was made. Directions were given for afcertaining whether the Penobfcots were concerned in the affair at Minas. Lord Col- Till was requelted to proceed with his frigate
to
P H I P S. 135
to felze any French fettlers who might be on J? the coaft : and the provincial armed floop 10,1750.
Aug. 49,
was put under his command upon the fame 1750. fervice.
The diffipation of manners and the check Gsn. Court to population necefTarily refulting from the 34^1749- * late circumftances of the country, demanded and received the attention both of individuals and the government. The former eftabliih- ed the fociety for promoting induftry and frugality, and the latter purchafed the facto- ry in Bofton, to forward their views ; and granted likewife four townfhips of land for the ufe of foreign Proteftants, permitting the provincial frigate to be employed in their tranfportation.
Among the laws pafled by the General Court in the year 1749, befides thofe for calling in the bills of credit already fpoken of, we may notice the a£t to prevent vexa- tious law-fuits, by which perfonal actions were limited to the counties where one or the other of the parties lived ; and an afl: for punifhing offenders, who might attempt to extort money from perfons by menacing let- ters, a crime actually praftifed upon the
Governor,
Ij6 PHI P S.
Governor, and feveral other peirfons in this Province and New-Hampfhire*
The onty ^n^anc^) *n later periods, of any attempt affecting the religious liberties of the Britiih Colonifts being made in England, occurred in the prefent year. This confided in the originating or reviving of a plan for fending Bifhops to America. The political reafon on which it was founded was the cir- cumftarice of feveral nonjuring clergymen in the intereft of the Pretender having come into the country from Great-Britain, whofe influence it was neceilary to counteract and deftroy. But fome leading perfons in the rhiriiftry being oppofed to it, the project was laid afide in the Cabinet. Neverthelefs, th£ fociety for propagating the gofpel, from dif- ferent views, no doubt, took it under their patronage ; and cdnfidering the chief ob- itruclion to it as arifing from a fuppofed jealoufy in the Colonies, that introducing ecclefiaftical jurifdiftion among them might interfere with fome rights, which by cuftom or by acts of their refpective affemblies were vefted in other hands, they ftated,
I. That
, P H I P S. 137
1. That no coercive power is defired over the laity in any cafe, but only a power to regulate the behaviour of the clergy who are in Epifcopal orders, and to correct and punifh them according to the law of the Church of England, in cafe of mifbehaviour or neglect of duty, with fuch power, as the eommiflaries have exercifed.
2. That nothing is defired for fuch bifhops that may in the leaft interfere with the dignity, or authority, or intereft of the Governor, or any other officer of State. Pro- bates of wills, licenfe for marriage, &c. to be left in the hands where they are ; and no fhare in the temporal government is defired for bifhops,
3. The maintenance of fuch bifhops not to be at the charge of the Colonies.
4. No bifhops are intended to be fettled in places where the government is in the hands of Diflenters, as in New-England, &c. but authority to be given only to ordain clergy for fuch Church of England congre- gations as are amongft them, and to infped:
S into
138 P H I P S.
into the manners and behaviour of fuch cler- gy, and to confirm the members thereof.
^
As the Province of MafTachufetts Bay was {lightly interefted in the terms of thefe proportions, and not at all affefted by any \future progrefs of Epifcopacy under the royal government, the reader, it is prefumed, will be fatisfied with this ftatement of the fac~t, without comment upon a fyftem fo eflential- ly interwoven with the government of En- gland ; but fo diftincl: and harmlefs under the political eftablifhments of America.
The peace with the eaftern Indians was fcarcely concluded, when an accident took place which had nearly brought the whole Province into a frefh ftate of war. A quar- rel happened at Wifcaflfet, between feveral white men and forne of the Norridgewock tribe who are included under the general name of Abenaquis, wherein one of the latter was killed, and two badly wounded. The unalterable refentment of Indians made this event a matter of ferious concern ; and it became more fo from a relcue of the fuppofed murderers from the hands of juftice at Fal- mouth, after they had been apprehended un-
der
P H I P S. 139
der the Governor's proclamation. The Im- mediate relations of the (lain Indian appeared to be well reconciled to complying \vith the provifion made in the treaty for fuppreffing private revenge, and were not averfe from being appeafed by fultable prefents. But the Arefaguntacooks and Weweenocks, colonies of the Abenaquis fituated on the river St. Francis, in French neighbourhood, feized this occafion to influence the Pcnobfcots, and to carry war into Maflachufetts. In purfuance
y> 1 Letter din-
of this plan, about eicrhtv Canadian Indians ton *° r^r*
r to ' Sept. 2,-},
marched, at the inftigation of the Governor 1750. of Trois-Riviers, as it was faid, to the eaftem parts of the Province.
In the mean time, the government was careful to purfue the late treaty, by providing p^p7s.f Lc^ the means of executing juftice according to J^d^ law upon the fuppofed murderers. One of weeks, juiy
i . r 5> 175°-
them having been tried and acquitted in the county of York, the General Court ordered the two who remained, to be removed for trial into the county of Middlefex, from an apprehenfion, no doubt, that the prejudices of the people in the neighbourhood of the In- dians, would not admit of an impartial trial
in
I4o P H I P S,
in fuch a caufe. The relations and chiefs of
the injured Indians were invited to be prefent
at the trial, that they might be witnefles to
AU 2 17 o the fairnefs °f the proceedings. Thirteen of
Evening them arrived at Bofton to confer upon the
Poll. *•
fubje£t, and having accommodated the bufi-» nefs with the Governor, they returned, ap- parently well fatisfied.
J75o. But their family auxiliaries from Canada
did not fuffer the bufmefs to pafs off in fo
Letter Phips AIT i r O
eaiy a manner. About the iitn. 01 oeptem- ber, they attacked the Fort at Richmond ; 375°' on the 2 1 ft. they carried off a prifoner from New-Marblehead, and on the 25th. they entered into the midft of the fettlement at Georgetown, and attacked a houfe within ca^ °f tne garrifon, fituated upon Parker's Ifland. Here they met with an inftance of valour, from a man who was alone in the building, which is deferring of notice. He defended his habitation until the favages broke into it, and then leaping out of a back window, fought his fafety in flight ; but the clofenefs of the purfuit obliged him to take to the river, and attempt the faving of his life by fwimming to the Ifland of Arrowfick. In
this
P H I P S. , 141
this tract, however, the enemy purfued him in a canoe, and muft have difpatched him in the water, had it not been for his peculiar adroitnefs and prefence of mind. In this difadvantageous pofition, he turned upon his purfuers, overfet their fkiff, and by this in- genious fhipwreck threw them upon the fame level with himfelf. When his enemies were thus diflcdged from their float, he reached the fhore uninjured, and effected his efcape ; whilft they meanly exhaufted their vengeance by burning his little houfe and hovel, in re- turn for the effects of his valour, which, from the blood difcovered in their tract, appeared not to be inconfiderable. The hoftile favages had vifited Swan-Ifiand, and, having done what mifchief they thought to be within their Letter jabez
i i •iv i i • i r i Bradbury to
power, by killing cattle, burning houies and phips, 04, taking prifoners, they returned with fourteen captives to Canada.
This daring invafion of the frontiers im- preffed the whole Province. The Governor gave orders to alarm the neighbouring towns, and to fend one hundred men on a fcouting party to fcour the woods ; but the enemy had marched off. He called the General
750* Court
P H I P S,
Court together, and laid before them the ad- vices he had received of hoflilities being com- mitted. They voted 150 men to defend the frontiers, and conceiving that this invafion was undertaken at the inftigation of the French, Draught of they reouefted the commander in chief to
the Letter r . , n • n i •
ordered, on trammit a letter remonltrating againit this the Gen. .conduct, and demanding the releafe of the
Court. . r
priioners,
Letters from After the Canadian Indians had retired,
Wm. Lith-
g0w,oa. 6, t^ Norridc;ewocks and Penobfcots appeared
1750. Jabez
Bradbury, fa folicit a renewal of their trade and former
o<a. 10,
1750, and connexions; and in the fpring of the year,
LeweSquad-
ock, od.io, thofe of the St. Francis and Cagnawaga tribes likewife intimated a difpofition for peace,
In tracing the manners and tafte of the people, it is material to notice a temporary law of the prefent year prohibiting theatrical entertainments. The exhibition which gave rife to this moral regulation, is faid to have been played at the Coffee-Houfe, in Bofton, by two young Englifhmen, affifled by fome volunteer comrades from the town. The Orphan, or Unhappy Marriage, by Otway,
was felefted for the fubjeft. Some difturb-
ances
moer.
P H I P S. 143
ances arifing at the door from the eagernefs PCI of the inhabitants to become fpedtators, ren- dered . the affair more notorious ; and the £•££. Legiflature, adhering to the firft principles of their forefathers, took occafion from it to at- tempt the continuing and perpetuating to pofterity, the fyftem of economy and purity, which had fingularized the fettlement of the country. Succeffive Legiflatures revived the law for near half a century, until the over- bearing zeal which difplayed two theatres in the capital, influenced the government to defift from the further control of fuch a pre- vailing change in the manners of the people*
The allowance of falaries to the civil lift for this year, including more than fix months fervices to the Lieutenant-Governor5 but ex- clufive of the pay of the members of the Legiflature, and of the Governor, who was ab- fent, amounted to£. 1 864.. 1 3..4,a fum which, compared with the prefent expenfe of govern- ment, rather ferves to fhow the depreciation of money, and the neceflary extenfion of the feveral public departments, than any devia- tion from that principle of economy which
the
j44 P H I P S.
the moft meritorious fer vices have never re- laxed into profufion.*
* The proportions were
To the Lieutenant Governor
Judges 750
Secretary 1 06.. 13. .4
Treafurer i86..6«.8
CommifTary 1 60
Prefident of Harvard College 1 86.. 13-4
ProfefTor of Divinity 100 Clerk of the Houfe of Reprefent. 64
Two Chaplains n
Meffenger 100
P H I P S.
CHAP. VII.
AEl of Parliament for re/training bills of credit in the Colonies — Complaint of the Weft-In- dian fngar planters againft the Northern Colonies — Cejfation of hojlilities againft the Eajlern Indians — Meofures for civilizing the Mohawks — Controverfy refpefting the right of appointing the Attorney-General — A51 of Parliament to prevent the erefting of Slitting-mills — Small-Pox — Conference with the Eajlern Indians — Govenior Shirley re- turns— The Treaty 'with the Indians re- newed.
rl ^HE fyftem of Britifh adminiftration in I75IJ •*• the government of the Colonies, which terminated in producing fuch important events, cannot be too minutely traced in any ftage of its progrefs. We therefore introduce the hiftory of the year 1751, with a recital of two tranfactions in Parliament, which we conceive to be of effential confequence in this refpect ; the one as it develops the in- trigues of the miniftry to extend the preroga- tives of the crown ; the other as it (hows the relative importance of the northern Colonies,
T the
P H I P S.
I
the nature of their trade, and the tenor on which they were fuffered to carry it on : and we fhall find that the Colonifts of Great-Bri- tain, like the clouds that floated over her ifland, traverfed the commercial horizon through all its extenfive circuit, and attracted the enriching exhalations of its various chan- nels, only to difcharge them in fructifying fhowers, and with unreferved profufion, into her bofom.
In the year 1 748, a bill had been brought July i29 into Parliament, by which all the King's in- ftructions were to be enforced in the Colo- nies ; but the plan was too bold to Hand againft oppofition, when detected and fairly explained. It fwept away all the charters without trial or legal judgment, and eftablifh- ed a precedent which might finally have dragged the mother country herfelf into def- potifm and ruin. Advantage, however, was taken this year, of the defire of all honeft men to abolifh the paper currencies in Amer- ica, and a bill, formed to effect this laudable plan, was clogged with a provifion to give efficacy to the royal inftrudions in this par- ticular only. The bills of credit having been ufed as money in the Colonies, and the
King's
* /
P H I P S. 147
King's prerogative over the coin being very extenfive, it was expected that a precedent might be eftablifhed as it refpected this ob- ject ; and when once admitted in fo plaufible a cafe, might be extended to others, until the whole views of the firft bill fhould be gradu- ally adopted. The abufes of paper money fyftems were a great aid to the plan, as the abolifhing of them was fo obvioufly juft, that a collateral or incidental point could be eafily thrown into the current, which was fet fo ftrongly againft thofe reprobated engines of mifchief. The great hazard which the rights of the Colonies were undergoing by this fweeping claufe in favour of royal power, which would have levelled every check founded upon the grants and charters of the crown, excited a proportionable oppofition on the part of the Province. An alarm was given, and the baneful attempt was refifted by the provincial agent with happy fuccefs. The acts of the crown in granting and con- firming the foil, and eftablifhing the liberties of the Colonifts, were too inconfiftent, with the prefent contrivance to render both de- pendent upon its pleafure, to ftand a fcrutiny. An offer was at length made to leave out Maflachufetts from the bill, and retain the
matter
148 t H I P S.
matter of the inftru£Hons, or to leave them out and retain the Province. The agent in- fifted upon the omiffion of both. However, the latter alternative prevailed ; and may be confidered as a happy efcape for the liberties of the Province from the grafp of the crown. Thus originated the act for regulating and reftraining bills of credit in the Colonies, by which no fuch money was allowed, except- ing for the current expenfes of the year, and in cafe of an invafion ; but in no cafe was it to be a legal tender for the payment of debts, on pain of difmiffion from office on the part of any provincial governor who might affent to it, and a perpetual incapability of ferving in any public employment.
At the fame feffion of Parliament came on the complaint of the Weft-India fugar plant- ers againft the northern Colonies. This was a very unequal conteft as it refpected the circumftances of the parties ; the complain- ants being one of the moft wealthy and in- fluential clafs of fubjefts within the Britifh dominions, whilft the accufed were known to poflefs very moderate local advantages, and to have little more than their induftry and
economy to boaft of.
The
P H I P S. 149
The Weft-Indians charged the northern Colonifts with being, in fad:, the agents of France, and other foreign nations, carrying on commerce in Europe and America, but efpecially to the foreign fugar Colonies, for their benefit, and againft the intereft of the mother country, and thus preparing the means of finally becoming independent of her. This general charge was detailed in fevera! particulars, and wras as particularly anfwered by the agent for the Maflachufetts Bay as it refpecled that Province ; though it mould be obferved, that Rhode-Iiland was confidered as the principal aggreffor. It was alleged that the tra.de was carried on in for- eign bottoms, contrary to the act of naviga- tion, and under colour of flags of truce, both of which charges were denied, and the latter retorted upon the fugar Colonies 5 but the evidence of this was too pofitive, as it re- fpe£ted fome of the parties concerned, to be eafily diverted. A better ground of defence was taken, when it was fubmitted whether it was not the policy of a trading nation, when at war, to fupply the enemy with any thing which a neutral nation could fupply them with, who would odierwife certainly benefit
the
IJ.Q P H I P S,
the enemy, and put the additional profit into their own coffers.
/
It was alfo alleged, that the northern Colo- nifts fupplied the French with lumber necef- fary for their fugar works, and which they could not procure in any other way, efpecial- ly as the navigation of the River St. Law* rence was too hazardous to be relied on by them for this purpofe ; that they could find no vent for their rum and molaffes, if the Englifh did not take them, which they were under no neceffity of doing ; as their own fugar Colonies could make fufficient to an- fwer the demand of thofe on the continent i and but for their affording this vent, the French might be diftreffed in their fugar trade, and finally beaten out of all the foreign markets in Europe. In anfwer to this it was faid, that the whole of the French fupplies for mill-works, &c. being already had at the iflands, or brought from Old France, it would by no means be impracticable to furnifli themfelves with boards and fhingtes for their buildings from the fame quarter, if Canada could not do it : but it was abfurd to fuppofe, when the French had built large {hips of war in that province, and ufed a number of trad-
ine
P H I P S. 151
ing veflels annually up and down the river, that they could not avail themfelves of the lumber known to be growing there ; that the Englifh carried about 2000 hogfheads of rum, diftilled from French and Dutch mo- lafles, yearly to the coaft of Guinea, which the French would fupply if the Englifh did not ; and perhaps would introduce it by various channels into the Engliih Colonies ; that the fugar iflands of the Englifh would not find it for their intereft to increafe the quantity of their fugar, as the price would diminiih in proportion, nor could they make rum and molafles enough to fupply the northern Colonies, which was evident from thofe articles having rifen fifty per cent, with- in twenty years ; and this alfo proved that the former did not want encouragement, fee- ing they were fupplied with neceflaries for their flaves, buildings and fugar works, at as cheap, or a cheaper rate, than formerly ; that as to beating the French out of foreign markets, it could never be done whilft the Engliih fold their fugar at the place of pro- duce, thirty per cent, dearer than the French fold theirs ; for if the latter were to add the value of all the molafies which they fell the Englifh to the price of their fugar, they
would
152 P H I P S.
would (till be able to keep them far out of fight at foreign markets. When the Englifh Weft-India fubje&s fhould be content with as moderate profits in their bufmefs as thofe of the northern Colonies were, what they had to fay upon this head might deferve attention ; but their prefent views could be nothing more than to raife the price of their commo- dities upon their countrymen.
Further objections were made, on the prin- ciples of this trade carrying away money from the Englifh Weft-India iflanders, who, in the courfe of it, were obliged to pay for their lumber in cafh, into the foreign Colonies who might be conftrained to purchafe their lum- ber of the Englifh with ready money only ; that in this trade the Englifh took European and Eaft-India commodities from foreigners, which they ought to take only from the mother country, and that the French did all in their power to encourage it, knowing the immenfe advantages which they derived from it.
Thefe objections were anfwered by obferv- ing, that as the Englifh wanted molafles more than the foreign Colonies wanted their articles
in
P H I P S. 153
in exchange, conftraint did not fo much be- long to them as to the French ; that the charges were inconfiftent with one another, it being in one inftance alleged, that the northern Colonies, in the courfe of this trade, imported goods from foreign European ports, and in another, that they imported thofe goods from foreign Colonies, in which the goods muft have been obtained fo much dearer than in Europe, that no people who had the one means would have recourfe to the other ; but that no fuch importation was made from either quarter to any great value ; and that, although the Englifh fometimes fent money to foreign Colonies, yet, upon the whole, they got more gold and filver by the trade than they parted with ; that as to the French encouraging this trade, it was fo far from being the cafe, that the Englifh were obliged to carry it on through the medium of the Dutch ifland of St. Euftatia, where the French fubjefts reforted to exchange com- modities, in exprefs violation of their King's edicts.
The laft objection, that there was danger of the northern Colonies becoming by this trade independent of the mother country,
U was
' P H I P S.
was refuted, by fhowing that trading eveit with an enemy in time of open war, did not create any fuch connexions and dependen- cies as the fugar planters fuggefted. This was evidenced in the cafe of the Dutch, who traded with Spain when they carried on the iharpeft war againft Philip II. and in the wars of Queen Anne's time, when they trad- ed alfo with the enemy. But the military hiftory of the country which difplayed fo zealous a fpirit againft the French, and in which thofe who had traded moft with them were fome of the foremoft, proved that there was not the leaft reafon to call in queftion the inviolable attachment of the Province of MafTachufetts Bay to its mother country.
Thefe particular objedions being anfwer* cd, the utility of the rum trade to this Prov- ince was fhown by fuch a thorough invefti- gation of it in its various dependencies, a£ deferves, we think, to be literally extra&ed from a ftate of the cafe, fmce it affords the moft fatisfaftory commercial hiftory of the period which we are now fpeaking of that perhaps can be obtained.
The
P H I P S. 155
The courfe of the trade of Maflachufette Bay is thus defcribed :
I. " A great part of the inhabitants of jMaflachufetts Bay live chiefly by the fea, and are employed in
" I. Fisheries.
<c 2. Navigation.
" 3, Building and providing materials for {hips,
" By thefe employments, they depend up- on Great-Britain for
" i. Clothes.
" 2. Materials for furnifhing their houfes, of many kinds.
" 3, Cordage and fail cloth for equipment of their veflels.
" 4. Lines, hooks and cables, &c. for the fifhery.
a They are dependent on the northern Colonies for bread corn.
" Rum is their chief manufacture ; there being upwards of 15,000 hogfheads of rum manufactured in the Province annually.
« This
156 P H I P S.
" This, with what they get from the En- glilh iflands, is the grand fupport of all their trades and fifhery ; and without which they can no longer fubfift.
"
Rum is a ftanding article in the Indian trade, and the common drink of all the " i. Labourers.
.
^ 2. Timber-men.
" 3. Maft-men.
" 4. Loggers and
" 5. Fifhermen, in the Province,
" Thefe men could not endure the hard- fhips of their employments nor the rigour of the feafons without it,
" Rum is the merchandize principally made ufe of to procure
" i. Corn and
" 2. Pork for ^
w i. Their fifhermen and
" 2. Other navigation.
" The beft and cheapeft provillon in this way of life,
"This
P H I P S. 157
" This is done in winter, when there is no catching fim, nor any other employment for the fifhermeno
"'Then, a great number of fifhing veflels with their men, go to North-Carolina, Vir- ginia, Maryland, &c. there trade with rum and molaffes for corn and pork ; which ferves fpr a fupply for the next ieafon,
" Newfoundland has large annual fupplies from Maffachufetts Bay of rum, molaffes, pork, &c. without which they could not car-? ry on the fifhery to fo much advantage.
" Halifax, at prefent, and for fome years at leaft, muft depend on New-England for a fupply of thofe articles, in order to carry on the fimery ; which can only be done by coming at thofe commodities at a moderate price.
