Chapter XX: ――history (2)

Government being thus established, sixteen men, well armed, with a few others, were sent on shore the same day, to fetch wood and make discoveries; but they returned at night without having found any person or habitation. The company, having rested during the Sabbath, disembarked on Monday, the 13th of November; and soon after proceeded to explore the interior of the country. In their researches they discovered heaps of earth, one of which they dug open, but, finding within implements of war, they concluded these were Indian graves; and therefore, replacing what they had taken out, they left them inviolate. In different heaps of sand they also found baskets of corn, a large quantity of which they carried away in a great kettle, found at the ruins of an Indian house. This providential discovery gave them seed for a future harvest, and preserved the infant colony from famine. On the 6th of December the shallop was sent out with several of the principal men, to sail round the bay in search of a place for settlement. During their researches, part of the company travelled along the shore, where they were surprised by a flight of arrows from a party of Indians; but, on the discharge of the English muskets, the Indians instantly disappeared. The shallop, after imminent hazard from the loss of its rudder and mast in a storm, and from shoals, which it narrowly escaped, reached a small island on the night of the 8th; here the company reposed themselves, grateful for their preservation during the week; and on this island they kept the Sabbath. The day following they sounded the harbor, and found it fit for shipping; went on shore, and explored the adjacent land, where they saw various corn-fields and brooks; and, judging the situation to be convenient for a settlement, they returned with the welcome intelligence to the ship.

On the 23d, as many of the company as could, with convenience, went on shore, and felled, and carried timber to the spot appropriated for the erection of a building for common use. On the 25th, they commenced the erection of the first house. A platform for their ordnance demanding the earliest attention, they formed one upon a hill, which commanded an extensive prospect of the plain beneath, of the expanding bay, and of the distant ocean. They divided their whole company into nineteen families; measured out the ground; and assigned to every person by lot half a pole in breadth, and three poles in length, for houses and gardens. In grateful remembrance of the Christian friends whom they found at the last town they left in their native country, they called their settlement Plymouth. Thus was founded the first British town of New England.

The climate was found much more severe than the colonists had anticipated; and they had arrived when winter was nearly one-third advanced. They had every thing to do, and in this season could do very little, even of what was indispensable. Their shelter was wretched; their sufferings were intense; their dangers were not small, and were rendered painful by an absolute uncertainty of their extent. All these evils they encountered with resolution, and sustained with fortitude. To each other they were kind: to the savages they were just: they loved the truth of the gospel; embraced it in its purity; and obeyed it with an excellence of life, which added a new wreath to the character of man.

Among the attempts at forming settlements at this time was one of a character as peculiar as it was undesirable. Captain Wollaston began a plantation, which he named after himself. One Morton, of Furnival’s inn, was of this company. He was not left in command, but contrived to make himself chief, changed the name of mount Wollaston to Merry mount, set all the servants free, erected a may-pole, and lived a life of dissipation, until all the stock intended for trade was consumed. He was charged with furnishing the Indians with guns and ammunition, and teaching them the use of them. At length, he made himself so obnoxious to the planters in all parts, that, at their general desire, the people of New Plymouth seized him by an armed force, and confined him, until they had opportunity of sending him to England.

The time was now at hand, when the causes which had induced the voluntary exile of the Leyden congregation, should produce an effect far more extensive. Applications to the Plymouth company from Puritan congregations were now becoming frequent; and, in the year 1628, the council of Plymouth sold to Sir Henry Roswell and others, their heirs and associates, that part of New England which lies between two boundaries, one three miles north of the Merrimac, and the other three miles south of Charles river, from the Atlantic to the South sea. The same year Mr. Endicot, one of the patentees, came to New England, and planted himself, with a small colony, in Naumkeag, now Salem. The following year they were joined by about two hundred others, making three hundred in the whole, one hundred of whom, however, removed the same year, and settled themselves, with the consent of Mr. Endicot, governor of the colony, at Mishawum, now Charlestown. The second Salem company brought with them a considerable number of cattle, horses, sheep, and goats; which after a little period, became so numerous as to supply all the wants of the inhabitants. Powers of government were granted to these colonists by Charles I., which constituted them a corporation, by the name of The Governor and Company of Massachusetts Bay, in New England, with power to elect annually a governor, deputy governor, and eighteen assistants; four great and general courts were to be held every year, to consist of the governor, or, in his absence, the deputy governor, the assistants, or at least six of them, and the freemen of the company.

The arbitrary proceedings of the British court, in affairs both of church and state, continued without any abatement, and induced many gentlemen of wealth and distinction to join the Plymouth company, and remove to New England. In 1629, many persons of this character, and among them the distinguished names of Isaac Johnson, John Winthrop, Thomas Dudley, and Sir Richard Saltonstall, proposed to the company to remove with their families, on condition that the charter and government should be transferred to New England. To this the company assented, and in the course of the next year, John Winthrop, who had been chosen governor, with about one thousand five hundred persons, embarked. The fleet consisted of ten sail, one of which was of three hundred and fifty tons, and, from lady Arabella Johnson, who sailed in her, was called the Arabella. Among the passengers were a number of eminent non-conformist ministers. The most highly esteemed was Mr. Wilson, the son of a dignitary of the church, who, by his connexions and talents, might have aspired to its highest honors, but chose to renounce all, in order to suffer with those whom he accounted the people of God. But the circumstance which threw a greater lustre on the colony than any other, was the arrival of Mr. John Cotton, the most esteemed of all the Puritan ministers in England. Becoming an object of the persecuting fury of Laud, he left Boston in disguise, and spent some time in London, seeking a proper opportunity to emigrate. There went out with him Mr. Hooker and Mr. Stone, who were esteemed to make a glorious triumvirate, and were received in New England with the utmost exultation. Mr. Cotton was appointed to preach at Boston, now the principal town in Massachusetts bay, and was mainly employed in drawing up the ecclesiastical constitution of the colony.

