Glass 1 O^h Book 3 S1.S^ I / THE HISTORY N E W H A M P S H I R E, FROM ITS DISCOVERY, IN 1614, TO THE PAS- SAGE OF THE TOLERATION ACT, IN 1819. BY GEORGE BARSTOW SECOND KDITIO.N. PUBLISH ICD BY LITTLE & BROWN, liOSTON; GEO. P. PUTNAM A- (JO., 10 PARK PLACE, NEW YORK. Jam. 20, 1853. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1842, BY GEORGE BARSTOW, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusette. (i S caAIUHEAI), rRINTER. r.3 V'Sie; Street, .V. Y. PREFACE. It is not without distrusting my own abilities, that I have resolved to perpetuate what is worthy of remembrance in the history of my native state. I am aware of the dilficuUies and dangers of such an undertaking. To discard prejudice — to sit in cahn judgment upon those who cannot speak for themselves, but who require justice from history — to examine with a faithful scrutiny the institutions of one's own country — to present candid, temperate, and just views of men and things, and yet to mingle pleas- ure with instruction — this is a task which few have the assurance to begin, and fewor still can say that they have successfully executed. Yet 1 have thought that I could do something for those who would know their state's history with trifling expense of time, and more for those who are better pleased to travel in the smooth path of connected narrative, than to toil up the rugged ascent of time-worn documents, and broken, disjointed an- nals. From the mass of materials before me, I have aimed to build a compact edifice, with fair pro- portions. My first and highest object has been to present the truth. Yet I have desired to make the history of New Hampshire not simply a record of facts. I have endeavored to trace actions to IV PREFACE. motives, and results to causes. I have sometimes delineated the character of those whose actions I have portrayed. I have dared to censure where I thought censure to be due, and have applauded whenever superior virtues have presented a spec- tacle for admiration. Above all, I have sought to place in bold relief those examples of moral great- ness which are fitted for the instruction and emu- lation of posterity. Such are the duties which I have assumed, and which I have endeavored to execute faithfully and impartially ; but it is not without many misgivings that I now^ commit this volume to the judgment of the public. The valuable assistance rendered me by others demands a suitable acknowledgment. Of the&e I take great pleasure in mentioning my talented friend James M. Rix, of Lancaster, to whose research I am indebted for many important facts. I am mider like obligations to Alexander Ladd, of Portsmouth, for all that relates to the commerce of that town. Among those who have furnished me with rare files of papers and documents, are the Directors of the Portsmouth Athenaeum, and Virgin Sl Moses, the present publishers of the New Hampshire Gazette. It is due to Josiah Stevens, Jr., secretary, and to Zenas Clem- ent, treasurer, of the state, to say that their politeness and attention have greatly facilitated the examinations which I have been obliged to make of the state records and papers deposited at Concord in the public archives. Boston, June 1, 1842. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. Introduction.— The red race— Tlie first setlkrs of New Hainpsliive, their character— The Scottish emigrants— ColumLiis— Early voyages— The Cabots— Discoveries of the English, French, and Portuguese-Conquests of the Span- iards—North American Indians— Discovery of New Hampshire— Smith-His character-Mason and Gorges-Sir Walter Raleigh-Landing at Portsmouth- Melancholy decay of the Indians-Search for gold- Description of the country- Attempt to introduce the feudal system into New Hampshire— Death of Mason —His character— Failure of the colony of ]Mason and Gorges— Reflections, 5 CHAPTER II. Dover-Tlie Antiuomians— Eseter— Form of government a democracy— Antino- mian controversy in Massachusetts— Hampton-Government formed at Ports- mouth—At Dover— Constitution— Causes which led to the settlement of Exeter —The Puritans— Contest between them and the Antinomians, Henry Vane, Mrs. Anne Hutchinson, Whcelwright-They are banished from Massachusetts —They come to Exeter— Tlioir doctrines— Calvin-Calvinism— Union with Massachusetts— Wheelwright— His interview with Oliver Cromwell— The con- federation— Passaconaway disarmed— The White Mountains explored— Neal searches their summits for gold-Descriplioii of them-Superstitious reverence of the Indians for their in visil'le inhabitants, 38 CHAPTER III. Witchcraft at Portsmouth— In England and France— In Germany and Scotland- Trial of a witch— The Salem witchcraft— Conjectures as to the phenomena of witchcraft- Persecution of the duakers— Execution of Leddra, Robinson and Stevenson — Reflections, '^^ CHAPTER IV. War with the Indians— Passaconaway— His character— His dying speech— The Penacooks refuse an alliance with king Philip— Indian depredations— Fall of Philip-Waldron seizes the refugees liy straiagem-The Mohawks instigated to attack the eastern Indians— Union with Massachusetts dissolved— New Hamp- shire made a royal province— President Cults, 7C 2 CONTENTS. CHAPTER V. Organization of the new government — Laws — Crimes^Courts — Militia— Dis- content of the people — Death of Cults — Cranfield — His character — Arbitrary measures— Gove's rebellion — He is sent to the tower of London — Persecution of Moody— Character of Moody — Riot at Exeter — Andros made governor-gene- ral — Revolution in England — Revolution in the colonies — Andros deposed — Union with Massachusetts — War with the Indians — Death of Waldron— Indian cruelty — Sufferings of the captives, . • 93 CHAPTER YI. Conquest of Canada attempted — It fails — Governor Allen — Union witli Massachu- setts dissolved — Sir William Phipps — The small-pox first imported into New Hampshire — Peace with tlie Indians — The war resumed — Madokewando — Usher— Durliam destroyed — Peace — The return of the captives— The Earl of Bellomont — His character — His death — Death of Allen — War between France and England — Dudley — His conference with the Indians — Indian depredations — Expedition against Port Royal — It fails — Congress of delegates — Second ex- pedition against Port Royal — It is successful — Death of Hilton— Expedition to Quebec — The fleet wrecked in the St. Lawrence — One thousand men perish — Peace — The captives return — Vaughan — John Wentvvorth — Industry revives — Monopoly resisted — Gov. Shute holds a conference with the Indians on an island in the Kennebec — The Scottish emigrants— Their character, . . . 109 CHAPTER VII. The Aurora Borealis seen for the first time in New England in 1721 — Inoculation first used as an antidote to the small-pox — War with the Indians — The Jesuit missionaries— Father Rasle — his labors — his death and cl.aracter — War with the Indians— Tlie family of Hanson — Captain Lovcwell— Last battle with the Indians at Lovewell's Pond — Defeat and death of Lovewell— Description of the battle-ground and the scenery in the valley of the Saco— Departure of Ihe Pena- cooks — Boundary dispute — Settlement of Concord — Triennial act — Burnet — Belcher — Death of Wentwortli — his character — Dunbar— Contest between the friends of the union with Massachusetts and the advocates of a separate gov- ernment—Boundary dispute — continues — decided in favor of New Hampshire — Benning Wentworth appointed governor — Sickness in New Hampshire — Intelli- gence — Morals — Schools — George Whitefield — comes to New Hampshire — his eloquence — his character, .132 CHAPTER VIII. Expedition to Cape Breton— William Pepperell — Siege and fall of Louisburg — Vaughan — War with the Indians — Settlement wilh the Masonian proprietors — Defence of Number-Four liy Capt. Stevens — Contest concerning the Vermont lands — Stark — France resolves to connect Canada wilh Louisiana — Union of the colonies for defence — Congress of delegates meet at Albany — Campaign of 175.5 — Defeat of Braddock — Washington — The Rangers— Expedition to Crown Point — Massacre at Fort Willam Henry— Montcalm — Pitt- Attack upon the fortress of Ticonderoga — The English repulsed — Quebec — Expedition again.?t the St. Francis Indians — Destruction of tlieir village — Disasters of the Rangers — Con- quest of Canada completed — The Rangers — Unsuccessful attempt of the Indians to exterminate the English — N. H. Gazette — Progress of seltlement — Contest between New York and New Hampshire for the lands of Vermont — The Revo- lution dawning, . . . 161 CONTENTS. 3 CHAPTER IX. Administration of Pitt— Taxation — Stamp act — Duties — Deliates in Parliament — Excitement occasioned by the stamp act — Stamp distributor at Portsmouth compelled to resign — Riots in other colonies — Threatened destruction of tea at Portsmouth— Removal of Gov. Wentworlh, and appointment of John Went- worth — Assault upon fort William and Mary, led by Langdon and Sullivan — Ammunilioii and cunuou removed by the provincials — Battle of Concord and Lexington — A convention called at Exeter — Governor Wenlworth recommends reconciliation — Royal government dissolved in New Hampshire — Boston be- sieged by liie provineials^Battle of Bunker's Hill — Death of Warren and Mc- Clarv — Whigs and tories — Formation of a state government in New Hampshire — Adoption of a constitution — Meshech Ware, president— New Hampshire fits out a ship of war— Lan 1 forces — Expedition to Canada — Sullivan meets the army retreating— New Hampshire resolves on a declaration of independence — Public sentiment — Burgoync advances into Vermont — Battles of Bennington and Stillwater — General Sullivan's expedition to Rhode Island — Surrender of Corn- wallis — Great Britain acknowledges the independence of the United Colonies — ^Yashington retires to Mount Vernon, 211 CHAPTER X. Depreciation of continental money — Efforts of Congress to prevent the deprecia- tion — Proscription of persons and confiscation of estates — Constitution proposed — rejected by the people — Another proposed — Revolt of sixteen towns — Mone- tary distress — Insurrection — the insurgents made prisoners — Union of the states — Convention of delegates at Philadelphia — The Federal Constitution — sub- mitted to the people — Convention assembles at Exeter to ratify the Federal Constitution — Conflicting opinions — Joshua Atherton's speech against the adop- tion of the Constitution — It is finally ratified — Washington chosen President of the United States — John Langdon elected President of New Hampshire — Wash- ington visits New Hampshire — Progress of settlements — Increase of population — Support of common schools — Education — Establishment of post offices — State debts — Revision of the State Constitution — Josiah Barltett — Formation of par- ties — Republicans — Feileralists — Depreciation of paper money — The privateer ship M'Clary — Case of the prize ship Susanna — Remonstrances against the acts of the general government — Jay's treaty — Progress of settlements — Lake Wiu- nipiseogee — A medical school established — Troubles with France — Laws for the observance of the Sabbath — Death of Washington — Administration of John Adams — Organization of parties — Manufactures — Coos county — Scenery around the mountaias, 266 CHAPTER XI. Samuel Livermore — Matthew Thornton— Amendment of the federal constitution — Ascendency of the republican party — Laws — District schools — Iron mines — Franconia mountain scenery — The notch — Mount Lafayette — The basin — The flume— The Old Man of the Mountain, or Profile rock — Ascent of Mt. Lafay- ette — Execution of Burnham at Haverhill — Removal of the seat of government to Concord— Commerce of Portsmouth — The effect of the embargo, the war of 1812, and other causes — Right of search — Orders in council — French decrees — The embargo— it is unpopular— The federal party again in the ascendency — George Sullivan — -Aggressions of Great Britain — War becomes a probable event— Mes- 4 CONTENTS. sage of Governor T,a!igr!on— Debates in the senate and house— Speech of Gil- maii— Speech of Parrolt— Lotteries— Banks— Election of William Plummer— his war message — Preparations for war— Madi.son calls an extra session of con- gress — Increase of the army and navy— The militia called out— Campaign of 1812 — Daniel Webster — Progress of the war — Campaign of 1813 — Change in the judiciary— Great fire at Portsmouth— Campaign of 1814— Battle of Chip- pewa— Battle of Bridgwater— Miller— M'Niel— Weeks— Machinations of the federal party— Battle of New Orleans— Peace— Debates in the legislature- Speech of Mr. Handerson— Speech of Mr. Parrott— Gov. Plummer's message- Change in the judiciary— Richardson— Bell— Woodbury— Pierce— Release of . the poor prisoners — Project of a canal — Western emigration, . . . 327 CHAPTER XII. Controversy witli Darlmoutli College— Message of Governor Plummer — The state assumes jurisdiction — The trustees refuse to submit to the law — they are sum- moned to meet at Hanover — A quorum do not obey the summons — they declare the law unconstitutional — Second message of Governor Plummer — Wheelock re-appointed president — Charges against the professors — their address to the public-'Death of President Wheelock — Trial of llie Dartmouth college case — Arguments of counsel — Opinion of Chief Justice Richardson— overruled by the supreme court of the U. S. — President Monroe— The tuleration act— Toleration in Connecticut — Bill of rights — Act of 1701 — Vexatious lawsuits brought against dissenters — Toleration in Maryland and Vermont, Pennsylvania and Maine — Speech of Dr. AYhipple — Bill of rights— Speech of Dr. Whipple — Speech of Henry Hubbard — Dr. Whipple in reply to Mr. Parker — Speech of Ichabod Bartlett — The toleration act is assailed — it passes — is again assailed violently — finally becomes popular — The Methodists — The Baptists — The Universalists — Scenery of New Hampshire — Ascent up Mooschillock mountain — Owl's Head — Scenes in the valley of the Connecticut — View from Moosebillock — ^from Cata- mount hill — from Haverhill corner — from mouul Pulaski — Appearance of an American forest in autumn — Route to the While Hills from Haverhill through Bethlehem and Fraiiconia — from Lancaster — The Notch — Valley of the Saco — Scenery about Indian Stream and the cotinlry near the Magalloway--Dixvi!le Notch 393 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. CHAPTER 1. Introdcction. — The red race — TJie first settlers of New Hampshire, their character — The Scottish emigrants — Cohimbus — Early voyages — The Cabots — Discoveries of Jhe English, French, and Portuguese — Conquests of the Spaniards— North American Indians— Discovery of 'New Hamp- shire — Smith — His character — Mason and Gorges — Sir Walter Raleigh — Landing at Tortsmouth — Melancholy decay of the Indians — Search for gold — Description of the country— Attempt to introduce the feudal sys- tem into New Hampshire — Death of Mason — His character— Failure of the colony of Mason and Gorges — Reflections. The origin of American history is not found in chap the region of fjihulous legend. Its beginning and _J[^^, progress are distinctly known. The people of the United States are acquainted with their earliest ancestors, and with all the succeeding generations. They cannot, like the Romans, consecrate their origin, or rank the founders of the Republic with the gods. Nor have they built, like the nations of modern Europe, over the ruins offallen greatness. They inhabit a new world — a world conquered from barbarians but yesterday, and subdued by civili- zation to-day — a world which has begun to witness the birth and growth, but not the decay and death, of nations. No ancient empire has risen or moul- dered away within these limits. Except the red race, of doubtful origin and melancholy fate, America has no " surviving memorials of the 6 HISTORY OF CHAP, past." Here are no magnificent and picturesque .^.^i^ ruins — no stupendous monuments of forgotten skill — no curious relics of lost arts, the history and birth of which are in dispute. Here were neither high dukes nor mighty carls — neither a nobilit}', a banditti, nor a priesthood. Yet American history would be a treasure, if it could offer to the world nothing but the name of Washington. Massachu- setts would be honorod, if it were only for the genius of Franklin. New Hampshire will not be forgotten while she preserves the memory of Stark. The Jirst settlers of New Hampshire were a few merchant adventurers. They were not distin- guished for literature or religion. They did not come, like the pilgrims, Breaking •• the depths of the desert's gloom With their hymns of lofty cheer." Yet they were, like them, a bold and hardy few. Forsaking their English homes in quest of better fortune, they opened a path over the ocean, and chose the wildest solitudes of nature for the scene of their experiment. Their energy and perse- verance, their fortitude and courage, made them the terror of the Indians, and fitted them lor the struggles of freeilom against oppression. They were obliged to fight and conquer a savage foe. They gained their subsistence by a constant Mar- fare against the obstacles of nature. They went out to the field of toil with arms in their hands. While with their axes they bowed the woods, their firelocks leaned against the nearest trees. Their swords hung at their sides. In the character of these men avarice and roin.irrce were blended. NEW HAMPSHIRE. 7 After them came a band of the persecuted, chap. They were driven from a neighboring colony* „ ^ "for conscience sake." These shared the perils of the others. Their character took its impress from the troubled scenes in which their lives were passed. Their days, also, were devoted to the fields of toil and battle. Their descendants were nurtured from childhood in the midst of hardships. They were taught in the school of adversity. Resolution, firmness of purpose, and patient en- durance impress themselves on their character and mark their history. The next and most brilliant period of New Hampshire colonization is that which is connected with the history of Scotland. The border ro- mances, the songs of the bard, the Covenanter's honest faith, and all the proud recollections and glorious memories of the land of Burns, were to be transported to the wild woods of New Hampshire. They came with the settlers of Londonderry. In one thing the companies of the emigrants were all agreed. They founded government on the natural equality of men. They trusted to find all the duties growing out of civil society enforced and performed by the popular will. They believed that all the rights of man may be secured and en- joyed by a government purely elective and free. It is the province of history to hand down to pos- terity the evidence of their efforts and their suc- cess. I shall begin the narrative with the dis- covery of America. On the fourteenth of October, at dawn of day, 1492. Columbus led his followers to the shores of the * Massachusetts. Oct. 14. 8 HISTORY OF CHAP, new world. The brilliant court of Spain received __!_^ the news with transports of joy, and chanted " Te Deum* " for the discovery of a continent. But the great navigator sunk to the grave in neglect, while the world was yet unconscious of the nature and the merit of his services. . A jealous rivalf had sent him home from the theatre of his achieve- ments, loaded with fetters. He could solace him- self only by the consciousness of integrity, and by reflecting upon the great things he had performed. An illiberal envy attended his whole career. Many were struck with a sense of the great actions of Columbus. Many more were touched with sentiments of veneration and pity ;| but no one appeared as the avenger of his wrongs. The empress Isabella, his patroness, preceded him to the tomb, and when she was gone, there was none left to redress his injuries. He was doomed to em- ploy the little remainder of his days in fruitless solicitation to Ferdinand, for the punishmeiit of his oppressors and the restoration of his privileges. Vain effort ! The heartless monarch amused with unmeaning promises the man who had added a world to his dominions. Meanwhile, the health of Columbus declined. The ingratitude of his sovereign, whose reign he had rendered illustrious, wounded his generous spirit, and at length, exhausted by hardships, and heart-broken by being deceived in his expectations, he ended his days, in the fifty-ninth year of his age. He was buried at Valadolid, leaving an admir- * Irving. f Bovadilla. X Among these was Alonso del Val'ejo, the Captain of the vessel, on board which Columbus was conJined. NEW HAMPSHIRE. 9 ing world to reap the fruits of the most memorable chap. EXPERIMENT that liumaii genius ever planned or -_ performed. The voyage of Columbus, while it filled Europe with astonishment, excited England to emulate the glory of Spain. In less than two years after his return, Henry VIII. invested John Cabot, a 1495. Venetian merchant, and his son Sebastian, with ^5'^'^'' the command of an armament, destined to explore unknown regions. The chief object of Cabot was to reach India by the shortest course. He embarked at Bristol, and 1497. sailing due west, discovered an island, which the May. sailors called Newfoundland, and, in a few days Jimeai after, a smaller one, which he named St. Johns. He landed on both and brought off several of the natives. Continuing his course westward, he reached the continent at Labrador, and sailed alonsr the coast as far south as Virginia. Thus England was the second nation that ventured to visit the Nev/ World, and the first that discovered the continent of America. The Cabots, like Columbus, derived little benefit from their genius and maritime skill. They gave a continent to England, and were reverenced as the most re- markable men of their day. History preserves the fact, among the few incidents of their career, that the mean jealousy which pursued Columbus, when thwarted by his death, did not fail to seek out the luminous track of the Cabots and pursue them. The scheme of finding a shorter passage to the Indies was twice resumed under the reign of Hen- ry VIII. But neither voyage was successful, and both were disastrous. The fisheries on the banks 2 10 HISTORY OF CHAP, of NeAvfoimdland were an object of attention in the . ^_ reign of Edward VI.; and the prospect of opening a communication with China and the Spice Islands, without doubhng the Cape of Good Hope, con- tinued to allure the English. France and Portugal, also, resolved to compete with England and Spain. Gaspar Cortereal, under the patronage of the king of Portugal, 1501. ranged the coast of America for six hundred miles," ioOS. and Francis I., of France, excited, perhaps, by the stories of some savages f from the north-eastern coast, sent John Verazzani, a Florentine, to explore Jan 17 ^^^^ west. It is worthy of remark, that the repub- lics of Italy furnished all the great captains, who, under the patronage of foreign kings, made the early voyages to America. In the benefits or evils of those voyages Italy was destined to have rto share. The reign of Henry VIII. was unfavorable to discovery ; and a period of more than sixty years elapsed, during which the sovereigns of England gave but little attention to the country which was to add so much opulence to their crown. Yet the spirit of adventure did not slumber. Voyages con- tinued to be undertaken by companies and private adventurers. Merchants fitted out ships, and gave them to the conduct of the ablest captains. Though the voyages Avere seldom profitable to the projectors, yet, the sphere of English navigation was enlarged and the shores of North America became known. Hitherto no settlements had been attempted. The French were forward in these enter- * Bancroft's History United Slates. I. 14. t Bancroft, I. 15. NEW HAMPSHIRE. H prises.* They were early awake to the glory of chap discovery, eager for gain — emulous to excel. _,^_. Eighty-six years from the date of Columbus' first 1^^^- voyage, they had a hundred and fifty vessels at New- foundland, and in 1609 one French mariner had made more than forty voyages to the American coast. f While the English and French extended their discoveries over the north, the active spirits of Spain rushed to the more favored regions of Mex- ico and Peru. Cortez, Pizarro and Almagro were leading their followers to the climes of the New World. Mad with the passion for gold, they swept like a whirlwind through half-civilized hordes of natives, and gathered their booty amidst the ruins of cities. Their love of riches was equalled only by their contempt for industry. They hurried the Indians in crowds to the mountains, and forced them, with merciless rigor, to the fatal toil of the mines. Inflexible pride, determined valor, and deliberate atrocity marked their whole career of conquest and oppression. It was a union of ava- rice, fanaticism and chivalry. These three ele- ments combined, gave rise to those amazing efforts of mind and body, before which the efleminate idolaters of South America fell and disappeared. Desolation marked the footsteps of the Spaniards. The native emperors, incas, and people were in- volved in common destruction. Never were courage, fortitude and valor devoted to more sordid, unjust and barbarous ends. Never was genius more powerfully employed to scourge mankind. * See Bancroft's account of the voyages of Cartier, Robcrval, and Chau- vin, I. 18—25. t Bancroft, I. 21. 12 " HISTORY OF The paganism of the natives had allured to the invasion a few of the old bigots of Spain ; and it is sadly instructive to mark these champions of the cross, trampling, in the name of religion, upon the most sacred rights, and giving glory to God, amidst the destruction of life and the desolation of empire. The expeditions of Cortez and Pizarro terminated in the conquest of Mexico and Peru. The simple natives had been nearly exterminated. But a golden harvest had fallen into the lap of Spain. Ignorant of political science, the Spanish monarchy greeted this accession of treasure as the fruition of hope and the strength of empire. His- tory celebrated the achievements of the adven- turers, and the poetic genius of Spain invested them with a romantic interest. They knew not how weak is a throne resting upon golden pillars. They had not seen how strong may be a govern- ment enthroned in the hearts of the people. From the golden seed that was sown in Europe time ripened a bitter harvest. When it expand- ed to fruit, liberty, prosperity and industry died in Spain. The Cortes ceased to assemble ; public virtue expired ; and long before a century had run its round, it was apparent that the glory of ancient Castile had departed forever. Far different was the effect of English and French colonization on the northern shores of America. The action of the United States and the Old World upon each other forms the noblest fea- ture in their history and ours. We have trans- planted arts, manners and languages. They are transplanting liberty and the art of government. The history of colonization has always been a NEW HAMPSHIRE. 