" The rum carried from Maffachufetts Bay, and the other northern Colonies, to the coaft of Guinea, is exchanged for gold and flaves. The gold is fent to London, to help to pay for their annual fupplies; and the flaves are carried to the Englifh fugar Colo- nies
158 PHIP.S.
uies, and exchanged for their commodities, or fold for bills of exchange on Great-Britain,
" So that rum is ufeful in all their traffic, cfpecially in fupporting the fifhery ; not only p,s it is the common drink of perfons in that bufmefs, but in being a mean of employing the veflels and men at a feafon, when no other bufmefs can be carried on by them ; and procuring provifion for their fupplies ; which otherwife they could not have but by their labour at the feafon proper for fifh* ing : But
" The neceffity of the molafles and rum trade to fupport the fifhery, will appear in d ftronger light, when it is confidered,
" i. That there is a large proportion (ac- cording to the beft information now to be had, 25 per cent of the whole New-England fifh- ery) of fifh of an inferior quality, and which they call Jamaica and refufe fifh, and for which there is no vent at the markets in Europe. This is the chief article made ufe £>f for procuring rum and molafles, not only from the Englifh fugar iflands (which are kept continually flocked with this fort of fifh,
and
P H I P S. 159
And with veffels waiting for their molafles) but alfo from the foreign Colonies ; who take off the far greater part of this fifh. Such quantities of this fort of fifh are made, that the whole vent in the Englifh and foreign Colonies that can be obtained, is not always fufficient to confume the whole, but fome- times confiderable quantities perifh.
" 2* That in the Newfoundland fifhery1 there is alfo made a confiderable quantity of fifh, of inferior quality, called prize fifh, and refufe fifh ; and the greater part of their* refufe fifh is taken off by the traders from Maflachufetts Bay, who give them molafies, rum, and other commodities for it, and after- wards carry it to the foreign Colonies, and barter it for their molafles ; and without this trade to the foreign Colonies, the New-En- gland traders could take off no part of it : for there is made in the New-England fifhery a much greater quantity of refufe fifh than is fufficient to fupply all the Englifh fugar iflands.
" 3. There is carried on in MafTachufetts Bay alfo a large fifhery for mackarel, alewives other fmaU fifh $ which are pickled, and
carried,
P H I P S.
carried, fome to the Englifh fugar iflands, but the far greater part to the foreign Colo- nies, particularly the Dutch.
" 4. Low prized horfes* which are pro- duced in the country wild, without much expenfe or labour, fome fmall articles of pro- vifions, and fome (but according to the beft information but little) lumber, with fome leflfer articles, are alfo exported from MaiTa- chufetts Bay to foreign Colonies, and ex- changed for molaflfes, which being thus pro- cured, is manufactured into rum for ufe$ aforementioned.
" 5. The whale fifhery is alfo greatly affe£ted by this trade. For rum is the com- mon drink of the perfons employed in it ; and the veflels and men are employed and fupported in the winter feafon by a traffic made with rum, &c. to the neighbouring Colonies.
" From all which, the dependencies of all the trade and fifhery of Maflachufetts Bay on this rum trade fully appears.
« With
P H I P S. 161
" With refpe£t to the general trade of that Province, it ought to be obferved, that all the produce of their cod fifli at the markets in Spain and Portugal — all the oil they catch — all the {hips they build — ail the freights they make — all the money they get by fpecie or bills of exchange — and all the profits from every branch of their trade, centre in Great- - Britain annually ; and yet, according to the beft information, the whole is not fufficient, communibus annis, to pay their mother coun- try for the fupplies for which they depend on it. So that the inhabitants of Maflfachu- fetts Bay are, for their numbers, fome of the moft ufeful fubje&s in the Bfitifh dominions ; being, in their trade and fifhery, fome of the greateft confumers of the natural produce of Great-Britain, and, by their employments, formed for its great fupport, navigation,"
Ck
c
From evidence in the caufe, when befor the lords of trade, it appeared that Jamaica at this time produced about 12,000 puncheons of rum, of no gallons each, per annum; 'Barbadoes 12,000; Antigua from io5ooo to 12,000; St. Chriftopher's 6,000; Montfer- rat 1,500 ; amounting in the whole to at leaft 41,500 puncheons, or 4,565,000 gallons.
W From
xt>2 P H I P 5.
From authentic documents it appeared, that the value of the goods* exported from England to the northern Colonies, betwixt the years 1720 and 1730, were,
To Carolina, - - £-394>3*4~ 7-5 New-England, * 1,747,05 7., 19.. a New- York, - 657,998.. 7.. 3
Pennfylvania, - 32 1,958. .10.. 5
Virginia and Maryland, 1,591,665.. 6.. 8
^.4,7 1 2,994.. 10.. 9
And betwixt the years 1738 and 1748, as
follows, viz.
To Carolina, - ^1,24^091.. ^,. I
New-England, - 1,8 12,894..! 2., iq
New-York, - 1,2 11,243.. 14.. 5
Pennfylvania, - 704,780.. i.. 2 Virginia & Maryland, 2,507,626^18. 5
Total, Sterling, £7,481,637.. 2.. 9
It alfo appeared, that the amount of duties paid in the northern Colonies, including the Bahama iflands and Bermuda, (Nova-Scotia paying nothing) upon the importation of rum , or fpirits, molafles or fyrups, fugar and pan- eles of the growth and produce of any for- eign fettlements, from the year 1733 to the year 1 749, both merchandize and prizes, in
purfuance
P H I P S. 163
purfuance of the laws for encouraging the trade of the fugar Colonies, was
Years. Years. Merchandize. Prize*.
'733
1734 1735 I5I- 4-9i
Jr.Chriftmas 1735 toC. 1736 292.. l$..g£
*73^ *737 220.. i. .6
'737 X73$ 68..i6..o
1738 1739 io8..n.-4
1739 J74Q 25-- °"°
1740 1741 loo,. 15. .6
1741 ,1742 722.. 7. .6 ^•I4°- J"6
1742 1743 461. .19..^ 41.. 5-9
1743 J744 234-.I7..9
1744 1745 9^" ^"9 3,08 1. .10.. 6^-
1745 1746 354..I7..7-T i24..i7-.3^
1746 1747 460.. 15. .5! i»259-
1747 1748 693.. 4-6 2,762.. 1749 1,279.. °-4i i39-l6-3
Sterling, ,^.5,603.. 4«4T £>7>6i6.. 4-.2
Thefe duties were received in the follow- ing proportions, viz,
Colonies. Merchandize. Prizes.
From the Bahama iAands, /"•777» 3»« 2f ^.1)879. .18. .5 South-Carolina, 671. .18.. i^ 3>°73" 3»*
North-Carolina, - - — — 529«» 4-«2
Virginia, ... 61.. 5.. 3^- 5^7" 7--9
Maryland, - - 63. .15.. o •
Pennfylvania, • 600.. 6..IO H4..II..9
New-Jerfey, - - 45. .16.. 6 '
New- York, 2,oo2..i2.. o •
Conne£licut, - — — — »i 98. .II. .3
Rhode-Ifland, from which")
no accounts were receiv- > — - *• • • »
ed after Michaelm. T 744, J Maflachufetts, - 1*043.
Nova- Scotia,
Bermuda, ». « 337- o..ioi 1,020.. 6..Z
1 64 P H I P S.
At the clofe of the controverfy between the fugar planters and the northern Colonifts before the lords of trade, the former relaxed in their demand of the total prohibition of the commerce in queition, and fubftituted a requeft that the northern Colonies only might be prevented taking rum, fugar or molaffes in return for their commodities, from the French iflands, which indeed amounted to little lefs than a prohibition : And the parties flood fo equally balanced before Parliament this fef- fion, that the further confideration of the fub-* jeft was poftponed to the next.
printed The hoftilities on the frontiers of the Prov-
Treaty. . . . . ~
ince, which began to give place to pacific ap- pearances the laft year, were fettled into a more permanent ftate of reconciliation, by a treaty, which was held at St. Georges in the month of Auguft, between commiffioners on the part of the Province, and delegates from the Penobfcot, St. John's and Paffamaquaddy tribes of Indians, It may not be amifs here to obferve, that one of the perfons charged with the murder of the Indian at Wifcaffet, had been tried in the county of York in the month of June preceding ; and although he
was acquitted of that crime, yet he was con-
vicled
P H I P S. 165
vicled of affaulting two other Indians, with an intent to kill them, and was fentenced to le- vere punifhment. How influential this meal- ure might have been in effecting a cefTation, of the war, is uncertain ; but no mention is made of it at the treaty. Although the Nor- ridgewocks, who were the moil hoitije nation, were not reprefented at this treaty, yet the coinmiflioners thought proper to accept the affurances and engagements for peace which were offered on the part of thofe. who were
JL
prefent,, under an expectation of a future in- terview, inftead of a more general compact, which could not at this time be obtained, through the great diftance and even unknown retreat of the abfent parties The Governor, on the ftrength of this treaty, iflued his proc- lamation for a ceffation of hoftilities, on the third day of September.
Whilft the feveral branches of the govern- Records of
the Gen.
ment were endeavouring to promote peace court. with the Eaftern Indians, they were no lefs attentive to quiet thofe at the Weftward, up- on ftill more refined and durable principles. Having appointed comrniffioners to attend J«ne 7. the interview with them at Albany, they at- tempted a plan for winning over the Mo- hawks
106 P H I P S.
hawks to civilization. They voted to pur- chafe a trad; of land of three miles fquare in Sheffield, and to ereS there two houfes of in- ftru&ion for the Indian youth of either fex, who were to be maintained at the expenfe of the Province, fo far as the donations of Mr. Hollis and the fociety for propagating the gofpel might fall ihort of their fupport ; they alfo directed that thefe youth mould be in- ftrufted in hufbandry, and that provifion fhould be made for fapplying the Mohawk families, until they mould be able to realize the produce of hdr lands : and, in order to facilitate the communication between the two nations, it was provided that two EnglHh youth ihould be taught the Indian tongue at the fame place. Sir Peter Warren, in aid of fo charitable and humane an undertaking^ changed the appropriation of feven hundred pounds fterling, which fell to him as com- miffions for receiving the reimburfement money, and which he had prefented to the Province, from building a eourt-houfe in Cambridge, to the education of the Mohawk children : And a letter was fent to the gov- ernment of Connecticut, inviting their affift- ance in the erection of this novel feminary of learning.
Al
P H I P S. 167
At the elections in the General Court this Records <*
the Gen,
year, a controverfy was renewed between the Couru Council and Houfe of Reprefentatives re- fpefting the choice of an Attorney-General for the Province, which, as it fprung from an ambiguity in the charter, may not be unwor- thy of notice. It was provided by the char- ter, that the General Aflembly fhould have power to ere ft and conftitute judicatories for the trial of all caufes ; and that the Governor, with advice of Council, fhould appoint judges, commiffioners of oyer and terminer, fheriffs, provofts, marfhals, juftices of the peace, and other officers to our council and courts of jitftlce belonging. And further, that the General Aflembly fhould name and fettle annually all civil officers within the Province, fuch officers excepted, the election and conftitution of whom was referved to the King or his Gov- ernor.
The Houfe contended, that the right of choofing refted with the General Aflembly, becaufe the Attorney-General was a civil of- ficer ; that the General Court had the fole right of creeling courts of juftice, and, of courfe, of creating the officers conftituting it ; but they never made the Attorney-General a
part
168 P H I ' P S.
1
part of any fuch court, which left him an of- ficer of the whole government, and not ex- cepted from the General Court's appoint- ment ; that he could not be included in the words, and other officers to our courts belong- ing, when inferior officers, fuch as fheriffs, &c. were exprefsly named, general terms be- ing ufed to exprefs trivial things, fuch as might be forgotten after enumerating great ones ; that the reprefentatives in other char- ter governments joined in the choice of this officer, and it was fo under the old charter ; that he was chofen by the General Court in June, 1716, and the choice was confented to by William Tailer, Efq. late commander in chief, and it was fo in Governor Shute's and Lieutenant-Governor Dummer's adminiftra- tion ; and every Board fince, for thirty-five years, had acknowledged the right of the Houfe, by joining with them in the choice : They alfo urged, that the negatives which had been put upon their choice of feveral perfons by the Governors, as had happened in the cafe of James Otis, Efq. among others, was an argument in their favour, as they prefuppofed an ele&ion.
On
P H I P S. 169
On the other hand, the Council flated the cafe generally to be thus. That in Governor Burnet's adminiftration, he nominated Mr. Overing, and the Council advifed and con- fented to it. Soon after his death, the Board were prevailed on to join with the Houfe in the choice ; but the Governor refufed his confent, and fucceeding Boards ever fmce joined with the Houfe in the choice of that officer, and their right fo to do has been de- nied by the feveral Governors ; that the firft appointment by Governor Burnet continued in force until Mr. Overing's death, after which, upon Governor Shirley's nominating the prefent Attorney-General, Mr. Trow- bridge, the Board very maturely deliberated upon the affair, advifed to the nomination, were convinced of the inconfiftent actions of the Board in former years, determined to per- fevere in confiftency for the future, and con- tinued in the fame refolution.
The refult of this difpute was the fame as had before taken place. The Houfe were obliged to join in the choice of other civil of- ficers, referving their right as to that of the Attorney-General.
X As
P H I P S.
As an elucidation of the fyftem of colo- nial government which England intended to adopt, and of its being founded on the par- tial idea of encouraging the Plantations in fuch mode only as would tend to the final profit of the mother country, and checking every exertion which might thwart her in- terefts though promotive of theirs in the moll eflential concerns, we may adduce the mem- 23d.cco.iL orable acl: of the Britifh Parliament for en- **' 29' couraging the importation of pig and bar-iron from the Colonies in America, and to prevent the erecting of any mill for the flitting or rolling of iron, or any plating forge to work with a tilt-hammer, or any furnace for ma- king fteel in any of them. The object of this law was to furnifli the manufactures with iron, from a country which, inftead of money, would take the woolens of Great- Britain : And fo little were the interefts of the Coloniits confuited in it, that the only obfta- cle to the bill feerned to be from the pofleff- ors of iron mines, woodlands, furnaces, &c. in England, and great care was taken not to injure them, by providing that American bar-iron ihoulcl be imported only into London where the market was before wholly fupplied
f7p5ro 5> with foreign iron.
This
P H I P S. 171
This arbitrary law prohibited the ere&mg or continuing any of the machines aforemen- tioned in the Colonies, under the penalty of ^£.200 fterling, and the Governors were di- rected to tranfinit certificates, with very par- ticular defcriptions of all fuch as were erect- ed before the enacting of the law. By fuch a certificate it appears, that there were in Maflachufetts four of thefe prohibited ma- Minm««§
the Gen.
chines, of which two were in the town of Court. Middleborough, one in Hanover, and one in Milton,
The year 1752 was rendered remarkable by the fpreading and termination of the fmall- pox in the towns of Bofton and Charleftown. It is well known, that Dodor Boylflon had the merit of firft introducing the practice of inoculation to the capital, from an ac- count which he met with of its fuccefs in Conftantinople, The prejudice againft this falutary invention ran as high as fuperilition could well carry it ; but, like other groundlefs apprehenfions, it has been worn away by time, and left no other effecT: behind it, than adding to the fame of thofe whofe characters it had mod malicioufly attempted to deftroy. The refult of the difeafe was, that in Bofton, 5,059
white
172 P H I P S.
white perfons, and 485 blacks, fuffered them* felvs to be feized with it in its natural courfe, of whom 452 whites, or upwards of one in eleven, and 62 blacks, nearly one eighth, died. 1,970 whites, and 139 blacks, were inoculated. Of thefe, only 24 whites, the proportion of about one in eighty-two, and 7 olacks, not one in twenty, died. Even this demonftration, however, did not extin-
Report of . .;
the sekdi- guifh the fcrupulous oppolition to inoculation,
men in the , • j * 11 iirni
Evening which may yet be traced, though by fall de- clining evidence, even to the prefent time,
The annual commiffion for treating with the Eaftern Indians was filled by the Hon. Jacob Wendell, Samuel Watts, Thomas Hub" bard, and Chambers Ruffell, Efquires, who met the delegates of the Norridgewocks, Pe- nobfcots, and St. John's tribes, at the fort at St. Georges, on the 2oth. of Oftober, and there, after a friendly conference, ratified and confirmed the treaty of 1 749, which we have particularly recited in the events of that year. But, as though the Indian intereft were never to be wholly fecured, the St. Francis tribe was not included, owing, as the Lieutenant- Governor infilled, to the influence of the French.
The
SHIRLEY. -?73
The commiffioners at Paris not being in the way of effecting any thing of confequence on Boiiair. the fubjecl: of the partition lines between the jwiy ^ French and Englifh in America, Governor Shirley was recalled from that fervice in the month of May, 1752, and on the 7th. of Au- guft, 1753, he arrived at Bofton, again to take upon hinifelf the government of the Pro- vince. His landing was marked with great cxpreflions of joy on the part of the people ; and he was addrefled by the Epifco.pal Cler- gy, the Juftices of the Peace, and the Juftices of the Inferior Court of Common Pleas for
•
the county of Suffolk, the Corporation of Harvard College, the Houfe of Reprefenta- tives, and the Council. In addition to which, feveral wealthy proprietors of a little town built at Pulling-Point for purfuing the fifli- eries, requefted the honour of claiming his patronage, and fhowing their confidence in his attention to thefe important interefts of their country, by affuming for their fettle-, merit the name of Point Shirley.
Few perfons could have been better fltu- ated to forefee the enfuing war than Gover- nor Shirley, and he anticipated all the hcr- i-ors which would attend an invafion from
the
i74 SHIRLEY.
the Indian enemy. He therefore loft na time in preparing a commiffion to treat with them, and to take forne leading fteps for bri- dling their country. At the head of the com- miiiioners we find Sir William Pepperell ; his affociates were Jacob Wendell, Thomas Hub- bard, John Window, Efquires, and Mr, James Bowdoin, who met the Chiefs and others of the Penobfcot tribe on the 2 1 ft. of September ; and after fome cenfure for not ufmg their ut- jnoft endeavours to effect the redemption of the captives taken at Swan-Iiland, again went through the ceremony of renewing and rati- fying the treaty of 1749. When the com- miffioners arrived at Richmond to treat with the Norridgewock tribe, and touched upon the fubjedt of their lands, thefe Indians ex- printed preffed themfelves willing that the Englifh fhould fettle all the ground below Richmond^ but none above it. They did not appear fat- isfied that a deed had been executed by their anceftors, or that the Englifh had erected a truck-houfe there more than one hundred years before, of which the ruins ftill remain- ed. They thought the Englifh might have intoxicated their forefathers ; they doubted the value of the confideration ; and, in fhort, hunting upon the lands was neceflary to
their
SHIRLEY. 175
their exiftence. They could not be brought to fay more than that they would inquire re- fpedting them, and would make known the refult. After promifes to bring the captives from Canada, the treaty of 1749 was again renewed and ratified, and the commifiioners £e?~ ».?• returned.
CHAP. VIII.
Comparative view of the policy , Jituation^ and claims of the French andEnglifh in Ameri- ca — Hojlilittes commenced between them in the Wejlern Territory— Expedition to Ken- nebeck — -The building efforts there,
T
HE peace which had fuBfifted between the crowns cf France and Great-Britain fince the year 1748, waf\ in facl", nptl ' •; more than a truce for digefdng and ripenh^ one of the greater! plans that European nations had ever attended to, and for gathering ftrength to carry it effectually into execution. The rivalfhip cf thefe countries was placed on a critical poife, which both apprehended would be finally call by the preponderance «f the certain, though remote power, which
muft,
SHIRLEY.
muft, in the deftiny of things, arife from. America. Who ihould poffefs this country ? was then one of the moft important quef- tions that could be made : And,, although it might be too latent to be interefting to the body of either nation in Europe, yet it was open to the view of the real politicians of both, and from local caufes, made a more general impreifion on the people of the American Colonies. Excluded from all the front coaft of North-America, the French aimed at repairing this difad vantage by pof- fefTmg the River St. Lawrence to the north, and the Miffifippi to the fouth, and then con- necting their territories through the interme- diate lakes and waters. This, befides ena- bling them to gall the backs of the Britifh Colonies, would have given them the country weft of the Apalachian Mountains, with paf- fages by water into the Atlantic : A country fo extenfive in territory, fo favoured in its climate, and fo accommodated with waters and foil, that we ought not to wonder at its engaging the ambition .of kings, nor that, whilft they contended for fuch a prize, by immenfe exertions in populating and fortify- ing America, they fliould be prevented from reflecting, that fuch a country could not be
deftined
SHIRLEY. 177
deftined finally to be fubjeS: to any foreign empire upon earth.
The respective powers and profpefts of the two nations engaged in this controverfy were fuch, as would rather have led to the conjecture of a mutual debility in the purfuit and a like difappointment in the refult of it, than the decided conqueft which actually en- fued ; and which no event has been equal to counterpoifmg, until the ftill more important divulfion of the prefent United States from one of them, was fuffered to take place.