On the arrival of the principal ships of the fleet at Charlestown, the governor and several of the patentees, having viewed the bottom of the bay of Massachusetts, and pitched down on the north side of Charles river, took lodgings in the great house built there the preceding year, and the rest of the company erected cottages, booths, and tents, about the town hill. Their place of assembling for divine service was under a tree. When the fleet had safely arrived, a day of thanksgiving was kept in all the plantations. Early attention was paid to the great object of the enterprise. On the 30th of July, a day of solemn prayer and fasting was kept at Charlestown, when governor Winthrop, deputy governor Dudley, and Mr. Wilson, first entered into church covenant; and at this time was laid the foundation of the church of Charlestown, and of the first church in Boston. On the 27th of August, the congregation kept a fast, and chose Mr. Wilson their teacher. ‘We used imposition of hands,’ says governor Winthrop, ‘but with this protestation by all, that it was only a sign of election and confirmation, not of any intent that Mr. Wilson should renounce the ministry he received in England.’

The colony was now gaining strength from its numbers and organization; but it had also its trials to contend with, not the least of which was the sickness arising from the severity of the climate, or, more truly, from the means of counteracting the injurious tendencies of the climate not being yet properly understood. Among those who fell an early sacrifice, none were lamented more than lady Arabella Johnson and her husband, who had left the abodes of abundance and of social comfort for the American wilderness, purely from religious principle. As soon as the severity of the winter was abated sufficiently to admit of assemblies being convened, the colonists proceeded to enact laws for their internal regulation. It has been before observed, that those who so resolutely ventured to cross the ocean, and to brave the hardships attendant on clearing the American forests, sought rather to establish churches, than to found a kingdom; it will naturally be supposed, therefore, that their legislation partook largely of an ecclesiastical character. Indeed, the history of this colony presents more matter for the ecclesiastical than the civil historian. At the very first court of election a law was passed, enacting that none should hereafter be admitted freemen, or be entitled to any share in the government, or be capable of being chosen magistrates, or even of serving as jurymen but such as had been or should hereafter be received into the church as members. ‘This was a most extraordinary order or law,’ says Hutchinson, ‘and yet it continued in force until the dissolution of the government, it being repealed in appearance only after the restoration of king Charles II. Had they been deprived of their civil privileges in England by an act of parliament, unless they would join in communion with the churches there, it might very well have been the first in the roll of grievances. But such were the requisites to qualify for church-membership here, that the grievance was abundantly greater.’

The baneful influence of the erroneous principles of the union of the civil and ecclesiastical power, soon became apparent in the persecution of the most liberally minded man in the colony, Roger Williams. It is true that he enthusiastically supported some tenets which were deemed heterodox, and occasioned considerable excitement by inveighing against the use of the cross in the national flag. In consequence of the spread of his opinion, some of the troops would not act till the relic of popery, as they considered it, was cut out of the banner, while others would not serve under any flag from which it was erased. At length a compromise was entered into, by which it was agreed that the obnoxious emblem should be omitted from the banners of the militia, while it was retained in those of the forts. This, however, was only one of the errors charged against Williams; it is said that he maintained that no female should go abroad unless veiled; that unregenerate men ought neither to pray nor to take oaths; that, indeed, oaths had better be altogether omitted; that the churches of New England should not acknowledge or communicate with the hierarchy from which they had separated; that infants should not be subjects of baptism; that the magistrate should confine his authority wholly to temporal affairs; and that James or Charles of England had no right at all to grant away the lands of the Indians without their consent. For the zealous propagation of these sentiments, he was deemed worthy of banishment from the colony of Massachusetts. The order of the court was, that he should be transported to England; but he escaped the limits of their jurisdiction, repaired to the Narraganset country, and became the founder of a new colony.

During the year 1635, no less than three thousand persons arrived in New England. Among them was Henry Vane, a young man of noble family, animated with a devotion to the cause of religion and liberty, which induced him to relinquish all his hopes in England, and settle in an infant colony which as yet afforded little more than a bare subsistence to its inhabitants: he was naturally received in New England with high regard and admiration, and was instantly complimented with the freedom of the colony. Enforcing his claims to respect by the address and ability which he showed in conducting business, he was elected governor in the year subsequent to his arrival, by the universal consent of the colonists, and with the highest expectations of an advantageous administration. These hopes, we shall find in the sequel, were by no means realized. He entered too deeply into polemical theology, to allow him to devote the energies of his mind to the civil and political duties which afforded so abundant a field for their exercise.