13 dark history. Whatever may have been the pro- fessed motives of the founders of colonies, their progress has been destructive to the native inhabi- tants. It is not improbable that the early voyagers to the North American coast possessed much of the rapacious spirit which deluged Peru with blood. Portugal had long since decided that human flesh was an article of traffic ; and in conformity with this, the natives were sometimes kidnapped. Here and there an instance is recorded in history. But there were causes operating to restrain the rapac- ity of the northern voyagers within very narrow limits. First, there was a dearth of gold in all the northern regions. Secondly, the natives of the North were strong and warlike ; those of Mexico and Peru were comparatively languid and effem- inate. Like all the inhabitants of the torrid zone, they yielded their independence with but a feeble struggle. Cortez confessed that he relied on noth- ing so much as the w^eakncss of his enemies. But the natives of the north were men of robust con- stitutions. They were hostile and jealous. When they were first induced to traffic in their furs» they demanded, in exchange, knives and weapons of steel.* They remembered injuries, and cancelled them in blood. The northern Indian never forgot to tell the story of his wrongs to his children, and they told it again to theirs, to the latest generation. But among the northern tribes there were marked distinctions. While the Mohawks, the Pequots, and the Tarateens of the far cast were fierce, and courted war, the Delawares, and the Penacooks of the 3Ierrimack, refused to shed the blood of Bancroft, I. 17. 14 HISTORY OF CHAP Englishmen. Tlic Indians of New Hampshire were ^^.^^ generally inclined to peace. Even when cheated of their lands, and insulted, they, in many cases, forhore to resent it, and often retired quietly before the advancing waves of emigration. Conspicuous among the northern voyagers to America, was Captain John Smith — a name that will he forever associated with the noblest achieve- ments in navigation. He was the founder of colo- nies — the father of states. It was he who first explored the coast of New Hampshire and the 1614. beautitul harl)()r of the Piscataqua. Withtwoships he ranged the shore from Penobscot to Cape Cod, and, returning to Englnnd, presented a map of the country to the young prince Charles. Though it is certain that European vessels had visited the coast before, though, for thirty years at least, European traders and fishermen had coasted along the whole line of New Hampshire, for the sake of its furs and its fish, yet nothing remains, even in tradition, to show that they ever entered the mouth of the Piscataqua, or landed upon the banks, or the shores of tlie sea. • While history retains a record of the generous affection of Pocahontas, the name of Smith can- not be lost ; and if we search the annals of the world, there are few whose adventures would lend greater charms to history or to fiction. Though born to a competence, he is found at a very early age embarking on the ocean. From his childhood he was a rover. When but thirteen years of age he sold his school books and satchel to obtain money to go j)rivately to sea ; and from that time his whole career was one continued romance. NEW HAMPSHIRE. 15 Whether we view him embarking for Italy, with chap. "a rabble of pilgrims," mounting the deadly _-l^ breach at Regal, fighting hand to hand with the Turks in the armies of Austria, wandering in the deserts of Circassia, conducted a prisoner in the country of the Cambrian Tartars, passing over into Africa, and visiting the Court of Morocco, or surveying the wild coast of New Hampshire, he appears everywhere to be equally remarkable for his eccentric genius, and his strange fortunes. After passing through a variety of military ser- vice, we find him, in 1607, in Virginia. The desponding minds of the colonists are turned to him as the only man who can extricate them from impending danger. He instantly adopts the only plan which can save them from destruction. He repels the hostile savages, and obtains for the colony the most abundant supplies.* When sur- prised, and taken captive, his eminent faculties do not desert him. He desires to speak with the Sa- chem. He presents him with a mariner's com- pass. He points out to the admiring savage the magical play of the needle. He expatiates on the shape of the earth, the vastness of the sea, the course of the sun, and the order of the seasons. Subdued by the influence of wonder, the Indians suspend their purpose. Opecancanaugh gazes with amazement, and, holding up the compass in his hand, gives the signal of reprieve. From that moment the Indians regarded Capt. Smith with a superstitious awe ; and when the Great Spirit " shut up the clouds," they sent to Jamestown to entreat that he would pray for rain. But though * Graharae's History United States, I., 50, 53. 16 HISTORY OF CHAP, he delayed his fate by this stratagem, it did not .^_^ procure his release. Yet they regarded him as an illustrious prisoner; and it was resolved to refer his destiny to Powhatan. This ferocious king in- stantly adjudged him to sufter death,* and ordered that his head be beat to pieces with clubs. His self-possession did not forsake him. He had dis- covered that Pocahontas, the favorite daughter of Powhatan, regarded him with aftection. When the appointed hour of death arrived, a large stone was placed before the king, and the executioners stood round it with clubs in their hands. f Captain Smith was then conducted to the spot, his head laid upon the stone, and the men prepared with their clubs to beat out his brains. | Amidst these dreadful preparations, Pocahontas stood with the crowd of women that surrounded the executioners. When she saw him dragged, defenceless and bound, but still struggling, to the place of execution, she gave way to loud lamentation. But the savage king was inexorable, and the chief executioner began to lift his club to strike, when Pocahontas rushed with mournful distraction to the stone, and clasping the victim's head in her arms, proffered her own to re- ceive the blow.§ At this gush of feeling, Pow- hatan relented. He dismissed the executioners, and pronounced the prisoner's pardon. Twice had death been strangely deferred ; but Captain Smith now gained from Powhatan, not only his life, but a quantity of provisions sutHcient to keep the colony from starving. When charged with sedition by the Virginians, it appeared, on investigation, that * Smitlf s Hist. Vir., Ibl. eil., I., p. 'ly. t Cainpbeir.s Hist. Vir., p. "9. X Bulk's Hist. Vir., I., p. 113, 114. 'hich Smith left behind him on his return to Enff- land, far from conciliating the natives by acts of hospitality, decoyed twenty of them on board, cautiously hoisted his sails before they wdre aware, hurried out to sea, and sold them for slaves in Malaga. Thus, without an injury to provoke him, or a show of hostility, the white man hurled at the Indian all the horrors of slavery and the slave trade. In vain would history seek to apologize for so perfidious a deed. It could spring only from that fierce and cruel avarice which has robbed Africa of her children, and entailed upon America the curse of slavery and the scoffs of the world. The country discovered by Captain Smith soon became of importance. Humor magnified its ad- vantages, and greedy credulity deemed none of its wonders too extraordinary for belief. Its lofty mountains, its forests of timber, its lakes, its nu- merous rivers and enchanted isles, dimly appearing in the distance, caught the eye of adventure and invited many, even of the nobility, to take active measures to promote its settlement. ^ Bancroft, History United States, vol. I., page 125. 3 8. 18 HISTORY OF CHAP. Forty noblemen, knights, and gentlemen, v>ere T .-^^-w constituted, by the sole authority of the king of England, a council "for the planting, ruhng, and erovernin^ of New Ensrland in America."* Among these were Ludowick, duke of Lenox, the mar- quises of Buckingham and Hamilton, and the earls of Pembroke, Arundel, Bath, Southampton, Sal- isbury, and War'>Yick. Various and strange Vv'ere the motives which, at that day, led these noblemen to project settlenients in the New World. Vision- ary ideas ever mingle with the spirit of discovery. Farm- They wcrc made a corporation with perpetual suc- knap,V cession, by election of the majority ; and their territories extended from the fortieth to the forty- eighth degree of northern latitude. The patent, or charter, which the king gave this company, was their warrant of authority, and was the foundation of all the grants made, of the couniry of New England, until by its odious monopoly it was com- plained of as " a grievance of the kingdom," and surrendered to the crovvu Thus tlie first govern- ing power exercised over New England was that CORPORATE power, wliich has often given a spring to enterprise, and as often threatened to overthrow those principles of civil liberty which first led the fathers of New England to her rocky shores. In the council of Plymouth there were two men whose fame belongs to New Hampshire. These w^ere Ferdinando Gorges, and Capt. John Mason. Gorges was a man of active genius and dauntless enterprise. He had been at the court of Eliza- beth,! and was a companion of Sir Walter Raleigh * Hubbard's New England; p. SO. Hume's History of England. t Hume. NEW HAMPSHIRE. 19 — one of the most renowned and attractive names chap. in English story — admitted to be a miiversal genius, '.^ a warrior both on land and sea, an orator, a phi- losopher, an historian, a poet, an architect, an elegant courtier, a bold projector, a founder of colonies — equally active and great in all — distin- guished for the most enviable success and the most pitiable reverses of fortune ; raised to the highest pinnacle of favor by the greatest female sovereign of England,* and perishing at last on the scaffold ; yet appearing upon the historian's page in glorious association with the most illustrious names of England. No man of that age exhibited so much vigor of mind, with so much versatility of talent > Nature seemed to have fitted him equally well for study or for action. There was hardly a subject which his pen did not touch, or a field of enterprise, however hazardous, which his adventurous foot did not enter. Gorges was full of the restless spirit of his great companion. After the peace of 1604, the king had appointed him governor of Plymouth, in England. He soon grew weary of the quiet round of official duty. He had heard vague stories of the new world, and was burning to embark on a voyage of discovery, when accident flung in his way a new cause of excitement. A captain in search of a northwest passage, brought into Ply- mouth five natives of America. f Gorges eagerly seized threej of them, and kept them in his service three years. He listened with enthusiasm to their « Queen Elizabclh. t Gorges, p. 21. f "These I seized," says Gorges. "Their names ^vere Manida, Skeltwar- roes, and Tasqixantnm. They were all of one nation, but of severall parts, and severall families.'" — Gorges' description of New England, p. 2. 20 HISTORY OF CHAP, half articulate tales of a country abounding in _i^ rivers, islands, fisheries, and stately woods. He* learned from them the number, force, disposition, and government of the natives, their customs, and modes of warfare. He made them trace in rude outline on the sand, the figure of the country; what mountains rose in it ; what great rivers ran up into the land ; what tribes and chieftains dwelt upon their banks. Naturally sanguine, his imagin- ation kindled at the tales they told, and he began to estimate the profits of discovery. In Captain Mason, he found a kindred spirit ; his inferior in acquirements, his equal in credulity, courage, and selfishness. Mason was a London merchant, but his roving fancy led him to enter the navy. After the peace, he was made governor of Newfoundland, and came out to America. On his return to Eng- land, he was elected a member of the Plymouth Council. From the cold island of Newfoundland he had looked with covetous desire towards the more southern lands of New England, and con- ceived the most extravagant ideas of the facilities they aflbrded for immediate wealth. He was not j(52i long in procuring from the Council a grant of all the land from the river of Naumkeag, now Salem, round Cape Ann, to the river Merrimac, and up each of those rivers to the farthest head thereof; then to cross over from the head of the one to the head of the other ; with all the islands lying within three miles of the coast. This was called the dis- trict of Mariana. But circumstances had now brought Mason and Gorges together ; for the former had become secretary, and the latter presi- * Gorges, p. 4. N E W 11 A 31 r S H I R E . 21 dent of the Council. They resolved to unite their chap. fortmies. Accordingly, the next year, a grant was _1_ procured, by Gorges and Mason jointly, of the ^^^^• province of Laconia. This comprised all the land between the rivers Merrirnac and Sagadahock, extending back to the great lakes and the river of Canada.* They now set to work, with characteristic vigor, to people the vast region they had bought. Will not after events show that in this their courage and resolution were more conspicuous than their gain? In the spring of the following year, they sent over 1623. some fish-mongers of London, with " a number of other people in two divisions." These were to establish a colony and fishery at the mouth of the Pascataqua. They arrived in safety. They had brought with them tools of various kinds and were well supplied with provisions. One party landed on the southern shore, and called the place Little Harbor. t From tlie name of Strawberry Bank, which they gave to the spot where Portsmouth now stands, a late historian infers that they touched the shore before mid-summer, and that a profusion of strawberry-blossoms, or fruit, welcomed their arrival. t They hastily erected salt-works, and nn<^§ iMK^Io hnnso vvns quickly prepared. The Other party of emigrants went eight miles farther up the river and sat down at Dover. || Thus came the first fathers to New ILimpshire. It is now to be seen with what spirit they will bear up against the rugged poverty of the soil, the in- * The St. Lawrence. f F. Belknap, p. 4. :j: Whiton, p. 1. ^ Adam.s's Annals of Portsmouth, p. 10. II At first named Norlham, afterwards Dover. 22 li I S T R Y F CHAP hospitable severity of the climate, and the opposi- '^^ tion of the surrounding Indians. Five thousand rude tenants of the woods then sufficed to inhabit a state which civilization has since peopled with nearly three hundred thousand souls. A small tribe dwelt at Exeter, another at Dover, and a third, the Pascataquas, on the banks of that river. The Ossipees roamed round the Winnipissiogee* and Ossipee lakes, and the Pequawkets dwelt on the upper branches of the Saco. The Penacooks lived on the beautiful lands around Concord, along the banks of the Merrimac; and the hunting- grounds of the Coos Indians extended through Grafton county and upward, over the meadows of Lancaster,! to the head waters of the Connecti(5ut. These confederated nations were distinguished by the general name of Pawtuckets, and were subject to the mild sway of the sachem Passaconaway. lie was old, had never seen a white man before, and was reverenced as the father and supreme head of the people. Peaceful and happy tribes ! How soon ybu arc destined to perish! You will fall, like leaves scattered by an autumnal blast. Civilization and barbarism have met together. Is it doubtful that the former will gain the mastery? Civilization and barbariwiii! IIu>v nilghij arc the energies of the one ; how poor and powerless the other ! At the mention of civilization, the tri- umphs of science rise before the mind, and all nature is seen made tributary to the wants and the fancy of men. At the mention of barbarism, the mind is ta*ansported to the solitudes of the forest. Woman is the slave of the wigwam, and man, far from * Whiton, p. S. t Oil Israel's river. NEW HAMPSHIRE. 23 being the conqueror of nature, is only left free to chap. follow her and appears to be her simple child. Art ...^..J^ binds him with no shackles. Society imposes no restraints. He consults no adviser but inclination. He roams or reposes at will. The simple natives received the little band of emigrants with friendship. It would have been easy to exterminate them; but they welcomed them with hospitality, for the children of the w^oods looked not to consequences. The Indians have now disappeared, and every memorial of them is lost, save when the ploughshare or the water- course dishumes some skeleton form or buried implement of the hunter, and reminds the present generation of their ill-fated predecessors. Thus a whole peculiar people have perished forever. The first years of the little colony at Pascataqua furnish few events of interest, until 1628; when 1628. the colonists were surprised at meeting Indians in the woods of Dover, hunting with fire-arms. The sale of them had been forbidden and had not been suspected. It was soon discovered that they pur- chased guns and ammunition of a trader in the Massachusetts colony. The vendor w'as seized at Weymouth, and sent prisoner to England. But the Indianiiad already learned, w4th fatal skill, the use of fire-arms. He was charmed with an instru- ment of destruction so potent, when compared with his feeble arrow and bow. These weapons he soon learned to despise, and freely gave the richest products of the chase for a rifle. The colonists were made to rue, to the latest day, the dire con- sequences of the traffic at Weymouth. Near the close of the next year, Laconia was 1629. 24 HISTORYOF CHAP, divided, probably* by mutual agreement,! between ^,J^ Mason and Gorges. The wild region east of the Pascataqua was relinquished to Gorges, and took the name of Maine ; while the tract west of this river and extending back into the country sixty miles, was confirmed to Mason. The county of Hampshire, in England, had been the place of his residence, and to his extensive grant in the Nev/ World, he gave the name of New Hampshire. The Pascataqua settlement now advanced slowly. Apart of Mason's associates in the "Company of Laconia," for the better security of their inter- ests, obtained a grant of the township of Dover, while Mason himself procured a charter of Ports- mouth. Thus early the colonists were divided into two distinct communities, and were familiarly called the Upper and Lower Plantations. They were subject to different regulations, were carried on under different auspices, and w^ere afterwards two distinct governments, like independent states. The Dover plantation was under the patronage of the "west countrie" adventurers, and they ap- 1631. pointed Thomas Wiggiii, their superintendent and agent. The lower plantation was under the pat- ronage of the London adventurers, and the first superintendent of Portsmouth, was Walter Neal. Tlie enterprise of the lower plantation soon whit- ened the harbor with a little fleet of shallops, fish- ing-boats, and skifis ; and while the English were busy with their lines, the Danish emigrants among them sawed lumber and made potash. Tlie few pieces of cannon ^^ hich the proprietors sent over to terrify the Indians, were placed at the northeast * F. Belknap, p. 8. f Whiton, p. 10. N E Vv 11 A 31 P S H I R E . 25 point of the Great Island, on a high rock, about a chap. bow-shot from the shore. It was thought that "the ..^^ redoubhng noise of these great guns, rolhng in the rocks, would cause the Indians to betake themselves to flight." But the colonists were soon in dan- ger of turning this artillery against each other ; for when the agent of Dover took possession of a point of land at Newington, the agent of Portsmouth claimed it, and both parties, heated by dispute, prepared to appeal to arms. But at length they were persuaded to refer the dispute, for arbitration, to their employers ; and thus, without bloodshed, the place acquired the name of Bloody Point. Shortly after the termination of this dispute Neal 1632. was summoned to an expedition against the far- famed pirate. Dixy Bull. This daring marauder had appeared upon the coast and raised an alarm by taking several boats and rifling the fort at Pemaquid. Neal equipped four pinnaces and shallops, and being joined by twenty more from Boston, proceeded to Pemaquid to meet the enemy. But a storm arose, and tlie winds that separated his own barques drove the pirates beyond the reach of pursuit. He was obliged to put back in a shattered condition, and the Boston forces returned home. When the plantations appointed their agents, they declared their " severall businesses" to be, trade, fishery, salt-making, building and hus- bandry. These common pursuits, however, were not all. The meagre profits of the fisheries and salt-making were not sufficient to satisfy the desires of such men as 3Iason and Gorges. To search for gold was the great object of their errand 4 2Q HISTORY OF CHAP to America. Mason believed the country to be ___ full of the precious metals concealed in mines. In this opinion he was not alone. Ever since the discovery of the New World was proclaimed in Europe, the strangest delusions filled the minds of men. America became at once the region of romance. Descriptions of it appeared in rapid succession, each presenting a new ac- cumulation of wonders. By these the people of Europe were completely infatuated. To them the western world was enchanted ground. Every island and lake were such as mankind had never dreamed of before. Every tree, and plant, and animal, assumed extraordinary forms and differed from those of the ancient hemisphere. Old Europe began to be despised, as too narrow, and seemed to offer to the heated imaoination nothing above me- diocrity. Columbus liimself, a man of sound understanding, declared that in America he had found the seat of paradise; and Ponce de Leon ranged, with his followers, through the Lucayo islands, in search of " the fountain of youth." The old were to become young, by bathing in its salutary waters. " Why do you quarrel," said a young cazique to the Spaniards, " about such a trifle as gold ? I will conduct you to a region where the meanest utensils are made of it." It was true that the natives of South America ignorantly wore the material from which the most precious jewels of Europe were made. The plun- derers of Mexico and Peru had actually returned laden with gold. Montezuma had exhausted his treasures to glut their rapacity. Their success had surpassed the wildest vision of the boldest NEW HAMPSHIRE. 27 imagination. It was everywhere extolled, and all chap. Europe began to dream of America as a land _.l^ where the sands sparkled with gold, and the earth was paved with glittering gems — where mountain and vale were brightly veined with silver, and crystal rivers glided over beds pebbled with dia- monds. While such were the fabulous tales, half believed in England, is it strange that Mason should have come to Portsmouth with the same visionary ideas of infinite wealth ? He knew that the Spaniards dug their gold from the mountains. New Hampshire was a region of mountains. Would fortune be less propitious in Laconia than in Mexico ? Why should he hesitate to adopt a conclusion to which he could so easily arrive by reasoning from analogy ? He did not hesitate ; and there were those among his followers vAio looked to Laconia as a region where nature would smile in eternal fertility and bloom — where wealth v/ould flow in upon them with the profusion of an ocean — where towns* and cities would rise as by a stroke of the enchanter's wand. It liad been described as containing- divers lakes, and extending back to a great lake and river in the country of the Iroquois. This river was said to be '< n falrc large river, well replcnisht with many fruitfull islands ; the ayr thereof is pure and wliol- some; the country pleasant, having some high hills full of goodly forrests and faire vallies and plaines fruitfull in corn, vines, chesnuts, wallnuts, and infinite sorts of other fruits, large rivers well stored with fish, and invironed with goodly mead- ows full of timber trees."! * Gorges, p. 31. f Gorges, p. 58. 28 HISTORYOF In the great lake were said to be " 4 faire islands, which are low and full of goodly Woods and Meadows, having store of game for hunting, as Stagges, Fallow-Deer, Elkes, Roe-Bucks, Beavers and other sorts of Beasts, which come from the main land to the said Islands. The rivers which fall into the Lakes, have in them good store of Beavers, of the skins of which Beasts, as also of the Elkes, the Salvages make their chiefest Traf- fique. The said Islands have been inhabited here- tofore by the Salvages, but are now abandoned by reason of their late wars one with another. They contain twelve or fifteen leagues in length and are seated commodiously for habitation in the midst of the Lake, which abounds with divers kindes of wholsome Fish. From this lake run two rivers Southward, which fall into the Eastern and Southern Sea-coast of New England."* Such was the description of Laconia, penned by Gorges himself in the true style of adventure. The king of England and his ministers entertained ideas of it scarcely less exalted, for in the patent of New^ England, they took especial care to convey "the Mines, Mincralls, Quarryes, Shoares, Soyles, Wa- ters, Lakes, Fishings, Huntings, Fowlings, Com- modities, Hereditaments, Prerogatives, Rights, Jurisdictions, and Boyalties, Privileges, Fran- chises, Escheats, Liberties and Prochemiences."f But it is not from the testimony of Gorges alone, nor yet from the teclmical language of the patent, that the visionary hopes of the colonists are to be inferred. It appears from the letters of the Ports- mouth planters themselves, that " their views were * Gorges, p. 47. j Gorges, pp. 31—36. Patents of New England. N E W HAMPSHIRE. 