The French military enterprize and ardour was aided by a decifion natural to the char- acter of the nation, and reiulting from the defpotifm of their monarchy. Their religion, or rather their priefts, fubferved the caufe of their government, with all the arts and influ- ence of a fyftem, too long devoted more to human than fpiritual purpofes. The rulers of the mother country, and all their Colonifts had but one obje£L No encroachments upon charter privileges, no refiftance to the exer- cife of difputed prerogative, no divifion of the eftabliihed church, relaxed the common ardour for the glory of the monarch. The
Y favages
178 SHIRLEY.
favages alfo were fraternized by an affimiht- tion of manners, of families and of worfhip. When the French planted a military poft, it was not merely by a garrifon ; but they nat- uralized the place, by a domeftic neighbour- hood and a numerous population. This mix- ture with the natives gave them an afcenden- cy in their counfels and enterprizes. When they levied war, they drew on the favage tribes upon the frontiers of the enemy, and after exercifing their ufual barbarities, com- monly retreated too foon for fuccefsful pur- fuit. The Englifh, on the other hand, relied much on their navy, and the independent ex- ertions of their Colonies. Thefe having gen- erally planted themfelves without aid or en- couragement from the mother country, were fuffered too long to depend upon their own protection for fupport. Mifunderftandinga and complaints were conftantly arifing as ta the relative force which England and her Col- onies, and which the feveral Colonies, ought to furnifh againft the common enemy. Irt fliort, a diftruft of the mother country as to the intended independence of her political off- fpring, and a fear on their part as to her en- croachments upon their rights, together with internal jealoufy of one another, feemed
fatally
SHIRLEY. 179
fatally to retard and enfeeble every meafure taken againft fo united and prompt an enemy. Still, however, at home there was wealth, in the new world great comparative population, and in both, a pride of liberty with an invin- cible fpirit, which, if not awakened until a late hour, yet was not accuftomed to relin- quifh its purfuit until gratified with vidory.
The claims of the two nations, and the meafures taken by them for effecting their views, were founded on various rights and pretenfions, and were conducted with much art and exertion. Thofe on the fide of Nova- Scotia have been as minutely detailed as the nature of this little work will admit. Thofe on the northern and weftern lines of the Brit- ifh Colonies were raifed on fomewhat differ- ent grounds,. The French had the advan- tage of a decidedly prior Settlement in the country of New-France ; however, the En- gliih did not fail to counterbalance this in two ways* One was, by reftriding the right of the French to their a&ual fettlements at the time of the grant to the Plymouth Company, in 1620, of all the lands between the 4oth. and 48th. degree of north latitude, which would have deprived them of all the country
below
i8o SHIRLEY.
below Montreal to the fouthward of the St. Lawrence, and of all the country above Mon- treal to the fouthward of the north bounds pf this line. The other counter-claim was founded on treaties with the natives. Among thefe were five nations, fo fuperior in arms to all others, that they might be called the Ro- mans of the American Barbarians. They are faid to have carried their conquefts as far as New-England and the Utawawas River to the eaftward, to the Hudfon's Bay Company's territories northward, to the Illinois and Mif- fifippi Rivers weftward,and to Georgia fouth ; deftroying or adopting nations, and making them vaiTals and tributaries, through all this immenfe region, of about twelve hundred miles in length, and feven or eight hundred in breadth. Among others, the Tufcaroras, the former inhabitants of the Carolinas, fled to them for protection, in the year 1711, and they were from that time generally known to the Englifh by the name of the Six Nations, and to the French by that of the .Iroquois. With this powerful people the Englifh form^ ed a treaty in 1 664, whereby they gave their lands, and fubmitted thcmfelves to the King of England ; and they confirmed his Sove- reignty over them by further treaties in 1684
and
SHIRLEY.
and 1687 ; in addition to which, the Engliih infifted that the country cf this people was ceded to them bv the French in the treaties cf
J
Utretcht and Aix-k-Chappelle,
Affuming this title as a good one, about twenty forts which the French had erected, befides block houfes or fbockade trading places,, were unwarrantable encroachments. Such as thofe at the north fide cf the eaft entrance of Lake Ontario in 1 672, at Michilimackinae in the year following ; one at Niagara Fall in 1684, and another at the fame ftreight in 1720 ; one between the lakes Erie and Hu- ron in 1683 5 one on eack fi^e °f the lake Michigan ; another at the weft fide of the river Toronto, and three forts, with a forti^ ned town and citadel, called St. Frederick or Crown-Point, at the lake and river of Iro- quois, or Charnplaiii Lake, and Richlieu or Sorrel River ; together with many fettlements between the mouth of Iroquois River and Montreal, on the fide of -the St. Lawrence, Tranfa<ai which, with feven villages within the difputed °^c^ bounds of Maffachufetts, might have contain- ed about thirty parifh churches.
It
ions
SHIRLEY,
It may be neceflary to obferve, that the French geographers in their turn, limited the rights of the Iroquois to a fouth-weft lina drawn from Montreal to Lake Toronto, where they alfo bounded them to the weftward, and allowed them only the country between this line and the Britiih fettlements, claiming, ancj in part poffeffing, the refidue themfelves.
The claims of thefe crowns carried fo much appearance of right on both fides, as ferved to furniih commiffioners with ingenious and colourable arguments for negociation, arid their matters with decent pretenfions for de- lay, that was intended only to prepare for a fuccefsful appeal to the fword. At length* complaints of injuries began to be made with official ceremony, and caufes of forcible re- fiftance to be affigned. This was not difficult in fuch a controverfy, fo productive /of
tual provocation and. refentment among the borderers, that the only embarraflment was, how to find a pretext for overlooking wronga until the moft convenient time for revenging them fhould arrive.
As the difputed territory of Acadia fur- nimed am ample field for hoftility on one fide3 fo the country along the lakes and inter-
nal
SHIRLEY. 183
nal rivers prefented a fcene of a like nature on that quarter. The French having taken feveral Engliih traders on this territory, and, after confifcating their goods, fent their per- fons to Canada ; the Indians in their alliance having murdered feveral Engliih fettlers on the fame ground, and their forts and forces being in a conftant advance, Lieutenant-Gov- ernor Dinwiddie, of Virginia, felt himfelf con- ftrained to fend a meflenger to the commander of their forces on the Ohio, to inquire into the reafons of thefe injurious proceedings. It is a circumftance remarkable to every American, that the man who was appointed to bear this meflage, and to open, as it were, the great eontroverfy which enfued, was the illuftrious patriot, who afterwards filled the firft ftationv,' in the immortal revolution of his country. The anfwer which was given to him was fuch as the nature of the difpute dictated, " that it was French territory/5 A fort was then erected by the Virginians to check the pro- grefs of the enemy at the Forks of the Mo- nongahela : This, on the ijih. of April, was taken by the French with a very considerable force, confifting of upwards of 600 men and 1 8 pieces of cannon, the garrifon being per- mitted to retire. On tl^e 28th. of the fame
month,
Lithgo\v*s Letter to Shirley, May 4th, Goodwin's Letter, May 15.
SHI R L E Y.
month, Col. Washington killed and took a fmall party who were approaching him under the command of Capt. Dijonville ; but on the 3d. of July, being furrounded by vaftry fu- perior numbers, after a manly refiftance from 1 1 o'clock in the forenoon to 8 in the even- ing, he was obliged to capitulate, on terms Xvhich did juftice to his own bravery and that of his little army.
Thus were hoftilities decidedly commenced on the continent ; and all the Colonies with the mother country pledged, from principles of honour and fafety, to purfue the fortune of the fword.
The cloud fbon gathered round the fron- tiers of Mafiachufetts Bay. The Indians were called upon to hear a letter from Gov- ernor Shirley on the fubjecl: of the French being fuffered to build a fort near the head of Kennebeck River, as was reported, and for the difcovery of which their aid was neceflary* But they could not be drawn into the out- forts ; they clefifted from their uiual trade, and put on ftrong appearances of hoftility. The government of the Province having agreed upon building a fort at fome fuitable place up the river, both to fecure the com- mand
SHIRLEY. 1 8
jnand of it, and to influence the Indian inter- /I eft in general, fix companies of men, making 800 in the whole, were raifed and ordered to rendezvous at Falmouth. With 500 of thefe men, the Governor, accompanied by Col. Paul Mafcarene as commiffioner from Nova-Sco- tia, Major-General Window, who had the immediate command of the forces, and other perfons of rank, embarked at Bofton to hold June 3I- a conference with the Indians in perfon. Up- on his .arrival at Falmouth, he found the com- June 26. miffioners from New-Hampfhire there. The Norridgewocks had been waiting fome days, but the Arfeguntacooks would not come, un- der the pretence of two of their tribe having been killed the laft year in New-Hampfhire, though the more probable reafon was, the revenge they had taken for this affair, by the captivating of a white man with his family, and plundering his houfe. The Norridge- wocks at firft continued in their refolution to refufe their confent to the building of a fort on the lands of their anceftors ; but upon be- ing fhewn in what manner their rights had been formerly furrendered, they no longer withheld it. In a few days, thirteen agents
Z from
x86 ' SHIRLEY.
from the Penobfcot tribe arrived, and ratified Governor Dummer's treaty, together with that made at Cafco-Bay in 1 749 : And both thefe tribes were made fenfible, by intercepted let- ters, of the artful and fraudulent tricks of their Roman Catholic priefts, to involve them in a war with the Englifh. Upon the invi- printed tation of the Governor, they fent five of their
Journal.
young men to Bofton for the benefit of edu- cation.
The Governor then proceeded to the building of the fort at Taconnet Falls, and ex- ploring the river up to the great carrying place between the Kennebeck and the Chau- Gaze°ttee diere, about forty miles above Norridgewock* sept. 3d. Here, however, the forces found no fort erected by the French : And after vifiting the Norridgewocks, and difplaying their numbers to fuch few other Indians as fell in their way, they returned to Taconnet, on the 23d. of Auguft, having performed a march of fixteen days. The fort erected there was called Hal- ifax, and the one at Culhenoc, Weftern. The naming of the former was attended with fome ceremony, and an infcription as follows :
SHIRLEY. 187
§>uoc{ fclix faitftumque fit \
PROVINCIJE MASSACHUSETTENSI ;
Hunc lapldem pofuit
GULIELMUS SHIRLEY, Gubernator^
Sub aiifplciis
ijfimi GEORGII MONTAGUE DUNK, Comltis de HALIFAX,
Provinciarum^ Quotquot funt ditionis BRITAN
Per AMERICAM utramque^ Prtefefti atq ; Patronl illuftri Die 3. Septembr'iS) A. D, 1754.
On the Qth. of September, the Governor and his company arrived at Caftle William, and the next day landed with great parade and many congratulations at Bofton.
CHAR
SHIRLEY,
CHAP. IX.
Meeting of Commiffioners at Albany — Their plan of Union — Debates on it in the General Court — E&ccife Bill — Objections to it by the people— Cafe of Daniel Foiule and others for publijhing a Libel — Indians invade Stock~ bridge.
HE Six Nations of Indians were juftly regarded by the Eaglilh of fo much confe- quence, as to induce the cpmmiffioners for plantations to direcl: a general convention of delegates from all the governments to be held for treating with them and fecuring their friendfhip, particularly as they had been dif- gujfted by negleft lately experienced from the agents of the Province of New- York. To this meeting, which was held at Albany, on A the 1 4th. of June, 1 754, Maffachufetts, with f ^five other Provinces, fent commiffioners. It is remarkable that this government not only empowered the commiffioners to acT: upon the object of the letter from the lords com- miffioners for trade and the plantations, at whofe direction this convention was held, but
likewife
M.S. Jour- nal in the Library of ths MafTa- chufetts Hiftorical Society.
SHIRLEY. 189
iikewife to enter into articles of union and | *) confederation with the other governments, for the general defence of his Majefly's fubjects and interefts in North-America, as well in time of peace as of war : And the latter part of this commiffion was net directly ex- prefled in any other delegation excepting that of Maryland, and the inftru&ion in that was only to obferve what fhould be propofed by- others upon this fubjeft.
At the convention, where about 150 men only of the Six Nations aflTembled, the affairs of the Indians were fully difcuffed, and their interefts fecured by large prefents. The del- egates ftated the title of the Englilh to their fettlements in North-America, and the en- croachments of the French upon them : and concluded that their further advances fhould be prevented ; that the Indians fhould be fe- cured by a wife fuperinteridency, by a regu- lation of their trade, and by building a fort for the fafety of each nation ; that the free navigation of the lakes fhould be maintained by fufficient naval armaments ; that all pur- chafes of lands made of the Indians, unlefs when afTembled in their public councils, or when they might be made by the govern- ments
SHIRLEY.
within whofe jurifdidion the lands Iief ihould be made void ; and that patentees of large unfettled territories fhould be obliged to fettle them in a reafonable time.
The convention further gave an opiniont that inquiry fhould be made and redrefs afr forded the Indians, relative to fraudulent con- veyances of their lands ; that the bounds of thole Colonies which extend to the South Sea, fliould be contra&ed and limited by the Allegany or Apalachian Mountains ; and that there Ihould be a union of the Colonies, that fo their counfels, treafure and ftrength might be employed, in due proportion, againft the common enemy.
The commiffioners of Maflfachufetts report- ed, that a doubt arofe in the convention as to dividing the Union, at leaft into two diftrifts, from the great extent of territory included within it \ but the probability that the defigns of the enemy would require the united ftrength and counfels of the whole Britifh continent, and that the affairs of the Indians would demand the direction of one undivided power, overruled an idea which, if executed, muft have much enfeebled, if not finally ru- ined, the ftrength of the whole.
The
SHIRLEY. 191
The plan of union was as follows, viz. 1 1
IT is propofed that humble application be / / U v\ made for an act of Parliament of Great-firi-/^/^^ tain, by virtue of which one general govern- dtJ( ^ ment may be formed in America, including^* , * / J
all the faid Colonies : [MafTachufetts-Bay, '
New-Hampfhire, Connedicut, Rhode-Iflan New-York, New-Jerfey, Penniylvania, Mary- land, Virginia, North-Carolina and South-Ca- rolina] within and under which government, each Colony may retain its prefent conftitu- tion,except in the particulars wherein a change may be directed by the faid act, as hereafter follows.
Prefident-General and Grand Council. J* VU'C/t C$ That the faid general government be ad- miniftered by a Prefident-General, to be ap- pointed and fupported by the crown ; and a Grand Council, to be chofen by the reprefent- atives of the people of the feveral Colonies, met in their refpective aflemblies.
E/effion of Members.
That within months after the pafT-
ing of fuch act, the Houfes of Reprefentatives that happen to be fitting within that time, or that fhall be efpecially for that purpofe con- vened,
i92 SHIRLEY.
vened, may and fhall choofe members for the* Grand Council in the following proportion, that is to fay :
Maflachufetts-Bay, 7
New-Hampiliire, 2
Connecticut, 5
Rhode-Ifland, 2
New-York, 4
New-Jerfey, 3
Pennfylvania, - 6
Maryland, 4
Virginia, 7
North-Carolina, 4 Soutfy-Carolina, - 4
48
P/tf<r£ °f firft Meeting.
Who fhall meet for the firft time, at the
city of Philadelphia, in Pennfylvania, being
called by the Prefident-General as foon as
conveniently may be after his appointment,
New Ekffion.
That there fhall be a new eledion of the members of the Grand Council every three years ; and on the death or refignation of any member, his place fhall be fupplied by a new choice, at the next fitting of the AfTem- bly of the Colony he reprefented.
Proportion
SHIRLEY. s93
Proportion of the Members after tbejirjl three
years.
That after the firft three years, when the proportion of money arifmg out of each Col- ony to the general treafury can be known, the number of members to be chofen for each Colony mall, from time to time, in all enfuing elections, be regulated by that pro- portion (yet fo as that the number to be cho- fen by any one Province be not more than feven, nor lefs than two.)
Meetings of the Grand Council and Call.
That the Grand Council mall meet once ia every year, and oftener, if occafion require, at fuch time and place as they mall adjourn to at the laft preceding meeting, or as they mall be called to meet at, by the Prefident- General, on any emergency ; he having firft .obtained in writing, the confent of feven of the members to fuch call, and fent due and timely notice to the whole.
Continuance.
That the Grand Council have power to choofe their Speaker : and fhall neither be diflblved, prorogued, nor continued fitting
A a longer
194 SHIRLEY.
longer than fix weeks at one time ; without their own confent, or the fpecial command of the crown.
Members' Attendance. That the members of the Grand Council fhall be allowed for their fervices, ten (hillings fterling per diem, during their feffion and jour- ney to and from the place of meeting ; twenty miles to be reckoned a day's journey.
A/pent of Prefident-General and his duty. That the afient of the Prefident-General be requifite to all ads of the Grand Council ; and that it be his office and duty to caufe them to be carried into execution.
Power of Prefident-General and Grand" Council — ^Treaties of peace and war.
That the Prefident-General, with the ad- vice of the Grand Council, hold or direft all Indian treaties in which the general intereft of the Colonies may be concerned ; and make peace or declare war with Indian nations.
Indian Trade.
That they make fuch laws as they judge neceflary for regulating all Indian trade.
Indian
SHIRLEY. 195
Indian Purchafes.
That they make all purchafes from the In- dians for the crown, of lands not now within the bounds of particular Colonies, or that {hall not be within their bounds, when fome of them are reduced to more convenient dimenfions.
New Settlements.
That they make new fettlements on fuch purchafes by granting lands in the King's name, referving a quit- rent to the crown, for the ufe of the general treafury.
Laws to govern them. That they make laws for regulating and governing fuch new fettlements, till the crown {hall think fit to form them into particular governments.
Raife foldiers^ and equip vejjels^ That they raife and pay foldiers, build forts for the defence of any of the Colonies, and equip veflfels of force to guard the coafts and protect the trade on the ocean, lakes, or great rivers ; but they mall not imprefs men in any Colony, without the confent of the Legiflature.
Power to make laws, lay duties^ That for thefe purpofes they have power
«i
to
196 SHIRLEY,
to make laws, and lay and levy fuch general duties, impofts, or taxes, as to them fhall ap- pear rnoft equal and juft, (confidering the Ability and other circumftanees of the inhab- itants in the feveral Colonies) and fuch as may be collected with the lead inconvenience to the people ; rather difcouraging luxury, than loading mduftry with unnecefiary burdens.
General Treafurer and particular Treafurer, That they may appoint a general Treafurer and particular Treafurer in each government^ when neceflary ; and from time to time may order the fums in the treafuries of each gov- ernment into the general treafury, or draw on them for fpecial payments, as they find moft convenient,
Money how to iffue.
Yet no money to iflue but by joint orders of the Prefident-Generat and Grand Council, except where fums have been appropriated to particular purpofes, and the Prefident-General has been previoufly empowered by an act to draw for fuch fums.
Accounts.
Thai the general accounts fhall be yearly fettled, and reported to the feveral aflemblies.
Quorum.
SHIRLEY, 197
Quorum.
That a quorum of the Grand Council, em-* powered to a£t with the Prefident-General, do confift of twenty-five members ; among whom there {hail be one or more from the majority of the Colonies,,
Laws to he tranfoiitted. That the laws made by them for the pur- pofes afprefaid, {hall not be repugnant, but, as near as may be, agreeable to the laws of En- gland, and fhall be tranfmitted to the King in Council, for approbation, as foon as may be after their paffing ; and if not difapproved within three years after prefentation, to re- main in force.
Death of the Prefident-GeneraL That in cafe of the death of the PrefiderU- General, the Speaker of the Grand Council for the time being {hall fucceed, and be veil- ed with the fame powers and authorities, to continue till the King's pleafure be known,
Officers bow appointed, That all military commiffion officers, whe- ther for land or fea fervice, to act under this general conftitution, fhall be nominated
by
198 SHIRLEY.
by the Prefident-General ; but the approba- tion of the Grand Council is to be obtained, before they receive their commiffions. And all civil officers are to be nominated by the Grand Council, and to receive the Prefident- General's approbation before they officiate.
Vacancies how fupplied. But in cafe of vacancy, by death, or re- moval of any officer, civil or military, under this conftitution, the Governor of the Prov- ince in which fuch vacancy happens, may appoint till the pleafure of the Prefident-Gen- eral and Grand Council can be known,
Each Colony may defend ilfelfon emergency ,
That the particular military as well as civil eftablifhments in each Colony remain in their prefent ftate, the general conftitution notwith- Handing, and that on fudden emergencies any Colony may defend itfelf, and lay the accounts of expenfe thence arifing before the Prefident- General and Grand Council, who may allow and order payment of the fame as far as they judge fuch accounts reafonable*
*»
In contemplating this inftrument, one can hardly fupprefs an enthufiaftic fpirit of con-
je&ure
SHIRLEY. 199
jedure upon the ftate of America and Europe, \ -j y / had it taken place. Although it be fhort of the prefent well-digefted and ikilful fyftem operating upoa the United States, yet it evi- dently fprung from the fame principles, and if conne&ed with the ftrong government of Great-Britain, probably would have lafted fo long as greatly to retard, perhaps forever to prevent, the revolution of 1776, and its ex- tenfive confequences. Blinded by fatal na- tional prejudices, the Britiih Colonies would yet, perhaps, have confidered French, Span- iards, and other foreign nations, as their nat- ural enemies ^ and that connexion, which im- parted bleffings of liberty, till then unknown, to communities now by her example emanci- pated from their political chains, might never have been formed. The commerce of Ame- rica, fo diffufed through new channels in Afia and the north-weft coaft of her own continent, might ftill have been reftrided by the hand of monopoly : and the profpecl: of reforma- tion by rational and deliberate means, in her parent country, to the equal enjoyment of civil and religious principles, which is yet to be Uoped for, might never have opened.
The
SHIRLEY.
The apprehenfions of the Britifh cabinet, however^ feem to have been founded on a dif- ferent expectation. They contemplated the plan of union as calculated too ftrongly to de- monftrate the ability of the Colonies to defend themfelves, whilft the control of the crown over the admin iftration was too feeble to in- fure its eventual fuperiority. They preferred advancing monies to fecure their dominions, which ihould be drawn for by the general government in America, but raifed by their own authority within the Colonies. Enter- taining thefe principles, they rejected the plan for want of fufficient powers in the throne ; whilft the provincial governments, fearing that the royal prerogative would have too prevailing an influence, united in the fame decifion from oppofite principles : and the maturing and adopting of this important fcheme in North-America, was referved for her feparate and independent authority in the year one thouiand feven hundred and eighty- eight.
In the courfe of debating upon it in the Houfe of Reprefentatives of MafTachufetts, an idea prevailed of making it lefs general ; but the general and partial plans as reported, were
both.