A brief period elapsed after the expulsion of Roger Williams, before the repose of the colony was again interrupted by religious dissensions. The Puritans had transported, with their other religious practices, that of assembling one evening in the week to converse over the discourses of the preceding Sabbath; a proceeding well calculated to keep alive that zeal which arises from the vigorous exercise of private judgment, but not to promote the subserviency requisite to a quiet submission to the uniformity of authorized opinions. These meetings had been originally confined to the brethren; but Mrs. Hutchinson, a lady of respectable station in life, of considerable native talent, and of affable manners, deemed it desirable that the sisters should also exercise a similar privilege. Unfortunately, it was not long before this lady and her associates discovered that there would be much more propriety in their instructing their ministers than in the reverse process, which had hitherto prevailed. They adopted that most convenient dogma, that good works are no evidence of being a true Christian, or one of the elect; and that the only testimony to a state of justification, was the overpowering assurance of the mind, produced by the immediate influence of the divine Spirit.

The disturbance occasioned by the propagation of these offensive sentiments, was aggravated by the circumstance of the governor, Mr. Vane, being their decided advocate. Vehement discussions and bitter accusations abounded; but the antinomian party, though most zealous, were least numerous; and at the annual election, Mr. Vane was displaced by Mr. Winthrop, by a very decided majority. After various measures had been resorted to, in order to bring the dissentients within the pale of orthodoxy, a synod was called, which determined that the sentiments of Mrs. Hutchinson and her followers were grievously erroneous, and, as they still refused submission, the favorite measure of banishment was had recourse to. Another accession was thus made to the ‘alluvies,’ as Mather terms it, of Rhode Island; but not finding that land of liberty perfectly to her taste Mrs. Hutchinson removed to a Dutch plantation, where, not long after, she was basely murdered, with many of her family, by the Indians.

It does not fall within our plan to follow out the details of the ecclesiastical persecutions that disfigure the early history of New England. Although themselves fugitives from the terrors of persecution, the Puritans entertained no particular toleration for the tenets of those who came to different conclusions. They whipped, banished, and imprisoned Anabaptists, Quakers and others, whose obstinacy was equal to their own, and whose power was unfortunately less. Like many other enthusiasts, they entertained a strong predilection for the phraseology and manners of the Hebrews, whose laws they ill understood. Lying, drunkenness and dancing were punished with public whipping; and for a man to have long hair was considered an abomination, and inconsistent with the care of the soul.

A more important subject than religious wrangling, is the union formed by the New England colonists, for mutual defence against the savages, and for security against the claims and encroachments of the Dutch. This union, or confederation, was formed in 1643, by the name of The United Colonies of New England. It had been proposed by the colonies of Connecticut and New Haven, as early as 1638, but was not finally completed until five years after. This confederacy, which continued about forty years, constituted an interesting portion of the political history of New England. It consisted of the colonies of Massachusetts, New Plymouth, Connecticut, and New Haven. By the articles of confederation, as they were called, these colonies entered into a firm and perpetual league of friendship and amity, for offence and defence, mutual advice and succor, upon all just occasions, both for preserving and propagating the truth and liberties of the gospel, and for their own mutual safety and welfare. Each colony was to retain its own peculiar jurisdiction and government; and no other plantation or colony was to be received as a confederate, nor any two of the confederates to be united into one jurisdiction, without the consent of the rest. The affairs of the united colonies were to be managed by a legislature, to consist of two persons, styled commissioners, chosen from each colony. The commissioners were to meet annually in the colonies, in succession, and when met, to choose a president, and the determination of any six to be binding on all. This confederacy, which was declared to be perpetual, continued without any essential alteration, until the New England colonies were deprived of their charter by the arbitrary proceedings of James II. This union evidently served as the basis of the great confederacy afterwards formed between the thirteen states of America. An examination of the two systems will prove a similarity not only in names, but in general principles.

At the termination of the first half century from the arrival of the emigrants at Plymouth, the New England colonies were calculated to contain one hundred and twenty towns, and as many thousand inhabitants; of whom sixteen thousand were capable of bearing arms. The habits of industry and economy, which had been formed in less happy times, continued to prevail, and gave a competency to those who had nothing, and wealth to those who had a competency. The wilderness receded before these hardy and persevering laborers, and its savage inhabitants found their game dispersed, and their favorite haunts invaded. This was the natural consequence of the sales of land, which they were at all times ready to make to the whites. But this result the Indians did not foresee; and when they felt it in all its force, the strongest passions were awakened which could animate the savage breast. A leader only was wanting to concentrate and direct their exertions, and Philip, of Pokanoket, sachem of a tribe residing within the boundaries of Plymouth and Rhode Island, assumed that station. His father was the friend, but he had ever been the enemy, of the whites; and he exerted all the arts of intrigue, of which he was master, to induce the Indians, in all parts of New England, to unite their efforts for their destruction. He succeeded in forming a confederacy, able to send into action more than three thousand warriors.

Illustration: Attack on Swanzey.