29 chiefly turned towards the discovery of lakes and cuav. mines." It also appears that tlicy expected to derive a considerable revenue from the culture of grapes. Tliey fell into the errors ^Yhich would naturally be committed by those who are at once 1633. sanguine and avaricious. Instead of subduing the forest, they penetrated into the earth. Instead of counting upon the natural growth of the colony, founded upon its apparent and well-known re- sources, they built their chief expectations upon the fortune of discovery. Agriculture they aban- doned for the uncertain and chance advantages of Indian trade and fishing, and for the cultivation of grapes. No mill was erected for grinding corn ; for " the colonists had none of their own to grind." Bread came from England in meal, except some corn and wheat, which were brought from Virginia and sent to the windmill at Boston to be ground.* Beef and corn they could have produced easily. But these were luxuries almost unknown to them. Tliey searched the earth for roots, and caught the wild game of the woods. At the end of ten years, so large had been their outlays and so small their returns, that the proprietors in England began to feel the supplies they furnished them to be a bur- den. The colonists themselves acknowledged that their golden hopes had failed. They did not in- crease in wealth or importance. No mines but those of iron were discovered, and these were not wrought. The lakes were not explored. The vines were planted,! but would produce nothing. -' The peltry trade with the Indians was of some value. So also were the fisheries. But neither * Prince's Annals, pp. 30, 70. f F. Belknap, p. 13. 30 HISTORY OF CHAP of them yielded great profits. Meanwhile, by the _^^ neglect of agriculture, they made but scanty inroads upon the forest. Three or four houses only had been built within the first seven years. The fiiture gTew dark before them, and they began to be dis- couraged. Around them lay a repulsive and un- explored wildernes_s. In ten years of privation they had scarcely gained a foothold. Cut off from all that made life sweet, obliged to derive their sup- port from an unkind soil, they saw before them only the prospect of struggling forever with penury, sickness and the undying hostility of the Indians. At the thought of all this they became deeply de- pressed ; and the question arose whether they should cling to the sinking colony longer, or depart to some region of brighter prospect and fairer pro- mise. But the despondency of others only served to heighten, by contrast, the undaunted resolution of Mason and Gorges. It awoke them to still greater exertions, and bore them up through many a vain efibrt to diffuse courage and hope amidst the general despondency and gloom. They re- mained as sanguine as ever of success, and con- tinued to advance with alalbrity against obstacles which drove their followers to despair. So it is with men formed by nature for great undertakings. They evinced, by all their conduct, that they had come to America with minds not to be broken by misfortune or depressed by adversity. An obsti- nate, unyielding temper shone conspicuously in Mason ; and it was this that sustained his spirits unbroken, while dejection hung like a black cloud upon all around him. His wildly romantic ambition extended his views forward, to results so NEW HA3IPSIIIIIE. 3] mngnificont, and so refreshed his confidence that he chap ever saw his glory ripening, and chided the seem- .^-J^ ingly dim vision of his timid followers. But they were sullenly discontented, and most of them re- solved to remove. Some abandoned their lands wholly. Others sold their shares and departed. Thus Mason and Gorges became immediately the principal, if not the sole proprietors. The shares which had been relinquished, fell of course into their hands. Others they bought, until nearly the whole came to their possession. They now looked around for means to revive the drooping colony. They appointed Francis Wil- 1631. liams governor, and sent over from England a fresh supply of servants and materials for build- ing. Shortly after this time the Plymouth colony 163.5. surrendered their charter to the crown. It had been complained of as a monopoly, and Gorges, seeing it in jeopardy, resolved to appear in person and defend it. He arrived at Westminster and soon gained an audience. The house being re- solved into a committee, Sir Edward Colce in the chair, Gorges came forvv'ard to the bar.* Sir Ed- ward briefly explained to him that the charier of the Plymouth colony liad been complained of as a "grievance of the Commonwealth; also that it was a monopoly, and that the colour of planting a colony had been put upon it for particular ends and private gain;" all which the house were to look into and to minister justice to all parties. First of all, demanded Sir Edward Coke, (he charter must be brought into the house and de- * Gorge?, p. 23. 32 HISTORY OF' CHAP. livered by Sir Ferdinando Gorges. To which that. -_^'-_ ardent hypocrite replied, in the canting tone of the day, — " For my own part," said he, " I am but a particular person, and inferior to many to whom the Pattent was granted, having no power to deliver it without their assents. Neither in truth is it in my custody." "Humbly bold in behalf of himself and the rest of those intrusted in the Pattent,"* he continued strenuously to maintain that " it could not be a grievance to the Publique, seeing at first it was undertaken for the advancement of religion, the enlargement of the bounds of a nation, the increase of trade, and the imployment of many thousands of all sorts of people."! A second and a third time he appeared before a committee of the house, and strove to convince them that all his ad- ventures were " for the advancenient of religion in those desert-parts, and that he had been drawne, out of zeal for his countryes happinesse to engage his estate so deeply as he had done."l This confused and sinister harangue availed noth- ing. When Parliament presented the "pub- lique grievances of the kingdome," the patent of New England was the first. § , They had heard Gorges and his " Learned Coimcell severall dayes, but they could not defend the same," and it was resigned to the king. Gorges did not fail to ascribe it to the influence of evil counsellors around the throne. "Notwithstanding," says he, "amongst those great swarmes, there went many that wanted not love and affection to the Honor of the King, and happinesse of their native country, however they were mixed with those that had the state of * Gorges, p. 21. | Gorges, p. 21. | Gorges, p. 28. ^ Gorges, p. 29. NEW HAMrSHIRE. 33 established Church Government in such scorne chap. and contemptj as finding themselves in a country _J-^ of Liberty, where tongues might speake without controule, many, fuller of malice than reason, spared not to speake the worst that evill affections could invent."* Previous to the surrender, he and Mason had taken care to secure to themselves some portion of the expiring interest. That of Mason compre- hended both his former patents ; and in September following, Gorges sold to him a tract of land on the northeast side of the Pascataqua. It extended three miles in breadth,! following the course of the river, from its mouth to its farthest head, and in- * eluded a saw-mill at the falls of Newichwannock. In the midst of his fond anticipations of better fortune. Captain Mason was removed by death. 1635. This happened near the close of the year. He had accomplished none of the great purposes for which he came to this wilderness world. He em- barked with vast expectations of boundless wealth and grandeur. He proceeded " the best time of his age, loaden with troubles and vexations from all parts." Golden visions hovered round him to the last, in spite of the light of experience. He had no religious views in the purchase and settlement of New Hampshire. His whole energies were absorbed in the discovery of wealth, and the aggrandizement of himself and his family. His darlinjr scheme was the introduction of the feudal system into New Hampshire ; by which his family were to be the lords, and the people tenants of the soil. For this he labored; for this he sacrificed * Gorges, p. 43. t F. Belknap, pp. 14, 15. 5 3-i HISTORY OF his all ; still dreaming of the profits of discovery, antl the glory of founding a state. But though a dreamer, he was at the same time a man of action. " This Captain John Mason was himself a man of action,"* is the testimony of Gorges. Nothing daunted him. Nothing deterred him. Though adversity might cloud his prospects, it never de- pressed his spirits. The frustration of his efforts and the frequent wreck of his hopes only seemed to display the indestructible vigor of his mind. Amidst disappointment and discouragement he continued to attempt the foundation of a feudal empire, until death interrupted his toils and left him only a reputation for attempting impossible things. In their American possessions, both Mason and Gorges readily embarked their whole property, expecting the investment to return to them suddenly with great gain. But their estates melted aw^ay, and they received no profits. Yet their efforts, though fruitless to themselves, were not wholly lost. Their daring energy excited other minds; and, like the first voyagers over an unknown sea, they discovered and pointed out the quicksands to others, who profited by their disastrous experience. Thus they left the spur of their example to those who should set on foot new enterprises, or improve those which they had so boldly begun. "I began," says Gorges, "when there was no hopes for the present bat of losse ; in that I w\is yet to find a place, and being found, it was itselfe in a manner dreadfull to the behoulders ; for it seemed but as a desart Wildernesse replete onely with a kind of * Gorges, p. 38. NEW HAMPSHIRE. 35 savage People and overgrowne trees. So as I chap. found it no meane matter to procure any to go — ^^ thither, much lesse to reside there ; and those I sent knew not how to subsist but on the provisions I furnished them withall."* Such was then a true picture of this now flourishing state, and such were the endeavors of the first settlers. In all the movements of Gorges there was a lack of system. "I was forced," says he, "to hire men to stay there the winter quarter at extream rates."! There was no place prepared to receive the emi- grants who consented to be the companions of his fortune. His enthusiasm allured them to his stand- ard ; his eloquence persuaded them to embark. When they became discouraged, he inspired them with confidence. When their provisions were ex- hausted, he supplied them. Meanwhile he con- tinued his exploring expeditions in the country, feeding his mind with visions of future splendor and power. But it was impossible to bear up against the obstacles of savage nature. It was impracti- cable to reap prosperity in a plan which neglected all the solid sources of growth. Gorges and Mason established no government. They employed persons to trade and fish for them, yet erected no tribunal to which they were ame- nable for fraud or breach of trust. They might commit the most flagrant crimes, and yet escape punishment. They might squander their goods, and yet avoid any civil liability. It was not, however, from undue confidence in man, or any mistaken views of the goodness of human nature, that they were led to dispense with the forms of * Gorges, p. 49. f Gorges, D. N. E., p. 12. 36 HISTORYOF CHAP, government and law. It was the philosophy of __!^ Gorges, that " profit and content are (for the most part) the motives that all men labor, however oth- erwise adjoyned with faire colours and goodly ! shadows."* lie often wondered and complained when their plans failed. But how could it be otherwise with those who neglected agriculture, which is like rearing the superstructure, having omitted the foundation? How could it be other- wise with those who, instead of grain, planted the vine and sought a purple vintage, as if the cold shore they dwelt on had been the brightest island of a tropic sea? Their scheme throughout, in all its details, was stamped with impracticability. They sketched out a fanciful system of lordships, and dwelt upon the plan of granting the lands sub- ject to quit rents and feudal tenures. The money necessary for this splendid government was to be dug from the earth ; the fashions and decorations were to be imported from the old world. They were to have stars and titles of nobility. But in all this they were doomed to disappointment. No lordships were established ; no order of nobility arose. There were neither titles to be enjoyed, nor wine-presses to be trodden. The same cold wilderness still stretched before their eyes. The rivers, broad and deep, rolled on, reflecting only the wild woods that had intermingled their branches and cast the shadows of ages over the waters. The same soil, rugged, but strong and productive, yet waited for the hand of industry, and refused to yield anything but to patient toil. It could not give them what it did not possess. It furnished wood * Gorges, D. N. E., p. 11. N E W H A ]\I P S H I R E . 37 and iron in abundance. But silver nor gold would chap. it reveal. Had it possessed these, New Hampshire .^.^^ might have been what Mexico is, and England would have shared the calamities of Spain. Well was it for posterity that the unnatural eyes of Adventure, alone, could discern mineral wealth in the hills of New Hampshire. Fortu- nate was it that the soil was, for the most part, reserved for men who should settle upon it with no chimerical and vain hopes of treasure ; but men viewing human life and society in a true light — not building the castles of avarice ; but living by their industry — expecting only the rain and dew upon the seed they had sown — hoping for health and competence — and laying the only sure founda- tion for a great and flourishing country in intelli- gence and public virtue — good schools, good morals, government, and sober industry. These are the strength of a state. CHAPTER II. Dover. — The Antinomians — Exeter — Form of government a democracy — Antinomian controversy in Massachusetts — Hampton — Government formed at Portsmouth— At Dover — Constitution — Causes which led to the settlement of Exeter— The Puritans — Contest between them and the Antinomians, Henry Vane, Mrs. Anne Hutchinson, Wheelwright— They are banished from Massachusetts— They come to Exeter — Their doctrines — Calvin — Calvinism — Union with Massachusetts — Wheelwright — His interview with Oliver Cromwell — The confederation — Passaconaway dis- armed — The White Mountains explored — Neal searches their summits for gold — description of them — Superstitious reverence of the Indians for their invisible inhabitants. The death of Captain Mason left the lower plantation on the Pascataqua under deep embar- rassments. He had been the moving spring in all its affairs, and his services were lost in the time of sorest need. But while the upper settlement lay under discouragement, the lower one also was struggling with difficulties. It was finally resolved that Captain Wiggin, tlie superintendent, should make a voyage to England to obtain more ample means for its advancement. He procured a num- ber of families from the west of England, some of them men of property, and " of some account for 1633. religion," to come over and increase the colony. Trade was their object, and they resolved to build a town. Accordingly, they divided the land on Dover neck into small lots ; and on the most invit- mg part of that beautiful eminence which hes be- tween the two branches of the river, they erected NEW HAMPSHIRE. 39 a church. Danger compelled them to surround it chap. with an intrenchment, and flankarts. High above .^^J^ the surrounding shores, commanding an extensive and delightful prospect, stood this first edifice, consecrated to the public worship of God. A church ! Seldom has the New England village been found without one. Its spire, pointing to heaven, is the ensign of those who put not their trust in outward show, but in the inward purity. But the pious Leveridge, whom Wiggin brought over to minister to the people, was soon obliged to leave them for want of support ; and he retired to the Plymouth colony. After this, wandering ad- venturers,* and artful impostors, (as they were 1634. supposed to be,) came and preached to the people. George Burdet stole the hearts of the majority, so that they elected him governor, to the defeat of 1636. his rival, Wiggin. He represented his opponents as hypocritical, and that, under pretence of greater purity and discipline in matters of religion, they 1637. were aiming at nidependent sovereignty. At this time the far-famed Antinomian contro- 1638. versy, at Boston, had occasioned a violent strife and schism. It terminated in banishing from that colony the principal persons who bore that name of re- proach. Conspicuous among the exiles were the learned and truly pious Wheelwright, and his famous sister, Anne Hutchinson. They had before purchased some land of the Indians at Squamscot Falls, and now came, with the few friends who followed them into banishment, and began a plan- tation. They called it Exeter. Desirous to give 163S. efiiciency to those doctrines which they sacredly * F. Belknap, p. 18. 40 HISTORY OF CHAP, cherished, and for which they had been driven from _,.J^ Boston, they formed themselves into a church. They also combined into a separate body pohtic, and chose rulers and assistants. Each ruler had two assistants. 1638. These were sworn into office, and the people were as solemnly sworn to obey them. Their rulers, with the assistants, were elected annually. The laws were made in a popular assembly, and formally assented to by the people. Though they styled the king " the Lord's anointed," and punished treason against the king or the country, rebellion and sedition, yet in all their proceedings they presented a specimen of a pure democracy. They founded government on the true basis, viz., the consent of the governed. They recog- nised the right of every man to have a voice in the selection of his rulers ; thus making the people the source of power — the fountain from which it flows. This government conferred upon man a perfect equahty of rights. It made the people subject to no. laws but those of their own enacting, and it left in their own hands the absolute right of repeal ; thus giving them the power to correct public evils so soon as they should manifest themselves. This little association of exiles I consider to be the first institution of government in New Hampshire.* The colony of Mason cannot be regarded as such. It contemplated nothing but amassing wealth. It was formed wholly for purposes of trade and emolument. It imagined a system which was wholly impracticable, and was never, in fact, at- 1638, tempted. The settlement at Exeter, therefore, was * Trumbull's Hist, of Connecticut^ vol. I., p. 6. NEW HAMFSHIKE. 41 the foundation of the state. That government has chap. continued with trifling alteration for more than two .- hundred years. Two hundred years ! How wide a space in the world's history ! In that period what revolutions have convulsed the earth ! In that period Napoleon has run his career, changed the face of Europe, and died in exile. England has deposed sovereigns, reared a Commonwealth, and changed, again and again, the entire structure of her monarchy. France has overturned thrones, and all Europe has been shaken by the earthquakes and thunders of revolution. South America has been made to reek with blood unprofitably shed. The farthest east and the west, even to savage wilds, have been desolated by war. But with little interruption the northern states of America have shown to the world a proud example of liberty, stability, and progress. About this time the plantation of Hampton was i63S. formed at a place which the Indians called Winni- cumet. The salt meadows had attracted the knap, p. notice of Massachusetts, and the general court of that colony had empowered Richard Dummer and John Spencer to build a house there. This settlement opened the way and invited some per- sons from Norfolk, in England. They shortly afterwards came over, and the Hampton settle- 1638. mcnt, with this accession, numbered fifty-six. It was considered at this time as belon«jinff to the colony of Massachusetts. After the death of Capt. Mason, his widow, i639. weary of the great expenses and inadequate re- turns of the Portsmouth plantation, informed her 1639. servants that they must provide for themselves. 6 1640. 4)2 . HISTOKYOF Some removed with their goods and cattle ; others remained, keeping possession of the buildings and improvements, which they henceforth claimed as their own. But the houses at Newichwannock were consumed by fire, and nothing was left of Mason's estate but a doubtful interest in the soil. Thus, the people were left without a government. After the example of Exeter, they formed them- selves into a body politic* Those of Dover did Oct. 22. the same.f By a written instrument, signed by forty-one persons, they agreed to submit to the laws of England and such others as should be enacted by a majority of their number, until the royal pleasure should be known. Here was a constitution, not dissimilar to that which is now kept sacred by a mighty nation, grown up around that first experiment upon constitutional govern- ment. Thus, I have briefly traced the history of these first four republics of the wilderness. They rose humbly from the forest. They stood as four cities of refuge, thrown open to those whom the sword of persecution might drive to them from beyond the Atlantic, or from the borders of the neighboring colonies. But it is here to be remarked that they were in fact J governments of the churches. The Bible was their law book ; and when the magistrate enquired his duty, he asked only what is the will of God. The plantation at Exeter formed the first congregational church, that at Hampton the second, that at Dover the third. Their diflicul- * The time when is uncertain. f F. Belknap. ^ With the exception perhaps of Portsmouth, where a small Episcopal society had been formed, but no Congregational society existed there for many years. N E W H A M P S H I K E . ^i3 ties, embarrassments and bickenn«fs, arose from chap. ... • II vexed questions of religious faith and practice. , _. The backshding of some church member was always an event of importance. The imprudence of some minister was sufficient to agitate all the colonies. These three plantations were in all their circumstances much alike. Their governments were essentially the same. Yet the settlement at Exeter must be regarded as the most important, *both in its origin and in its influence upon the character of the state. It was made up of the persecuted Antinomians. But the history of the Antinomians is so intimately connected with that of the puritans, that it is impossible to present the one properly, without at least a preliminary view of the other. Without such a view, the character and motives of the first settlers of Exeter would be but little understood. The term Antinomian was a name of reproach. It signifies, an opposer of law. The Exeter settlers were deemed oppo- sers of law ; and I now propose to glance at the history of the puritans, in order to show who were these Antinomians — why they were thus stigma- tized, and how it came to pass that they were driven out from Massachusetts, and came, as exiles, to take shelter in the woods of New Hampshire. Next after the merchant adventurers at Ports- mouth, came the band of the persecuted to Exeter. Massachusetts was peopled by a feeble company of puritans, who fled from religious persecution in England. Massachusetts was destined in hev turn to draw the sword of persecution, and to people other colonies with the exiles whom she drove from her borders. Iler intolerance founded Rhode 44 HISTORY OF CHAP. Island, and gave immortality to the name of Roger . J_ Williams. The puritans distrusted the power of truth to work out her own triumphs. This, however, was the error of the age in which they lived ; and on that account they demand from posterity, when passing judgment upon them, a magnanimous for- bearance. History would do them injustice, did it fail to suggest the universal prevalence of this error, as an apology for the violence which the cause of religious liberty received at their hands. The puritans never professed to be advocates for freedom of conscience. From their writings they carefully excluded the idea of religious liberty. They demanded of the Church of England the right to enjoy their faith unmolested ; not because they approved of toleration, but because they believed they had found the true faith, and that all opposition to it was rebellion against God. They expressly denied and repudiated the doctrine of toleration, as a heresy, whenever it was imputed to them in Eng- land ; and when they came to America, they came, not to establish religious liberty, but to enjoy, unmolested, the peculiarities of their own faith. They lied to the New World to escape from inquisi- tion — not to establish a system from which inquisi- tion should be excluded. They regarded their dis- tant retreat rather as a home and household of their own, than as the world's asylum, and they claimed a right to dictate the terms on which their guests should enter. American eloquence and poetry have frequently eulogized them for opening a refuge for the world's outcasts. This is far from being true. They had no such intention. They always claimed NEW HAMPSHIRE. 45 the right to thrust out those v. honi they should find chap. to be enemies to their safety and harmony. Such . J_ was the ilhberal spirit by which they were actuated, in common with tlie age in which they lived, that they ever regarded the advocate of new doctrines as an intruder, coming to sow tares in the field. They experienced the alarm which the careful shepherd feels at seeing a wolf enter his fold. The fame of Massachusetts had gone abroad to the most distant lands, and the year 1635 witness- iq^s. ed an accession of three thousand emigrants to the puritan colony.* Among these came Henry Vane, the younger ; a youthful statesman of aspir- ing mind, but of spotless integrity. His admirable genius, his energetic will, his noble devotion to the cause of civil and religious liberty, rank his name high amongst those of whom history may be proud. The author of "Paradise Lost" has composed his eulogy in the most splendid forms of the English language. His elevated rank, his distinguished ability, his piety, and love of freedom, commended him to the freemen of Massachusetts, and he was elected governor, notwithstanding his extreme 1636. youth and want of experience. Under his admin- istration, the effect of religious divisions began to be felt, and the formation of two distinct religious parties may be perceived. The first party consist- ed chiefly of the original settlers. They had founded the commonwealth, and were intent upon building it up. They were satisfied with the es- tablished order of things. It was the work of their hands. They were afraid of innovations, and » Bancroft, I., p. 383. 