SHIRLEY.
both rejected, and a queftion was put, Wheth- 1 7 er it be the mind of the Houfe that there fhould be a general union of his Majefty's Colonies on this continent, except thofe of Nova-Scotia and Georgia ? and it was refolv- ed by yeas and nays in the affirmative, by a majority nf r»nty three members, the Houfe then confifting of feventy-eight. At length, the consideration of the report for the general \ union was voted to be fufpended until the members fhould have an opportunity to con- fult their conftituents refpeding it, forty-eight voting in the affirmative againft thirty : and in this ftate it appears finally to have refted.
£> Among the moft remarkable legiflative oc- IX
currences of this period in MafTachufetts, we are to confider the bill for granting an excife upon wines and other fpirituous liquors, and the proceedings which followed it. This meafure, which originated with a diviiion of the commercial and landed inter efts, was main- tained with an inflexibility againft oppofition, which, in this free country, was by fome con- ftrued into feverity. The taxes becoming burthenfome from the great expenfes of the Province, the Houfe of Reprefentatives en- deavoured to relieve the polls and eftates, the
B b fubjefts
201
202 SHIRLEY.
fubje&s of what is ufually called the dry tax, by a duty on the confumption of fpirituous liquors. In the bill for this purpofe, with a view to prevent the evafion of the law by the procurement of liquors from other hands than the licenfed retailers, an extraordinary provi- fion was introduced for fweailng c^cry houfe- holder, if the collector or his deputy required it, as to the quantity confumed in his family, not purchafed of fome licenfed perfon, in or- der that the duties might be accounted for by the confumer. A regulation pervading the private circumftances of individuals fo mi- nutely, tending fo much to the increafe of oaths, and fubj citing all perfonsto the fearch and examination of inferior officers, thus veft- ed with the difcretionary ufe of power fo apt to pervert even the moft cautious and confid- erate of mankind, was attacked with great force of oppofition, on all the general princi- ples which favour the liberties of the people. It cannot but ftrike us in a fingular manner, that at the head of the diflenters from this bill, againft which one of the greateft objec- tions was the increafing of the influence of the chair, the Governor himfelf mould appear, June J7tii. He fent a meflage to both Houfes, in which he denounced the plan as inconfiftent with
the
SHIRLEY. 203
the natural rights of every private family in the community ; he exprefied his difappoint- ment at the bill's being tacked by way of con- dition to the ordinary excife bill ; that a vote of non-concurrence having paffed in Council upon the bill, a re-confideration was had at a time when four diflentient members were ab- fent, and when the whole number of the Counfellors was lefs than when it was reject- ed. He therefore recommended the printing of the bill for the confideration of the peo- ple, and that the Aflembly fhould take it up again at the adjournment. This proportion was complied with, and the bill being thus opened for general difcuffion, became the fub- je<3: of cenfure or approbation with the towns and the individuals of the whole Province.
No one will haftily deny that legiflative queftions may arife, whereon the previous fenfe of the people is to be obtained even by a dired: reference to their decifion : but fuch a reference certainly fhould be made only in unavoidable cafes, as the very aft itfelf ferves to condemn the meafure in queftion. Be- fides, fuch a direlidion of the duties affigned to a legiflature, at beft argues doubt, which may be the offspring of indolence, or of inde-
cifion,
204 SHIRLEY.
cifion, caufed, perhaps, by the balance of ob- ftinate parties ; or, what is the worft of weak- neflfes in any delegated body, an undue fear of refponfibility. It is hazarding divifions among the people, and calling upon the dif- contented to attempt private, foreign and par- tial purpofes, under a clamour againft public meafures. If the people are really inclined to fpeak under a free government, they will not wait for fuch an invitation ; and if they are filent, it is the beft evidence of their acquief- cence and approbation.
When the exceptionable claufes in the ex- cife bill were laid before the people, there appeared many publications to influence their judgment. In thefe, all the real objections which lay againft the bill, and many far- fetched and imaginary ones, were adduced. It was held up as unconstitutional, becaufe it defcended into the private economy of every family, which a man ought to hold the right of keeping fecret, as much as he had a right | to the exclufive enjoyment of his houfe, which was his caftle ; becaufe it obliged a man to exculpate himfelf by oath from an innocent a£t, contrary to the fpirit of that invaluable maxim of law, that no man was held to con-
vid
S H I R L £ Y. 205
vict himfelf. The bill was faid to be calculated to produce perjury and bribery, and to dimin* ifh the force of oaths, from the frequency and improper manner in which they might, and probably would be, adminiftered by inferior officers : It was oppofed to the interefts of the fifheries, by taxing a liquor fo neceffary to the men employed in them ; and when once fubmitted to, would be a precedent for taxing windows, foap and other articles, until nothing would be left free. Increafmg the influence of the Governor, by means of the appointments which he might make under this act, was held up as a probable means of finally affecting the elections, and procuring a venal and criminal affembly, who might barter away the rights of the people to the crown ; and the influence of the officers themfelves over the fears of the people, was whimfically difplayed, even to the endanger^ ing of conjugal fidelity, and the facrifice of virgin innocence. The virtues of rurn were found to be almoft equal to the poetic ideas of the deified nectar, and the water of the frontier fettlers was difcovered to be loaded with a poifonous quality, by running through marfhes and fens fpawning with frogs, againft which rum was the only attainable antidote.
Evea
206 -.-SHIRLEY.
Even a tax upon cyder and malt was propof- ed as preferable to the one in queftion, as this would fall on the old fettled counties, who were much the richeft and the leaft engaged in defending the frontiers : Nor was the ine- quality of the former tax, which extended only to rum purchafed in fmall quantities, to be remedied at fuch an expenfe, efpecially as the advantage of the rich in purchafing a larger quantity was confidered by the afleff- ors in taxing them. Finally, the fpirit of oppofition to the excife in 1733 was called up to view ; a mob was deprecated in a way that affefted a dread of it, and the Governor was highly applauded, for his timely inter- ference in faving the liberties of the people from the dangers with which they were threatened ; among which, we cannot fail to remark, that of his own power was reckoned one of the greateft.
the poor°& But the publication of the moft celebrity, the was a pamphlet, entitled, The Monjier of Monfters ; being a witty, farcaftic, and point- e^ caricature of thofe members of the two
someobfer- Houfes who were materially concerned in
vations on /
the Bin for advancing or oppofmo; the bill, under the fic-
granting an
Excife, &c. tion of two aflemblies of ladies, among; whom
The Voice of
the People, the monfter in queftion was introduced.
The Crifis.
When
SHIRLEY. 207
When the General Court met, the Houfe °aobco »<• of Reprefentatives refolved, that this pam- phlet was a falfe and fcandalous libel, refleft- ing upon the proceedings of that Houie in general, and on many worthy members in particular, in breach of the privileges thereof, and ordered it to be burnt by the hands of the common hangman. It was then refolv- ed, that Daniel Fowle, the printer, fliould be taken into cuftody, who, after examination, was committed to the common gaol in Bof- ton. Jofeph Ruflel, his apprentice, Zacha- riah Fowle, a printer, and Royal Tyler, the fuppofed author, were alfo taken into cufto- dy. Mr. Tyler, when brought before the Houfe, moved for coimfel, which was refut- ed ; and upon his declining to reply further than that he was not obliged to accufe him- felf, he ' was ordered to remain in cuftody, and without bail. The next day, the Houfe refolved that Daniel Fowle was concerned in publifhing the pamphlet, and the day after, Mr. Tyler, pleading the diftrefled circumftances of his family, was permitted to return to it, upon his giving his word of honour to the
Houfe,
io8 S H I R L E Y.>
Houfe, that he would be forth coming when by them requefted.*
The proceedings againft Daniel Fowle were of a nature calculated to embarrafs the Houfe ; and perhaps if fuch a fpirit as Wilkes {hewed a few years afterwards upon a fimilar occa- fion in England, had arifen, they would not have been able to fave their dignity, better than the Houfe of Commons did in that cafe, when they found Miller, a printer of the de- bates of the Houfe, taken out of the cuftody of their meflenger, by the Mayor and Alder- man of London, and the meflenger himfelf or- dered to be committed in default of bail for a falfe arreft.
Fowle denied their right to commit for his fuppofed offence, unlefs in the cafe of their own members : and in addition to this, the Speaker's warrant directed the Keeper of the gaol to detain him there until the further or- der of the Houfe cf Reprefentatives, omitting the ufual claufe, or until he be otherwife dif- charged by order of law.
The
* It cannot, perhaps, at this day, be determined how far Mr. Tyler was really concerned in this pamphlet ; moft probably, however, he only countenanced the reading and publifiiing of it. Mr. Benjamin Brandon is fuppofed by contemporaries to have written it,
SHIRLEY. 209
The cafe became a fubjed of very general expectation ; and, perhaps, from an apprehen- fion that the common law was the moft fuit- able authority to determine it, and from fome defect in the form of the warrant, Fowle on the 26th. was relieved from the fe verity of his confinement, and an opportunity was given him to go at large ; but this he refufed, faying with St. Paul, that inafmuch as they had thruft him into prifon uncondemned (by the law) they might come themfelves and take him Total
T T . j . . i r eclipfe of
out. However, no judicial proceis was en- Liberty, tered upon for his enlargement, and on the sgth. his wife having been thrown into fits to the endangering of her life, he ftated a requeft to the Speaker that he might be difmifled on this account, and that he fhould be ready to ivalt upon him 'whenever the Speaker might have occafion for him. He was then brought before the Houfe, reprimanded for publifhing the libel, and ordered to be difcharged from gaol upon his paying cofts.
Fowle made a profejfional ufe of his fuffer- ings, by iffuing a pamphlet, in which he fta- ted his five days' imprifonment, forty-eight hours of which he lay in the common ftone gaol, in a very glaring manner : and it
C c would
210 SHIRLEY.
would have been fortunate for him had he been contented to revenge his caufe in this way, which proved more profitable to him, than controverting great conftitutional quef- tions in a court of law, againft the influence of a ruling party in the Houfe of Reprefent- atives. But not fatisfied with this, he com- menced an action againft the Speaker and Meflenger of the Houfe of Reprefentatives and the Gaoler, as Mr. Tyler did againft the Meflenger alone. The new Houfe, by a ma- jority of two thirds of the members, voted that this power of committing had often and for a long time been e-xercifed by many for- mer Houfes ; that the Houfe of Reprefenta- tives of the Province were the indifputable judges of any breach of their privileges, and had an authority to arreft, commit and exam- ine for fuch breaches, not only their own members, but others. That it was the in- difpenfable duty of the Speaker of the faid Houfe to iffue his warrants, according to the orders given, and of the Meflenger and Keep- er of the Gaol to execute them ; and that thefe fuits were an attempt againft the rights of the people of the government, in the au- thoritv of that Houfe to commit for a con-
* J
tempt to their reprefentative body, to fruftrate
SHIRLEY. in
all effeft cf this authority, and to introduce diforder and confufion ; and that therefore the officers who iffued and executed the war- rants fhould be defended in the adion,
The divifion which exifted in the legiila^ ture upon this fubje£t was fmkingly difplay-, ed, and affumed a very fericus afped:, when the Houfe proceeded to make an allowance to the committee appointed to defend the fuits. The Reprefentatives, determined to fupport their privileges, in a very full Houfe voted the liberal fum of ^.1000 fterling for this purpofe, to be drawn out as there fhould be occafion. This vote the Council partially non-concurred, and returned with alterations, particularly in reducing the fum. The Houfe refented this check, and voted that the grant of any money muft not only originate in the Houfe in confequence of their reprefenting the people, but that fuch grant could not be any way fubjed to the alteration of any other branch of the government. The Council re- plied that they had been in the conftant prac- tice of 1-eflenin.g grants made by the Houfe ever fmce the charter, but wiflied to avoid a difpute on this point at a jundure when af- fairs of fuch vaft importance were depending.
This
212- S H I R L E Y.
This practice the Houfe in their turn denied, and a very earneft difpute appeared to be ri- fing from this trifling affair, upon a conftitu* tional queftion ; till at laft the Council remain- ing firm in their non-concurrence, the diffi- culty was fettled by a vote, that the officers mould be defended at the charge of the Prov- ince throughout the courfe of the law ; that the committee appointed for this purpofe ihould be paid out of the public treafury, from time to time, fuch fums asfoould be fuf- ficlent to enable them properly to defend the ac- tions in the Province ; and in cafe of an ap- peal to his Majefty in Council, that the Agent of the Province mould defend them in England at the public charge.
su court The event of the procefs was, that the Su- m P£r*lor Court of Judicature finally gave judg- mcnt in favour of the defendants, confidering their plea in bar as good, and that Fpwle iliould pay coft of court?
and The returns of the towns reprefented their "- opinions upon the excife bill to be much di- . vided ; and the Houfe not viewing them d of ^ tne %*lt: °^ conclufive inftrudions, voted the Houfe. ^ fa^ fhpuld not be cpnfidered. The
capital,
SHIRLEY. 213
capital, and the refpectable trading town of /IVV Gloucefter were among the opponents of the bill ; notwithstanding which it was enacted, and approved by the Governor, with fome finall amendments, which gave rife to the Cub New Licked, and other fatirical publica- tions. In fome of thefe, His Excellency, in j^eRe* his turn, received the cenfure of the advocates of liberty, founded on his verfatility of opin- ion, which, as the general principles of the bill M , /
r ynf/vViU*^
remained the fame as at the laft feffion, was uncharitably attributed to the anticipation of a grant made to him very foori after the enact- ing of it, for fervices in taking pofieffion of Louifbourg, and in the late Kennebeck expe- dition. But fuch was the heat of parties at this day, that nothing more ought to be con- cluded from this fuggeftion, than that the grant was ill-timed,
Notwithftanding all the predictions fo dif- mally detailed againft the excife act, the fatire of witty pens, with fome few marks of popu- lar ftigma on the farmers of this branch of the revenue, feem to have been all the for- midable confequences of it : although the Governor was fo fearful of its inefficiency from the odium annexed to it, that he pro-
pofed
H4- SHIRLEY.
poied a loan for defraying the expenfes of the government the current year. The town of Bofton alfo voted to make application in England in order to prevent the ads obtain- ing the royal affent, and actually chofe Chrif- topher Kilby, Efq. their agent for that purpofe*
The Governor had fcarcely returned from his expedition on the River Kennebeck, when information was received of an attack upon the oppofite quarter by a body of Indians, fuppofed to be about fix hundred in number, They invaded. Hoofuck, pillaged and burnt the buildings, killed the cattle, and deftroyed a very large quantity of grain. At Stock- bridge, two of them attacked the houfe of one Chamberlain, in which they met with a manly refiftance from a perfon named Owen, who happened to be there ; but his conflict only ferved to enable Chamberlain and his wife to efcape ; he himfelf at length falling under his wounds, and dying very foon. The Indians fcalped him, and one child, carrying awTay another with them. This alfo foon fuffered the fame death, upon an unfortunate difcovery of a party being in purfuit of the favages.
Upon
SHIRLEY.' 215
Upon inveftigation, the enemy was found
to have coniifted of the Scatecook tribe, who ton's Letter,
Sept. 8th.
had inftigated the Orondocks and others to the invafion. Some of their allies had de- fcended from inhabitants of Connecticut River, who were driven away in Philip's war. The wrhole defign had been made known to the Governor of Canada, who probably thought it too feafonable for the future plans of the French, not to afford it his encourage- ment.
The Englifh fettlers appeared after this Letter of attack to have been difcontentecl with the woodbridge conduCt of the inhabitants of Albany, and to thmgton,°r~ entertain fufpicions of the Stockbridge tribe ' 9t ' of Indians. The one for continuing their trade and connexions with the Canadian fav- ages, after hoftilities were commenced ; the other for difcovering inaCtion and reluCtance as to military duty beyond what had appear- ed in former wars. The caufe of the latter was patronized and explained by the leading men in Stockbridge, who afcribed their cool- nefs to mifmanagement on the part of the white people ; the foldiers having charged this tribe with the late murders, and threat- ened to take their lives, in fo ferious a man-
ner?
216 SHIRLEY.
Letters of ner as to prevent their eoins: into the woods.
Col.Dwight
&T.wood- from an apprehenfion that their danger
bridge. v L
arofe more from the Englim than the Indian enemy.
pec. 19, Upon the reprefentation of the Governor,
I/J4- r
ftating the defection of thefe Indians, the General Court voted to receive them as fol- diers in the fervice of the Province, and to give them pay and fubfiftence for fix months, and invited them either to come to the Court to relate their grievances, or to lay them before a committee who ihould be appointed at their requeft.
CHAP. X.
taking of the French Forts in Nova-Scotia^ and removal of the Neutrals.
T
General A HE year 1755 commenced with prepa- id, j^ur- rations for diflodging the French from their encroachments in Nova-Scotia. Notwith- ftanding this expedition was conducted in a territory now no longer a part of MafiTachu-
fetts,
SHIRLEY. 217
fetts, yet the inhabitants of that Province were / fo materially concerned in it, that an account of it cannot be confidered as foreign to the proper fubjecT: of this work ; and the peculiar fortune of the French fettlers is fo interefting, that an apology would not be wanting, even if it were a digreflion.
This expedition was undertaken and con- ducted at the expenfe of the crown. The troops, however, were raifed in Maflachufetts Bay, and a&ed as a diftind body, under their own officers, with a promife of the fame pay, and being treated in every refpect as others in the fame fervice with them. The com- mand of the expedition was given to Lieuten- ant-Colonel Robert Monckton ; but the Maf- fachufetts forces being formed into a regi- ment of two battalions, of which Governor Shirley was the Colonel, the command of them was conferred on Lieutenant-Colonel John Winflow, of Marfhfield, a gentleman of one of the moft ancient and honourable families in the Province, who held a commiffion of Major-General in the militia, and whofe in- fluence was fo great as to effect the raifmg of 2,000 men in about two months, to ferve for the term of one year, if fo long required.
D d They
SHIRLEY.
They embarked at Bofton on the 2Oth. of May, and arrived at the Bafon of Annapolis Royal on the 25th. whence they failed, on the firft of June, in a fleet of forty-one veffels to Chignedo, and anchored about five miles from Fort Lawrence. On the 4th. being joined by about three hundred regulars, with a fmall train of artillery, they marched for the French fort Beau-fejour. When they came to the river Muffaguafh, on the weft fide of which the French claimed, they found a block-houfe, with fome fmall cannon and fwivels, and a breaft-work, with troops ju- dicioufly pofted to oppofe their progrefs. After a conflict of about an hour, the paffage was effected with the lofs of only one man, who was killed, and thirteen wounded, the French burning their block-houfe and village. The forces then encamped at the diftance of about two miles from the fort ; and Lieut. Col. Winflow, with 300 men, having diflodg- ed a party of the enemy from an eminence where it was defigned to fortify, advanced within 600 yards of it. The entrenchments were opened on the 1 2th. and notwithstanding the fire of the fort, were advanced no yards, gaining 85 in a ftraight direction, in one night. On the i6tli. the enemy furrendered,
the
SHIRLEY. 215
the garrifon being allowed to march out with the honours of war, and to be tranfported with their effects to Louifbourg, at the ex- penfe of the King of Great-Britain, on con- dition of not bearing arms for fix months* It was alfo ftipulated, that the inhabitants fhould be left in the fame fituation as they
were in when the army arrived, and not be
/
puniihed for what they had done afterwards. This capitulation, and the various fkirmimes which preceded it, coft the New-England troops but three men killed, none being mor- tally wounded.
The fort at Gafpareau of neceffity furren- dered after that of Beau-fejour. and was allow-
+j *
ed the fame terms. The name of the latter was changed to Cumberland,
Three Englifh twenty-gun (hips, with a fnow, appearing in St. John's River, under the command of Capt. Rous, the French fet fire to their fort and out-houfes there, and re- linquiihed the country. One hundred and fifty of the tribe of Indians received the offi- cers of the fleet with tokens of friendfhip, which terminated military operations in that quarter.
Thefc
220 SHIRLEY.
Thefe fuccefles at fo early a ftage tif the war, diffufed a general animation through the Colonies, and were joyfully received as omens of future good fortune.
The French force in Nova-Scotia being thus fubdued, it only remained to determine the meafures which ought to be taken with refpeft to the inhabitants, who were about feven thoufand in number, and whofe char- after and fituation were fo peculiar, as to diftinguifh them from almoft every other community, that has fuffered under the fcourge of war.
The allegations agamft them as a people, and which were undoubtedly juft againfl many of them as individuals, were thefe : That being permitted to hold their lands, after the treaty of Utrecht, by which the Province was ceded to Great^Britain, upon condition of their taking the oath of allegi- ance, they refufed ro comply, excepting with this qualification, that they fliould not be called upon to bear arms in the defence of the Province ; which qualification, though ac- ceded to by Gen. Phillips, the Britifh con>
mander.
SHIRLEY, 221
mander, was difapprovecl of by the King : That from this circumftance they affe&ed the charader of neutrals, yet furnifhed the Frencli and Indians with intelligence, quarters, pro- vifions and affiftance in annoying the govern- ment of the Province, and three hundred of them were actually found in arms at the ta- king of fort Beau-fejour : That notwithftand- ing an offer was made, to fuch of them as had not been openly in arms, to be allowed to continue in poffeffion of their land, if they would take the oath of allegiance without any qualification, they unanimoufly refufed it.
The character of this people was mild, fru- gal, induftrious and pious ; and a fcrupulous fenfe of the indiffoluble nature of their an- cient obligation to their King, was a great caufe of their misfortunes. To this we may add an unalterable attachment to their reli- gion, a diftruft of the right of the Englifh to the territory which they inhabited, and the indemnity promifed them at the furrender of fort Beau-fejour. Kotwithftanding which, there could be no apology for fuch of them as, after they had obtained the advantages of neutrality, violated the conditions on which they were granted, and without which, from
the
23 SHIRLEY.
the nature of the cafe, there was no juft foun- dation to expert they would be continued.