The English were apprized of the plots of the Indians, and made preparations to meet their hostilities. They hoped, however, that the threatened storm would pass by, as others had, and that peace would be preserved. But the insolence of Philip, and the number of his adherents, increased daily; and, in June, 1675, some of them entered the town of Swanzey, in Plymouth, where, after slaughtering the cattle, and plundering the houses, they fired upon the inhabitants, killing and wounding several. The troops of that colony marched immediately to Swanzey, and were soon joined by a detachment from Massachusetts. The Indians fled, and marked the course of their flight by burning the buildings, and fixing on poles by the way side, the hands, scalps, and heads of the whites whom they had killed. The troops pursued, but unable to overtake them, returned to Swanzey. The whole country was alarmed, and the number of troops augmented. By this array of force, Philip was induced to quit his residence at mount Hope, and take post near a swamp at Pocasset. At that place the English attacked him, but were repulsed. Sixteen were killed, and the Indians by this success were made bolder.

Most of the settlements were surrounded by thick forests, and as the Indians lived intermixed with the whites, the former were acquainted, of course, with the dwellings of the latter, and all the avenues to them; could watch their motions, and fall upon them in their defenceless and unguarded moments. Many were shot dead as they opened their doors in the morning; many while at work in their fields, and others while travelling to visit their neighbors, or to places of worship; their lives were in continual jeopardy; and no one could tell but that, in the next moment, he should receive his death shot from his barn, the thicket, or the way side. Whenever the enemy assembled in force, detachments were sent against them; if weaker than these, they would retreat; if stronger, assault and harass, or destroy them. Defenceless villages were suddenly attacked, the houses burned, and the men, women and children killed, or carried into captivity. Their ruin was the work of a moment; and when accomplished, its authors vanished. The colonists found their numbers sensibly diminished, and their strength impaired; and they began to apprehend even total extinction. Nothing but a vigorous effort could save them.

The commissioners of the three United Colonies met on the 9th of September, and it was concluded, that the war was just and necessary; that it ought to be jointly prosecuted by all the United Colonies; and that there should be immediately raised 1000 soldiers out of the colonies, in such proportion as the articles of confederation established: Massachusetts, 527; Plymouth, 158; Connecticut, 315. At an adjourned meeting, the commissioners declared the Narragansets to be deeply accessory in the present bloody outrages of the Indians that were at open war, and determined that 1000 more soldiers be raised, for the Narraganset expedition, to obtain satisfaction of those Indians, or to treat them as enemies. On the 8th of December, the Massachusetts forces marched from Boston, and were soon joined by those of Plymouth. The troops from Connecticut joined them on the 18th, at Petaquamscot. At break of day the next morning they commenced their march, through a deep snow, toward the enemy, who were about fifteen miles distant in a swamp, at the edge of which they arrived at one in the afternoon. The Indians, apprized of an armament intended against them, had fortified themselves as strongly as possible within the swamp. The English, without waiting to draw up in order of battle, marched forward in quest of the enemy’s camp.

The Indian fortress stood on a rising ground in the midst of the swamp, and was composed of palisades, which were encompassed by a hedge, nearly a rod thick. It had but one practicable entrance, which was over a log, or tree four or five feet from the ground; and that aperture was guarded by a block-house. Falling providentially on this very part of the fort, the English captains entered it, at the head of their companies. The two first, with many of their men, were shot dead at the entrance; four other captains were also killed. When the troops had effected an entrance, they attacked the Indians, who fought desperately, and compelled the English to retire out of the fort; but after a hard-fought battle of three hours, they became masters of the place, and set fire to the wigwams, to the number of five or six hundred, and in the conflagration many Indian women and children perished. The surviving Indians fled into a cedar swamp, at a small distance; and the English retired to their quarters. Of the English there were killed and wounded about two hundred and thirty; of the Indians one thousand are supposed to have perished.

Illustration: Attack on the Indian Fortress.

From this blow, the confederated Indians never recovered; but they still remained sufficiently strong to harass the settlements by continual inroads. In retaliation, the English sent several detachments into their territories, nearly all of which were successful. Captain Church, of Plymouth, and captain Dennison, of Connecticut, were conspicuous for their bravery and success. In the midst of these reverses, Philip remained firm and unshaken. His warriors were cut off; his chief men, his wife and family, were killed, or taken prisoners; and at these successive misfortunes, he is represented to have wept with a bitterness which proves him not to have been destitute of the noblest affections; but he disdained to listen to any offers of peace. He even shot one of his men, who proposed submission. At length, after being hunted from swamp to swamp, he was himself shot, by the brother of the Indian he had killed. This event was certainly the signal of complete victory. The Indians in all the neighboring country now generally submitted to the English, or fled, and incorporated themselves with distant and strange nations. Never was peace more welcome. In this short, but tremendous war, about six hundred of the inhabitants of New England, composing its principal strength, were either killed in battle, or murdered by the enemy; twelve or thirteen towns were entirely destroyed; and about six hundred buildings, chiefly dwelling-houses, were burnt. In addition to these calamities, the colonies contracted a very heavy debt; while, by the loss of their substance through the ravages of the enemy, their resources were greatly diminished. But, in their deepest distress, they forbore to apply to the mother country for assistance; and this omission excited surprise and jealousy. ‘You act,’ said a privy counsellor, ‘as though you were independent of our master’s crown; and though poor, yet you are proud.’