46 HISTORYOF dreaded the effects of unlimited freedom of discus- sion. The other party consisted of persons lately ar- rived in the colony. They had come, not so much to build up a commonwealth as to establish, enjoy and perpetuate entire freedom of religious opinion. They had fled from the oppressive laws of Europe, and they determined to resist every form of despot- ism over the mind in America. It was their pride to follow out the principles of the reformation of Martin Luther, w^ith logical precision, to all their consequences.* The founders of this party were, Mrs. Anne Hutchinson and her brother, John Wheelwright; the former, a woman whose eloquence and admirable understanding were universally ac- knowledged and admired. Mr. Wheelwright, her brother, was a clergyman of elegant accomplish- ments and devoted piety, and, at that time, the minister of Braintree, which then formed a part of Boston. When Mrs. Hutchinson and her brother examined the institutions of Massachusetts, they found this new building of the reformation defec- tive, and proceeded in very bold language to point out the "flaws." They denounced the clergy as "ushers of persecution," and " popish factors" — the magistrates as "priest-ridden," and as not hav- ing imbibed the true doctrines of Christian reform. f They were encouraged by Henry Vane. The men of learning and members of the general court adopted the opinions of Mrs. Hutchinson, and a majority of the people sustained her in her pre- sumptuous rebellion against the clergy. Thus, at the outset, the party of Mrs. Hutchinson was in * Bancroft, I., p. 387. f Bancroft, I., 387. NEW HAMPSHIRE. 47 the ascendency. Bat the subject became of the chap. highest political importance, and both parties pre- _J^ pared for an obstinate contest. Nearly all the clergy clustered together under Winthrop, and selected^ him as their candidate for governor ; while the new sectarians rallied under Vane. The whole colony was convulsed with the contest. Throughout Boston and its environs the tide of enthusiasm rose to an unprecedented pitch. The nicest shades of faith were of sufficient magnitude to throw the whole community into transports or broils. The most abstruse distinctions were de- bated with a'confidence and a swell of importance, such as the great fathers of theology never felt or comprehended. The general court consumed its sessions in debating what quantity and quality of piety should be preached on the coming Sabbath, and on Mon- day they enquired what minister had preached sedition the Sunday before. The speeches of the members were made up of apt texts of Scripture, endowed with a new and powerful meaning, de- signed for the context into which they found them- selves thus unceremoniously introduced.* The shops were supplied with elaborate essays, and the streets thronged with crowds eagerly discussing the subtlest points of controversy. Many persons declared themselves in personal companionship with the Holy Spirit. Some became insane, and others, plunged in learned doctrinal disquisitions, forgot the duties of active benevolence. The Wheelwright men were unforbearing and impatient of contra- diction. Mrs. Hutchinson divided the Christian * Grahame. 4S HISTORY OF CHAP, souls into sound and unsound, and stigmatized the n .... ___ last as a set of " unchristian vipers." The Win- throp men, in return, denounced the followers of Wheelwright as fanatics, extreme Calvinists and Antinomiaiis. In Mrs. Hutchinson they found an unconquerable antagonist — slow to hear, quick to speak. She assembled conferences, presided in person, and kept the lire of controversy in a con- stant blaze. She attacked her opponents with acrimony, and those who refused to receive her doctrines found the consequence to be a full mea- sure of abuse. " There is no peace in the neigh- borhood," said the clergy. " Home and the fire- side have no quiet." Though they admitted her to be an adept in debate, they professed to find her deficient in all the gentle graces that adorn the female character. Meanwhile election day arrived, and on that occasion the pious Wilson deemed it his duty to climb into a tree to harangue the people at the polls. The result of the election proved the Winthrop party, the fathers and founders of the colony, to be in a majority. They elected their governor and their candidates for the magistracies. When they found themselves in possession of power, they procured a movement to be made in the general court. Thus did the theological jar gain admission into the legislature of the colony. 1637. An act was passed censuring Wheelwright and his friends for sedition. Vane, who pleaded eloquently for the liberties of Catholics and Dissenters in Parliament, and afterwards laid down his life in the cause of religious liberty, remonstrated, but inef- fectually, against this act of censure. He, likewise, NEW HAMPSHIRE. 49 opposed the alien law, which the puritan fathers chap. passed, for the purpose of excluding "such infatu- L^ ated men as Wheelwright" from the colony. Wheelwright and his friends, however, bade de- fiance to the decrees of the court. They avowed the dictates of conscience to be of higher authority than acts of legislative assemblies. They declared themselves to be, as usual, in direct communication with the Holy Spirit, and guided by immediate revelations from heaven. Winthrop and the pious fathers now excited the people with apprehensions of an immediate insurrection of lawless fanatics. This spread alarm through the colony. They declared themselves to be on the eve of a revo- lution, and that it was a crisis calling for a convo- cation of the grand synod of the clergy of New England. It was accordingly convened, but the mountain of investigation gave birth to nothing. The synod found, that with all their theological acumen, they could discover no criminal difference between the dreaded Antinomian heresy main- tained by Wheelwright and his sister, and the more orthodox tenets of Winthrop and Colton. They therefore adjourned, and left to the civil magistrates the task of punishing the leaders of Antinomianism. The magistrates, glad of an op- portunity to exercise their newly acquired power, passed sentence of banisliment upon Wheelwright, Anne Hutchinson and Aspinwall. The exiles, wearied with opposition, took up their march for the wilderness, seeking a refuge from intolerance, — banished from among banished men — exiles from a place of exile. Dissenters could not tolerate a dissenter. 7 50 HISTOEY OF CHAP. Thus ended the Aiitiiiomian controversy in Mas- ^ sachusetts. It now remains to point out the dis- tinctive doctrines of each party. First, then, it is to be observed that the Wheelwright men were rigid Calvinists. They did not come to Massa- chusetts with the first band of emigrants. When they arrived, they found that the colonists had relaxed somewhat from the precise tenets of Cal- vin. They were placing what was considered an undue reliance upon good works, and were swerv- ing from the true faith on the important subjects of election and foreordination. They proclaimed the precise dogmas of Geneva, wdth which they had come freshly laden, and "reproached the colonists with being practical men under a covenant of works." The Winthrop men wished to pre- serve Calvinism, but softened and mellowed down with an infusion of what they deemed practical religion. The Wheelwright men relied for sal- vation on absolute predestination, which could not be affected by the merits or demerits of men's actions. The Winthrop men relied for salvation on faith and good works. Wheelwright believed that the divine choice had rested, from all eternity, upon a certain number, to whom grace was given by an absolute, unchanging decree, Winthrop believed that the salvation of men w^as not so abso- lutely decreed as to be impregnable against the assaults of temptation and sin. The divine will is unchangeable, said Wheelwright. The eternal counsels of God are sure. Is the will of Heaven to be defeated by the sins of man ? Of what use, then, enquired Winthrop, is repentance ? To what purpose is the practice of virtue and pietv. NEW HAMPSHIRE. 51 since the divine favor is neither to be propitiated chap. nor forfeited ? Wheelwright was himself a most _.-J^ powerful pulpit advocate of Calvinism. Both he and his sister, in their conduct and doctrines, were prone to extremes. Yet in the history of the Calvinists there is much to palliate error and much to mitigate the harshness of censure. Liberty never had braver defenders than were these extreme Calvinists. Almost always in the old world, and generally in the new, the warfare for Calvinism has been a w^arfare against oppression. The soldier of the cross, in the Calvinistic sense of the term, has ever been the soldier of liberty ; and of all the multitudes who have worshipped at the shrine of that goddess, few have been more devout. They have investigated the bounds of authority. They have set limits to the power of kings. They never were the slaves of priestcraft. In their system of church government they acknowledge no sovereign pontiff. It is a pure democracy. The will of the majority is law. There is nothing to disturb equality of rights. Whatever power the clergy may have obtained, is no fault of the system itself; for no power of necessity pertains to them or to any officer of the church. The humblest member has no superior but the King of kings. Nor is the pastor superior to any brother, except it be in faith, humility, and hope. He has no greater power over the brother than the brother has over him. They are monitors of each other — counsellors of each other. They use no liturgy — they bow to no confessor. The pastor is but the expounder of the divine will. The body of the church are the judges of it, and God is the 52 " HISTORY OF CHAP, judge of all. This system leads, of necessity _-.-i^ and naturally, to popular liberty. The idea that wealth is to be deified, and government founded upon property, never sprung from the system of John Calvin. It is a plant of after growth amongst us. The democratic theory springs naturally from the Calvinistic system of church government. The theory has been caught up by thousands who have rejected the creed. The Calvinists were ad- herents of a system that sprung from the people. The great reformer was himself a plebeian. His infancy was cradled in a lowly abode. His youth and manhood were spent in wrestling with the errors of a world. He raised and elevated an en- slaved peasantry. He exposed the crimes of a corrupt priesthood. He was tlie advocate of com- mon schools, the glory of New England. On the whole, humanity is largely indebted to the man whose cruel burning of Servetus has left an indel- ible stain on his memory. Thus the motives of the first settlers of Exeter were in harmony with democratic principles of gov- ernment. They were exiles "for conscience sake." They came to the wilderness for freedom. They were tried in the school of misfortune ; they were disciplined by struggling with persecution. Such was the Exeter settlement. Christianity presided at its birth and " rocked its cradle."* It grew up. It put forth its hands with increasing strength, and displayed in its form the beauty of youth. It ripened to maturity. It became the State of New Hampshire — a member of that Union which binds together a mighty confederated Republic. * Bancroft. N E W H A I\I P S H I R E . 53 Four distinct governments had been formed on chap. the several branches of the Pascataqua. These — 1^ combinations were but voluntary agreements. They might be invaded by capricious leaders, or dashed asunder by the first wave of popular dis- content. The people were too much divided to form any general plan of government, and the dis- tracted state of the mother country cut off all hope of the royal attention. In this state of things, the minds of the more considerate men were turned to a union with Massachusetts. The affair was agi- tated for more than a year, and on the fourteenth ^pt.'^ of April, it was concluded by an instrument of union, subscribed in the presence of the general court. Thus did Massachusetts spread the broad wing of her jurisdiction over the Pascataqua set- tlements. Her laws now took immediate effect in New Hampshire, and the histories of the two plan- tations, for a period of thirty-eight years, become to blended together. The population of New Hamp- ' shire, at this time, did not exceed one thousand, which was about one twentieth of the whole popu- lation of the American colonies. When the act of union took place, one extraordinary concession was made to New Hampshire. By a law of Mas- sachusetts, a test had been established, which pro- vided that none but church members should vote in town affairs, or sit as members of the general court. This gospel requisite was dispensed with 1641. in favor of the New Hampshire members, and her freemen were permitted to vote in town affairs, and her deputies to sit in the general court, without regard to religious qualifications ; an amazing stride in liberality — a stretch of toleration, which 54 HISTORY OF CHAP, some declared to amount to absolute atheism, and n ^^J^ others looked upon as the entering wedge of impi- ety, destined to sunder the goodly bonds of society. It sent a shudder through the whole body of the church. Under the new order of things, Wheelwright was no longer safe. His sentence of banishment was still in force, and when the laws of Massachu- setts took effect in New Hampshire, he was obliged to make another remove, to escape the sword of persecution. Attended by a few faithful followers he withdrew to Wells, in Maine, and there gathered 1 small church. He was afterwards permitted to 'eturn, and exercise his ministry at Hampton, ^leanwhile, a revolution in England had raised Jliver Cromwell to the head of the English com- monwealth. Some time afterwards, Wheelwright went to England, and was conducted to the pres- ence of Cromwell. The Lord Protector, with characteristic constancy to his early friends, recog- nised him as an old college acquaintance. They had been at the University together. " I remem- ber the time," said Cromwell, turning to the gen- tlemen then about him, " when I have been more afraid of meeting Wheehvright at foot-ball than of meeting any army since in the field." Cromwell received him kindly, took him into favor, and ap- pointed him to a post of distinction. After the 1660. restoration, he returned to Salisbury, in New Hampshire, where he died in 1680, at the advanced age of more than eighty years. It will be remem- bered that the immediate cause of Wheelwright's banishment, was a sermon which he preached at Boston. That sermon was considered, by the NEW HAMPSHIRE. • 55 magistrates, as " tending to sedition." " But it chap. was not such," says Savage, " as can justify the court in their sentence for sedition and contempt, nor prevent the present age from regarding that proceeding as an example and a warning of the usual tyranny of ecclesiastical factions." Scarcely had the act of union taken place, when 1642. the settlers were alarmed by apprehensions of an attack from the Indians. Rumors were circulated of a plot formed for the utter extermination of the English. A party was immediately despatched to seize and disarm Passaconaway. The old chief, 1642. as a pledge of amity, readily delivered up his guns. It was soon discovered that the reports of a plot had but a slight foundation, and the affair ended with an apology to Passaconaway, for the acts of violence which had been committed. But ground- less as this alarm proved, it drew the attention of the colonists to the advantages of a confederation. They were surrounded by common difficulties and menaced by common dangers. On the one hand, the Dutch coveted their possessions. On the other the French threatened to encroach. All around them lay savage tribes, against whom they could rely for security only upon their arms, their union and their valor. Influenced by these con- siderations, the inhabitants of four colonics, viz., Connecticut, New Haven, New Plymouth, and Massachusetts, which embraced New Hampshire, formed a confederacy. It lasted for half a century — a type of that more glorious Union under whose broad wings their posterity now repose. By the articles of confederation, as they were called, these colonies entered into a perpetual 56 HISTORY OF CHAP, league of friendship and amity. It was declared J^ to have a twofold object. It was to propagate the gospel and for mutual safety and welfare. Each plantation was to retain its own jurisdiction and government. No other colony could be received as a confederate, nor could any two of the confed- erates be united into one, without the consent of the rest. They decreed the estabHshment of a legislative assembly to manage their affairs, and this consisted of two commissioners, or members chosen from each colony. All affairs of war or peace, leagues, aids, charges, number of men for war, division of spoils, and whatsoever is gotten by conquest, receiving of more confederates for plantations, and all things of like nature, which are the proper concomitants and consequences of such a confederation, for amity, offence and defence, were weighed and determined by these commis- sioners, and the determination of any six of them was to be binding upon all. The expenses of all just wars, were to be borne by each colony, in proportion to its number of male inhabitants. But the commissioners were directed to take into con- sideration the causes of such war ; and if it should appear that the fault was in the colony invaded, such colony was not only to make satisfaction to the invaders, but to bear all expenses of the war. The commissioners were also authorized to frame and establish agreements and orders, in general cases of a civil nature, wherein all the plantations were interested, for preserving peace among themselves and preventing, as much as may be, all occasions of war, or difference with others. It was also wisely provided in the articles, that runaway ser- NEW HAMPSHIRE. 57 vants and fu2jitives from justice should be returned chap. . . II. to the colonics to which thc}^ belonged, or from — 1^ which they had fled. If any of the confederates should violate any of the articles, or in any way injure any of the other colonies, such breach of agreement was to be considered and ordered by the commissioners of the other colonies. Such were the powers of the general government of the colonies ; and it was expressly provided that this general power should not intermeddle with the gov- ernment of any of the jurisdictions ; which by the third article was preserved entirely to themselves.* While the leading men of the colonies w ere busy 1642. with the confederation, Capt. Neal explored the White Mountains.! He was by no means devoidj of the passion for discovery ; and a feature so prominent in the scenery of New Hampshire could not fail to attract his attention. The Indians had given the name of Agiocochook to the whole group of northern mountains. These awful summits they regarded with superstitious veneration. The red man believed that a powerful genius presided on their overhanging cliffs and by their waterfalls. His imagination peopled them with invisible beings. He saw the Great Spirit in the clouds gathered around their tops. He heard his voice speaking in the revels of the storm, and calling aloud in the thunders that leaped from cliff to cliff and rumbled in the hollows of the mountains. Wherever sur- passing excellence appears in the works of nature, the Indian discerns the presence of a divinity. He believes that some unknown agency has made the * Pitkin's Hist. U. S., pp. 50, 51. Holmes' American Annals, vol. I., pp. 32(3-7. t Whiton. p. 11. \ Winthrop, Hist. New England, H., C7, 68. 8 58 HISTORY OF CHAP, firmament, and set a light in the eastern sky. A ._-,I^ god resides in the stars, the lakes, and the recesses of the grottos. He sees him in the clouds and hears him in the winds — frowning in the wintry blast — breathing in the zephyrs of spring — smil- ing in the first blush of morning, and the last hue of twilight that lingers above the pines in the western sky. In his undefined ideas of Nature, the sentiment of fear is always mingled. He cannot solve the origin of her changes or analyze her laws. Every uncommon appearance excites his amaze- ment and strikes him with terror. With every hidden agency, with every mysterious influence of Nature, he blends the idea of a divinity. Super- stition springs up in his mind from all her inexpli- cable relations and remarkable features. Influ- enced by fear, the Indians never ascended the White Mountains. They supposed the invisible inhabitants would resent any intrusion into their sacred precincts. But while they presented an impassable barrier to the Indian, they offered a charm to the mind of the white man, and their supposed mineral wealth allured him to their heights. Such an impression had they made upon the imagination of Neal, that he set out on foot, attended by two companions, to reach them through an unexplored forest. He described them, in the most exaggerated style, to be a ridge £' extending an hundred leagues, on which snow lieth all the year, and inaccessible, except by the gullies which the dissolved snow hath made. On one of these mountains the travellers reported to have found a plain of a day's journey over ; whereon nothing grows but moss ; and at the further end NEW HA Mr SHI RE. 59 of this plain, a rude heap of mos«^ stones, piled up chaf. on one another, a mile high ; on which one might — i^ ascend from stone to stone, like a pair of winding stairs, to the top, where was another level of ahout an acre, with a pond of clear water. This summit was said to he far ahove the clouds ; and from hence they heheld a vapor, like a vast pillar, drawn up by the sunbeams out of a great lake mto the air, whence it was formed into a cloud. The country beyond these mountains, northward, was said to be " daunting terrible," full of rocky hills, as thick as mole hills in a meadow, and clothed with infinite thick woods. They had great expec- tation of finding precious stones ; and something Cei- resembling crystals being picked up, was sufficient "'^' * to give them the name of " Crystal Hills." From hence they continued their route in search of a lake and " faire islands." But their provisions were now well nigh spent, and the forests of La- conia yielded no supply So they were obliged to set their faces homeward, when "the discovery wanted but one day's journey of being finished." Late in the year, depressed with that disappoint- ment which ever treads upon the heels of extrava- gant expectation, they returned from their melan- choly journey across the wilderness. They seemed to expect a treasury underneath every foot of the rude soil. They imagined every rock of yellowish hue to be impregnated with gold. They slept on 1642. the mountains, dreaming of the rich ore lurking in their rocky foundations, and overlaying the roofs and floors of their deep subterranean halls. With fancy's eye they saw through the fissures of the rocks, and beheld yawning caverns starred with 60 HISTORY OF CHAP, gems and rouoh with gold. Two centuries have ^-^ rolled over the bleak summits of these stupendous mountains without realizing one dream of early adventure. They still stand, the throne of the thunder and the storm; still rear their snow- crowned heads into the sky, unchanged and un- changeable — images of eternal duration. " Oh ! that some bard would rise — true heir of glory, AVith the full power of heavenly poesy, To gather up each old romantic story That lingers round these scenes in memory. And consecrate to immortality — Some western Scott, within whose bosom thrills That fire which burneth to eternity, To pour his spirit o'er these mighty hills, And make them classic ground, thrice hallowed by his spells ! "* 1650. After the confederation of the colonies, few events claim a notice in history, till the middle of the seventeenth century. The settlements had con- tinued to increase in population ; and Major Richard Waldron, having risen, by his bravery and force of character, to be the most conspicuous man of the province, was occasionally elected speaker of the Massachusetts assembly. Ports- mouth had lost the rustic name of Strawberry 16-52. Bank, and assumed its present appellation, Mas- sachusetts had begun that admirable system of 1647. common schools, which has ever been the pride of New England ; and Mayhew Elliot and others had begun to journey on foot through the pathless wil- derness — fording streams — paddling sometimes in canoes on the rivers, lodging in the " smoky week- wams," and suffering every privation, to preach Christianity to the Indians. It was not the least * Hibbard's description of the Franconia Mormtain Notch, Democratic Review of April; 1830, No. 16. NEV/ HAMPSHIRE. 