Such being the circumftances of the French Neutrals, as they were called, the Lieutenant- Governor of Nova-Scotia and his Council, aided by the admirals Bofcawen and Moftyn, aflembled to confider of the neceflary meaf- ures to be adopted towards them. If the whole were to fuffer for the condud: of a part, the natural punifhment would have been to have forced them from their country, and left them to go wherever they pleafed ; but from the fituation of the Province of Canada, it was obvious to fee that this would have been to recruit it with foldiers, who would immedi- ately have returned in arms upon the Britilh frontiers. It was therefore determined to remove and difperfe this whole people among the Britifh Colonies, where they could not unite in any ofFenfive meafures, and where they might be naturalized to the government and country.
The execution of this unufual and general fentence was allotted chiefly to the New- England forces, the commander of which, from the humanity and firmnefs of his charac- ter,
SHIRLEY. 223
ter, was the beft qualified to carry it into effect. It was without doubt, as he himfelf declared, difagreeable to his natural make and temper ; and his principles of implicit obedi- ence as a foldier was put to a fevere tefl by this ungrateful kind of duty, which required an ungenerous cunning, and fubtle kind of feverity, calculated to render the Acadians fubfervient to the Englifh interefts to the lateft hour. They were kept entirely ignorant of their deftiny until the moment of their cap- tivity, and were overawed or allured to labour at the gathering in of their harveft, which was fecretly allotted to the ufe of their con- querors. The orders from Lieutenant-Gov- ernor Lawrence to Capt. Murray, who was firfl on the ftation, with a plagiarifm of the language, without the fpirit of fcripture, di- rected that if thefe people behaved amifs, they fhould be punifhed at his difcretion ; and if any attempts were made to deftroy or moleft the troops, he fhould take an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth, and in fhort, life for life, from the neareft neighbour where the mifchief fhould be performed.
The convenient moment having arrived, the inhabitants were called into the different ports to hear the King's orders, as they were
termed.
224 SHIRLEY.
termed. At Grand Pre, where Col. Window had the immediate command, four hundred and eighteen of their beft men aflembled. Thefe being fhut into the church, (for that too had become an arfenal) he placed himfelf with his ofScers in the centre, and addreffed them thus :
GENTLEMEN,
I HAVE received from his Excellency Gover- nor Lawrence, the King's commiffion, which I have in my hand ; and by his orders you are convened together, to manifefl to you his Majefty's final refolution to the French inhab- itants of this his Province of Nova-Scotia ; who for almoft half a century have had more indulgence granted them, than any of his fubje&s in any part of his dominions. What ufe you have made of it, you yourfelves beft know.
The part of duty I am now upon, though neceflary, is very difagreeable to my natural make and temper, as I know it muft be griev- ous to you who are of the fame fpecies.
But it is not my bufmefs to animadvert, but to obey fuch orders as I receive, and there- fore, without hefitation, fhall deliver you his Majefty's orders and inftrudions, namely,
"That
SHIRLEY. 225
" That your lands and tenements, cattle of all kinds, and live ftock of all forts, are for- feited to the crown,with all other your effeds, faving your money and houfehold goods, and you yourfelves to be removed from this his Province.'3
«
Thus it is peremptorily his Majefty's or- ders, that the whole French inhabitants of thefe diftri&s be removed, and I am, through his Majefty's goodnefs, directed to allow you liberty to carry off your money and houfe- hold goods, as many as you can without dif- commoding the veffels you go in. I fhall do every thing in my power, that all thofe goods be fecured to you, and that you are not mo- lefted in carrying them off: alfo that whole families fhall go in the fame veffel ; and make this remove, which I am fenfible muft give you a great deal of trouble, as eafy as his Majefty's fervice will admit, and hope, that in whatever part of the world you may fall, you may be faithful fubje<3:s, a peaceable and happy people.
I muft alfo inform you, that it is hia Maj- efty's pleafure that you remain in fecurity,
E e under
S H I R L E Y.
under the infpecYion. and direction of the troops that I have the honour to command.
And he then declared them the King's prifoners.
The whole number of perfons collected at Grand Pre, finally amounted to 483 men and 337 women, heads of families, and their fons and daughters to 527 of the former, and 576 of the latter, making in the whole 1923 fouls, Their ftock was upwards of 5,000 horned cattle, 493 horfes, and 12,887 fheep and fwine.
As fome of thefe wretched inhabitants ef- caped to the woods, all pofiible meafurcs were adopted to force them back to captivity. The country was laid wafte to prevent their fub- fiftence. In the diftrift of Minas alone, there were deftroyed 255 houfes, 276 barns, 155 out-houfes, ii mills and I church ; and the friends of thofe who refufed to come in, were threatened as the vidims of their obfti- nacy. In fhort, fo operative were the terrors that furrounded them, that of twenty-four young men who deferted from a tranfport, twenty-two were glad to return of themfelves,
the
SHIRLEY. 227
the others being fhot by fentinels, and one of their friends who was fuppofed to have been acceflary to their efcape, having been carried on fhore, to behold the deftru&ion of his houfe and effects, which were burned in his prefence, as a punifhment for his temerity, and perfidious aid to his comrades. Being embarked by force of the mufquetry, they were difperfed, according to the original plan, among the feveral Britifh Colonies. One thoufand arrived in MafTachufetts Bay and became a public expenfe, owing in a great degree to an unchangeable antipathy to their fituation, which prompted them to reject the ufual beneficiary but humiliating eftablifh- ment of paupers for their children.
The campaign ended with no fmall difguil on the part of the New-England commander and his troops, on account of diftin&ions in fervice made between the regulars and them, to their prejudice ; and enlifhnents being made out of his corps to fill up the {landing regiments, which prevented his fulfilling his promife to bring his men back to their towns at the expiration of a year, a prcmife much relied upon, and neceflary to be performed for future exertions.
CHAP.
228 SHIRLEY.
' CHAP. XL
flan of military operations for the year 1755 — - Supply of the treafitry — Law prohibiting correfpondence with the French fettlements-~~ Anfwer to the Governor s mejfcige upon the fubjecJ offurnijhing the regular troops with pmvifwns- — Caufes operating to 'weaken the force of the Eritijh Colonies — Shirley departs for Ofwego — War declared againjl the Eajl~ ern Indians — The Penobfcots attacked.
r| ^HE war in America being now no longer left to colonial efforts alone, the plan of operations confifted of three parts. The firft was an attack upon FortDu Quefne, condud- ed by troops from England under Gen. Brad- dock ; the fecond was an attempt upon the fort at Niagara, which was carried on by American regulars and Indians ; and the third was an expedition againft Crown-Point, which was fupported by militia from the nor- thern Colonies, enlifted merely for that fer- vice. The kft of thefe cnterprizes was pro- pofed to the Aflembly of Maflachufetts Bay by the Governor, who thought this a favour- able opportunity to eftablifli a poft opening
to
-S H I R L E Y, 229
to the Britifh Colonies a channel through which they might pour their force into the heart of Canada. He therefore recommend- ed to the General Court to erect a fort on a rocky eminence on the lake, not far from the French fort Frederick, at Crown-Point ; and the better to divide the attention of the ene- my, he projected a fcheme for advancing a force up the river Chaudiere. The General Court received this propofal from the Cover* nor with readinefs, and fent meffengers to the other Colonies, to induce them to aid in the execution of it.
The whole number of men affigned for the expedition againft Crown-Point was 3,700, of which Maflachufetts voted to raife 1,500 ; befides 500 by way of reinforcement, if judged neceflary by the commander in chief, with advice of Council ; and to thefe, 300 more were added after the difafter of Gen. Brad- dock. The General Court alfo voted £.600 to be applied towards engaging the Indians of the Six Nations in the enterprize, and fup- porting their families. In fhort, this became a favourite enterprize, both with the General Court and the people of Maflachufetts Bay, not only btcaufe it originated with them, but
becaufe
230 SHIRLEY,
becaufe it was direded againft a quarter whence (confidering the French in Nova-Sco- tia were fubdued and difperfed) they had the moft to fear. JJB& v>.
To prepare for fupporting thefe military operations, a loan was granted to fupply the treafury with £.50,000 ; of which £-17,350 were appropriated for the Crown-Point ex- pedition, £.12,500 for forts and garrifons, £9,500 for the Commiflary's department, £. 7,000 for premiums, £.1,500 for fervices unprovided for by any eftablifhment,£. 2,000 for the pay of Counfellors and Reprefenta- tives, and £.150 for contingencies. £. i ,300 were alfo granted to the Governor.
The fecurity for the re-payment of the loan was a tax of £.36,000, to be afleffed in the year 1756, and £.14,000 in the year follow- ing : and, as an additional fund, the impoft duty for the firft mentioned year, and the unappropriated excife duties on fpirits, &c. for the current year, together with the fecond year's proceeds of the acT: for granting to his Majefty feveral duties upon vellum, &c. were pledged to the creditors of the government,
who might loan the monies,
Louifbourg,
SHIRLEY. 231
>•»
Louifoourg, the military enemy, but the commercial friend of New-England, receiving its fupplies from the northern Colonies, a law was made, forbidding, under fevere penalties, all correfpondence with any inhabitant of that or any other French fettlement in North- America for the fpace of four months : and a further aft pafled prohibiting the exporta- tion of provifions, until bonds fhould be given for re- landing them in the Province, or in fome other of the Britifh Colonies, to con- tinue from the fourteenth day of June to the twelfth of September. But thefe laws prov- ing ineffectual, another was foon after made, abfolutely prohibiting the exportation of mil- itary ftores and provifions, excepting for {hips' iife and the purpofes of the government, until the 24th. day of July, and fuch further time as the Governor and Council might think proper, not exceeding the 24th. day of Sep- tember following. Notwithftanding all thefe laws, a conftant attention was necefiarily kept up by the Legiflature, by interfering directly in many fufpected cafes, and enforcing the execution of their own ads. Such was the rivalfhip among many traders, between the love of commerce and the love of their country.
The
232 S H I R L E Y.
The mmifterial plan of the war in America, required that the Colonies fhould contribute towards the charge of fubfifting the Britifh forces, as well as towards raifmg and fubfift- ing the American regular troops. The cir- cular letter upon this fubject was laid before the Affembly of Maffachufetts Bay, and a compliance with it ftrongly urged upon them by the Governor. Their anfwer to his mef- fage, gives a particular and ftriking view of the exertion under which the Province was at this time ftruggling. They ftate that the Kennebeck expedition was fcarcely over when they undertook that to Crown-Point, whilft the enemy was making inroads upon the fron- tiers : that fmce the peace of Aix-la-Chap- pelle, the Province had been at more expenfe for preventing and removing the French en- croachments, than all his Majefty's Colonies beildes : that it was under engagements for paying and fubfifting 2,400 men, occafioned by the fituation, and defigns of the French ; and about 3,000 more were employed in the expedition to Nova-Scotia, and in Shir- ley's and Pepperell's regiments : that the Province did not amount to one eighth part of his Majefty's intere'ft upon the continent, either in numbers of people or property ;
and
SHIRLEY. 233
and that if all the other Colonies had railed a force in proportion to this, their troops would have greatly exceeded the whole force at this time employed, his Majefty's troops and the American regular troops included, which torould have been fufficient to check the ad- vances of theCanadians,whilft unfupported by troops tranfported from France ; but whilft fhe advanced her ftrength and treafure to gain the dominion of this continent, they hoped too great dependence would not be placed on his Majefty's fubje&s in America for their own defence ; and impelling them into additional enterprizes, might difable them in executing what they had actually undertaken.
To the men on military duty as above dated, might be added 800, afterwards voted as a reinforcement to the Crown-Point expe- dition, and various volunteer companies, who marched on fcalping parties in purfuit of the Indians, whofe fervices were occafional, ajad their numbers not eafy to be computed.
The whole of Britifh America aflbciated with the mother country, was now engaged in a war againft the French, under the name
Ff of
SHIRLEY.
of removing their encroachments. As the events of the campaign did not equal the hopes of the Englifh, nor indeed correfpond with the apparent ability of the armies in motion, it may not be amifs to obferve here ibme of the caufes which exifted to retard, derange and enfeeble the force which had been entrufted to the military commanders. In doing this, we mall felecl; inftances to elu- cidate the mode of carrying on war by a con- federacy united on general principles, but checked and embarrafled by a variety of in- ternal difcordancieSa
The articles of union not having been adopted, there was no compulfory nor effec- tual power to act as a fupreme or common head of the Colonies, nor to draw forth their refources. The requifidons upon them could therefore be made only as propofals or rec- ommendations, the compliance with which was optional, and if determined upon at all, flow and unequal. Thus we have juft feen the Colony of MafTachufetts Bay, for good reafons, perhaps, refufe to furnifh fubfiftence for the foreign troops 5 and a fmgular in- ftance occurred of an expedient to fupply the want of money in forwarding the operations
of
SHIRLEY. 235
of the army. Pennfylvania, too much inter* cfted to ftand neuter in the war, and of too pacific principles to furnilh troops, voted to raife ^.10,000, to be expended in provifions for the life of fuch forces as miirht be raifed
t — *
by the other Colonies. Thefe were appor- tioned accordingly. There being no com- mon treafury to furniih money for the train, nor to pay for the tranfportation of the artil- lery, Gen. Shirley and Lieutenant-Go vernor Delancey undertook to borrow the neceflary fums for that purpofe, on the credit of Mat- fachufetts and New- York ; and in order to fecure the reimburfem.ent of this money, the former was reduced to the neceffity of direct- ing theCommifiary to retain in his hands a fuf- ficient quantity of thofe provifions, until the deficient Colonies fhould redeem them : thus making a loan without authority from the borrowers, pledging the property of the debt- ors for the re-payment without their confent, and (if the meafure were not ratified, and the public faith otherwife maintained than by felling the provifions) ftarving the army to get it in motion. The expedient no doubt wa* necefiary, in fuch an immature confederacy, and its operation on New-Ham pfhire ferves to fhow ftill further, the conrufion and un~
certainty
236 SHIRLEY.
certainty of the fyftem on which the war was conducted. That Province objected to this
i
meafure, as unjuft on general principles, pleading the excefs of its fervices in raifing and fupplying men beyond the eftablifhed rule, which was founded on the proportions of rateable polls in the feveral Colonies. Thefe at this time feem not to have been accurately numbered in New-Hampfhire, as Shirley, who became himfelf an advocate for the Province in this inftance, fays they did not then exceed five thoufand, perhaps not more than four ; fo that thqfe important objeds feem to have been left to the confcience of parties inter- efted, and to the operation of indefinite prin- ciples,
Although the inhabitants were the beft adapted to the irregular mode of fighting in this country, yet when converted into foldiers, great inconveniencies grew out of their fitua- tion and character. Their rights precluded all compulfion by the crown to aft beyond certain diftances of place, the periods of their fervice could be but fhort, and they were fub- ject to the interference of their refpeftive gov- ernments as to the time of marching, the ob- jects of their deftination, and their fupplies,
Thefe
SHIRLEY. 237
Thefe obfervations, however, apply to them only as militia ; and in this fervice an Amer- ican General, with his army, feemed to feel the checks of feudal reftridlions, not indeed grounded on the vaffalage, but the freedom of individuals. The control of the particular governments over their refpe£tive troops had an injurious effect, and was the caufe of feri- ous altercation between the Colonies of Maf- fachufetts and New-Hampfhire, in the Crown- Point expedition. The forces of the latter, confifting of a regiment of five hundred men under the command of Col. Jofeph Blanch- ard, inftead of immediately joining the army, \vere employed, by order of their Governor, in building a fort at Cohos, and other futile projects, foreign to the general fervice for which they were raifed. A rumour foon arofe, that they had returned, upon which a fevere letter was written by the Council of Maflachufetts Bay, who availed themfelves of an occafional abfence of the Lieutenant-Gov- ernor from Bofton, to come forward as the Executive, in which they remonftrated with vehemence, and in very plain terms, againft the fcheme of New-Hampfhire government in preventing their forces, which constituted about one eighth of the army deftined againft
Crown-Point,
*,g SHIRLEY.
«-?
Crown-Point, from joining the reft, until bat- teries and intrenchments fhould be raifed, and £b the greateft danger be over ; that her fepa- rate fchemes and meafures from all the other governments which had been acting in con- cert, had always been matter of uneafmefs to them ; and that had New-Hampfhire refufed to join, they would either have raifed a greater force, or laid afide the defign as too heavy for them, &c. Although this letter might have been dictated fuddenly (and under the apprehenfions of a difaftrous event, and the future conduct of the New-Hampfhire troops fhewed that the danger of raifmg intrench- ments and batteries could not be a motive of delay with them) yet there were grounds for ferious remonftrance, Governor Wentworth himfelf acknowledging, in a letter to Lieuten- ant-Governor Phips, that the troops ought to have marched fooner, and that the prefent time would not admit of an inquiry why they did not, and the whole bufmefs fhows the want of a general fuperintending power over the Colonies.
The diftinclion among the troops, fo de- grading to the provincial militia, obvioufly Defeat. tended to check that combination which is
the
SHIRLEY. 239
the firft caufe of ftrength among bodies of men. By an act of Parliament, the general or field officers of thofe troops had no rank with the general and field officers who ferved by commlffion from the King ; and a captain or other inferior officer of the Britim forces, in all duties took poft of the provincial officers of the like rank, though their commifiions were of elder date : and what mud have op- erated moft unfavourably in this refpeel: was, that the appointments to offices among the regular troops were extended to Americans ib grudgingly, as to make it evident that they were no further rewarded by commimons than the enlifting of men made it abfolutely neceflary. This impolicy muft have alienated the feelings of many deferving characters, and loft their influence to the crown. The proceedings at the paffing of the mutiny ad the laft year, are explanatory of this fubjecl, I75J* as well as the general views of the miniitry. This law contained a claufe, that all officers and foldiers of any troops, being muftered and in pay, raifed in any of the Britim Prov- inces in America by authority of the refpe£tive governments thereof, fhould at all times and in all places, when they fhould happen to
join
SHIRLEY.
join his Majeily's Britifh forces, be liable to martial law and difcipline as thefe forces were, and be fubjecl: to the fame trial, penalties and punifhrnents. Mr. Bollan, by a petition to Parliament, ftated that his Majefty's Ameri- can fubjecls were generally freeholders, and perfons of fome property or bufmefs, and en- lifted not for a livelihood, but with intent to return to their farms or trades, as foon as the particular fervices for which they might enlift fhould terminate ; that the officers were per- fons in fimilar though better circumftances, and that all of them being chiefly influenced to take up arms by a regard to the honour of the King, the defence of their country, and the prefervation of their religion and liberties, had but little preparatory exercife for war, and were therefore unfuitable fubjedts for the operation of a numerous body of ftricT; rules, adapted to the government of his Majefty's {landing forces ; that by the charter the Gov- ernor could not oblige them to march out of the limits of the Province without their own confent, or that of their General Aflembly, nor grant commiflions to exercife the law martial upon any of them, without the con- fent of the Council ; and laftly, that the
claufe
SHIRLEY. 241
claufe objected to would render their time of fervice indefinite, notwithftanding their en- liftment fhouid be for a limited term.
However, the claufe pafled, and the moft material confequence of the oppofition was a difcovery of the general intention of the men in power as to the meafures propofed for the government of the country. The agent was informed that the memorial, when received, would not be entered at large on the minutes of the Houfe, as this would be fpeaking out to the people of America, and he had good evidence to believe that the plan was to govern this country like Ireland, by keeping up a body of (landing forces with a military cheft, and abridging the legiflative po\yers, by fome meafure fimilar to the famous Poyning's law. So odious did the mutiny a£l become to the people of Maflachufetts, that the Governor, in the year 1757, found it expedient to give public aflurances, that the militia then called to march to the weftern frontiers fhouid not be confidered as fubjedt to its operation, but as a diftincT: body acting in aid of the regular troops.
Without particularizing further caufes of cmbarraffment and counteraction, we may
G g obferve
SHIRLEY.
obferve in general, that they muft naturally and infenfibly have refulted frbm a combina- tion of interfering interefts and diflimilar organizations of government, in which con- tention had the chance of eleven feparate forms of kgiflatures to excite the branches of adminiftration againft each other ; from a divided executive, under which exertion was too feldom called out with alacrity, except in the point at which danger was actually pret cnt, and miftaken economy too often delayed oppofing at a diftance what doubled the ex- penfe of contending againft it at home ; from the temptations of felfifh motives arifmg out of the lands and trade of the Indians ; from local confiderations of being more or lefs fhel- tered againft the enemy by neighbouring Col- onies ; from fingularities in religion, and from differences growing out of the mixture of more numerous and variant habits, than concentered in any other people of the fame age and increafe : To all which unpropitious caufes, arifmg from the diftinft nature of the feveral governments and the relative inde- pendence of the parties allied in the war, we may add a baneful one refulting from the jealoufy and interefted views of individual leaders. They formed a party under the pat- ronage.