In this unsettled state of the country, the French in Canada and Nova Scotia instigated the northern and eastern Indians to commence hostilities against the English settlements. Dover and Salmon Falls, in New Hampshire, Casco, in Maine, and Schenectady, in New York, were attacked by different parties of French and Indians, and the most shocking barbarities perpetrated on the inhabitants. The Indians having taken the fort at Pemaquid, and the French privateers from Acadie still infesting the coast of New England, the general court of Massachusetts determined to make an attempt on Port Royal. A fleet, with seven or eight hundred men, under the command of Sir William Phipps, sailed on that expedition in the latter end of April. The fort at Port Royal, not being in a state to sustain a siege, surrendered, with little or no resistance; and Sir William took possession of the whole sea-coast, from Port Royal to the New England settlements.

Regarding Canada as the principal source of their miseries, New England and New York formed the bold project of reducing it to subjection. By great exertion they raised an army, which, under the command of general Winthrop, was sent against Montreal, and equipped a fleet, which, commanded by Sir William Phipps, was destined to attack Quebec. The fleet, retarded by unavoidable accidents, did not arrive before Quebec until the 5th of October. Phipps, the next morning, sent a summons on shore, but received an insolent answer from count Frontenac. The next day he attempted to land his troops, but was prevented by the violence of the wind. On the 8th, all the effective men, amounting to between twelve and thirteen hundred, landed at the isle of Orleans, four miles below the town, and were fired on from the woods by French and Indians. Having remained on shore three days, they received information from a deserter of the strength of the place, and precipitately embarked. A tempest soon after dispersed the fleet, which made the best of its way back to Boston. A successful result had been so confidently expected, that adequate provision was not made at home for the payment of the troops. In this extremity, the government of Massachusetts issued bills of credit, or paper money; and these were the first that were ever issued in the American colonies; but though it afforded relief at the moment, it produced in its consequences extensive and complicated mischief.

The first trials for witchcraft in New England occurred in the year 1645, when four persons charged with this crime were put to death in Massachusetts. For more than twenty years after, we hear but little of similar prosecutions. But in the year 1688, a woman was executed for witchcraft in Boston, after an investigation conducted with a degree of solemnity that made a deep impression on the minds of the people. Suspicions having been thus violently roused, the charges of witchcraft began gradually to multiply, till at length there commenced at Salem that dreadful tragedy which rendered New England for many months a scene of bloodshed, terror and madness, and at one time seemed to threaten the subversion of civil society.

In the year 1692, the frenzy of the colonists reached the highest pitch of extravagance. Suspicions and accusations of witchcraft became general among them; and on this fanciful charge many persons were put to death. This pestilential visitation first showed itself in the town of Salem. A fanatic, who was minister of a church there, had two daughters subject to convulsions. He fancied they were bewitched; and fixed his suspicions on an Indian girl who lived in the house, as the accomplice and tool of Satan in the matter. By harsh treatment he made the poor savage acknowledge herself a witch. Among a people like the New Englanders, this was throwing a firebrand into a powder magazine; and the explosion was dreadful. Every woman subject to hysterical affections instantly believed herself bewitched; and was seldom at a loss to discover the guilty cause of her malady. Persons accused of the imaginary crime of witchcraft were imprisoned, condemned, hanged, and their bodies left exposed to wild beasts and birds of prey. Counsellors who refused to plead against these devoted victims, and judges who were not forward in condemning them, were doomed to share their fate, as accomplices in their guilt.

Children of ten years of age were put to death; young women were stripped naked, and the marks of witchcraft sought for on their bodies with unblushing curiosity. Scorbutical or other spots on the bodies of old men were reckoned clear proofs of a heinous commerce with the infernal powers. Dreams, apparitions, prodigies of every kind, increased the general consternation and horror. The prisons were filled, the gibbets left standing, and the citizens were appalled. Under this frightful delirium, the miserable colonists seemed doomed to destruction by each other’s hands. The more prudent withdrew from a country polluted by the blood of its inhabitants, and the ruin of the colony seemed inevitable; when, ceasing to receive countenance from those in authority, this awful frenzy passed away, almost as suddenly as it had arisen, leaving to future ages a fearful warning against such popular insanity.

It is matter of satisfaction to the historian, that his attention is not again to be diverted, in the annals of this state, from his peculiar province, to record events which, had the intention of religion been rightly apprehended, would not have intermixed with civil affairs in fact, and therefore not in history. The legislature, at its first session under the new charter, passed a law which indicates the same independent spirit that afterwards resisted the usurpations of the British parliament. It provided that no tax should be imposed upon any of his majesty’s subjects, or their estates, in the province, but by the act and consent of the governor, council, and representatives of the people, in general court assembled. It is almost needless to add, that this law was disallowed by the king.

The war with the French and Indians, which began in 1690, was not yet terminated. For several years were the frontier settlements harassed by the savages, and the English were employed in expeditions against them. This continuance of the war on the part of the Indians, instigated and aided by the French, induced repeated applications for a force from the British government, to act in conjunction with land forces to be raised in New England and New York, for the reduction of Canada; and it was at length determined, that an expedition should be undertaken for that purpose. A fleet was to be employed in the winter in the reduction of Martinico; and, after the performance of that service, was to sail to Boston, take on board a body of land forces under Sir William Phipps, and proceed to Quebec. By attempting too much, the whole of this extensive project entirely failed.