61 of Elliot's labors that he translated the whole Bible chap. into the language of the Pawtiickets. An im- — '^ portant change had occurred in the form of legisla- 1644. tive proceedings. Hitherto tlie magistrates and representatives, who together constituted the gen- eral court, had acted as one body. From this time their deliberations assumed parliamentary forms. The magistrates met in a separate apartment, constituting an Upper House, and bills were sent from one house to the other for concurrence in a parliamentary way. The heirs of Mason, in England, now learned 1658. that Massachusetts had extended her jurisdiction over New Hampshire. They could offer no effec- tual resistance. While England was distracted with civil wars, there was no time for legal inves- tigation ; and when Robert Tufton, the heir to whom his estate descended, came over, on the death of Mason's executrix, he found the heirs of Mason already dispossessed of the lands at Ne- wichwannock. To recover possession, he instituted some suits in the county court. This induced Massachusetts to order a survey, which extended to Aquedochtan, the outlet of lake Winnipiseogee. The court decided that a portion of land propor- tionate to Mason's disbursements, with the privi- lege of the river, should be laid out to his heirs. Tufton gave up the remainder for lost, and returned to England, where now centered all hope of re- covering any further portion of his ancestral do- mains. The family of Mason had been too strongly attached to the royal cause to expect any relief from the commonwealth and the Protectorate of Cromwell. Ill CHAPTER III. Witchcraft at Portsmouth — In England, and France — In German}', and Scotland — Trial of a witch — The Salem witchcraft — Conjectures as to the phenomena of witchcraft — Persecution of the Quakers — Execution of Leddra, Robinson, and Stevenson — Reflections. CHAP. I HAVE now readied an epoch in the history of New Hampshire, from which I would gladly pass to some other point, if oblivion could cover the space that would lie between. While Old Eng- land was shaken by the earthquakes of two revo- lutions, and a civil war raged, in which an ancient throne passed away and returned again, the people of Portsmouth, in common with the whole of New England, were agitated by convulsions scarcely less terrific. Old women, in the shape of cats, rode the air on broomsticks, and unwonted spectres haunted many a disordered imagination. Some were publicly accused, and many more were pri- vately stamped and known as witches. While accusation and suspicion were confined to the abodes of humble life, the bewildered reason of man submitted in silence, and the mania seemed to admit of no cure. But when some of the principal persons were accused, they assumed the offensive, and brought suits of slander against their accusers. This put a stop to prosecutions ; but a lingering belief in witchcraft still remained with the super- stitious. The trial of " Good wife Walford," is a March. NEW HAMPSHIRE. 63 curious relic of the times.* She was broui^ht be- chap. lu fore tlie Court of Assistants at Portsmouth, on _,J_ complaint of Susannah Trimmings, and the testi- mony of a number of witnesses was gravely laid before the court. The complainant, the person bewitched, was the first witness, and testified as follows : " As I was going home on Sunday night I heard a rustling in the woods, which I supposed to be occasioned by swine ; and presently there ap- peared a woman, whom I apprehended to be old Goodwife Walford. She asked me to lend her a pound of cotton. I told her I had but two pounds in the house, and I would not spare any to my mother. She said I had better have done it, for I was going a great journey but should never come there. She then left me, and I was struck as with a clap of fire on the back, and she vanished toward the water side, in my apprehension in the shape of a cat. She had on her head a white linen hood, tied under her chin, and her waistcoat and petti- coat were red, with an old gown apron and a black hat upon her head." Oliver Trimmings, her husband, thus testified : " My wife came home in a sad condition. She passed by me with her child in her arms, laid the child on the bed, sat down on the chest, and leaned upon her elbow. Three times I asked her how she did. She could not speak. I took her in my arms, and held her up, and repeated the question. She forced breath, and something stopped in her throat as if it would have stopped her breath. I unlaced her clothes, and soon she spake and said, * Adams's Annals of Portsmouth. N. H. Hist. Coll., I., p. 255. 64 HISTORY OF CHAP. Lord, have mercy upon me ; this wicked woman ^J^ will kill me. I asked her what woman. She said Goodwife Walford. I tried to persuade her it was only her weakness. She told me no, and related as above, that her back was a flame of lire, her lov/er parts were, as it were numb and without feeling. I pinched her and she felt not. She continued that night and the day and night follow- ing very ill, and is still bad of her limbs, and com- plains still daily of it." Nicholas Rowe testified, that " Jane Walford, shortly after she was accused, came to the depo- nent in bed, in the evening, and put her hand upon his breast, so that he could not speak, and was in great pain till the next day. By the light of the fire in the next room, it appeared to be Goody Walford, but she did not speak. She repeated her visit about a week after, and did as before, but said nothing." Eliza Barton deposed that she "saw Susannah Trimmings, at the time she vras ill, and her face was colored and spotted with several colors. She told the deponent the story, who replied that it was nothing but fantasy ; her eyes looked as if they had been scalded." John Puddington deposed that "three years since, Goodwife Walford came to his mother's. She said that her own husband called her an old witch ; and when she came to her cattle, her own husband would bid her begone ; for she did over- look the cattle, which is as much as to say in our country, bewitching." Other cases occurred at Portsmouth, of a simi- lar character. But in no instance was the accused N E W 11 A Rl r S II I R E . 65 condemned to suffer death. Yet the scenes which chap. were enacted in New Hampshire would be worthy .^J^ of notice, as instances of remarkable delusion, if they had not been far exceeded by the multitude of witch trials at Salem, Braintree, Andover and Topsfieldj in Massachusetts ; which trials were also far surpassed, in enormity and absurdity, by cases which occurred in almost every country in Europe. In France and Germany, in England and Scotland, witchcraft was recognised as a crime in courts of justice, and by sovereigns and legis- lators. The most learned judges of the day, infected by the popular belief, gravely listened to the testimony of witch-finders, passed judgment, in the forms of \u.w, upon the condemned, and inflicted punishment in every form of death and torture. Thus Europe, the land of the arts and sciences, the world of civilization and learning, was echoing with authority on the subject of witchcraft. Ac- counts were arriving constantly of its horrors in the old vrorld and the trials and executions of witches. The same excitement began to prevail in America ; until, at length, witchcraft broke out at Salem in its most malignant form. Twenty 1^^^' persons were condemned and perished by the hands of the executioner. They protested their inno- cence to the last, and died for a crime which modern intelligence declares never existed but in the imagination of man. The public excitement rose to such a pitch that all legal principles seem to have been as effectually destroyed as were the Jewish laws at the trial of Christ.* * See the "Trial of Jesus," translated from the French of M. Dupin, by a member of the American Bar. 9 66 HISTORY OF III CHAP. The JLidges partook of the frenzy which bore the multitude away. Thus it happened that this most undefined of all crimes, witchcraft, Vv as established by the most absurd modes of proof that ever insulted a judicial tribunal. No punishment was decreed against false witnesses.* During all this delusion, no such thing as perjury was suspected. The magistrates seem never to have thought of im- posture, fraud, or mistake. Cross-examination of witnesses, one of the great shields of innocence, was prohibited. The judges, whose duty it was to protect the innocent, obeyed the popular clamor, and sought to elevate themselves in public estimation by entrapping the prisoner into confes- sions of guilt. The most diabolical witch evidence and hobgoblin cant were greedily listened to from the bench, and the testimony of impartial, substan- tial witnesses was suspected and frowned upon. Revolting and ingenious modes of torture were often resorted to, and insults were offered to the prisoner in open court, by the bystanders, and by the judges and ofhcers of the court. While the laws were forgotten, or trampled upon, the ties of nature seemed to be loosened and dissolved. It was not uncommon for young chil- dren to be witnesses against their parents, and parents against their children. Contrary to the laws of nature and the laws of civil society, hus- bands were permitted to accuse their wives, and wives to bear witness against their husbands. What can be more revolting than a superstition thus deaf to the voice of humanity; arming itself with supernatural terrors ; striding with icy foot * Upham'.s Lectures on Witchcraft. NEW IIA3IPSHIRE. 67 over the family hearth : siinderin£[ the sweet kindred chap. . . .Ill ties, and making husband and wife, parent and child, ._--,.^ the blind instruments of each other's doom! So bitter was the public hatred against witches, and with such a terrible zeal did the multitude pursue all suspected persons, that many confessed themselves guilty, that they might either be ac- quitted, or suffer death and find in the grave a refuge from their tormentors. But this was not to be their lot. All who confessed were acquitted. This is directly at war with the principles of the common law, under which the witch magistrates professed to act. By the common law, when a crime has been committed, free, voluntary confes- sion is deemed the best evidence of guilt. Yet all those who had been proved guilty by what is usually deemed the best evidence, were acquitted; while those were executed, to procure whose con- viction all justice had been violated and every principle of law broken down. Fifty-five persons confessed that they were witches, and had formed a compact with the devil. By maintaining their innocence, they had before them the certain pros- pect of an ignominious death. They knew that the delusion had full control of their accusers, and of the magistrates and judges.* Self-preservation, the first law of nature written on man's heart, was the law upon which they acted. Some instances occurred of persons really believing themselves guilty, and confessing under that belief Nor need this excite wonder. Confused by the terrors * This court consisted of seven judges. In it there was no jury, and law- yers were forbidden to practise there. The abuses of this court furnish a terrible example of the danger of abolishing the trial by jury, and denying to accused persons the assistance of counsel. 68 HISTORY OF CHAP, of an arrest, cut off from their friends, overwhelmed _,^J_ by evidence wholly new, and which they did not suppose to exist, heart-broken and bewildered in mind, they ceased to distinguish between things suggested by their own knowledge and memory, and things poured into their ears by their accusers, and echoed and re-echoed by the popular cry. To increase their embarrassment, there w^as a class of professed witch-finders, who had various devices for finding out witches. These creatures were per- mitted to give their spectral evidence in court, and make oath to what they had discovered by the use of charms. To this detestable jugglery the mag- istrates lent a ready ear. The effect of accusation upon the accused some- times resembled the effect of epidemic disease ; for they immediately fancied themselves possessed of, and exhibited, all the demonish witch symptoms which the ignorance or malice of their accusers attributed to them. When superstition has thus become contagious, it reigns in its most appalling aspect. It prostrates its wretched victims like the blasting touch of the plague. It moves like a spreading disease, and strikes both the heart and the intellect, like the touch of the torpedo. It in- vades the bench, and manhood seems to be lost in the magistrate. Unable to summon energy of mind to resist or mitigate this merciless scourge, he seems prepared, under its baneful influence, to inflict upon his fellow-men the greatest of evils. The mode of examination and trial pursued by the Salem magistrates, sufficiently explains the control it had gained over them. It was this. A warrant being issued out to apprehend the person NEW HAMPSHIRE. ^ 69 complained of by " the afflicted children," the said chap. person is brought before the justices. '' The af- .__-l^ flicted children" are present. The justices ask the accused, why she afflicts these poor children. To which she answers, " I do not afflict them." Unavailing is this artless plea of " not guilty," tendered to the magistrate in the simplest language that insulted human nature could utter — / do not ajjlict them. The justices next order the accused to look upon "the said children;" which she accordingly does. The afflicted are then cast into fits. The accused is next commanded to touch the afflicted ; whereupon the afflicted ordinarily come out of the fits, and then proceed to affirm that the accused has bewitched them. The accused is straitway committed to prison, on suspicion of witchcraft. In the solitude of her dungeon she awaits her trial, wholly unconscious of the crime which must seal her doom, and unable to fathom the mystery which brings suspicion and punishment upon an innocent head. This process was called " the evidence of ocular fascination;" and in order that it might have its perfect work, the accused and the accusers were confronted face to face, in the presence of the court. When the supposed witch was ordered to look upon the afflicted persons, instantly, upon coming within the glance of her eye, they would scream and fall down in convulsions. It was thought by the magistrates of Salem, that an in- visible and impalpable fluid darted from the eye of the witch, and penetrated the brain of the bewitch- ed.* By bringing the witch so near that she could * Uphara's Lectures on Witchcraft. 70 HISTORY OF CHAr touch the afflicted persons with her hand, it was III _.-;_ supposed that the mahgnant fluid was attractedback into her hand, and that thus the sufferers recovered their senses. It was a favorite theory of the Salem magistrates that a witch, or a person in confeder- acy with the devil, could not weep. The " callous spot," also, was an infallible proof of guilt. They believed that Satan affixed his mark to the bodies of those in alliance with him, and that the spot where this mark was made became callous and dead. Thus, upon the testimony of witch-finders, many aged women were condemned, because some spot could be found upon their old and palsied frames, insensible to a throb of pain ; or, because they were so overwhelmed, when brought before their tormentors, by the horrors of their situation and approaching fate, that the fountain of grief was dry. The public mind had become so inflamed that it was unsafe to express a doubt of the reality of witchcraft. Accused persons were accordingly without defence. But the extremity of an evil sometimes suggests its cure. It is a fact that the first check given to the Salem witchcraft arose from an accusation brought against the wife* of one of " the principal men of the town." This has generally been considered accidental. But it may be that there were, amongst the poor and unpro- tected, some bright minds, whose keen perception discovered that the only way to check this fatal delusion was to bring it home to the firesides of the clergy, the magistrates, and the rich men of the colony. It may be that these poor persons pur- * Mrs. Hale. — See Upham's eloquent Lectures on Witchcraft. NEW IIAiMPSHIRE. 71 posely accused some of " the principal citizens," chap. in order to awake others from their trance, in time ._^J^ to avert the impending calamity from their own hvunbler dwcHings. It would perhaps be difficult to offer a solution of all the phenomena of witchcraft, upon scientific principles. Most of them, however, point to diseases of the nervous system ; and particularly to an affection of the optic and auditory nerves. To the afflicted, the air, the darkness, and all space were full of strange sights and sounds. Drums beat in the air at dead of night, and guns, swords, and armed men appeared in the darkness. The minds of all were oppressed with the most distress- ing apprehensions of coming evil. Every uncom- mon sight was construed into a preternatural sig- nal of approaching dissolution. Death bells tolled through their dreams, and a departed spirit seemed to shriek on every rushing blast. Their visions were disturbed by the forms of their deceased friends, walking before them in their grave-clothes. Every village teemed with legends of haunted houses, where ghosts looked out from the windows. The simple guide-post, and the tavern signs were transformed into ghosts, stretching out their hands to the travellers, like supernatural assassins. The withered tree, red with autumnal foliage, of\en took the form of a murderer, giving in the con- fession of guilt by holding out his gory hands. The strange twitchings, and spasmodic action, with which whole families were seized, the fits and con- vulsions, the settled melancholy, and occasional insanity of others, are all symptoms of nervous affections ; and when we consider that the witch- 72 HISTORY OF CHAP, craft excitement spread gradually over Europe, ..^..J^ and reached America, (while other portions of the world were untouched,) reigning for a brief season, and then disappearing, it is not an improbable conjecture that the whole mystery of witchcraft may be solved, by ascribing it to an epidemic disease of the nerves ; which, like the cholera and the plague, overspread vast portions of the earth, and passed away ; leaving mankind in doubt, as to the cause of its origin and the mode of its fearful progress. l6oS. While the magistrates of Portsmouth were busy with the witches, religious intolerance broke out fiercely against the Quakers. During the whole period of this persecution. New Hampshire was but an appendage to Massachusetts, and tlie laws by which Quakers were whipped and led through the streets of Dover, tied to carts, were laws of Massachusetts. The stain of that vindictive persecution attaches itself to New Hampshire, because she had a small representation in the assembly of Massaclmsetts when those laws were enacted. The civil authorities at Boston justified their proceedings, with the specious pretence of securing the peace and order of society. They declared the "vagabond Quakers" to be "capital bfas- phemers," seducers from the glorious Trinity, open enemies to government, and subverters both of church and state.* Accordingly, a la\y was published, prohibiting the Quakers from coming to the colony, on pain of the house of correction. " Notwithstanding * Sewall's Hist. Quakers, p. 462. N E W H A 31 P S H I R E . 73 which, by a back door they found entrance."* chap. The penalty was then increased to cutting off the — L- cars of those who offended the second time. This barbarous punishment was inflicted in several in- stances ; for which the public safety was the ready apology. But even this proved ineffectual ; and the offenders were next banished, upon pain of death, for returning. But this availed nothing. The Quakers returned and sealed with their blood the testimony of their faith. Of all the wrongs which man has inflicted upon his fellow-man, is there one which has not been perpetrated in the name of reli- gion and for the public good? On the twenty- seventh of October, Robinson and Stevenson were Oct. 2-. led to execution, attended by two hundred armed men, besides many horsemen. When they had come near the gallows, a coarse and vulgar priest cried out tauntingly to Robinson, " Shall such jacks as you come in before authority with their hats on?"t To which the martyrs made a mild reply. The prisoners then tenderly embraced each other, and ascended the ladder. When Rob- inson signified to the spectators that he "suffered not as an evil-doer," the voice of the priest was again heard, — " hold thy tongue ; be silent ; thou art going to die with a lie in thy mouth. "| The sufferers were soon launched off; their last words were silenced by the beating of drums. When ,gg, William Leddra was brought to the gallows, he ^^^<'^ began a speech, which "took so much with the people that it" " wrought a tenderness in many." * See "The Apologj' of the Bloody Persecutors." Sewall, I., p. 460. t This was one of the crimes of the Quakers. Sewall, I., p. 596. X Idem, p. 597. 10 74. HISTORY OF ciiAP. Allen, an officious priest was near, whose business TTT it V. as to make the martyr odious ; and instantly interrupted him. " People ! " cried Allen, "I would not have you think it strange to see a man so will- ino- to die." The hangman was commanded to make haste with Leddra, " and so he was turned off, and finished his days." But his friends, with pious solicitude, gathered around the foot of the gallows, caught the body in their arms, as it fell, bathed it with tears, and having waited until the hangman had stripped it of the clothes, laid it decently in a coffin. Thus intolerance had another victim. When the news of this bloody work was carried to England, and reached the king, an order was 1661. forthwith issued to Governor Endicot, to suspend ^^^" all executions, and send the (Quakers to England, for trial* — a privilege which they had claimed, when brought before the courts of Massachusetts. The next year, three duaker women were pub- De~ licly whipped in New Hampshire. In the depth of winter, the constables w ere ordered to strip them and tie them to a cart ; then to drive the cart and whip these three tender women through eleven towns, with ten stripes apiece in each town. The route lay through Dover, Hampton, Salisbury, Newbury, Rowley, Ipswich, Wenham, Lynn, Boston, Roxbury, and Dedham ; a distance of near eighty miles. They were whipped at Dover and Hampton, and then carried, "through dirt and snow half the leg deep," in a very cold day, to Salisbury ; and there whipped again. They would probably have perished long before reaching * ScM-all, I., p. 475. NEW HAMPSHIRE. 75 the end of the route, but at Salisbury they were chap. happily released. Walter Barefoot persuaded the ___ constable to make him his deputy, and having received the warrant, set them at liberty, and they returned to Dover.* The Quakers were accused of courting perse- cution. It was said that " they rushed upon the point of the sword." It would be difficult per- haps to reconcile all their conduct with that prin- ciple of common law and common justice which requires every man so to use his own rights as not to interfere with the rights of others. Actuated by a mistaken sense of duty, they sometimes violated this salutary maxim. But so long as the errors of an honest faith inflict no great evil upon society, enlightened reason will regard them rather as the harmless eccentricities of misguided zeal, than as offences deserving the extreme vengeance of the law. * Sewall, I., p. 563. IV. 166a CHAPTER IV. AVak with the Indians — Passaconaway — His cliaracler — His dying speech — The Penacooks refuse an alliance with king Philip — Indian depredations — Fall of Philip — Waldron seizes the refugees by stratagem — The 3Io- hawks instigated to attack the eastern Indians — Union with Slassachii- setts dissolved — New Hampshire made a royal province — President Cults. CHAR At the restoration of Charles II., Tuft on, who now took the surname of Mason, determined to make one more attempt to recover the vast pos- sessions of his ancestor. The family of Mason had heen too strongly attached to the royal cause to look for favor to the Protector. But when Charles II. ascended the throne, it was hoped that a ray of royal favor might heam from the mind of the hesottcd king. The monarcli received his pe- tition favorahly, and referred it to the attorney general. Sir Geoffrey Palmer. That officer re- ported that Mason had a good title to the province of New Hampshire. But tlic English government, being at this time involved in difliculties at home, nothing of importance was done relative to this title ; and while it lay in supense an Indian war 167.5. hurst upon tiio colony. Suddenly, the towns and settlements were filled with alarm. Business was suspended, and the inhabitants, deserting their dwellings, were seen flocking together into the for- tified houses, or hastily tlu'owing up entrench- ments. Behind these they awaited, in terror, the approach of the savages. HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. 77 At this time the far-famed sachem Passacon- avvay dweh. at Penacook. He was now old ; and his reputation for wisdom and cunning had hecome 167 o. celebrated amongst all 'the eastern Indians. His authority extended over the Pcnacooks, and over all the tribes on the Pascataqua and its branches, and around the environs of lake Winnipiseogec. But he was famed not less for his duplicity and cunning, than for his moderation and love of peace. He had, also, the reputation of a sorcerer. The Indians believed that he held secret intercourse with the mysteries of nature ; that it was in his powder to make water burn and trees dance. They supposed he had power to change himself into flame ; that he could darken the sun and moon ; that in winter he could raise a green leaf from the ashes of a dry one, and a living serpent from the skin of one that was dead.* With the Indians, such at- tributes give their supposed possessor a boundless influence. Passaconaway liad alv.ays been an ad- vocate for peace. From the first landing of the English, this savage seemed to have a presentiment that they were destined to exterminate his race. A few years before, the Indians held a great 1(360. dance and feast. On such occasions the elderly men, in songs or speeches, recite their histories, and deliver their sentiments and advice to the younger.f At tliis solemnity, Passaconavvay was present, and made his farewell speech to his chil- dren. The warriors and chiefs were gathered from all the tribes, and sat reverently to hear the last words of their great father. Passaconaway was gifted with all the natural eloquence of the Indian. * Hutchinson, vol. I., p. 471. F. Belknap, p. 6G. f F. Belknap, 06. 78 HISTORY OF CHAP. He rose deeply aflected, and spoke as a dying man ^J3^1^ to the dying. He described the happy hunting- grounds, once theirs, with the stores of fish and ani- mals which the Great Spirit had made for his red children ; and placed in mournful contrast their past independence and power, with their present w^eak- ness and decay. He explained the superior powers of the w hite man, and told the Indians plainly that the day would come when the English would be tenants of all the pleasant lands of their fathers. He prophesied that a war would shortly break out all over the country ; and that it was only by standing aloof from it that they could hope to pre- serve a small seat, so that they might not be beggars in the pleasant places of their birth. "Hearken," said he, '^ to the last words of your father and friend. The ichite men arc sons of the morning. The Great Spirit is their father. His sun shines bright about them. JVever make tear u'ith them. Sure as you light the fires, the breath of heaven ivill turn the flames ujwn you and destroy you. Listen to my advice. It is the last I shall be allotvcd to give you. Remember if and live."