SHIRLEY.
rpnage or influence of the Lieutenant-Gover- nor of New-York, which frowned upon Shir- ley's efforts. They, fraternized his fecond in command. Gen. Johnfon, who ftudioufly preferred his own expedition to that againft Niagara, from which he drew off the Indians ; they retarded his projects by their manage- ment, and at length he found his government wjrefted from his hands for one of their, fa- vourites,
One of the firft meafures which Gen, Braddock directed upon his arrival in the country, was a convention of the feveral Gov- ernors to fettle the plan of military operations. This was held at Virginia, on the I4th. of April Gen, Shirley attended, and returned on the 1 3th. of May, to take command of the forces deftined for Ofwego, thence to pro-^ ceed againfl Niagara. His own regiment and Sir William Pepperell's were to conftitute this diviiion. He nominated to the command of the troops marching againft Crown-Point Major-General William Johnfon, then one of the Council of New-York, who received his commiffion from the Governors of the Provinces, that fupplied the men for this fer- rice. At his departure, Governor Shirley
received
244 SHIRLEY.
received an honourable addrefs from the Council and Houfe of Reprefentatives, ex- preffing their concern at his leaving the Prov- ince at fo critical a conjuncture, when there was news of a French fleet in this part of America ; and frequent advices arrived of the invafion of the frontiers by the favages : ac- knowledging the experience they had had of his prudent conduct in the laft war ; and re- gretting the fuppofed neceffity of his appear- ance at the head of the army.
Having been retarded from various caufes exifting in fo complicated a bufmefs, he left the Province on the 28th. of June, and after being detained at New-York and Albany in forwarding his men and their fupplies, arrived at Ofwego on the 21 ft. of Auguft following.
Whilft the great expeditions were advanc- ing, many perfons were captured, and fome murdered by the Indians on the frontiers. This, together with a conviction that a rup- ture with moft of their tribes was an unavoid- able confequence of hoftilities with France, induced the General Court to requeft the Governor to declare war againft the Arrafa- guntacook Indians, and all the other tribes
eaft
SHIRLEY. 245
•
caft of Pifcataqua River, excepting the Pe- nobfcots ; which was accordingly done, and the ufual premiums for conducting this pecu- liarly diftrefling kind of warfare were prom- ifed to the people. Companies of volun- teers, confiding of not lefs than thirty men, who were out thirty days or more, unlefs compelled to return by fome fpecial caufe, were entitled to receive jC-ioo for every In- dian fcalp, and ^.250 for a captive. To in- dividuals who performed the fame fervice, £. i oo were promifed for a fcalp, and £'ll° for a captive. The Penobfcots were invited to join in arms againft the others, in which cafe fupport was offered to their invalids, their women and children. Nine of their
c leaders being called into the fort at St. buir's Let-
ter,Junea;.
George's to hear the Governor's letter upon this fubjecl:, the inhabitants and garrifon rofe in arms, and would not confent to their going out until they had given fatisfaftion Letter rf with refpecl to it. On this, they appeared to comply with the propofal, and wrote to know when they muft go againft the Indians of Canada, who, they faid, had ftruck them as well as the Englifh ; and fent three of their brethren to Bofton, in order to evidence
their
246 SHIRLEY.
their fincerity. But whilft they rnanifefted fuch a fpirit of obedience, a very melancholy accident befel this unfortunate little tribe. A party under Capt. James Cargiil fell in with a number of their people as he was fcouting j and, without taking much trouble to afcertain whether they were friends or enemies, or more probably, according to trie opinion of Lieutenant-Go vernor Phips, knowing them to be Penobfcots, attacked their company, killed twelve, and obliged the remainder to fave themfelves by flight. This fhameful Invafion of a folitary Indian ally, when their
* » ' * '
aid was demanded againft their neighbours, greatly embarrafled the government. Cargiil was apprehended for trial ; a letter of condo- lence was fent to the fuffering party ; their^ friends were reftored to them from Bofton ;
and the tribe was invited to come under a
/•
fafe conduct, and profecute the offenders, againft whom the unreftrained operation of juftice was faithfully promifed. Still, how- ever, thefe Indians were conjured to join their young men in the war, and advifed, for preventing miftakes, to keep themfelves eaft of St. George's. Nor did their misfortune operate much in the courfe of the year to gain the pity or affedions of the Englifli,
whilft
SHIRLEY; 347
whilft other tribes were attacking the inhab- itants under circumftances which rendered it impoilible to exculpate them from a fhare in the guilt, and very difficult to difcriminate them in the operation of inflicting the pun- ifhment for it. A committee of both Houfes on their letter reported, that the commander Sept. in chief fhould be defired to proclaim war againft them. The Council rejected the re- port, and the Houfe unanimoufly accepted it, and foon afterwards fent a meflage to him, that having taken into their ferious confideration the danger and mifchief which the people in the Province, efpecially in the eaftern parts> were continually expofed to from the fitua- tion of that tribe of Indians, who had appear- ed in open hoftility againft them, or encour- aged and abetted their other enemies in an- noying them ; they earneftly requefted him immediately to iffue a proclamation to declare war againft the tribe. The Lieutenant-Gov- ernor, however, replied, that it being one of his Majefty's inftructions to him, not to de- clare war againft the Indians, without the ad- vice of the Council, he immediately laid be- fore them the meflage of the Houfe upon that fubject ; and their judgment not being in fa- your of the motion made to him. It was not
in
248 SHIRLEY.
in his power to comply with it : Notwith- ftanding which, a few days afterwards the Houfe repeated their requeft ; and even voted the ufual premiums for fcalps and prifoners, if war fhould be declared.
CHAP. XII.
BraddocJis defeat — Die/kaus unfuccefsful at- tack upon the Provincials under General Johnfon — General Court addrefs the King and fend CommiJJioners to Albany — The ar- my fent again/I Crown-Point discharged — The attack upon Niagara frujlrated — Ob- fervation on the military operations of the year — Earthquake*
HPHE refult of the great military attempt under Gen. Braddock, with upwards of two thoufand men, againft Fort Du Quefne, which was garrifoned with only two hundred, is ftill generally and deeply imprefled upon the public memory. He marched from Vir- ginia acrofs the Alleghany Mountains, and after eroding the Monongahela River, and advancing to within about feven miles of his
SHIRLEY.* 249
object, he \vas ambufhed on the gth. of July by about four hundred French and favages, owing to his not having fufficiently attended to the ufe of his own rangers and Indians. About fix hundred of his officers and men were either killed or difabled, and he himfelf was mortally wounded. The remains of his army retreated back to Fort Cumberland un- der the command of Col. Dunbar, leaving a dreadful fpe£tacle of carnage on the field, which is ftill known by the name of their de- voted leader. This defeat ftruck a panic throughout the Britifh Colonies ; the effect wrought by the fuccefs in Nova-Scotia was wholly effaced ; and although the difgrace fell upon Britifh troops, yet this leffened not the difafter in the minds of a candid and fuf- fering people. Some hopes indeed were drawn from it, that the unrefifting inhabitants of Pennfylvania, whom no confiderations could as yet bring into an active part in the war, would, when expofed by the deftru&ion of the force which protected them from the maffacres of the Indians, be roufed into a ftate of defence : and experience, it was foretold, would caufe the irregular mode of fighting to be duly refpe&ed, fmce it appeared that the methodical fcience of the conquered General,
H h was
SHIRLEY. /
was of no more ufe to him in fuch a fituatiori, than the knowledge of a game of chefs ; and the kind of difcipline praGifed in his army rendered it formidable only to itfelf ; his men killing one another in a crowd, and, un- nerved by the yells of the favages, deftroying their provifions and ftores to expedite their flight from an unpurfuing enemy.
This defeat, among other things, had its unpropitious effects upon the expedition againft Niagara, under Gen. Shirley, who was at this time at Schene&ady, forwarding his forces to Ofwego. Many of his foldiers and batteau-men deferted him, and the Indian intereft declined of courfe ; notwithftanding which, he purfued his object fteadily, endeav- ouring, as he marched, to recover the confi- dence and fuccour of the Six Nations.
-
The expedition againft Crown-Point was the next, and indeed the moft interefting mil- itary fubject which engrofled the attention and feelings of the people. Baron Diefkau having arrived in Canada with about 1,200 foldiers, after fuffering a lofs of feveral com- panies of men by the capture of the Alcyde
and Lys men of war, directed his arms againft
the
SHIRLEY.
the Britiih Americans in this quarter. Ma- jor-General Lyman having marched forward to the carrying-place about fixty miles from Albany, began to build Fort Edward on the eaft fide of Hudfon's River. Gen. Jofri> fon advanced about fourteen miles further to the northward, at the fouth end of Lake Sa- crament or Lake George. Tkonderoga, which was fituated on the ifthmus between the north end of Lake George and the fouth- ern part of Lake Cha,mplain, fifteen miles fhort of Crown-Point, was at this time unfor- tified : and it was in contemplation of the Englifh to take and keep poflfeffion of it, as the key to their principal objeft, when Diet. kau put them on their defence.
Upon Gen. Johnfon's informing the Col- onies that were concerned in carrying on his expedition, of the deficiency in the num- bers of his own men, and the unexpe&ed increafe of thofe advancing againft him, ths Lieutenant-Go vernor of Maflachufetts Bay immediately called an extraordinary conven- tion of the General Affembly, to confider of the neceflary meafures to be adopted in fur- ther aid of this important and favourite enter- prize. Upon examination it was found, that
of
252 S H I R L t Y.
of the eight hundred men voted in addition to the original fifteen hundred, ten companies were filled, one half of which were on their march, and the remainder in a fituation to proceed in a few days. The General Court then voted to raife two thoufand more, by enliftment, if practicable, otherwife by an im- prefs ; and offered the requifite encourage- ment of pay and bounty ; at the fame time fending information of this meafure to the other Colonies, with a requeft that they would make proportionable exertions. They alfo paffed a law to raife a tax of jT. 1 8,000. How- ever, fo exhaufted were their refources, that a committee appointed at the next feffion to inquire what monies could be borrowed for the ufe of the Province, reported that it was with difficulty they could obtain ^.1,450 fterling.
Before the exertions of the Colonies could operate to enable Gen. Johnfon to attack Crown-Point, he was himfelf attacked in his own quarters. Diefkau's plan was at firft againft Ofwego, but the advance of Johnfon's army againft Fort Frederick induced him to alter his operations, in which, doubtlefs, he promifed himfelf more certainty of fuccefe
from
SHIRLEY. 253
from the circumftance of the camp being def- titute of cannon, according to his information ; but the artillery arrived from Fort Edward two days before his attack, of which he was ignorant. Had not this happened, he might have been juftified by the event, as the only defence of the Englifh was a breaft-work of trees, formed at the moment, without any en- trenchment. Upon receiving information of
JL O
the enemy's approach, Gen. Johnfon had de- tached Col. Williams with 1,000 men, who met the French about four miles diftant ; but being inferior in number by about Sco, they were forced to retreat with the lofs of their commander, who was killed. Another de- tachment was fent out to their aid, and both were enabled to return into camp, under a clofe purfuit by the French. At this moment, fo critical in the conteft, the Baron halted a little at the diftance of 150 yards. The Pro- vincials recovered their fpirits, and received him with firmnefs and effect. His militia and favages fhrunk away, and he was neceffi- tated to order his regulars to retreat. An im~ pulfive purfuit took place. Diefkau,wounded and alone, was made a prifoner, and his men were difperfed. Having reached the place where their baggage was depofited, they en- tered
SHIRLEY.
tered into confultation about another attack. Unfortunately for them, Capt. McGinnes, of the New-Hampfhire forces, having been difpatched from Fort Edward with about 200 men, bravely fell upon them in the evening, and finifhed their overthrow. This honour, however, he purchafed with his life.
Such a fuccefsful defence made by the forces of the Britifh Colonifts againft a re- fpe&able army, with which the regular troops of France were incorporated, was an honour- able inftance of finnnefs, deliberation and fpirit. The policy of the times, impatience for fuc- cefs after Braddock's difafler, and a fudden elevation of feelings upon receiving it, mag- nified this achievement into a fplendid vidto- ry ; and Gen. Johnfon, who was wounded In the engagement, received .£.5,000 fterling from the Houfe of Commons, the title of Baronet from the King, and a very ample {hare of glory from the public. However, his luccefs did not enable him to gain or even attempt Crown-Point, nor indeed to make any improvement of his victory, except ftrengthening his poft by a ftockaded fort. Much altercation took place upon this fubjecl:, and there were not wanting thofe who charg- ed
SHIRLEY. 255
him with fupinenefs, arifmg from a felfiih determination not to hazard the laurels he had won. By his letter to the General Court, it Appears that he confidered the attack of the enemy to have implanted a dread in his troops, who from bad clothing, and many other caufes, were by no means inclined to proceed further. He was urged by the commander m chief to prefs forward at leaft to Ticon- deroga, and fome of his officers were for ad- vancing. Of this he complains, attributing it to their having unadvifedly prefled for nu- merous reinforcements, unknown to him ; and when they had promifed too much, were unwilling to own in council what they knew, and even fpoke of in private converfation. On the gth. of Oftober, a council of war ex- prefled a unanimous opinion, that under the circumftances which the army was then in, an attempt upon Ticonderoga, or any inter- mediate paffes or pofts, was not advifeable, on account of the want of a fufficient number of men, and a requifite quantity of provifions. On the i gth. notwithftanding the Maffachu- fetts reinforcements had arrived, the council poftponed the confideration of the fame fub- jed, until further information could be ob- tained.
As
Oft. I.
256 SHIRLEY.
As the General Court of MaiTachufetts' Bay- had been foremoft in promoting the Crown- Point expedition, and become proportionably exhaufted of money, fo they loft no time in making fuch ufe of the fuccefs of the troops In beating off the French, as their neceffities dictated. After expreffing their fatisfadtion at the conduct of the army through the com- mander, they drew up an addrefs to his Maj- efty, in which they ftated their fer vices, and prayed to be relieved under the burthen in- curred by means of them. They pleaded the precedent of the Cape Breton expedition ; and prayed that his Majefty would give or- ders for the fupport of fuch forts and garrifons as they hoped to eftablifh, and aid them in the further execution of their defigns. Their agent, in his petition to the throne upon this fubjecl:, ftated that it was owing to their great exertions, that the Province did not contain fo many inhabitants now as it did in the com- mencement of the late war with France ; the town of Bofton in particular, not having fo large a number by a fourth part, whilft every other Colony on the continent had greatly increafed within the fame time.
When the commander in chief urged upon them to join in the plan of the Affembly of
New-Jerfey,
SHIRLEY. 257
New-Jerfey, who propofed a meeting of com- rniffioners from all his Majefty's Colonies at New- York, to confult what might further be done for the fecurity of his Majefty's territo- ries againft the invafion of the French, the fame impoverishment conftrained the General Court to reply, that the defign of fecuring thole territories was what his Majefty alone was equal to project and execute, and the na- tion to fupport } and that unlefs they could obtain the relief which they were foliciting of the royal bounty, they fhould be fo far from being able to aid in removing encroachments, as to be unable to defend themfelves. How- ever, in their anxiety to execute what they had begun, they voted a few weeks after- cd* *8' wards, upon receiving letters from the com- mander in chief and Gen. Johnfon, that it was expedient that the army fhould proceed immediately upon the Crown-Point expedi- tion ; they alfo appointed commiffioners to re- pair to Albany to correfpond with the com- mittee of war at Bofton, the better to for- ward fupplies to the army $ and appeared zealoufly engaged to fupport a winter's cam- paign. But when thefe commifli oners met the Lieutenant-Governor and Council of New- York with the commiflioners from
I i Connecticut,
25S SHIRLEY.
Conne&icut, it was unanimoufly agreed at their meeting, that the army under Gen. Johnfon fhould be difcharged, excepting fix hundred men, who fhould be previoufly en- gaged to garrifon Fort Edward on the great carrying-place, and Fort William -Henry at Lake George. Thefe garrifons were to be paid and fubfifted in the following propor- tions : Maffachufetts Bay 185, Connecticut 154, New-York 123, New-Hampfhire 77, and Rhode-Ifland 61.
In this manner ended the firft Crown-Point expedition in the prefent war, the Englifh building two forts, and the French, notwith- ftanding their defeat, fortifying the difputed poft of Ticonderoga, deftined to be fo remark- able in future years for the flaughter of the human fpecies.
The remaining fubjecl; of general expe&a- tion was the military operations for attacking the French at Niagara and Frontenac, by the forces under Gen. Shirley, the commander in chief. After afcertaining the ftrength of the enemy at both thefe places, he determin- ed, out of 1,376 regulars and 120 irregulars xvhich were with him, to fele£t 600 of the
former
SHIRLEY. 259
former and a proportion of the latter, with the neceffary artillery, and to embark upon his original plan, judging it advifeable to leave all the remainder of his force at Ofwego to ftrengthen and defend it, inftead of making a feint againft Frontehac, as he had good rea- fon to think that the enemy, from their num- bers, were able, whilft he marched againft Ni-
77 O
agara, to make a defcent upon the poft which he Ihould leave. During this embarkation, the rains fet in with fuch fury as to diftrefs
J
his camp, diihearten and difperfe the few Indians whom he retained, and demonftrated the feafon for fuch an expedition, efpecially as 400 of his men muft have gone in open boats, to have pafTed. It was therefore unan- imoufly advifed by a council of war, that it fhould be laid afide, in order to be renewed at an earlier feafon, and with additional force, the enfuing year. The General left Ofwego garrifoned by 700 men, with orders to exe- cute the plan which he had formed for com- pleting its fortifications.
Thus ended the tranfaftions of the year X755- " A year," fays a well-informed wri- ter of that time, " never to be forgotten in America. It opened with the faireft profpe&s
to
26o SHIRLEY.
to thefe diftant difperfions of the Britifh em- pire. Four armies were on foot, to remove the encroachments of a perfidious neighbour, and our coafts honoured with a fleet for their fecurity, under the command of the brave and vigilant Bofcawen. We had every thing to exped— -nothing to fear. The enemy was defpifed ; and we only defired a proclamation of war, for the final deftruction of the whole country of New France : But, how unlooked- for was the event ! Gen. Winflow indeed fucceeded in Nova-Scotia ; but Braddock was defeated ; Niagara and Crown-Point remained unreduced ; the Barbarians were let loofe from the wildernefs ; many thoufand farms are abandoned ; the King's fubjeds inhumanly butchered or reduced to beggary ; one of the Provinces (Pennfylvania) rent by inteftine broils ; in another, (New-York) a potent fadion laying the foundation for new difafters In the courfe of another yean" To all which might have been added, an impoverishment of the public finances to a defperate ftate, the Crown-Point expedition having coft, on the part of Maflachufetts Bay alone, ^.79,618 8f. tyd. befides unliquidated ac- counts to a large amount, for the charge of the fick and wounded, the garrifons at the
two
SHIRLEY. 261
two forts of William-Henry and Edward, and { 1 0 a great ftock of provifions laid in for their fupport,
Whilft war was raging in the double form of European and Indian terrors through L> , NorthrAmerica, the fcene of a&ion was ren- ' dered (till more dreadful by an Earthquake, more violent in its motions, and of longer du- ration, than any heretofore experienced in this quarter of the globe. It happened on Eoft ^ the morning of the 1 8th. day of November, *ns Pol- and by a fingular circumftance the exad: time was afcertained to have been at 1 1 minutes 35 fecouds after 4 o'clock. It continued at Jeaft four minutes ; and, fhaping its courfe from north-weft to fouth-eaft, extended its effedts 1,900 miles. It began with an undu- latory motion, the velocity of which was demonftrated in Bofton by feveral remarkable effects. Many chimnies were levelled down to the roofs of the houfes, ; the upper part of the walls of fome brick buildings were thrown over ; a diftiller's ciftern was burft by the agitation of the liquor which it con- ^ T1?"
J throp s Lee-
tained ; the wooden fpindle of the vane on jure on
Earthquakss
Faneuil-Hall was broken, and the iron ones which fupported the vanes on many high
fteeples
262 S H I R L E Y,
fteeples were bent ; the tifual difplacing of furniture and rocking of buildings took place in a violent degree, and there was, on the whole, demonftrative evidence that this was juftly ranked foremoft among the five Great Earthquakes of this country, the firft of which happened in the year 1638. Such an ex- traordinary convulfion of the earth, from the circumftances of the people, and their caft of character, operated ftrongly upon their minds in a moral view ; and religion offering a con- folation more liable than any temporal fup- port, was reforted to with a fervour, which diftant danger or the regular approach of mis- fortune never infpires. The places of public worfhip were frequently and univerfally at- tended by all ranks of people ; and when they became informed of the more dreadful cataftrophe which followed the fame natural caufes in Europe, a renewed fenfation refulted from their efcape when apparently on the verge of a like general destruction. The govern- ment of Maflachufetts Bay noticed this folemn alarm by appointing a day of humiliation and prayer, in acknowledgment of the cliftinguifh- ing mercy of God, and in fubmiffion to his righteous judgments.
CHAP.
SHIRLEY. 263
• • • • ; JifaBft^ M •
CHAP. XIII.
Plan of operations for the year 1756 — Cover- | "J )"£ nor Shirley returns to Bojton — Observation
on the rcfonrces of the BritiJIj Colonies to maintain a war- — Objections to the mode of oppojing the Fre?ich— General Court demand ajjijlance from the crown — They agree to raife another army againft Crown-Point — General Shirley recalled — Aft of Parliament empowering foreign Protejiants to ferve as officers in America.
fTHHE great pofts on the frontiers of the Britiih Colonies being garrifoned, Gen. Shirley returned to Albany, where he received a commiffion from the lords juftices of the kingdom as commander in chief of his Maj- efty's forces in North-America, and from thence he proceeded to New-York, where he called a grand council of war on the I2th. of December. To this the Governors of all the Colonies were invited ; but thofe only of New- York, Maryland, Pennfylvania and Con- necticut affifted. At their meeting, the want of fuccefs in the late campaign feemed to oper- ate in favour of more vigorous and extenfive
operations,
364 SHIRLEY.
operations, rather than a difcouragement in the planning of the next* They agreed that 10,000 men fhould be raifed for another ex- pedition againft Crown-Point, 6,0oo for that on Lake Ontario, 3,000 for an attack on Fort Du Quefne, and if it ihould not inter- fere with the other meafures, that 2,000 men fhould advance up the river Kennebeck, de- ftroy the fettlement adjoining the Chaudiere, and, defcending to the mouth of that river within three miles of Quebec, keep all that part of Canada in an alarm.