The attacks of the natives on the English continued with little intermission till the peace of 1697. They were carried on with Indian cunning, treachery, and cruelty. ‘To these causes of suffering were superadded the power of all such motives as the ingenuity of the French could invent, their wealth furnish, or their bigotry adopt. Here all the implements of war and the means of sustenance were supplied; the expedition was planned; the price was bidden for scalps; the aid of European officers and soldiers was conjoined; the devastation and slaughter were sanctioned by the ministers of religion; and the blood-hounds, while their fangs were yet dropping blood, were caressed and cherished by men regarded by them as superior beings. The intervals between formal attacks were usually seasons of desultory mischief, plunder, and butchery; and always of suspense and dread. The solitary family was carried into captivity; the lonely house burned to the ground; and the traveller waylaid and shot in the forest. It ought, however, to be observed, to the immortal honor of these people, distinguished as they are by so many traits of brutal ferocity, that history records no instance in which the purity of a female captive was violated by them, or even threatened.’

The peace of Ryswick, which had been signed on the 20th of September, was proclaimed at Boston on the 10th of December, and the English colonies had a brief repose. By the seventh article it was agreed, that mutual restitution should be made of all the countries, forts, and colonies taken by each party during the war.

In a few years war again broke out in Europe, and hostilities speedily recommenced in America. The first blow fell upon Deerfield. In February, 1704, it was surprised in the night, about forty persons were killed, and more than one hundred were made prisoners, among whom were Mr. Williams, the minister, and his family. The killed were scalped, and the prisoners commanded to prepare for a long march to Canada. On the second day, Mrs. Williams was so exhausted with fatigue that she could go no farther. Her husband solicited permission to remain with her; but the retreating savages, according to their custom in such cases, killed her and compelled him to proceed. Before the termination of their journey, twenty more became unable to walk, and were in like manner sacrificed. Those who survived the journey to Canada were treated by the French with humanity; and after a captivity of many years, most of them were redeemed, and returned to their friends.

New York having agreed with the French and the western Indians to remain neutral, the enemy were enabled to pour their whole force upon Massachusetts and New Hampshire, the inhabitants of which, for ten years, endured miseries peculiar to an Indian war, of which the description we have given falls below the truth. The enemy were at all times prowling about the frontier settlements, watching in concealment for an opportunity to strike a sudden blow, and to fly with safety. The women and children retired into the garrisons; the men left their fields uncultivated, or labored with arms at their sides, and with sentinels at every point whence an attack could be apprehended. Yet, notwithstanding these precautions, the Indians were often successful, killing sometimes an individual, sometimes a whole family, sometimes a band of laborers, ten or twelve in number; and so swift were they in their movements, that but few fell into the hands of the whites. It was computed, that the sum of one thousand pounds was expended for every Indian killed or made captive. In 1707, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island, despatched an armament against Port Royal, in Nova Scotia, then in possession of the French, which returned, however, without effecting its object; but in 1710, the troops of New England, assisted by a British fleet, succeeded in reducing the place; and in compliment to queen Anne, changed its name to Annapolis.

We pass over various topics of interest, in regard to contests in Massachusetts between the people and their governors, relative to certain prerogatives of the crown. After a struggle of more than thirty years, the crown was compelled to yield to a bold and persevering opposition, and the controversy was not again renewed till the year 1773.

In 1744, war again broke out between England and France, and the colonies were again the theatre on which the great drama was to be acted. Commerce generally, and in particular the fisheries, suffered greatly during these hostilities from privateers fitted out at Louisburg, a French port on Cape Breton. This post was considered of vast importance, and nearly six millions of dollars had been expended on its fortifications. This post it was determined to subdue, and an expedition was sent against it under the command of Sir William Pepperell, of Kittery. In conjunction with other forces from England under the command of commodore Warren, batteries were erected before the town, and an assault eventually resolved upon. Discouraged by these adverse events and menacing appearances, the French commander consented to capitulate, and on the sixteenth of June articles were accordingly signed. After the surrender of the city, the French flag was kept flying on the ramparts, and several rich prizes were thus decoyed.

Fired with resentment at their loss, the French made extraordinary exertions to retrieve it, and to inflict chastisement on New England. The next summer they despatched to the American coast a powerful fleet, carrying a large number of soldiers. The news of its approach spread terror throughout New England; but an uncommon succession of disasters deprived it of all power to inflict injury. After remaining a short time on the coast, it returned to France, having lost two admirals, both of whom it was supposed put an end to their lives through chagrin; having also, by tempests, been reduced to one half its force, without effecting any of the objects anticipated.