* When this recital was ended, Passaconaway sat down, and a cloud of sorrow passed over the brow of the venerable sava^-e. The Indians remained for some time musing in silence upon his words. His speech had deeply agitated them, during the whole recital. His aged frame, loaded with years, his deeply plaintive voice, his sad and altered tones, when bespoke of the hunting-grounds once theirs, * Williamson's Hist, of Maine, vol. 1., p. 461. Hubbard's Indian Wars, pp. 67-8, and 329. Hist. IN'ew England, p. 60. NEW HAMPSHIRE. 79 stronoly airitatcd the whole assembly. When he chap. J IV. drew the picture of their melancholy decay, and , J^ compared them to the snows of winter dissolving, the Indians bowed their heads and gave way to loud lamentation. His counsels made a deep impression upon all ; but upon none more than Wanalonset, his son. With the exception of the Pequot war, in Connec- ticut, the settlers of New Hampshire had lived in peace with the Indians for nearly fifty years. Yet the Indians were not too blind to see, without concern, the growing power of the English. Their favorite hunting-grounds were growing narrower, and their game fled at the repeated sound of the woodsman's axe. The wilderness around them was falling. What would be the end of this in- trusion ? Their minds began to be haunted with melancholy forebodings of eventual dispossession. Philip, the far-famed warrior of Mount Hope, per- ceived the discontent of his brethren, and resolved to take immediate advantage of it to foment a war. He had long sought a pretext for hostilities. Philip was an artful, ambitious, warlike chief; and if patriotism be the love of one's own country and people, he was a patriot. He foresaw that his people must eventually be destroyed, unless they could equal the whites in civilization, or vanquish them in battle. The former was impossible ; and he resolved upon the latter. His old men approved it, and his zeal was seconded by the rash ardor of his young warriors. In pursuance of his design he went from tribe to tril)e, exhorting the Indians to a war of extermination. He sent out his run- ners in all directions, always selecting men of ad- 80 HISTORY OF CHAP, dress, to urge on the bloody enterprise. A fortu- ___ nate incident, happening at this time, brought into his alliance the Tarrateens and most of the eastern Indians. It was one of those accidents which was well fitted for his purpose. As the wife of Squando, whiton, sachem of the Pequawkets, was passing on Saco ^Bei-' river, with her infant child in her frail birch bark p"?!'. canoe, she was met by some thoughtless sailors. They had heard that Indian children could swim as naturally as the young of brutes, and wantonly overset the canoe. The child sunk ; the mother F. Bel- instantly dived and recovered it ; but the child died "^'*^* soon after, and the Indians ascribed its death to this brutal treatment. Squando was a noted sa- chem, a leader in the superstitious devotions of the 1675. Indians, and pretended to a familiar intercourse with the invisible work! . Such an indignity, offered to a man of such distinguished character, was sufficient to make the tribes of Maine and Massa- chusetts allies of PhiHp. His next care was to enlist the Mohawks. This he resolved to do by an artful and cruel stratagem. With his own hand he slew some Mohawks, and left them unburied in the woods. His intention was that their bretliren should discover their man- sled bodies, and ascribe the deed to the English. But this proved abortive. One of the number, left for dead, unexpectedly recovered and disclosed his cruel perfidy to the tribe. The Mohawks were ever afterwards his implacable enemies. He found no difficulty in bringing into his plans the Ossipees, (in Stratford County,) the Indians at the mouth of the Pascataqua, at Squamscot Falls, and at Ne- wichwannock. The Penacooks were the only NEW HA MPS HIKE. 81 tribe that resisted his soHcitations. No arts of per- chap, . IV suasion could move them. In vain did he strive L_ to win over the young Wanalonset by artful ap- 1675. peals to his pride and his remembrance of wrongs. In vain, with well-timed eloquence, did he seek to arouse the ambition of the young chieftain for war and glory ; and in vain did he try to play upon the superstitious reverence of the Indian for the bones of his dead. The dying advice of Passaconaway, his father, had sunk deep into the heart of the youthful sachem, antl he drew off his men to a dis- tant part of their imnting-grounds, that they might escape the infectious influence of Philip. Foiled in his attempts to enlist the Penacooks, Philip now determined to rest his hopes of success on the support of the other tribes. He saw ranged under his banner the warriors of many powerful nations. He put himself at their head and gave june, the signal for hostilities. His first attack was upon ^^^^' Swansey, in Massachusetts ; where several of the inhabitants fell victims to the tomahawk. From this point the flames of war spread rapidly. The eastern 1675. and northern Indians, rushing from their coverts ww- I'll- ^''"' 2''- m small bands, fell upon the scattered mhabitants at unawares, and killed many. In September they Sept. extended their incursions into New Hampshire, and spread destruction through Somersworth and Dur- ham,* and along the road between Exeter and Hampton. They passed on, burning houses and slaying the inhabitants, to the borders of Maine, and came to attack a house in Berwick. In this house were huddled together fifteen women and *N. H. Hist. CoU., vol. V., pp. 129—153. II 82 HISTORY OF CHAP, children, amongst whom was a girl of eighteen ^.J^ years. Discovering the Indians approaching, she closed the door and stood firmly against it, while F.Bel- the savages chopped it to pieces with their hatchets, p. 7-2. and then, rushing in, knocked her down and left her for dead. Meanwhile the other inmates had all escaped to a safe distance, except two of the children, who, being unable to scale the fence, were overtaken and slain. The adventurous heroine recovered from her wounds, but neither history nor tradition has preserved her name. 1675. On the sixteenth of October the enemy made an ^^'■^^" attack upon Berwick. Lieut. Roger Plaisted im- mediately detached a party of seven from his garri- son to search for the Indians. They scoured the woods, finding no trace of them, until they suddenly fell into an ambush. Three were instantly killed, and the remainder retreated. Plaisted now^ des- patched an express to Major Waldron for assisl- F. Bel- ance; which he was not in a situation to afford, p^ys. Plaisted resolved to do his utmost with the means in his hands. The next day he ventured out with twenty men and a cart drawn by oxen to bring in the dead bodies of the slain. Unhappily, they fell into another ambush. The cattle, affrighted, ran back. At this juncture Plaisted's men deserted him. Being a brave man, and disdaining to yield or fly, he was killed on the spot, with his eldest son and one more, while another son was mortally wounded fighting at his side. The gallant behavior of Plaisted and his sons caused the enemy to re- treat to the woods. They next made an assault upon Frost's garrison. This little garrison consist- ed of Mr. Frost and three boys. But they kept NEW HAMPSHIRE. S3 up a constant fire, and Frost gave orders to load, chap as if to bodies of men marching and counter- . J^ marching. The stratagem completely succeeded, ^^J^^- and the house was saved. Emboldened by suc- cess, the Indians soon appeared opposite to Ports- mouth, and threatened to attack the town ; but were easily dispersed by a few cannon shot. They showed themselves at Dover, Lamprey River and Exeter, killing and plundering ; and thus passed the autumn, till near the end of November, when Nov. the number of slain amounted to more than fifty. The inhabitants began to find the necessity of vigorous action, and resolved upon an expedition against the winter quarters of the Indians around Winnipiseogee and Ossipee lakes. But at this whi- crisis winter set in with uncommon severity, and p.^7. wrapped the earth in a deep snow. This circum- stance inclined the Indians to peace. Pinched by famine, they came to Major ¥/aldron with profes- sions of sorrow and promises of amity. A peace was easily concluded with the eastern Indians and with those of the north. The joyful return of peace brought with it a welcome deliverance to many captives. In the mean time, Philip, at the head of the southern tribes, was spreading death and deso- lation throughout Massachusetts. lie burnt, in rapid succession, the towns of Brookfield, Deer- field, Mendon, Groton, Rehoboth, Providence and Warwick. lie laid waste Lancaster, and car- 1675. ried Mrs. Rowlandson captive into the wilderness. At Northfield he defeated Capt. Beers and slew twenty of his men. At Muddy Brook, in Deerfield, he surprised Capt. Lothrop and his company, while gathering grapes, and with him slew more than 84 HISTORY OF CHAP, seventy young men, the flower of Essex County. ..,,..-L_ At Sudbury, Captains Wadsworth and Brockle- beauke sustained a disastrous defeat, and fell, with fifty of their men, after maintaining the action with great gallantry and killing one hundred and fifty of the enemy. ' These bloody reverses overspread the whole country with gloom. It was apparent that, unless a speedy check could be given to the career of Philip, the utter extermination of the English must follow. The colonists aroused themselves to a last effort at self-preservation, and the campaign of 1676. 1676 opened with a plan at once bold, perilous, and successful. 1675. Philip had retired, glutted with blood, to the heart of a great swamp in Rhode Island. Thither he was attended by his warriors, with a multitude of old men, women, and children. He had carried with him large quantities of provisions, and had built more than six hundred wigwams. These he placed so that the whole of them formed a camp, fortified in a manner far superior to the rude no- tions of his tribe. To render them bullet-proof, he caused baskets of corn to be piled one above the other around the inside of the wigwams. His supplies were abundant, and he thought himself secure. But the troops of Massachusetts, Ply- mouth, and Connecticut, hearing of his position, resolved to attack him in his winter quarters. They approached the place, forced an entrance, after a fierce conflict, and set the wigwams on fire. A thousand Indians perished by the sword and the flames. This disaster proved a death-blow to the 1676. power of the southern Indians. The next spring 1675. Dec. NEW HAMPSHIRE. 85 they were able to renew the war but feebly. The English scoured the woods m all directions, killing large numbers ; and at length brought them to a general battle on the west bank of Connecticut river. Overtaken by surprise, a large number were killed. Others threw themselves into the river to escape their pursuers ; and some, rushing panic-struck to their canoes, were unable to seize the paddles, and, when they reached the current of the river, were borne down over the falls. The affairs of Philip had now become desperate. His warriors, accustomed to victory, could not bear defeat. His allies and dependents forsook him, and he was at last surprised, with a few followers, and slain by Captain Church. Thus perished this savage warrior, whose name had so long filled the colonies with terror. After his fall, his tribes were unable to renew the war, and New England happily found rest. But the joyful return of peace in southern New England, was quickly followed by the renewal of hostilities at the north. Numbers of the southern Indians, at the death 1676. of Philip, fled and took refuge with the Penacooks, the Ossipees and the Pcquawkets. It was chiefly by these refugees that the war was fomented. All the inhabitants west of Portland, abandoned their plantations and retired westward. But the settlers of New Hampshire were now prepared to prosecute the war vigorously. They had become accustomed to Indian warfare. Massachusetts, freed from the terror of Philip, could send powerful reinforce- ments ; and, accordingly, two companies marched p j.t. e. from Boston to Dover. Here they found a great 86 HISTORY OF CHAP, number of Penacooks at Major Waldron's, who TV „^.J_ had come to confirm a peace. But there were amongst them many known to have been the con- federates of Phihp. They were disguised in their looks and behavior. But it was not easy for them to escape the discernment of those who had met them in combat. After much deUberation, and some misgivings as to the morahty of the proceed- ing, it was finally resolved to seize all the refugees. Waldron himself, was averse to the measure. But the Boston companies had brought with them orders to seize all the Indians who had been en- gaged in the war. Eager to avenge the slaughter of their friends, they were desirous to fall upon them at once. Waldron dissuaded them from this, and contrived the following stratagem. He invited the Indians to have a sham-fight and a training, after the fashion of the English. To this they readily assented, and it took place the next day. Waldron's men, with the Boston companies, formed one party, and the Indians the other. While en- gaged in this diversion, by a dexterous movement, the whole body of Indians were surrounded before F. Bel- they could form a suspicion of what was intended. ap,p. r^i^^y ^vere immediately seized and disarmed, with- out the loss of a man on either side. A separation was then made. Wanalonset and the Penacooks were peaceably dismissed. The "strange Indians" were sent prisoners to Boston. Seven of them were proved to have killed Englishmen, and were hanged. The rest were sent to Africa and sold into slavery. Africa was destined to return the boon with usury. This was an act of deliberate treachery, for which there is no sufficient justifica- NEW HAMT SHIRE. 87 tioii. Had not the Indians come to treat for peace? chap. Were they not entertained for that purpose? To .^J^ attack them under such circumstances was a wanton breach of good faith, and a violation of the laws of nations. Such the Indians deemed it, and with their accustomed remembrance of injury, they treasured it up against the day of vengeance. Does the responsibility of this act rest wholly upon Major Waldron? His judgment was averse to the measure. Did he yield, without reluctance, to the rash counsels of the Boston troops? Did he fail, after every effort, to dissuade them from the attack, and then interfere and substitute a strata- gem only to save the lives of the Indians? If the latter was his position, the whole blame rests upon the companies from Boston. They could plead nothing in extenuation of their conduct, except *the general orders of their government. Did the gen- eral orders of their government excuse them? These were " to seize all who had been concerned with Philip in the war." But no orders of gov- ernment imply the necessity of breaking over that immemorial custom and universal law which gives full protection to all individuals of the enemy actually engaged in treating for peace. The laws of war forbid firing upon a flag of truce, and pro- tect every one who goes to an enemy's camp to ask for a suspension of arms. It is true that the cruelty and treachery of a barbarous foe make it impossible to conduct a war with him strictly according to the usages of civilization. As a measure of retaliation, therefore, it must be justified, 88 HISTORY OF CHAP, if at all. Unhappily for the country, as the sequel ,2^J^ will shew, it cost Waldron his life.* Having sent to the government at Boston a cargo of slaves, as well fitted for the market of Africa as her own sable sons were for iVmerica, the troops 1676. took eight Indian pilots from Cocheco, and pro- ceeded eastward. But they found only deserted settlements. No enemy was to be seen, and the companies returned from their fruitless march, to Pascataqua. They next undertook a winter expe- dition to lake Ossipee ; for it was reported that the Indians had constructed a strong fort on the west- Nov. 1. ern shore. Four days they marched through the wilderness, and crossed several rivers. On arriving at the spot, they found the fort entirely deserted. Not an Indian had been seen in all the march. The weather, in the meantime, had become severe, and the snow was deep. Finding it impracticable to proceed farther, the main body halted and sent forward a select detachment. They proceeded eighteen miles, and saw nothing but frozen ponds and snowy mountains. After an absence of nine days, they returned to Newichwannock, and found that the story of Indians assembling at Ossipee had been invented by a Penobscot. A third incur- 1677. sion into the Indian country was led by Major Waldron, the next year. But he returned after a few unimportant skirmishes. Having been long harrassed by the alarms of war, the people sought for some expedient by which they might effectually guard against them. They remembered the inveterate enmity of the Mohawks to the New England tribes, and that *N. H. Hist. Coll., n., p. 46. NEW HAMPSHIRE. 89 the Penacooks still trembled at the mention of chap. their formidable enemies. They imagined that if !_ they could incite the Mohawks to make a hostile 1677. incursion eastward, it would terrify all the hostile Indians. Agents were about being despatched to further the project, when a doubt arose as to the morality of the proceeding, and it became a subject of debate. It was said that the Mohawks were " heathen." The colonists, however, had an easy way to settle the question. The Bible was strait- way produced, and therein it was found that Abra- ham had entered into a league with the Amorites to recover his kinsman Lot from a common enemy. This argument was conclusive ; the most scru- pulous were satisfied ; and the Mohawks were brought down to Amoskeag early in the spring. March. They appeared at the falls, to the son of Wanalon- set, and killed several friendly Indians in the neigh- borhood of Dover. But this incursion of the Mohawks failed of its object. It produced no other effect than to pour suspicion into the minds of the peaceful Penacooks, and irritate the more warlike tribes of the east. The next summer was passed in continual apprehension and alarm. The Indians were hovering about the precincts of the settlements, murdering and carrying into captivity. 167S. Early the next year they discovered an inclination for peace, and a treaty was negotiated at Casco.* Three years of ceaseless anxiety had passed over the colonists. The flower of the young men had fallen in battle. But all this was now happily terminated. The captives returned with joy, and gentle peace succeeded the storms of battle. * Now Portland, 12 90 HISTORY OF CHAr. The omens and prodigies of superstition attended _il_ this war. The human mind, ignorant at tliat time 1678. of the most common phenomena of nature, stricken by continual fear, and brooding constantly over hor- rors, sunk to puerile weakness, and readily resolved every unusual appearance into prodigy and miracle. Many people imagined that they heard guns and drums in the air. Even an eclipse was viewed with serious fears, and long lines of clouds in the evening sky, having their edges illuminated by the setting sun, were converted, by a disordered fancy, into flaming swords and spears, gleaming athwart the heavens, presaging wrath and impending havoc. 1675. In the midst of the difliculties and distresses of this war. Mason again petitioned the king for the restoration of his property. The king referred the petition to his attorney general, Sir William Jones, and his solicitor general. Sir Francis Winnington. These officers reported that Mason " had a good and legal title to said lands." The Massachusetts 1G7G. colony were thereupon summoned to appear and ^xT'^ answer the complaints which Mason and the heirs of Gorges had made of usurpation. Accordingly, WilHam Stoughton and Peter BuUerly, two agents, were despatched to make answer for the colony. They arrived, and appeared before the Lords Chief 1677. Justices of the king's bench and Common Pleas. After hearing both parties, the judges decided that "Massachusetts has no right of jurisdiction over New Hampshire." They did not settle the ques- tion of the right of soil ; but decided that Mason had no right of government within the territory which he claimed. It was likewise determined that the four towns of Portsmouth, Dover, Exeter NEW HAMPSHIRE. 91 and Hampton, were out of the bounds of Massa- chap. chusetts. By this decision, it was evident that no .___ court in England had jurisdiction of the pro- l^ietary claims. In order to the establishment of Mason's title, it was necessary to erect a new jurisdiction, with new modes of trial and appeal. This decision paved the way to a separation from Massachusetts. The king himself was in favor of it. Influenced by his displeasure against that growing colony, and by his desire to favor the claim of Mason, he resolved on a separation of the two colonies. Accordingly, things having been pre- 1679. pared beforehand, a commission passed the great fs." seal for the government of New Hampshire ; re- straining the jurisdiction of Massachusetts, and erecting New Hampshire into a distinct province. The government was to consist of a President and Council, to be appointed by the crown, and an assembly of Representatives to be chosen by the people. John Cutts, an eminent and popular merchant of Portsmouth, was president, and the counsellors were Richard 3Iartin, William Yaughan and Thomas Daniel, of Portsmouth ; John Gil- man, of Exeter ; Christopher Ilussey , of Hampton ; and Richard Waldron, of Dover. Thus was dissolved the union of Massachusetts and New Hampshire. It had subsisted for thirty-eight years. It was beneficial and satisfactory to both. The growth of both had been promoted. The government about to take its place, was instituted at the instance, and with the view to favor the claim, of Mason, the most repugnant to the people. The system prescribed in this commission was the most simple form of subordinate government in 92 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. CHAP. America. The people were represented, in a body _J_ chosen by themselves, and had the right of in- structing their representatives. The king could disannul the acts of both bodies at his pleasure. Actuated by his aversion to Parliaments and repre- sentative bodies, king Charles, by a clause art- fully worded, retained the right to discontinue the representation of the people, whenever it should suit his pleasure to resist their will. Yet into this plan of colonial government there was infused much of the spirit of the British constitution, and there was much more protection given to the rights of the people than in England. There was no third branch between the king and the people. Thus the house of peers, the worst feature of the feudal system, composed of lords, enjoying a sovereignty over their own territory, and ruling powerful bands of vassals, was excluded from New England. The relation of lordship and vassalage was not to perpetuate the dependence of the many on the few. Though the king ruled, yet the yeo- manry, the natural defenders of their own rights and property, were the proprietors of the soil. CHAPTER V. Organization of the new government — Laws — Crimes — Courts — Militia — Discontent of the people — Death of Ciitts — Cranfield — His character — Ar- bitrary measitres — Gove"s rebellion — He is sent to the tower of London — Persecution of Bloody — Character of bloody — Riot at Exeter — Andros made governor general — Revolution in England — Revolution in the colo- nies — Andros deposed — Union with Blassachusetts — "War with the Indians — Death of Waldron — Indian cruelly — Sufferings of the captives. On the first day of January, a royal commissioti chap. was brought to Portsmouth. Bearing the sanction __^ of the great seal, it declared New Hampshire a J^^-^- royal province. Unwelcome tidings to the people ! Unwelcome was the messensrer who bore them.* Having long enjoyed the advantages of the union with Massachusetts, they yielded witli reluctance to the separation. They saw the evil genius of Mason in the change, and viewed it as the triumph of a vested right over rights acquired by purchase of the Indians, and defended at the price of blood. It was difHcult for them to see how a piece of parchment, taking precedence of both contract and possession, should give title to the vast tract along the Pascataqua and stretching eastward to the Merrimack. The commission was received with regret, even by the officers whom it clothed with power. The aged and infirm, but upright and popular Cutts accepted of the ofilce of President, only to prevent it from falling upon some instru- * Edward Randolph, a kinsman of IVIason. 94 HISTORY OF CHAP, ment of royalty. The same motive also moved the ..^^S^ generous and public-spirited Vaughan, and Daniel Gilman, Hussey,* and Richard Waldron. These men were all favorites of the people ; who, though averse to the change, found some alleviation of their discontent in the appointment of their trusty friends. It was, with the king, a matter of policy to smooth the way to an unpopular government, by 16S0. introducing it through these hands. But no arti- fice of that kind could make it satisfactory to the people. It struck liberty out of existence, by denying them the choice of their own rulers ; and they viewed the loss of liberty as a precursor to an invasion of their property ; for this government had kindled new hopes in the breast of Mason. Feb.2c. They, however, submitted in silence. Writs were issued for calling a general assembly. An oath of allegiance was administered to each voter. A public fast was then observed, to propitiate the favor of Heaven and the continuance of their March " precious and pleasant things."! In March, the assembly met at Portsmouth. They immediately wrote a letter to the general court at Boston, J full of gratitude and respect for their former protectors — full of regret for that separation which they had no power to prevent. They signified their wish for a mutual correspondence, and offered their services for defence against the common enemy. Laws. Their next care was to frame a code of laws. They decreed no less than fifteen capital offences, and put witchcraft and idolatry on their black Crimes, catalogue. § The president, council, and assem- * Lewis's Hist, of Lynn, p. 29. f F. Bellvnap, p. 9L ^ F. Belknap, p. 92. ^ Council Records, lt5S0. F. Belknap, p. 92. N E W H A I\I P S H I R E . 