Having waited until the middle of January to profecute a winter's expedition againft Ti- conderoga, which was feebly garrifoned, and being prevented executing it by the want of froft and fnow to aid in the tranfportation of ftores, Gen. Shirley fet out for his own gov- ernment, ever the foremoft and moft influen- tial in the defence of the country, in order to give motion to the great and difficult plan he had conceived.
Upon his arrival there, he was received with many marks of public congratulation. There was an evident rivalfhip between the Colonies of Maflachufetts Bay and New- York. The leading men in the latter were enlifted
on
SHIRLEY.
on the fide of Gen, Johnfon, who was received into their capital with much ceremony on ac- count of his celebrated vidory over Dieikau. The former was determined not to be outdone in this refpect upon the arrival of the com- mander in chief. In addition to military pa- rade, an evening's repaft was provided to drink his Majefty's health upon the occafion, and addrefles were prefented from both branches of the General Court, feveral cor- porations and other public bodies of men, as was done upon the Governor's late arrival from Europe. The Council and Houfe of Reprefentatives obferved, that the preferva- tion of Ofwego and the continuance of his Majefty's poflfeffion of the Lake Ontario was to be attributed to the care and vigilance of His Excellency, on the continuance of whofe life and adminiftration the future profpects of the Province greatly depended.
However the Britiih Colonies might have abounded with men, and with a fpirit of. loy- alty and firinnefs in the defence of the coun- try, their ability to maintain an extenfive and continued war was fmall. The means of procuring money, that great inftrument in all national meafures, was exhaufted in a fmgle
K k campaign,
SHIRLEY.
campaign, which is readily to be accounted for by a moment's reflection on the nature of their fifcal refources. Although in Mafla- chufetts excife duties were ufed even more freely than the ipirit of later times would ad- mit of, yet in fo fmall a community, the con- fumption of dutied articles, in point of rev- enue, was trifling, and the duration of the laws for raifing money in this way, was fliort. Their greateft recourfe was to the direct taxes upon polls and eftates, which very much re- femble the voluntary contribution of individ- uals towards any object of which they are all in favour, and fail in punctuality at leaft, long before the inability of the people begins, un- lefs trie ufe to which the proceeds are applied, be agreeable to their own conceptions of what it ought to be. Without irrevocable grants of taxes, founded on permanent funds, no national credit could be raifed on which money might be borrowed ; and the idea of a national debt being eflablifhed among fo young a people, could never be wifhed for nor expected, beyond the unavoidable excef- fes. of ordinary expenfes, if any fuch mould unfortunately remain. Thefe confiderations receive additional force, if we contraft the policies of the two contending nations in Eu- rope
SHIRLEY. 267
rope as before hinted. The one flanding forward herfelf, and ufing her Colony only in the way which it was natural, and not un- profitable for it to ad: in ; the other puihing forward her Province as principals, and rather backing them like allies than fupporting and maintaining them like fubje&s.
Here then lay Governor Shirley's talk, of which he was aware, and received full evi- dence of its weight. There were not want- ing among the people thofe who, with fome plaufibility at leaft, objected to the whole. plan of oppofmg the French, by an. attack upon Crown-Point. They faw no propor- tionable advantage that could refult from the expenfe of fo much money. If it fhpuld be taken (of doing which^ from the experiment of the laft year, there refulted, little hope) the fort muft either be demolished or garrifoned : if demolifhed, the, French would build another at perhaps a tenth part of the expenfe which the Englifti mufl be at in putting them to the trouble ; if garrifoned, it would impoyerifh the New-England governments to myaintaifl the pofTeffipn of it ; or would be a greater charge to the mother country, if me fhould
undertake it, than all Canada would be worth • . N •
te
268 SHIRLEY.
to her. The only rational method in their opinion, therefore, would be to beftow ftrength and treafure upon a plan which would be final in its effect, by attacking Quebec itfelf, on which all other parts of Canada depended, and which did not require more force to fubdue it than lefs important pofts. The magnitude of the Crown-Point expedition alfo was faid to be vaftly fuperior to its ultimate prcpcfed effect, it being in- tended by the council at Alexandria as noth- ing but a feint to draw away the force and attention of the enemy from Fort Du Quefne, and fo to exhauft and harafs all New-England for the benefit of the fouthern Colonies. The manner in which the laft campaign termina- ted was likewife very unfatisfactory to the people, it being difficult to convince many that the intereft of the Colony of New-York was not preferred to that of the whole, in the building of two expenfive forts within its territories, and in the protracting of a war particularly beneficial to its inhabitants, when a manly purfuit of a difcomfi ted enemy might have finiihed the expedition. A cen- fure naturally arofe out of this reflection up- on Gen. Johnfon, who belonged to the Prov- ince
SHIRLEY.
ince of New- York ; and this, together with the general want of fuccefs in the war, drew correfpondent invectives againft the com- mander in chief, which at length hecame fo frequent, difrefpeftful and fevere, that he fent a meffage to both Houfes of Affembly ex- prefsly upon the licentioufnefs of the prefs, confidering the publications in the newf- papers, as reflecting not only on the officers, but on the governments concerned in the late expedition againft Crown-Point, and recom- mending to them to ccnfider of meafures to prevent the publication of fuch malignant libels, which might alienate the affections of the feveral Provinces from each other.
The two Koufes, in their reply to this Journal Of
' . . the Houfc
meffage, demonftrated their fenfe of the inju- ofRcpre-
. r . fcntatives.
nous tendency of fuch publications, by ex- pre fling their utter difapprcbation of the wri- tings in queftion, and their wHlirtgnefs to countenance a profecution, fo far as they were an offence againft law : at the fame time offering in a future feffion (being then about to rife) to fupply any defeft there might be in the provifion made againft fuch prac- tices ; and expreffing a hope that the govern- ment of New- York would take care to re-
ftrain
**w*fa&
268
SHIRLEY.
to her. The only rational method in their opinion, therefore, would be to beftow ftrength and treafure upon a plan which would be final in its effect, by attacking Quebec itfelf, on which all other parts of Canada depended, and which did not require more force to fubdue it than lefs important pofts. The magnitude of the Crown-Point expedition alfo was faid to be vaftly fuperior to its ultimate prcpcfed effect, it being in- tended by the council at Alexandria as noth- ing but a feint to draw away the force and attention of the enemy from Fort Du Quefne, and fo to exhauft and harafs all New-England for the benefit of the fouthern Colonies. The manner in which the laft campaign termina- ted was likewife very unfatisfa&ory to the people, it being difficult to convince many that the intereft of the Colony of New-York was not preferred to that of the whole, in the building of two expenfive forts within its territories, and in the protracting of a war particularly beneficial to its inhabitants, when a manly purfuit of a difcomfited enemy might have finished the expedition. A cen- fure naturally arofe out of this reflection up- on Gen. Johnfon, who belonged to the Prov- ince
to
fa-
SHIRLEY.
ince of New- York ; and this, together with the general want of fuccefs in the war, dreW correfpondent invectives againft the com- mander in chief, which at length became fo frequent, difrefpedful and fevere, that he fent a meflage to both Houfes of Aflembly ex- prefsly upon the licentioufnefs of the prefs, confidering the publications in the newf- papers, as reflecting not only on the officers, but on the governments concerned in the late expedition againft Crown-Point, and recom- mending to them to confider of meafures to prevent the publication of fuch malignant libels, which might alienate the affections of the feveral Provinces from each other.
The two Koufes, in their reply to this Journal ©f
' t r J . . the Houfc
meflage, demonftrated their fenfe of the mju- of Rcpre-
t fcntatives.
nous tendency of fuch publications, by ex- prefling their utter difapprcbatlon of the wri- tings in queftion, and their willingnefs to countenance a profecution, fo far as they were an offence againft law : at the fame time offering in a future feflion (being then about to rife) to fupply any defect there might be in the provifion made againft fuch prac- tices ; and exprefling a hope that the govern- ment of New- York would take care to re-
ftrain
270 SHIRLEY.
ftrain the licentioufnefs of the prefs there, where pieces of a fimilar nature had been publifhecL
It is fcarcely neceflary to add what at this day will be fo readily anticipated, that this mild fuggeftion of government had not the effeft of filencing political fcribblers, in a free country where the conftitution throws off its humours by its vigour. The wifdom of man has not yet invented a fcheme which will admit of the uncontrolled defence of liberty, and at the fame time exclude from, the prefs the afterifks of flander, and the black-lined inuendoes of interefted malice.
Upon the Governor's laying before the General Court the plan of operations agreed on at New- York, they replied that there never was a time in which the interefts of the Britifli Colonies were in a more critical fituation than the prefent, and through his zeal, vigilance and prudence, they promifed themfelves the fatisfaftion to fee the French removed from their unjuft encroachments : that by the Kennebeck and Crown-Point ex- peditions, the debt of the Province was fo much increafed, that its inhabitants were
ready
SHIRLEY. 271
ready to fmk under the burden of taxes in- curred by thofe means ; and the credit of the government had been ftretched fo far, that they even defpaired of borrowing money fufficient to pay off their troops lately return- ed : that they engaged in the latter enterprize, in humble truft and confidence that bis Maj- efty would be gracioufly pleafed to encourage them in it ; but if it appeared to be above the abilities of the Province, when it was firft undertaken, at which time it was propofed to furnifh only 1,200 men, it muft pmve much more fo when the troops had been aug- mented to upwards of four thoufand : that, early apprehenfive of this burden, they had inftru&ed their agent to folicit relief at home, where the Secretary of State obferved, that the attempt upon Growft-Point was made a part of the plan at Alexandria, and that the proceeding in it was carrying fo far the plan into execution, and mentioned the ample powers given to the General, relating to the charges occafioned by the war : that there- fore, having the ftrength and treafure of France employed againft them, they relied upon His Excellency's doing every thing within his ability to eafe them of their heavy burden ; and that his Majefty would be
pleafed
272 S H I R L E Y.
pleafed to afford fufficient force to oppofe fo powerful an enemy.
However, upon re-affuming the confidera- tion of their further profecuting the expedi- tion, they propofed, that if a fufficient fum could be advanced for paying the foldiers employed the laft year, and a fuitable bounty to fuch as it fhould be found neceflary to em- ploy the enfuing one, they would proceed immediately to do every thing requifite on their part towards railing the forces.
.
After they had declined to garrifon the fort at Number Four in New-Hampfliire, on the fame principles which induced them to decline undertaking a new expedition, the Governor agreed to their propofition, and loaned the Province ^.30,000 fterling out of the King's money in his hands, taking for fecurity fuch grant as might be made them for their ex- traordinary fervices by the King or Parlia- ment, and a further collateral mortgage of a tax to be raifed in the. two following years.
The pecuniary aid being thus fettled, the General Court voted to raife 3,000 men to affift in removing the encroachments of the.
French
SHIRLEY. 273
French near Crown-Point, and to thefe 500 were afterwards added. The command of all the provincial forces in this expedition was given by Gen. Shirley to Major-General Winflow, who was called for that purpofe out of Nova-Scotia, where he had conducted with fuch approved caution and ability, as increafed his popularity with his men, and ftrengthened the confidence which the gov- ernment had placed in him. Notwithftand- ing this, there appeared a great alteration in the facility of raifing foldiers for the fervice, ow- ing to the various draughts which had been made in the laft year, and the great wafte of men which takes place in military bodies. A bounty was offered to every one who would enlift ; and in cafe of this encouragement prov- ing ineffectual, it was provided that an impref* fhould take place, which was defigned to com- pel the party draughted to ferve perfonally or pay a "fine. In fome cafes, every man in a company would pay the fine, which ftill was infufficient to raife its quota ; and in Thomas others, the whole company would abfent JSt^ftwrn themfelves excepting the number required, Falraouth- who being impreffed according to law, were found unfit for duty : fo that by returns from Gen* Winflow on the 26th. of May, MafTa-
L 1 ciufetttr
274 SHIRLEY.
chufetts had only 2,600 men in the field, and in the month of Auguft about 3,000, al- though the Province had then paid the fub- fiftence money, and furnifhed arms for a larger number, and had advanced the bounties for the privates of 3,500, its whole propor- tion. This embarraffment in raifmg men, was no doubt owing in part to a very diftreff- ing imprefs of failors by the King's ihips, even out of the fifhing craft, and to the unjuft de- tention of one of the battalions of men fent the laft year into Nova-Scotia, againft the moft earneft remonft ranees of the government, and a ferious caution that the diftrefles of that country might find tardy relief, if again re- quired from the accuftomed, but, at length, abufed prote&ion of the Province.
Notwithftanding Gen. Shirley muft by this time have underftood that he fhould be fuper- feded in the chief command of all the forces in Britiih America, and muft have felt the weight of ill fortune and oppofition crowding him from his, provincial fkation, yet he did not relax in the profecution of the military oper- ations which were before him. Having fin- imed the feffion of the General Court on the sift, of April, he began his journey to New- York
SHIRLEY. a 75
York the fame day, and arrived at Albany on the 1 3th. of May. Here he continued a diligent command of the troops, until the ar- rival of Gen. Abercrombie about the laft of June, who fucceeded him in that important ftation for a fhort time, being himfelf fuper- feded by the Earl of Loudoun in the latter end of July. Gen. Shirley received his recal, in a letter from Mr. Fox, Secretary of State, acquainting him that it was reprefented to the King that his prefence in England might be very neceflary to his Majefty's fervice at that time, as he was able to give much light and information relative to the ftate of affairs in North- America ; and a frigate was ordered to receive him, However, he remained ig- norant whether or not he fhould be finally taken from his government, to which he re- turned on the gth, of Auguft.
It being provided by acls of Parliament,, that foreign Proteftants, upon their refiding in the Britifh Colonies feven years, might be naturalized, and enjoy all the privileges of na- tive fubjeds, excepting thofe particularly fpe- cified, of which that of holding military com- miffions was one ; many perfons of that de- fcription had emigrated to North-America,
under
276 SHIRLEY.
under the encouragement of thefe laws. As the miniftry were about to raife four {landing regiments for the defence of the country, par- ticularly thofe parts which were inhabited by Quakers, who had carried their principles of non-refiftance to fuch extravagant lengths, as to bring the Province of Pennfylvania into im- minent danger, they conceived the defign of filling one of them with this clafs of new- made fubje£ts. A law was accordingly made to enable a number of them, not exceeding feventy, upon taking the oath of allegiance and complying with the other conditions pre- fcribed by law, to ferve and receive pay as officers and engineers in America. Two im- portant reafons were affigned for this by the act ; becaufe many of them had ferved in foreign countries, and acquired experience in the military profeflion,and becaufe the foldiers who might enter the fervice from this clafs of people, could not be fo well difciplined by any other perfons, as thofe who were ac- quainted with their language and manners.
A very zealous oppofition was raifed to this acl: by many refpectable members of Par- Seao!n9ch.5. liament, and the agent for the Province of Maffachufetts Bay joined them, petitioning the Houfe of Lords to be heard againft it.
The
SHIRLEY. $77
The reafons which they urged, fo far as they refpefted the bill inks ultimate form, were of the following nature. That the bill was in- coniiftent with the act for the further fettle- ment of the crown, and better fecuring of the rights and liberties of the fubjecl', which ex- prefsly provided that no foreigner, even al- though he fhould be naturalized or made a denizen, fhould be capable of enjoying any office or place of truft, civil or mil- itary ; and this provificn had been con- fidered and reverenced as an effential and facred part of the Britifh conftitution : that the incorporating of thefe emigrants into a feparate regiment would tend to keep up their ignorance of the Englifh language, and of the laws, orders and ufages of the country, and prevent their uniting with the old fubjects : that many of the fettlers, for the fake of whofe fer vices the employment of foreign officers was propofed, had not refided the full time requifite by the bill to entitle them to natur- alization, and they would, without fuch refi- dence, be improper perfons to be made part
of his Majefty's forces : that the fuppofition that thefe new fubjefts would be more in- duced than the native Americans to become part of hi; Maicfly's ftanding forces, and that
they
S H ! R L E Y.
they would be particularly ferviceable in gar- rifon, was ill founded ; becaufe the cheapnefs of land, the high price of labour, and the value of civil liberty, being the • chief caufes which prevented the Americans becoming foldiers for life or for any indefinite time, and the new fub- jects having come to the Colonies with an intent to enjoy thofe great advantages, it was probable that the fame caufes would produce the fame effects upon their minds : or if any of them fhould be engaged in the fervice, it would probably be thofe who had no prop* erty, little induftry, and whofe motive for going to the war would arife from their idle- nefs : that inch perfons, wanting the love which natural-born fubjefts have for their country, their fidelity could not be equally fecured with that of the latter ; and that they wrould be particularly unfit to garrU fon the forts upon the frontiers, which were ereded not only for their protection in parts romote from the Englifh fettlements, but to preferve and cultivate a good correfpondence, and carry on a commerce with the feveral Indian nations which frequent them, and where all circumftances confpire to make It neceffary that the garrifons, with every thing elfe, appear as much Englifh as poflible :
that
SHIRLEY. 279
that the raifmg and difciplining a regiment in the Colonies by foreign officers would be difagreeable to the Colonies in general, and efpecially to thofe in whom the chief ftrength of his Majefty's arms in America lay ; to the officers at large in the provincial corps, as well as thofe who, after diftinguifhing themfelves by their good behaviour, might defire the honour and favour of receiving thofe commiffions which were propofed to be given to the foreigners ; to the main body of the Americans who were in arms, whofe general fentiments concerning foreigners were fuch, that it would be difficult, if not impoffi- ble, to reconcile their minds wholly to this meafure ; fo that if a junction of this intended regiment with the other troops mould be requifite, there was good reafon to apprehend fuch jealoufy, animofity and divifions would arife, as would be deftruftive of the mutual confidence, which is fo defirable in an army for its fuccefs.
The magnitude of the principles adduced in this argument, as well as the zeal with which they were urged, feem to have been difproportioned to the importance of the fub- je£t : and the whole ferved only to enlarge cloud of oppofition, which the rays of
minifterial
280 SHIRLEY.
miniflerial power had as yet flrength fufficient to difpel, although fail defcending into the horizon of political oblivion.
CHAP. XIV.
The army fent again/I Crown-Point joined by the regulars — Mode of acting together fet- tled— Forts at Ofwego taken by the French — The Engli/h army put on the defence — Re- imburfemcnt money arrives — Reinforcements ordered — Governor Shirley embarks for En- gland— Conduct of the General Court to- wards him — His character — Campaign clof- ed — Mlfcellaneous matters.
TF the campaign of 1755 was unfuccefsful, that of 1756 contributed nothing towards raifmg the military reputation of the Englifh. The expedition to Crown-Point, it is true, exhibited an immenfe difplay of labour, and a ready zeal to meet the enemy. Some idea may be formed of it in this view, if we con- fider that the troops, provifions, and military ftores, were to be collected from a country extending itfalf feveral hundred miles from
Albany,
.SHIRLEY. 281
Albany, the place of rendezvous, and then to be tranfported, partly by land and partly by water, feventy miles by fucceffive ftages to Fort William-Henry, through roads conftantly to be repaired, and pervading a wildernefs, always expofed to the fudden and unforefeen attacks of the enemy, fo as to allow of noth- ing being carried fafely, but with a fuperior force. The burden of fuch an enterprize will not be difficult to be underftood by military men. The weight of the ordnance ftores exceeded 200 tons ; and the calculation for moving the provifions of the Maflachufetts Bay alone required upwards of 480 teams. But this" elaborate project was checked and converted into a mere fyftem of defence, by a fimilar though lefs bloody misfortune than that of the laft year.
Gen. Winflow, upon reviewing his fitua- G£n xrinfp tion, not only conceived that the numbers actually in the field under his command, which never much exceeded 7,000, were in- fufficient to fecure his enterprize, but that the whole propofed force, if collected, w^ould fcarcely be equal to it, and therefore urged an increafe of his men. But when the reg- ular troops arrived from England, the army
M m appeared
SHIRLEY.
appeared to be fufficiently ftrengthened, as the whole body of the Provincials would be enabled to march into the country occupied by the enemy : for the plan agreed on was, that they fhould advance, and as they quitted the forts and other pofts, the regulars fhould fucceed to their ftations, and perform the duty of the garrifons* This divifion of the fervice appeared highly honourable to the colonial troops, and was grounded chiefly upon an opposition which they made to the diftinftions exiftmg between them and the regulars, which, although before noticed, it may not be amifs to detail in the prefent inftance.