In the month of November, 1747, a great tumult occurred in the town of Boston, arising from the following circumstance: Commodore Knowles, while lying at Nantasket with a number of men of war, losing some of his sailors by desertion, thought it reasonable that Boston should supply him with as many men as he had lost. He therefore sent his boats early in the morning, and surprised not only as many seamen as could be found on board any of the ships, but pressed some ship carpenters’ apprentices, and other laboring landsmen. This conduct was universally resented as outrageous; and as soon as it was dusk, several thousand people assembled in King’s street, where the general court was sitting. Stones and brickbats were thrown into the council chamber through the windows. A judicious speech of the governor from the balcony, disapproving of the impress, promising his utmost endeavors to obtain the discharge of the persons impressed, but reprehending the irregular proceedings of the people, had no effect.

Illustration: Riot in State Street.

The seizure and restraint of the commanders and other officers who were in town were insisted on, as the only effectual method to procure the release of the inhabitants aboard the ships. The militia of Boston was summoned the next day to the aid of government, but refused to appear. The governor, judging it inexpedient to remain in town another night, withdrew to castle William; but kept up a communication with the commodore, urging the liberation of the townsmen. Meanwhile, the council and house of representatives passed some vigorous resolutions, and the tumultuous spirit began to subside. The inhabitants, assembled in town meeting, while they expressed their sense of the great insult and injury by the impress, condemned the riotous transactions. The militia of the town the next day promptly made their appearance, and conducted the governor with great pomp to his house; and the commodore dismissed most, if not all of the inhabitants who had been impressed; and the squadron sailed, to the joy and repose of the town.

In October, 1748, a treaty of peace between England and France was signed at Aix la Chapelle. By the articles of this treaty, Cape Breton was given up to the French, in a compromise for restoring the French conquests in the low countries to the empress queen of Hungary and the States General, and for a general restitution of places captured by the other belligerent powers. It was naturally a mortification to the inhabitants of New England, that what they termed, not unjustly, ‘their own acquisition,’ should be restored to France; but so long as peace continued, they sustained no disadvantage. In most respects, Massachusetts Bay was never in a more easy and happy situation, than at the close of this war.

NEW HAMPSHIRE AND MAINE.

It was in the year 1623, that Sir Ferdinando Gorges, John Mason, and others, having obtained of the Plymouth or New England company grants of several tracts of land, lying north of Massachusetts, sent from England a few persons to begin a settlement. Part landed, and for a short time remained at Little Harbor, on the west side Piscataqua river, and near its mouth, where they erected the first house, calling it Mason Hall; the remainder, proceeding higher up the river, settled at Cocheco, afterwards called Dover. Fishing and trade being the principal objects of these emigrants, their settlements increased slowly.

The persecuting policy of the Massachusetts colony peopled this country, when money and persuasion had been tried in vain. It has already been stated, that among those who were expelled from the jurisdiction of Massachusetts, at the time of the dissensions occasioned by opposition to the spread of antinomian sentiments at Boston, was the Rev. John Wheelwright. Previously to the date of Mason’s patent, he had purchased the land of the Indians, and laid the foundation of Exeter. In the year 1630, thirty-five persons residing in that town combined and established civil government; and within a year or two afterwards, the inhabitants of Dover and Portsmouth followed their example, each town remaining distinct and independent.

From Indian hostilities, this colony suffered more severely than her neighbors. The surprise of Dover, in 1689, was effected with the most shocking barbarity; though the natives having been ill-treated by one of the principal inhabitants may account for, if not palliate, their ferocious revenge. Having determined upon their plan of attack, the Indians employed their usual art to lull the suspicions of the inhabitants. So civil and respectful was their behavior, that they occasionally obtained permission to sleep in the fortified houses in the town. On the evening of the fatal night, they assembled in the neighborhood, and sent their women to apply for lodgings at the houses devoted to destruction. When all was quiet the doors were opened and the signal given. The Indians rushed into Waldron’s house, and hastened to his apartment. Awakened by the noise, he seized his sword, and drove them back, but when returning for his other arms was stunned with a hatchet, and fell. They then dragged him into his hall, seated him in an elbow chair upon a long table, and insultingly asked him, ‘Who shall judge Indians now?’ After feasting upon provisions, which they compelled the rest of the family to procure, each one with his knife cut gashes across his breast, saying, ‘I cross out my account.’ When, weakened with the loss of blood, he was about to fall from the table, his own sword was held under him, which put an end to his tortures. At other houses, similar acts of cruelty were perpetrated; in the whole, twenty-three persons were killed, and twenty-nine carried prisoners to Canada, who were mostly sold to the French. Many houses were burned, and much property was plundered; but so expeditious were the Indians, that they had fled beyond reach before the neighboring people could be collected. The war thus commenced, was not easily terminated. The French, by giving premiums for scalps, and by purchasing the English prisoners, animated the Indians to exert all their activity and address, and the frontier inhabitants endured the most aggravated sufferings. The peace of Ryswick, in 1697, closed the distressing scene till 1703, when another war began, which continued ten years.

A few years only transpired before the inhabitants again suffered the afflictions of an Indian war. Following the example of the French, the government offered premiums for scalps, which induced several volunteer companies to undertake expeditions against the enemy. One of these, commanded by captain Lovewell, was greatly distinguished. In April, 1725, with thirty-four men, he fought a famous Indian chief, named Paugus, at the head of about eighty savages, near the shores of a pond in Pequackett. Lovewell’s men were determined either to conquer or die, although outnumbered by the Indians more than twice. They fought till Lovewell and Paugus were killed, and all Lovewell’s men but nine were either killed or dangerously wounded. The savages having lost, as was supposed, sixty of their number out of eighty, and being convinced of the fierce and determined resolution of their foes, at length retreated, and left them masters of the ground. The scene of this desperate and bloody action, which took place in the town that is now called Fryburgh, is often visited with interest to this day, and the names both of those who fell, and those who survived, are yet repeated with exultation.