95 bly, constituted the supreme court, and inferior chap. courts were established in the towns. The _-,^_ militia was organized, and consisted of one com- Militia. pany of foot in each of the four towns, one com- pany of artillery at the fort, and one troop of horse; all under the command of the veteran Waldron. The people were now watching, with jealous eyes, for the first infringement of their rights. They soon discovered it in the duties and restric- tions imposed by the acts of trade and navigation. The office of collector, surveyor, and searcher of the customs, throughout New England, had been conferred upon Edward Randolph. Having pub- lished an advertisement, requiring that all vessels should be entered and cleared with him, he be- gan to obstruct the vessels in passing from harbor to harbor. In the execution of his commission, he seized a ketch belonging to Portsmouth. When ^^^^^** brought before the president and council, on the complaint of the master of the ketch, he behaved with haughty insolence. But the affair terminated with a reprimand to himself, and a fine upon his deputy, Barefoot. Randolph and his commission were equally unpopular at Boston. The decisions of the courts there were invariably against him. But the people, acting upon the ground that the royal authority could be exercised only through the president and council,* while they denied the authority of Randolph, passed an order of their own for the observance of the acts of trade, and officers of their own to see it executed. While the ^g^j people were resisting the assumptions of this royal Aprils. ■* Whiten, p. 35. F. Belknap, 93. Council Records, KISO. 96 HIS TOE Y OF CHAP, officer, President Ciitts died, lamented, as he had J_ lived beloved, and was succeeded by his deputy, Major Waldron. In a sequestered spot, in a gar- den, the inhabitants of Portsmouth can now point out his grave. The remembrance of his integrity and benevolence has survived the tomb. 1632. Mason was disappointed in the government he had been so solicitous to procure. He found that President Cutts and a majority of the council were opposed to his wishes. He, therefore, on his re- turn to England directed all his efforts to procure a change. To this end he was assisted by the necessities of the king. Negligent of the interests of his people, and careless of glory, Charles II. lavished their treasures with thoughtless extrava- gance. He raised immoderate supplies of money, and squandered it with profusion. Consequently, he was oppressed with debts, and straitened in his revenue.* By surrendering one fifth of the quit rents to the king, for the support of a royal ^ Jan. 25. govemor, .Mason procured the appointment of Ed- _ ward Cranfield. ^^I^^i- The ruling passion of Cranfield was avarice. Mason, perceiving this, secured to him the payment of one hundred and fifty pounds per annum. This made the government of this poor province, num- bering scarcely four thousand inhabitants, appear to him a dazzling and inviting object ; and he came over less careful for the interests of the people than for the bettering of his fortune. Arbitrary, needy, and rapacious, he made no secret of his ob- ject in accepting the office, and openly sought to * Hume, vol. IV.,, p. 405. NEW HAMPSHIRE. 97 return the liberality of Mason by a devotion to the chap *' V. proprietary claim. „— J-^ By his commission he was vested with extraor- May 9. dinary powers. He could adjourn, prorogue and dissolve general courts. He had a negative voice on all acts of government. He could suspend any of the council. He appointed judges and all sub- ordinate officers, and executed the powers of vice-admiral. Within six days after the publi- cation of his commission, he suspended the popu- lar leaders, Waldron and Martyn. From this exercise of power, the people plainly saw the dangerous designs formed against them. They perceived that the sole design of these novel and extraordinary powers was to facilitate the entrance of the claimant on the lands.* They had subdued the rough wilderness, and defended their families and estates against a savage enemy. Would they , surrender their property to satisfy a doubtful and I disputable claim ? Meanwhile the assembly was summoned. Cran- field, to make a show of concihation, restored Waldron and Martyn to the council. The assem- Nov. •^ 14. bly, hoping to detach him from the interest of Ma- son, voted him two hundred and fifty pounds. This put the rapacious governor in good humor, but it was of short duration. At the next session, ja„.'2o. the assembly refused to pass a bill for the support of government, and he hastily dissolved them. This kindled the popular discontent to a flame. The public voice against him was loud and violent, and the people, asseihbling in public meetings, be- gan to act in concert. They demanded redress. * F. Belknap, p. 97. 13 98 HISTORY OF • CHAP. The more moderate only gave vent to their resent- J!.l^ ment m murmurs. But the rash and thoughtless proceeded to acts of rebellion and violence. A tumultuous body assembled from Exeter and Hampton, headed by Edward Gove, declaring for liberty and reformation. Marching at the head of his followers, Gove went from town to town, bearing arms in his hands, calling upon the people to rise and overturn the government. But the ma- jority, though disaffected, were not prepared for open revolt. Gove, finding himself but feebly sup- ported, paused from his measures, and peaceably surrendered. He was convicted of high treason, and received sentence of death. All his accom- plices were set at liberty by the king, and Gove himself, instead of being led to execution,* was imprisoned in the tower of London — that prison whose gloomy walls have so often echoed the sighs of innocence, genius, and virtue. On the fourteenth of February the governor Fefn called upon the inhabitants to take out leases from Mason. This would be an acknowledgment of his claim, and they with one consent refused. He threatened to seize the principal estates and beggar the owners. His threats, however, intim- idated no one. His position was well understood. He was determined, with the aid of the governor, to enforce his claim to the soil of New Hampshire, and the people were determined not to submit to it. Cranfield, having assumed the whole legislative power, acted as if the assembly had either no existence, or no rights. He assumed to alter the * N. H. Hist. Coll., n., p. 44. NEW HAMPSHIRE. 99 value of money, changed the bounds of townships, chap. and estabhshed the fees of office. When the acts ^ of trade were not observed in Massachusetts, he prohibited vessels from that colony to enter the harbor of Portsmouth. Notwithstanding these multiplied and extensive powers,* Cranfield was dissatisfied with his position. He discovered, with chagrin, that the path which he had seen leading to fortune, ended in public hatred. It was evident, also, that his hopes of sudden wealth must be pro- tracted to a length of years ; for he must apply for money to the people he had so much abused. As he could hope for nothing from their favor, he started a vague rumor of war, trusting that he could turn to his own benefit the measures which the people should adopt for defence. He called an assembly at Great Island and tendered them a jan.n. bill for supplies. The liouse debated it awhile, and returned it with their negative. At this he was highly incensed, and dissolved them. Sus- pecting the influence of the Rev. Mr. Moody, of Portsmouth, a strenuous advocate of the popular cause, he from that hour marked Moody as an object for vengeance. Soon after the dissolution of the assembly, he sent an order to Moody, re- quiring him to administer to himself, with Mason and Ilinks, " the Lord's supper," according to the liturgy. This vindictive and arbitrary mandate was contrary to the laws of England. By the stat- ute of 13 and 14 Charles II., it is enacted that no person shall presume to consecrate and administer "the Lord's supper," before he is ordained a priest by " Episcopal ordination." Moody had * N. H. Hist. Coll., I.; p. 261. 100 HISTORY OF CHAP, not been episcopally ordained; and, as Cranfield _,J^ foresaw, refused to obey the order. This furnished the desired pretext for a criminal prosecution. When brought to the bar. Moody pleaded in his defence the laws of England, and the rights of conscience. Edgarly and Fryer, two of the justices, pleaded strenuously for his acquittal, and were rewarded by removal from office. Moody was condemned, and, to the great joy of Cotton Mather, was committed to prison. At a time when no clergyman could doubt the reality of witchcraft, without danger of a dismissal from his society. Moody exposed it as a delusion, and de- nounced the Salem magistrates as murderers. It was but natural that such a man should incur the displeasure of Cotton Mather ; for, while that fierce and sullen bigot was riding through the country, fanning the excitement and dragging in- nocent victims to the gallows. Moody visited them in prison, warned them of their danger, plan- ned their rescue, and assisted them to escape. Throughout the whole dark period of the Salem excitement, he was the friend of the unfortunate accused; and while Boston and Salem, the theatre of Mather's influence, were immolating their own citizens on the altar of superstition, Portsmouth, under the pastoral influence of Moody, had learned to despise the delusion, and became the asylum of the accused. It is thus that a great man sometimes stands out amidst the follies of his time, a solitary monument to the triumph of reason. Escaping, like Galileo, from the narrow prejudices and the conceited learning of his cotemporaries, he seems to pass the NEW HAMPSHIRE. 101 veil which divides the present from the future, and while to mortal eyes the future seems shrouded in darkness, he beholds the dawn of a more enlight- ened afje. In obedience to an order* from England, Cran- ^^^^7. field once more convened the assembly. But they refused to vote anything for the support of govern- ment. " They are persons of such a mutinous disposition," said he, in his letter to the Secretary of State, " that it is not safe to let them convene." He, however, called them together once more, to ji,iy22. pass acts for the suppression of piracy, and to raise money. They passed the acts, but refused the money, and he called them no more. Vexed at their obstinacy and the failure of his plans, he re- solved upon a bold usurpation of pow^er. Having filled the council with creatures of his own, he undertook to impose taxes on the people, by the authority of the governor and council, without the concurrence of the assembly. This was in defi- ance of the plain letter of the provincial laws. The people were resolved not to submit to such an imposition, and formed combinations for mutual aid and resistance. At Exeter they attacked the De..22. sheriff and drove him off witJi clubs. Most of the constables went over to the people, and refused to levy upon their goods. f Such as persisted, met with insult in every form. When they attempted to enter the houses, tho women heated brimming kettles of water, and poured upon their heads. J The military were next called to aid the \\v\n of civil power, and a troop of horse were ordered to march * Orders of Cranfield. N. H. Hist. Coll., II., p. 200. t N. H. Hist. Coll., III., p. 417. % Bancroft. F, Belknap. Whiton. 10:2 HISTORY OF CHAP, out on a certain day, completely mounted and ._^_^ armed. But the military were the people ; and 1685. when the day came, not a soldier appeared. Thus foiled in every direction. New Hampshire began to wear to the eyes of the governor a cheerless aspect. The voice of complaint reached England, and drew down upon him the royal censure.* The king at length " granted him leave of absence," and Walter Barefoot, his deputy, succeeded to the chair of the chief magistracy. From the days of Cranfield down to the time of Sir Edward Packenham, English governors and generals, like English writers, have mistaken the character of the American people. It is only by the severest lessons of experience, that American courage and love of liberty have been made known to the English armies. Cranfield believed that menaces and prosecutions would bend the necks of the Congregationalists to the yoke of Episcopal forms ; and Packenham, leading on the veterans of Wellington, despised the American rifle in the hands of back-woodsmen. The former sacri- ficed his power to his error ; the latter lost his life. Both found the Americans more resolute in defence of their rights than cautious of danger, or submis- sive to usurpation. The rising settlements were now fast gain- ing upon the wilderness. One after another the hardy pioneers of that day progressed into the forest, until they reached the southern borders of Cheshire county. The hand of oppression was lightly laid upon them. The course of the * Articles of complaint against Lieut. Gov. Cranfield. N. H. Hist. Coll., I., p. 267. NEW HAMPSHIRE. 103 government was conciliating. The king was preparing them for the introduction of a governor- general. Three years before his death, Charles II., had declared the charter of Massachusetts forfeited, jgg^ James II., his successor, inherited the arbitrary Feb. e. disposition of his brother Charles. The colonies could hope for no favors from him. He organized igse. a new government and placed at its head, Joseph May 25. Dudley. But the administration of Dudley was short. In December, Sir Edmund Andros arrived Dec.30. at Boston, with a commission appointing him captain-general and governor-in-chief of New England. He began with fair professions and conciliatory measures ; but he soon disclosed his real object in accepting the appointment. It was to enrich himself* Finding the council backward in aiding his oppressive exactions, he appointed to that body none but willing instruments. Thus fortified, he pronounced all the land titles forfeited by the surrender of the Massachusetts charter ; and, that he might cut oif any reliance which the people had upon titles purchased of the Indians, he declared an Indian deed to be no better than the scratch of a bear's paw. His intention was to compel all the landholders to purchase of him new titles. In addition to this, he imposed upon them exorbitant taxes. To silence the popular complaint, he restrained the liberty of the press. That the people might not consult upon their grievances, he prohibited town meetings, except one in each year. To pre- vent complaints from reaching England, he forbade * N. H. Hist, Coll.. p. 2G9. 104 HISTORY OF CHAP, any one to leave the colony without permission , ,!_ from the governor. The people had borne with this "rapacious 1688. plunderer"* for two years. Their patience was exhausted. Meanwhile, the strides of King James towards arbitrary power were preparing the way to a revolution in England. His reign had been one continued invasion of civil and religious liberty.! It terminated in his expulsion from the throne ; which William III. ascended in 1688. 1688. When the news of this great revolution reached Boston, Andros affected to discredit the rumor, and imprisoned the man who brought it. But the people believed it, and were filled with joy. Their native love of freedom kindled at the prospect of deliverance. Actuated by a kindred spirit with their brethren in England, they deter- mined to act with similar promptitude. Accord- 1689. ingly, on the morning of the eighteenth of April, is" the drums in Boston beat to arms. Crowds came flocking in from the country, as the day advanced, to the assistance of the Bostonians ; and Andros was seized and thrown into prison. A committee of safety was hastily organized, and assumed, for the time, the functions of government. Andros 1690. Vvas afterwards, by order of King William, sent to England, a prisoner of state, and New Hamp- shire was without a government. For some time the people waited for orders from England. None Jan. came, and they chose deputies to form a plan of government. They met, and resolved upon a March => , ,«- , nni • • • 12. union with Massachusetts. Ihen' petition was readily accepted at Boston, and New Hampshire P once more became a part of Massachusetts. * Whiton. t Humej vol. IV., p. •163. 16SS. NEW HAMPSHIRE. 105 Amidst the oppressions of Andros,* and the chap. IV contests with Mason, tlie colony became involved .^J^ in an Indian war. The seeds of hatred, long since sown, had begun to spring up. The Indians had brooded over tlie seizure of their brethren, by Major Waldron, with deep thougli silent resent- ment. Thirteen years had not been sufiicient to erase from their hearts the remembrance of injury and the thirst for vengeance. Besides this, they alleged other grievances and immediate causes of war. In vain did the government strive to concil- iate them with presents, and eagerly sue to them to make a treaty of peace. The Ossipees, the Pequawkets, and even a portion of the Pena- cooks, united to raise the warwhoop. A grandson of Passaconaway led the dreadful enterprise. It required all the influence of Wanalonset, although the dying charge of his father was often repeated, to persuade a portion of the Penacooks to peace. The Pequawkets were the movers of tlie war, and were not without provocation. The mansion of the Baron de St. Castine stood at this time at Penob- scot. The baron, tliough of an ancient and proud family of France, chose to lead the life of an Indian trader in the wilds of America. He had adopted Indian customs, and h.ad married a daughter of the sachem Madokewando. Andros, unprovoked, sailed up the Penobscot in the Rose frigate, and plundered his house and fort, scarcely leaving him the ornaments of his chapel. This called on Castine for revenge. Instigated by him, the Indians began to commit depredations at North Yarmouth. Some of them were pursued ^- N. U. Hist. Coll., I.. 209. 14 106 HISTORY OF CHAP and seized. Andres, hoping to conciliate those _!;_ whom he had so wantonly and cruelly offended, commands the captured to be set free. He trusted that the enemy, in return for this mildness, would liberate their prisoners. But this had not the desired effect. The Indians retained their prisoners, and put them to death with the most cruel tortures. Andros now changed his mild policy, and led into their country an army of seven hundred men. They saw not an Indian in their whole march. Meanwhile the Indians were preparing for hos- tilities in New Hampshire. Some of those whom Major Waldron sent to Boston to be sold into slavery, had returned, and would not let their brethren rest unrevenged. It required but little time to concert an attack upon Dover ; for Waldron was there. The Penacooks, the Pe- r quawkets, and the Ossipees, are called into the league. And now, all things being ready, the Indians set forward. It is the evening of the 16S9. twenty-seventh of June. Waldron sleeps in one of ^^^ the garrisoned houses. Two of the squaws apply at each of the houses and ask leave to lodge by the fire. They are welcomed ; as is also the chief, Mesandowit, who went to the Major's house and supped with him in the evening. " Brother Waldron," said the crafty savage, with jocular and usual familiarity, "what would you do, if the strange Indians should come?" "I can assemble an hundred men," replied the vete- ran, " by lifting up my finger." In this unsus- pecting confidence the family retired to rest. The red men have " trapped the lion in his lair." NEW HAMPSHIRE. 107 Night advances. At the moment of deepest sleep, chap. the gates are softly opened by the squaws, and a L_ shrill whistle breaks the silence of night. It is the signal agreed upon for attack. Instantly the In- dians rush in to take their long-meditated revenge. Aroused by the noise, Major Waldron starts from his sleep, seizes his sword, and, though bowed with the weight of eighty years, drove the assailants back through two doors. But in doing this, unluckily an Indian darted behind him and stunned him with the blow of a hatchet. The Indians immediately raise him up from the floor, and setting him in a chair on the table, they begin the work of torture. They cut off his nose and ears, and gash his breast with their knives ; each one exclaiming, with fiendish mirth, " I cross out my account."* Faint from the loss of blood, he was falling from the table, when an Indian held his own sword under him and pierced him through. Thus fell this gallant and venerable man. In this closing scene of his existence he displayed the same determined valor which had made him, through life, the terror and admiration of the Indians. After attacking other houses, and killing many, the Indians effected a speedy retreat, and sold their prisoners in Canada. Aroused by these barbarities, the government sent a party, under Capt. Noyes, to attack the Penacooks. But they could only destroy their corn. Another party, under Capt. Wincol, were sent to Lake Winnipiseogee, but they killed only one or two of the enemy. Instigated by the French, who were now at war with England, the Indians continued * N. H. Hist. Coll., II., 46. 108 HISTORY OF NEW H A 31 P S H I R E . their depredations. The Count de Frontinac, governor of Canada, eager to distinguish himself 1690. "^ ^^^^ cause of his royal master, the king of France, detached three parties of French and Indians from Canada. These murderous bands, pursuing different routes, spread devastation along their whole march. Many are the affecting inci- dents mingled in the history of this war. Women, with babes at their breasts, were carried captive in the depth of winter, and when their infants became burdensome, they were taken from their arms and dashed against the nearest tree. Some- times, in mid-harvest, the husbandman was shot in the field, and the crops burned on which the subsistence of a desolate family depended. Young children were marched through the dreary winter snows to Canada,* and in these protracted journcyings suffered a thousand deaths. Amidst these barbarities, an instance of Indian gratitude now and then occurs, to brighten, by its dim lustre, the gloomy recital. Here and there, among their captives, they would discover some one wlin had bofriended tliom ; and such were invariably set at liberty. In the voice of some feeble woman, crying out under her tor- tures, the quick ear of the Indian would discover his former benefactress, and he would spare her life. Though gentle pity seemed never to inhabit the breast of the North American Indian, he was proud to remember favors, and never forgot to revenge an injury. * N. H. Hist. Coll., v., 109. CHAPTER VI. CoNQL'EST of Canada attempted — It fails — Governor Allen— Union with I\Ias- sachusetts dissolved — Sir William Phipps— The small-pox first imported into New Hampshire — Peace with the Indians — The war resumed — IMado- kewaudo — Usher — Durham destroyed — Peace — The return of the captives — The Earl of Bellomont — His character — His death — Death of Allen — War between France and England — Dudley — His conference with the In- dians — Indian depredations — Expedition against Port Royal — It fails - Congress of delegates — Second expedition against Port Royal — It is suc- cessful — Deathof Hilton— Expedition to Quebec— The fleet wrecked in the St. Lawrence — One thousand men perish — Peace — The captives return — Vaughan — John Wentworth— Industry revives — Monopoly resisted — Gov. Shute holds a conference with the Indians on an island in the Ken- nebec — The Scottish emigrants — Their character. The people of New England now regarded chap. Canada as the source of their calamities, and .^ !^ resolved to carry the war into the enemy's country. With but feeble resources, they formed the bold design to subject that province to the crown of England. For this object, an army of two thou- sand men, under the command of Sir William Phipps, sailed from Boston for (Quebec. Winter met them on their arrival. The troops became dispirited, sickness prevailed in the camp, and this enterprise, which promised so much, and involved the colonies deeply in debt, ended, having effected nothing. Fortunately, however, at this time the Indians ceased hostilities, and remained l^^l. June 9. quiet till the summer of 1 69 1 . An important political revolution conferred the 1692. 110 HISTORY OF CHAP, appointment of governor upon Samuel Allen, of .^ L, London, and that of lieutenant-governor upon his son-in-law John Usher, of Boston. With un- feigned regret the people saw the dissolution of their second brief union with Massachusetts. Al- len had purchased of the heirs of Captain Mason their title to the soil of New Hampshire. It was sufficient to make this announcement received with coldness, that the inhabitants apprehended a 1692. revival of Mason's claim. About the same time a new form of government, Whiton, . . p. 4s. under the second charter, was established in Mas- sachusetts. This raised to the governor's chair an obsure boy, born on the banks of the Kenne- bec. He was of a poor family, and at the age of twenty-two could not read. But he discovered, and drew up from the depths of the sea, the treasures of an old Spanish vessel. This gave him wealth. Wealth commanded influence ; and thus was appointed to the post of governor that remarkable child of fortune, Sir William Phipps. To the calamities of the war, now raging, were superadded the horrors of the small-pox ; a disease then little understood, and its treatment imperfect. Its importation in cotton bales from the West In- dies to Portsmouth and Greenland, was an event which, from the nature of the disease and its well- known fatality among the Indians, was calculated to fill the colony with alarm. As if the intellect were destined to be affected simultaneously with the body, the public mind at this time was most strongly infected with witchcraft.* Some good, however, was now to be mingled * See page 65. NEW HAMPSHIRE. Ill with the ills of fortune. Wearied with the contest, char and some of their chief men being in captivity, the !_ Indians became, in their turn, advocates for peace. 