Abercrombie, then commander in chief, liaving fent for Gen. Winflow to Albany ; ftpon his arrival there, the queftion was put to him, What effedt the junction of his Maj- efty*s: forces would have with the Provincials, if ordered to join them in their intended ex- pedition ? To which the reply of the Amer- ican General was, that he fhould be extremely pleafed if fuch a junction could be made, but apprehended, that if by it the provincial offi- cers were to lofe their command, as the men were raifed immediately under them by the
feveral
SHIRLEY, 283
feveral governments, it would caufe an aimoft univerfal difcontent, if not defertion, and re- quefted leave to confult his principal officers. At a meeting held by them, after five days debate, they fully confirmed their General's opinion, as putting the men under the com- mand of other officers would be contrary to the tenor of their enliftment, and they, of courfe, would not be held. The officers alib added, that if a jundion fhould defeat the expedition to Lake Ontario this year, it would enable the French to draw their forces from that quarter, to reinforce the polls of Crown- Point and Carilon, with numbers beyond what his Majefty's troops would reinforce the Provincials, But if it {hould not have this effect, nor deprive their general and field officers of the fame rank and command as they would have if no junction took place, in that cafe they thought it would be accept- able to the Provincials, and promote his Majefty's fervice. From that part of this opinion which related to the Ontario expedi- tion, Major-General Lyman, and nine other members of the council, diffented, as not be- ing a dired anfwer to the queftion propofed. Upon the arrival of Lord Loudoun, the fame fubjeft was revived, and the queftion was put
in
284 SHIRLEY,
in a more ferious form : Whether the troops now raifed by the feveral Provinces and Col- onies of New-England, and armed with his Majefty's arms, would, in obedience to his Majefty's commands fignified to them, act in conjunction with his Majefty's troops ; and under the command of his commander in chief, in whofe hands he had put the execu- tion of all thefe matters ? To which the pro- vincial officers unanimoufly replied, that they cheerfully fubmitted themfelves to Lord Loudoun in all dutiful obedience, and were ready and willing to act in conjunction with his Majefty's troops, and to put themfelves under his command, as the commander in chief of all his Majefty's forces in North-? America ; but as the troops raifed by the fev-r eral Provinces and Colonies in New-England Jiad been raifed this year on particular terms, and had proceeded to act thus far in that form, they humbly begge4 it as a favour of his Lord- fliip to let thofe troops act feparately, fo far as it was confiftent with his Majefty's fervice, This difpute being thus fettled, the feparatc operation of the forces was permitted, and the Attention of both parties was fc-on called off io a different fubject.
On
SHIRLEY. 285
On the loth, of Auguft, the enemy ap- proached the fort at Ofwego with a force of te;; of f~hn more than five thoufand regulars, Canadians and Indians, and after attacking it and firing with fmall arms until the 1 3th. they brought up their cannon, and prepared to open a bat- tery within 80 yards of it. Upon this, Col. Mercer, the commander, after taking the zette. opinion of his officers, ordered Fort Ontario to be evacuated, and the men retired without lofs to the old fort, againft which the enemy opened a battery of eleven pieces of cannon the next mornine. This was plaved off with
<— i £ - j
fuch effecl: as, after killing the Englifli com- mander, to render the place untenable in a few hours, according to the declaration of the engineers. To fave an affault, the garrifon, confifting of 1,400 men, furrendered as prif- oners of war under Col. Lettlehales, being then pofleffed of five months provifions. A refpedtable naval armament on the lake fell into the hands of the French, who were now enabled to advance with full force againft Crown-Point. Their policy was no lefs con- fpicuous than the fuperiority of their arms. Inftead of continuing the fort at Ofwego, they demolifhed it in the prefence of the In- dians
286 SHIRLEY,
dians of the Five Nations, to whom they rep- refented that the French aimed only at en- abling them to preferve their neutrality ; and therefore deftroyed the fortrefs which the Englifh had eredted in their country to overawe them, difdaining themfelves to take the fame advantage, although put into their hands by the right of conqueft.
The misfortunes of this year produced the fear of refponfibility and the fpirit of recrim- ination throughout the Englifh nation, from the prime minifter down to the loweft com- mander. Addrefs was ufed to ihift the lofs of Ofwego, like that of Minorca, from one agent to another. Thofe who had laboured againft Gen. Shirley with fo much efFeft, preferved a eonfiftency in afcribing it to his not ftrengthening the garrifon, to the weak- nefs of the fortifications, and to his neglecT: in acquainting his fucceflbr with its true fitu- ation. Their opponents thought the cafe fpoke for itfelf. The refiftance of the garri- fon, who were 1,400 ftrong, and who had a plenty of provifions, lafted for a few days only. However the fuperiority of the enemy might have been forefeen, it was very little felt, as the lofs of men was too trifling to men- tion,
\
SHIRLEY. 287
tion, and the ftate of fo important a fortrefs could not have remained unknown for two months to Shirley's fuccefibrs, when his con- flant folicitude and obfervations refpedting the fate of Ofwego were fo notorious.
This difafter produced orders from Lord Loudoun to Gen. Winflow not to proceed in his intended attack upon Ticonderoga at prefent, but to guard againft the enemy's attacking him, or advancing into the country by South-Bay or Wood-Creek. Major-Gen- eral Webb, with about fourteen hundred men, took poft at the great carrying-place, and Sir William Johnfon, with about one thoufand of the militia, at the German Flatts, to prevent the enemy's coming behind him. Reinforcements were fent for from all the Provinces, and every poffible meafure taken to prevent the enemy over-running the coun- try, which was thought not improbable if the army at Lake George fhould meet with any misfortune.
Whilft the army was preparing for action
i r • • i • • Journals of
on the frontiers, exertions were making m theHoufe of Maflachufetts to fill up its quota, which was yet deficient 600 men. The receipt of letters
from
283 SHIRLEY.
from Mr. Fox, Secretary of State, and the reimburfement money for extra advances of the laft year, gave a fpirit to recruiting, which enabled the General Court to renew the bounty to fuch as fhould enlift, it being found impracticable to force the fervice further by an imprefs. An armed floop was alfo pro- vided to guard the fea-coaft, in conj unction with fuch fhip of the royal navy as it was hoped might be obtained for the fame pur- pofe ; it being now known that war was declared againft France on the 1 8th. of May. The fum granted by Parliament was^. 115,000 fterling, which was apportioned in the follow- ing manner: MaffachufettsBay^.54,ooo,Con-
Hampfhire ,£.8,000, Rhode-Ifland ;£. 7,000, New-Jerfey ^.5,000. This money arriving at New-York with the troops from England, enabled the government to pay off the antici- pation borrowed of the commander in chief, and to replenifh the public treafury. They had alfo the fatisfaftion to find, that the Prov- ince had not only anticipated the King's expectations in raifmg men, but had alfo fur- nifhed them with provifions, which he had ordered to be found at the national expenfe.
Before
SHIRLEY. 289
Before all the requifite levies could be for- warded, the melancholy news arrived of the capture of Ofwego, with the opinion of Lord Loudoun,that he could fcarce hope to do more than to refift the French power in his quarter. The provincial army was fuppofed, by this misfortune, to be left expofed to the whole ftrength of the enemy. So interefting a dan- ger left no hefitation as to immediate efforts. The General Court requefted the Governor to make a draught of 1,000 men from the weftern regiments in the counties of Hampfhire and Worcefter, to relieve and aid Gen. Window's army, when he mould inform of the motion of the French to attack him, and mould judge it neceffary for this rein- forcement to march.
In this declining ftate of military affairs, the King's orders made it neceffary for Gover- nor Shirley to embark for England. Upon this occafion, there appears a cordial and affectionate conduct towards him on the part of the General Court. In their addrefs, they exprefs their concern at being deprived of his wife and prudent conduct. They recited, with marks of approbation, his unwearied application to bufmefs, efpecially in the expe-
N n dition
290 SHIRLEY.
dition againft Louiibourg ; his vigilance in repeatedly preferring Nova-Scotia ; and his watchful obfervation of the perfidious defigns of the enemy ; which could not but endear his memory to them, and recommend him to the royal favour. The eafy manner in which the ancient and irritating fubjeft of a fixed falary was awakened and conduded, is a ftill ftronger evidence of the harmony which fub- fifted between them. In a meflage for making provifion for his pay when out of the Prov- ince, he reminded them that his Majefty underflood the promife, made him by former aflemblies during the time of the difpute between Governors Burnet and Belcher con- cerning a fixed falary (and upon their making of which his Majefty was pleafed to permit his Governors ever fince to accept of grants of £. 1,000 fterling per annum, made annu- ally by the aflemblies) to be, that they would conftantly make fuch provifion for his Gov- ernor's fupport, as well when he fhould be ab- fent out of the Province as refident within it. And the King, under this expectation, in- ftruded the Governor, when he fhould be fo abfent, that one moiety of his falary fhould be paid to the Lieutenant-Governor towards his maintenance, and the better fupport of
his
P H I P S.
his dignity : adding, that he produced the inftru&ion at this time, rather to fhew the ideas of the King as to the allowance to be made to the Governor when out of the Prov- ince, and that the engagements and promifes made by former aiTemblies were binding, than to obtain any thing by force of it. The al- fembly avoiding altercation, paffed a vote to allow ^.400 to the Governor, as a prefent^ for his fer vices in the government, and for furniihing his table with fuch things as would be for his better accommodation in his in- tended voyage. This was prefented with an addrefs equally friendly to him, and circum- fpeft as to the point in queftion,
On the 25th. of September, the Governor embarked at Bofton with the ufual military parade, leaving the chief command of the Province to devolve again on Lieutenant- Governor Phips,
In taking our leave of Governor Shirley, it cannot be uninterefting to recollect his hiftory and character. Being a native of England, he was there bred to the law, and came over to America in the line of his profeflion, which he followed until he received his commrffion in the year 1741. This circumftance was
peculiarly
P H I P S.
peculiarly fortunate, as it of courfe prepared him for his future official duties, by inftruct- ing him in the character and manners of the people, fo differing from thofe of the Europe- ans, which he could not have well underftood upon a recent connexion. Perhaps the molt eminent features of his government were formed from the knowledge which he thus acquired, fmce of all his good qualities, his addrefs and conciliatory habits effected the moft, Placed in a fituation, where the jeal- oufy of the people as to the enlargement of the King's prerogative, was neither to be eluded nor overawed, and where the crown at the fame time expected him, as its repre- Tentative, to preferve its claims entire to their full extent, and perhaps to fubferve its views of future encroachments, it was the height of his good fortune, by a fpirit of accommt>- dation, to avoid the broils which had been fo conftantly fomenting between the chair and the aflembly in preceding adminiftrations ; and to direct the force of oppofition, where, in a patriotic age, it will ever be guided, againft the fubtlety and force of the common enemy. The fuccefsful expedition againft Cape Breton which he planned, and of which he in a great meafure, directed the execution,
will
P H I P S. 293
will be a lafting memorial of an enterprizing fpirit, which gave luftre and confequence to the cauie of the country. The abolition of the paper currency, under the evils of which the other governments of New-England laboured ib long after, owed much to his firm- nefs and perfeverance. As a commiffioner for fettling the boundaries between the great contending nations in America, he is acknowl- edged to have pofleffed information, and to have contributed largely to the Englifh de- fence. And, in general, it may be laid that his difcernment as a politician, and above all, his unremitting induftry, rendered him the moil confpicuous and popular among the Governors of his time.
The chief command of the Britim forces in North-America was an appointment arduous, intricate and full of hazard : fo various in its duties, that it was requifite the comprehen- five powers of the general mould be fupport- ed by the activity of a partizan, and the re- flricled energy of fubaltern talents ; fo ex- tenfive in its object, that the many advantages refulting from general arrangements were liable to be wrefted away by the immediate agents, whilft the evils unavoidable in any
fyftem,
294 P H I P S.
fyftem, might fall unbalanced upon the head of the prime dire£tor. This was the fituation inoft calculated to betray Governor Shirley, who, however he might raife his military plans upon a knowledge of the country, a juft eftimate of his own refources, and a pen- etration into the views of the enemy, did not poflefs the alertnefs of practice, nor the vig- our and confidence refulting from habit, which were neceflary to carry them into execution. In giving motion to a complicated and newly levied force, he met with obftacles not wholly furmountable, perhaps, by the greateft mili- tary talents, which delayed, interrupted, and eventually fruftrated, the projected attack up- on the enemy. His ftation, fo unufual in the country and fo paramount to all the offi- cers in the Colonies, naturally drew upon him the fcrutiny of emulation, and the unchari- table cenfure of envy. Oppofers fprung up \vhofe hopes were founded upon his misfor- tunes, as their merits depended much upon being contrafted with his miftakes. Even private friendihip, it is faid, became treach- erous from ambition, and a rival fprung out of his voluntary patronage. Fortunate had it been, if thefe enemies had found no other ground of oppofition than the fuggeftions of
emulation.
P H I P S.
emulation. But the character of Governor Shirley, as may be expected, had its {hades. In military affairs, he was flow, and inapt to feize upon the moment for fuccefs ; and at an unpropitious hour, his ufual prudence for- fook him in private life. Having been allied by marriage to a refpectable family in En- gland, whofe influence gained him his ap- pointment, he, after the death of his wife, and whilft he was a commiffioner at Paris, formed a fecond matrimonial connexion, the reverfe of the firft, as it refpected his own dignity, and oppofed to the prejudices, if not to the interefts of his country. If thefe caufes had not been, fufficient to effect his removal, the ftate of the Englifh nation, per- haps, demanded it in the view of the minil- try. The city of London and other places were loudly petitioning as well againft thofe through whofe treachery or cowardice Mahon was loft, as thofe through whofe inactivity the American war was fo unfuccefsful : And it was not a fmall teftimony of his merits, that at fo inaufpicious a moment, he was com- pelled only to exchange his government for the very inferior one of the Bahama Iflands.
It
296 P H I P S.
It has been alleged that he difclofed to a leading character in America, by way of ex- periment, the minifterial plan for taxing that country. But as it is certain that this was wholly laid afide during his adminiftration, it is a favourable and not improbable con- jecture, that his knowledge of the Americans, and his defire to preferve their efforts againft the French, unimpaired by a jealoufy of fuch an inadmiffible claim, contributed much to prevent its advancement. However, with- out prejudice to him, it is to be obferved, that the events which took place during his
miniftration naturally led to the great conten- tion which tcet?sp35^Detween Great-Britain and her Colonies. The former, by fighting France in America, explored the country by her armies, and appreciated its value by the eagernefs of the enemy to poffefs it. She alfo charged the defence of it to the Colonifts, as neceffary for their immediate prefervation, and thence deduced the reafonablenefs of tax- ing them towards the national expenfes.
Governor Shirley, after ferving a number of years under his new appointment, in which he was fucceeded by one of his fons, returned to Maffachufetts, and died at his former feat
in
P H I P S. 297
in Roxbury, on the 24th. day of March, 1771, and his remains were interred with the honours of war, under the King's chapel, in the capital. Although he had held feveral of the moft lucrative offices within the gift of the crown, in America, yet he left nothing to his pofterity but a reputation, in which his virtues greatly prevailed over his faults, and which has not been furpafled by that of any fucceeding Governor under the Engliih fove- reignty.
The defenfive fyftem which had taken place in the army in confequence of the capture of the forts at Ofwego, required of Gen. Winflow to fortify his carnp in the ftrongeft manner which his pofition would admit of. One of the two fides by which alone the enemy could approach him with advantage, he fecured by a dam that enabled him to overflow a morafs with water ; the other he encumbered by felling the trees, fo as to retard any regular advances, and to give him the fuperiority in the defence. Thefe meafures were defigned to fecure Fort William-Henry until the feafon mould be over for a regular fiege, by which alone he apprehended it could be taken. But a new
O o encmj
39* P H I P S.
enemy arcie, more dreadful to New-England troops at this time, than the fwords of the French or the tomahawks of the Indians* This was the feall~pox, whkh broke out at Albany. The recruits ordered to be detached from the counties of Worcefter and Hamp- fhire, after meeting with a check in their march from a miftake in the iffuing of the commiffions for their officers, were feized with fuch a dread of this diforder, as rendered any fervice fcarcely to be hoped for from them at this time ; and the army at Lake George, then on the wing, was not much lefs affecled by it, The General Court were fo fmpreffed with the operation which it would probably have upon the levies, that they jDnmafe,. requeued the Lieutenant-Governor to repre- ient their cafe to the Earl of Loudoun, in order that their march might be counter- manded, as there was much more probability of mifchievous than good confluences en- filing,, if they fhould attempt to purfue It;
Their affiftance became unneceflary by the termination of the campaign, and the difmif- iion of the provincial forces, excepting the regiment of New-York, on the nth. of No- vember ; Fort William-Henry and the other
pofts
P H I P S. .
pofts in that quarter, being then left gavri- ibned by the regular troops. This brought home the fix regiments and the train of Maflachufetts, and made it nccefTary to devife new ways and means for paying their wages. It was natural to have recourfe to the lame affiftance which was obtained the lad year under fimilar embarraffments : and a com- mittee having been appointed to wait on Lord Loudoun upon the general concerns of the war, the General Court milrufted them to folicit a loan to enable the government to do juftice to the foldiers, and lupport the J°lirnal«- public credit. But his anfwer was, that the fupport of the regular forces would call for all the public money which was then in the treafury, and that a compliance with the de- fire of the Province would therefore greatly prejudice his Majefty's fervice.
The propofed expedition up tlieKennebeck, in order to deftrpy the fettle ment adjoining; the river Chaudiere, terminated only in a fcouting party, which explored the country ; and feems to have been undertaken rather from circumftances that occurred in the courfc of the fummer, than as a part of the great plan originally projected. The Indians, as ufual,
kept
joo P H I P S.
kept up their lurking warfare on the frontiers, and not without execution. In the month Gsorge Ber- of April, a fmall party of them waylaid a April 17, field at New-Marblehead, where the inhabit- ants were at work, killed one man and wounded another. A detachment immedi- ately iffued, and purfued them fo clofely as to have an opportunity of firing upon them, but fucceeded no further than to take five of their packs. Another party entered Win- Oliver Pa-- chendon in June, and took Mr. Jofiah Fofter and his family. A purfuit was not ordered.
/
]cft tae captives fhould be killed. In the fame month a bolder attempt was made at FortHali- £• ^B two Qf faQ garrifon were catching fifli at fag FaiiS) four Indians fired, and wounded
them mortally. One returned the fire, and
f
the affiftance from the fort was fo quick as to prevent their being fcalped. Thefe attacks induced the General Court, in addition to the fcouting parties eftablifhed throughout the eaftern country, to fend a fmall force in whale- boats up the river Amarifcoggin, to furprize the enemy, fo as to prevent their coming down in the fall from New Norridgewock, the hunting ground of the Indians, and by which thofe in the French intereft, travelled to ap- proach the frontiers. This party meeting
with
ter,Hatfie
June 8. Samuel
Letter, at
' rna1*"
P H I P S. 301
with no enemy, took the courfes and diftanccs of the river to the extent of about eighty-five miles, and fuch other observations as occurred relating to the nature and ftate of the country. On the firft of November, when the fcouts were directed to be difmiffed, the government ordered the enliftment of 150 men, to ferve four weeks in ranging the hunting grounds of the Indians, between the eaftern frontiers and Canada.
In the tranfatlantic incidents of a parlia- Eollan«sLct. mentary nature, affecting the Province of te MafTachufetts Bay, in common with the other Britim plantations, it is neceflary to mention the continuation of the law called the Sugar Aft, for the term of three years. This law, being a temporary one, was made in the fixth year of the reign of George II. for the better fecuring and encouraging the trade of his Majefty's fugar Colonies in America, and had been continued from time to time until the prefent year. The fubftance of it was grant- ing a tax of nine pence a gallon on rurn and fpirits, fix pence a gallon on molafles and fyr- ups, and five {hillings a hundred weight on fugars and paneles made in the American plantations not belonging to his Majefty ; to
be
* T HIPS.
be paid on importation into the Britiih plan- tations, before landing. The importation of fugars, &c. except thofe of the Britifh plan- tations, into Ireland, was alfo prohibited, unlefs (hipped in Great-Britain ; and a drawback was allowed on them in cafe of exportation : The neceflary forfeitures were provided, and made recoverable in the court of admiralty, or any court of record, It is eafy to fee that a tax founded on the principle of regulating and encouraging manufactures, was too con- venient an inftrument for the purpofe of gen- eral revenue to be fuffered to expire ; and the motive for continuing it, may well be fup- pofed to have been founded rather upon the principle of taxing the molafles trade, than upon the complaints of the Weft-Indian fugar planters.
The petition which the General Court, in their folicitude to relieve the burdens of the people, had directed to be prefented to the King, requefting that the forts within the Province might be garrifoned at the national cxpenfe, was checked by their agent, who requefted the annulling of his inftruflions Lct- upon this fubjecl:. He fubmitted it to their
ler, Aug. 25.
coniideratkm whether, if their requcfi fhould
be
P H I P S.
be granted, the garrifon would not be ap- pointed by the crown, with the entire direc- tion of every thing relating to it : whether it would not in time produce a claim to the immediate jurifdiction and property of the country protected by it ; and whether this would not make an important breach in the unity and extent of the power of government now exercifed under the charter over the whole Province : whether the crown would at that time of expenfe, take upon it the par- ticular charge of maintaining Fort Halifax, without having further views. He alfo fub- mitted it to their opinion, whether, as the French from pofleffing the eaftern parts of the Province might gain the whole of it, and even the whole of the continent, the beft fecurity againft this would not be to fettle thofe parts ; and whether it did not appear from experi- ence, that the ufe of regular troops had the greateft tendency, at all times, to advance the fettlement of a new country : and generally,, whether the application to the crown to gar- rifon the forts, was not a departure from the {landing policy of the Province. Thefe apprehenfions were obviated by the various cxpenfes of the war, which did not admit of
the
304 P H I P S.
the mother country engaging in fuch a plam. to bridle her Colonies.
Among the worthy men who lamented the public trouKes, and who were not permitted to view the diflant bleffings of peace, we ought not to omit mentioning the pious and benev- olent Jofiah Willard, Efq. Secretary of the Province, who died on the fixth of December. He filled that office near forty years, and part
Dr. SewalTs r . . . . - . , . . .
and Mr. or the time dilcharged the duties of a Coun- n hi* fellor, and Judge of Probate for the county of Suffolk, in connexion with it. An aflemblage of good qualities ferved to difplay in him, with peculiar happinefs, the operation of the moral and religious principles of his forefath- ers, and rendered his death univerfally regret- ted, in particular by thofe who were moll attached to the ancient fyftem of manners, now about to yield to a general change in the order and opinions of fociety.
END OF VOL. I.
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