CONNECTICUT.

The Connecticut colony consisted of people who first emigrated from England to Massachusetts, and, in the years 1630 and 1632, settled and formed themselves into churches at Dorchester, Watertown, and Cambridge, where they resided several years. But either because the number of emigrants to Massachusetts did not allow them all such a choice as they wished of good lands, or because some jealousies had arisen between their pastors and leaders, and the leading men of the colony, they took the resolution of seating themselves again in the wilderness; and in the years 1635 and 1636 they removed their families to Windsor, Weathersfield, and Hartford, on the Connecticut river.

From the commencement of the Connecticut colony, the natives discovered a hostile disposition. Their principal enemy was the Pequods, the most numerous and warlike nation within the limits of the state, and perhaps in New England. They inhabited the country which environs the towns of New London, Groton, and Stonington. Sassacus, the great prince of the Pequods, had under him six-and-twenty sachems, and could bring into the field seven hundred or a thousand warriors, who had been long accustomed to victory. The royal residence was at a large fort situated on a beautiful eminence in the town of Groton, which commands an extensive prospect of the sea and of the surrounding country. There was also another fortress, called Mystic fort, situated in the town of Stonington. After suffering repeated injuries, and the murder of about thirty of their people, principally by the Pequods, the general court, which had been convened for the purpose, resolved on active hostilities, and immediately raised an army of ninety men, half the effective force of the colony. These were to be joined by two hundred men from Massachusetts, and forty from Plymouth.

The court which declared war was holden on the 1st of May; the men were raised and embarked on the river, under the command of captain Mason, on the 10th; and, after being wind-bound several days, sailed from the mouth of the river for Narraganset bay on the 19th. They were accompanied by sixty Mohegan and River Indians, under Uncas, a Mohegan sachem. On reaching Narraganset bay, they landed to the number of seventy-seven Englishmen, marched into the country of the Narragansets, and communicated their design to Miantonimoh, the sachem of the country, who offered to join them. Information was here received that captain Patrick had reached Providence, with a company of Massachusetts troops, but it was resolved not to wait for this reinforcement. On the next day, they marched twenty miles through the west part of Rhode Island, and reached Nihantick, which bordered on the Pequods’ country.[99] The army wheeled directly to Mystic fort, which was immediately attacked; the contest, though tremendously severe, terminated in favor of the English, and in the destruction of the Indians. Although this victory was complete, the situation of the army was extremely dangerous and destressing. Several were killed, and one-fourth of their number were wounded; the remainder were exhausted with fatigue, and destitute of provisions; they were in the midst of an enemy’s country, many miles from their vessels, and their ammunition was nearly exhausted; they were but a few miles distant from the principal fortress of their foe, where there was a fresh army, which they knew would be exasperated in the highest degree on learning the fate of their brethren. In the midst of their perplexity, while they were consulting on the course to be pursued, their vessels appeared in sight, steering with a fair wind directly into the harbor. The army was received on board with great mutual joy and congratulation.

The troops employed on this successful expedition reached their homes before the expiration of a month from the day that the war was resolved upon. The Pequods, on the departure of captain Mason, burnt their wigwams, destroyed their principal fort, and scattered themselves throughout the country. Sassacus, with a party of his chief warriors, abandoned his country, and moved by slow marches towards the Hudson river. They were followed by a party of Massachusetts and Connecticut troops; and, in a great swamp in Fairfield, near the western part of Connecticut, they were overtaken, and a battle ensued. Sassacus, and about twenty of his most hardy men, escaped, and fled to the Mohawk country; but there he found no safety; he was surprised by the Mohawks, and killed, with all his party, except Mononotto, who, after being wounded, made his escape. The Pequods who remained were divided between the Mohegans and Narragansets, and the nation became extinct. The vigor and boldness with which this war was prosecuted on both sides, give it the air of romance. Its decisive termination, which was so fatal to one party, was productive of the most happy consequences to the other. It struck the Indians throughout New England with such a salutary terror, that they were contented, in general, to remain at peace for nearly forty years.

In the year 1637, Mr. John Davenport, a celebrated London minister, accompanied by several eminent merchants, made overtures to the native proprietors for the purchase of all the lands between the rivers Hudson and Connecticut. This purchase they in part effected, and from this originated the colony of New Haven. At first they recognised the authority of Massachusetts, but it being evident that they were not within the limits of the Massachusetts colony, they convened an assembly at Hartford, and formed a constitution of government of the most popular kind. The people of New Haven followed their example, and framed a similar government; and these continued the constitutions of the two colonies, till their union in 1661. On the completion of the union among the several colonies of New England, several Indian sachems came in and submitted themselves to the English government, among whom were Miantonomoh, the Narraganset, and Uncas, the Mohegan, chief.