1693. They longed for the time to come when they could remain idle in their wigwams ; and they needed a space to recruit. Though their animosity still burned against the English, they came into the fort at Pemaquid, and there entered into a solemn covenant of amity. They acknowledged their subjection to the crown of England — engaged to abandon the French interest — promised perpetual peace — to forbear private revenge — to restore all captives — and they delivered hostages for the per- formance of their engagements. To the people of New Hampshire this peace gave a grateful respite. They were dispirited and reduced. The war had broken up their trade and husbandry, and weighed them down Vvith a heavy burden of debt. The earth also was less fruitful than before ; as if the kindly skies withheld their gifts at such an exhibition of the follies and cruel- ties of man. The governor was obliged to impress men to guard the outposts ; and sometimes these were dismissed for want of provisions.* In this situation, they applied to Massachusetts for assist- ance. Their application found that colony over- whelmed with witchcraft, and rent with feuds about the charter. Superstition and party spirit had usurped the place of reason, and the defence of themselves and their neighbors was neglected for the ghostly orgies of the witch-finder and the quarrels of the old and new chartists. * F. Belknap, p. 136. See also Province Records, Journal House and Assembly for 1692—1716, in the office of the Secretary of State at Concord. 112 HISTORY OF CHAP. The peace, which they had so recently hailed __J_ with joy, was destined to be of short continuance. 1691. The spirit of Madokawando was abroad amongst the Indians, for the plundering of Castine yet rankled in the breast of his father. Villieu, at the head of two hundred and fifty Indians, collected from the tribes of St. John, Penobscot, and Nor- ridgwock, marched to Oyster river. Durham* is the object of attack. It has twelve garrisoned houses ; but the inhabitants dream not of danger, and are scattered in their own dwellings. The Indians approach the place undiscovered, and halt at the falls. It is the evening of the seventeenth Juij i'^- Qf July. They are formed in two divisions, and proceed on both sides of the river. These divi- sions are now subdivided into small parties, and they plant themselves in ambush near every house, that the destruction of the town may be sudden, overwhelming, and complete. They are to be ready for the attack at the rising of the sun. The firing of the first gun is to be the signal. Happily, it was fired too early, and a part of the inhabitants escaped. Five houses were destroyed, and an hundred persons carried captive. The next year, 169-3. the enemy remained inactive, but in 1696, a body 1696. of them, coming from the eastward in canoes, made an attack at Portsmouth plain, and took nineteen prisoners. A company of militia, under Captain Shackford, was immediately detached in pursuit. They came upon the Indians at Break- fast Hill,t while they were cooking their morning repast, and, by a sudden onset, retook all the pris- * N. H. Hist. Coll., v., pp. 129—153. f Between Greenland and Rye. blather's Magnalia. lib. 7., p. 86. N E W H A M P S II I Pv E . 1 13 oners. At Dover and Exeter many of the settlers chap. were killed or captured ; and before the close of 1697, the widow of President Ciitts, was among the number of victims.* Madokawando was now revenged. He gathered up all the scalps taken in the war, and carried them to Canada — a fit offering to be made to Count Frontenac. Thus the base deeds of Governor Andros were visited upon the innocent and unoffending. The Indian refuses to discriminate. To his mind, the guilt of the race is involved in the crime of each individual offender; and when he imbrues his hands in the blood of a guiltless child, it is because his code of justice visits the iniquities of the fathers upon the chil- dren. During the war, Usherf continued to administer the government, and to alienate the affections of the people. He had amassed a fortune by specu- lation, and, like many others who have been sur- prised to find themselves suddenly rich, he became bloated to a size corresponding with his fortune. He assumed the airs of authority, and affected a tone of despotic severity. The airs of such a man as Usher could only excite the contempt of the hardy colonists, who had faced too many real dangers, and grappled with too many real horrors, to be awed by the pomp of ignorance, or terrified at the wrath of a fool. H« was profoundly illiterate and weak-minded ; and seemed to be decked with authority and crowned with success, only to^ illustrate to the world that fortune and merit are not inseparable companions. * F. Belknap, p. 141. t Province Records, Journal House and Assembly, 1092 — 1716. 15 114, HISTORY OF CHAP. He was soon superseded by the appointment of William Partridge, as lieutenant-governor and /ime. commander-in-chief, in the absence of Allen. The counsellors whom Usher had suspended, resumed their seats, and he returned to Boston.* The The news of peace, coming at this time, equally ''^Ryl" surprised and rejoiced the inhabitants. The gov- 169S. ernor of Canada signified to the Indians that he could no longer aid them in the war. He advised them to bury the hatchet and restore their captives. Many of them, however, had long since despaired of release. The woes of exile did not silence the afirections and passions. Some of the young cap- tives learned to love the life they led. They intermarried with the Indians, and preferred to make their homes and their graves in the forest. Even when invited to return, they refused, to the poignant regret of their friends. But in the path- less wilderness through which they travelled to reach Canada, an inhuman massacre took place, as often as the sick and aged became a burden. The infant, whose feeble cry irritated the sullen Indian, was dashed against a rock or a tree, before the eyes of its mother, with a wanton indifference which indicated almost a total want of parental affection and sympathy in the savage breast. Those who were spared were compelled to pass, iunclad and almost unfed, over mountains and through swamps and interminable forests, often wading in deep snows. But the pious benevolence of the French missionaries often met them in their dreary marches and soothed the sorrows of exile. It is difficult, at this day, to estimate fully the * Province Eecords, Journal Council, 1696 — 1722. NEW HAMPSHIRE. 115 discourai^ino' circumstances under which the fa- chap. . .VI thers carried on this war. They were not fighting on a broad theatre, where their achievements would be the theme of a workl's admiration ; but with a wily, lurking foe, who never felt the force of that noble maxim of Tacitus, that " victory is most honorable when mercy spares the vanquished.*'* If they should be taken prisoners, their lives would be spared only to protract their tortures ; or they must be led at the heels of their captors, until slavery should consummate the rights of the victors over the conquered. Early in the summer, Allen came to America. 1698. Six years had elapsed since the date of his appoint- ment. The people knew that the Earl of Bello- mont,f a nobleman of accomplished manners and liberal views, a friend of the late revolution, had received the appointment of governor of New York, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. Allen's commission, however, remained in force till the arrival of his successor. His administration lasted a year, and was one continued scene of alterca- tion. J At the end of that time, Bellomont arrived, , and was received by the people with the greatest 1699 cordiality. The counsellors, who had refused juiyai'. to sit at the board with Usher, resumed their places, § and Partridge, who had been removed to make way for Usher, was restored. From this time onward, througli a period of forty-two years. New Hampshire and Massachusetts were placed under the same governor. Each state had its own * Annals of Tacitus, b. 12, s. 19. f N. H. Hist. Coll., IV., 251. :j: Prov. Rec, Jour. Council and Assembly, 1692 — 1716. Jour. Council, 1696—1722. ^ Prov. Rec, J. C. and A., 1692-1716. 116 HISTORY OF CHAP, council,* its own assembly of representatives, and .^^J^ its own laws. The council having been con- stituted in accordance with the popular wishes, the next care of the people was to reorganize the courts. This they did by selecting all the judges from the decided opponents of the Masonian claim. When things had been thus happily arranged, the 1701. Earl of Bellomont died at*New York. He was a 5. man of superior talents and of an energetic charac- ter. He had always been the defender of popular rights ; and when he was removed by death, the people mourned the loss of a nobleman, who, though faithful to the king, never oppressed the people. In his short administration, he had sv^^ept from the seas the pirates who had so long harassed the commerce of the colonies. Captain Kidd and his daring followers, whose adroitness had eluded the most vigilant search, were captured by Bello- mont, and sent to England in chains. Before the Earl's death, Allen had begun to agitate the Ma- sonian claim. Tired of controversy, the people proposed to him terms of compromise. Allen * himself, advanced in age and failing in health, de- sired to pass the remainder of his days in quiet, and sought an accommodation with the people. A settlement was on the point of being agreed to, when his death presented a result so desirable. His son revived the controversy, but without 1715. success. The death of the son relieved the inhab- itants from the fear of being disturbed in their 1702. possessions. At the death of Bellomont, Joseph July 13. Dudley was appointed governor of Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Favorably disposed to the * p. R.. Jour. Council, 1696—1722. NEW HAMPSHIRE. 117 interests of the colonists, and opposed to the Ma- chap. sonian claim, he was received with cordiality. L_ The next year Usher was commissioned Lieut. Governor. His rival, Partridge, being thus super- 1703. seded, retired from the province. The peace that followed the treaty of Ryswick, was of short duration. The seeds of war had been sown in Europe ; and while England and France were engaged in hostilities at home, it was natural for them to make their American possessions the theatre of warlike operations. The English claimed the territory as far as the St. Croix. French ships of war had driven the English fishermen from the banks of Nova Scotia, and France had attempted to prevent the English from settling east of the Kennebunk. Such was the posture of affairs, when Dudley* 1702. entered upon his administration. Fearful of an -^"'y^^- outbreak, he immediately sought a conference with the Indians. They had solemnly agreed to be at 1703 peace. He was met by delegates from the Nor- juncso. ridgwocks, the Penobscots, the Pequawkets, the Penacooks and Ameriscogins. They presented him with a belt of wampum in token of their sin- cerity, and led him to two heaps of stones that stood in the valley. These had been raised years before, and, as a pledge of peace, were named the Two Brothers. To these they now added other stones, in token of ratifying ancient friendship. *' High as the sun is above the earth," exclaimed the savages, in the plenitude of their professions, *' so far distant from us is the least design to break the peace." Yet, in less than six weeks, a * Prov. Rec, Jour. C. and A., 1G92— 1716, 118 HISTORY OF CHAP, body of French and Indians laid waste all the ..^__ settlements from Casco to Wells', killing and ^^f^""^ carrying captive one hundred and thirty persons. Scarcely had another week elapsed, when they at- tacked Hampton village and killed five. The whole frontier, from Deerfield on the west, to Casco on the east, was now thrown into con- fusion and alarm. The women and children re- tired to the garrisons — the men went armed into the fields. Few of the lurking foe were taken, though the government offered a bounty of forty pounds for scalps. With the return of spring, hostilities were resumed afresh, and Indian vengeance fell heavily upon the settlements on Oyster and Lamprey rivers. They were pursued to Haverhill, in Coos, and one or 1705. two were killed. Early the next year, Col. Hilton led two hundred and seventy men on snow-shoes to Norridgwock, to attack them in their winter quarters. It was a fruitless march. But an ex- 1706. ploit was performed the next year, which made up in some degree for the failure of that expe- dition. It was the defence of a house in Durham* by a few women. These heroines, in the absence of their husbands, heard the war-whoop, and saw the Indians approaching to attack the house. What was to be done ? It was impossible to re- treat. Should they surrender ? Without a moment's hesitation, they resolved to defend the house. Throwing on their husbands' hats, and disguising themselves as much as possible, they assumed the resolute action of men, and com- menced a smart fire. The deception was com- * F. Belkaap. N. H. Hist. Coll., V., pp. 129—153. NEW HAMPSHIRE. 119 pletc. The Indians, supposing the house to be chap. defended by a strong garrison, fled. Thus did __!^ these women, with a quickness of invention, courage, and decision of character, worthy of the most distinguished heroism of ancient or modern times, successfully devise a plan, with the utmost presence of mind, in the midst of danger, which saved their lives and those of their husbands and families. After killing twenty Indians at the eastward, 1707. the colonists resolved to attack Port Royal, the capital of the French settlements.* New Hamp- shire united with the other colonies and sent thither a considerable army. Under convoy of two men- May is of-war, the forces approached the place. At their ~ landing, they were received into the midst of an ambuscade. The Indians were hidden amongst the sedge. Walton and Chesley,t at the head of the New Hampshire troops, who were already on shore, pushed up the beach, and attacked the ene- my in flank. The Indians fled. But the advan- tages of victory could not be reaped, for there were operating here, on a smaller scale, the same jealousies and bickerings amongst officers, which have ruined the prospects of the most splendid military enterprises. A quarrel broke out between the military and naval officers. Nothing could reconcile differences, or inspire union. The army was finally put under the direction of three super- visors, and the whole affair came to a wretched end.J The army returned, sickly, disheartened, August. * Pennhallow — Charlevoix. f F. Belknap, p. 174. t F. Belknap, p. 175. P. R., J. 0. and A., 1692—1716. 120 HISTORY OF CHAP, and ashamed. They had lost sixteen killed, and .J^ as many wounded. The colony at this time was in a dismal state. The best warriors were abroad in pursuit of the enemy. Those at home were harassed more than ever by the cruel foe. Not an acre of land could be tilled, except within sight of the garrisoned houses. Their lumber trade and fisheries were declining, taxes increasing, and there was no pros- pect of an end to the war. Besides, the Indians had killed one hundred and thirty, between Casco and Wells — five at Hampton, twenty-four at Oys- ter River, five at Exeter, two at Dover, one be- tween Exeter and Kingston. Under these discouragements, great and over- 1708. whelming as they were, the people had preserved their fortitude. They maintained all their garri- 1709. sons, so that not one of them was cut off in New Hampshire during the war.* 1709. In autumn, a congress of delegates, of all the colonies, met at Rhode Island, and determined upon an expedition against Canada. The British ministry approved of the proposal, and the imme- diate reduction of Port Royal was agreed upon. 1710. Accordingly, an English force came over in five frigates, and a bomb-ketch. They were joined by the colonial troops, and sailed from Boston on the Sept. eighteenth of September. On the twenty-fourth they arrived at the place. The governor, despair- ing to hold out against so formidable a force, sur- oct.5. rendered, after the firing of a few shots. At the moment of organizing this expedition, and before the appointment of officers, the people * F. Belknap, p. 175. NEW HAMPSHIRE. 121 of New Hampshire were called upon to mourn the chap. loss of their favorite son, and bravest defender, '^ Col. Winthrop Hilton. He fell into an ambush, and was slain by the Indians. They had long July 22. thirsted for his blood, and waited patiently to take him. At length they saw him go out with a party of men to peel the bark from some trees which had been felled. While engaged in the work, they rushed upon them, and killed two ; one of whom was Hilton. Their guns were wet, and they could make no defence. Thus died Col. Hilton, univer- sally lamented. , On the west bank of Lamprey river, in his own field, by the side of his American ancestors, where the descendants of four gene- rations have since been gathered around him, the remains of the gallant man repose. He was buried with honors due to his rank and charac- ter. The inscription upon his moss-covered monu- ment shows where the remains of a man, who sin- cerely loved and faithfully served "both God and his country," have long since mouldered into dust.* After the death of Hilton, Capt. Walton, with one hundred and seventy men, traversed the eastern shores in pursuit of the Indians. They encamped on an island, and by the smoke of their first fire some Indians, mistaking them for some of their own tribe, were decoyed to the camp and made prisoners. Among these was the sachem of Nor- ridgwock. He had been an active and fierce war- rior. When he found himself in tlie hands of his enemies, he surveyed them with haughty disdain. When required to disclose the lurking-places of his * N. H. Hist. CoU. 16 122 HISTORY Of CHAP, warriors, he refused ; when they threatened him _,^ with death, and made before his eyes the prepara- tions to execute him, he laughed scornfully. His wife, being an eye-witness of the scene, was so in- timidated as to make the discoveries which the cap- tors had tried in vain to extort from the sachem.* They followed to the place pointed out by her, and returned with seven scalps. This success, inconsiderable as it may appear, kept up the spirits of the people, and added to the loss of the enemy, who were now daily diminishing by sickness and famine. 16. The success of the second expedition against 1711. Port Royal, encouraged an attempt, the next year, on Q,uebec ; and an agent was despatched to Eng- 1711. land to solicit aid. To the surprise of all, the min- isters of Queen Anne acceded to the proposal, and a fleet came over, under the command of Admiral Walker, consisting of fifteen ships of war, fifty transports, and six store-ships. The troops which they brought, had been selected from the veteran legions of the Duke of Marlborough, the flower of English valor. Never had New England seen upon her waters a fleet or an army so formidable. When joinecl by the colonial troops, they amounted to six thousand five hundred men — a force con- sidered at that day fully equal to the reduction of Quebec. t Their bright anticipations of conquest were blasted in a single night. No sooner had they entered the St. Lawrence, than the admiral obstinately refused to direct his course by the ad- vice of the pilots. He had proceeded but ten leagues up the river, when, on the night of the * F. Eelknap, p. 179 f W^ton. F. Belknap. Aua;ust NEW HAMPSHIRE. 123 twenty-third of August, the weather being thick, eight transports were wrecked upon an island, and a thousand men perished. Of the whole number only one was a New-Englander. The fleet put back, and with great difficulty beat down the St. Lawrence, and rendezvoused at the mouth of Spanish river. There the officers held a consul- tation, and ffiially resolved to abandon the enter- prise. The Indians took courage from these misfor- 1712. tunes, and fell upon Exeter, Dover, and Oyster River. Such w^as the posture of affairs, when, to the great joy of the inhabitants, the news of the peace of Utrecht arrived in America. As soon as oct.20. the Indians were informed of this, they came into Casco with a flag of truce, and desired to make a treaty. An unusual despondency was percepti- ble in their demeanor. Thoughtful of past misfor- tunes, they now saw that all further hostility would be useless, and asked for peace. A sus- Oct.29. pension of arms was proclaimed at Portsmouth, and, on the eleventh of July, the chiefs and depu- jjj^'^j ties of the several tribes solemnly ratified the treaty of peace. Most joyfully did the inhabitants leave the garrisoned houses, where they had suffered so much, to resume once more the peaceful pur- suits of industry. The fields again looked gay ' with the harvest — the wilderness and the solitary place began "to bud and blossom like the rose." Immediately after the peace, a ship was de- ^7^4 spatched to (Quebec, to bring home the captives. The scene, on their arrival, is not to be described. Hundreds thronged the beach to meet them. 124 HISTORY OF CHAP. Mothers were eagerly searching through the crowd ._^_;_ for their sons, and watching, with tremhhng sohci- tiide, each person that stepped upon the shore. Wives were there agitated with uncertain hopes, and fearing to interrogate the strange company of the ransomed ; for they were indeed strange. Some could only make signs of recognition. They stood locked in the embraces of their friends, and wept tears of joy in silence. They had forgotten their native language. Some came not. Captivity had not quenched the feelings. They had inter- married with the Indians, and refused the call that bade them return. They had grown out of the habits and the memory of home. A new love had been grafted, where the old had been broken. They preferred the hut of the wilderness to the home once so dear to them. During the war, Dudley, as governor, and Usher, ^ as lieutenant-governor, had administered the go- vernment, as faithful servants of the crown, and to the satisfaction of the people. Affairs in Eng- land had now changed, by the accession of George I. Many valuable officers, who had served the English government in the late wars, were wasting 1715 away by the rust of peace. They must be provided for in America. Accordingly, George Vaughan 1716. yyas made lieutenant-governor, and Samuel Shute Oct. 13. . . commander-in-chief of the province of New Hampshire. Dudley, expecting soon to be super- seded, went to pass the evening of his days in re- tirement, and left the helm of state in the hands of Vaughan. Vaughan's first act offended the people. It was * p. R., Journ. Council and Assembly, 1692—1716. NEW HAMPSHIRE. 125 an attempt to establish a perpetual revenue to the chap. crown, by bringing into New England the land-tax .^_^ of Great Britain. The assembly declined to lay any imposts until the arrival of a governor. Shute, Oct. 17. however, soon came to the chair. lie abandoned the land-tax, but displaced six of the old counsel- lors, and filled their seats with six more, all of Portsmouth. This gave the trading interest a preponderance in the assembly. The yeomanry feared that the burdens of government would be laid wholly upon their shoulders. Disputes and bickerings* arose between the governor and the house of representatives, and between the governor and lieutenant-governor. The rash and precipi- tate, hasty and imperious temper which brought on the contest,! disqualified Vaughan for managing it with success. He disgusted the council and as- sembly, and did not conciliate the crown.| Ven- 1717. turing to disobey some of the instructions of ^^''^' Shute, he was complained of to the king, and superseded by John Wentworth. The same hand that penned the immortal soliloquy of Cato, and traced the finest harmonies of the Spectator, countersigned the conmiission of Wentworth. It was the hand of Addison. During the last, long, and distressing war with the Indians, the resources and improvement of the colony had been at a stand. But on the return of peace, Industry ventured once more to ply her busy hand, and the staple productions of the colony rose into view and became objects of at- tention. The royal navy needed masts, and, by * p. R., J. C. and A., 171G— 1728. House, 1711—1724. t F. Belknap, p. 187. ^ T' R; JC. and A.. 1715—1728. House, 1711— 1721. 126 HISTORY OF CHAP, law, all pine trees of a certain diameter were re- served for the king. To encourage the colonists, and for the benefit of Great Britain, lumber Avas imported into England free of duty. In the east- ern waters the fisheries had been successful, and a considerable profit began to be derived from the manufacture of tar and turpentine from pitch-pine trees. A company of merchants soon attempted to monopolize the manufacture of these articles. But when many thousand trees had been prepared for use, they were destroyed by unseen hands. Thus did the fathers resist the first stride of the giant Monopoly. Something was done at this time towards the culture of hemp. But it was soon found that the people could till no more land than was requisite for raising corn, and they turned their attention at once to the means of subsistence. Their peaceful pursuits were soon to be interrupted. The eastern 1717. Indians at this time discovered symptoms of un- easiness. With sullen discontent they saw the rapid progress of English settlements — the erec- tion of mill-dams and forts, and the increasing activity and power of the colonists. Governor Shute resolved upon an effort to produce recon- ciliation. Assembling their chiefs on an island in the Kennebec, he promised them trading-houses, supplies of arms, and smiths to keep their guns in repair. Their prejudices had been strongly ex- cited against the English. " Why are you so strongly attached to the French?"* demanded a stranger of an Indian sachem. " Because," re- plied the savage, " the French have taught us to * Whiton. NEW HAMPSHIRE. 127 prav to God, Vviiich the Ensjlish never did." The chap. * " ° . , VI. Indians found encroachments daily made upon __ — their lands, and desired the English to fix a boun- dary, beyond which their settlements should not extend. This desire Governor Shute never com- plied with. Nor were the promised supplies ever furnished. While an Indian war hung in suspense over the ^„^g colonists, they received an important accession to -^"^"'^-^ their numbers. Early in 1719 came the Scottish Scottish »' enn- families, sixteen in number, to Londonderry, s^nts. Near the beginning of the seventeenth century, their ancestors had emigrated from Argylshire, in the vrest of Scotland, to the counties of London- derry and Antrim, in the north of Ireland.* There they trusted that their posterity might dwell, be- yond the reach of tyrants. But the hand of per- secution, which fell so h.eavily upon all Protestants during the reigns of Charles I. and James II., reached Ireland, and was laid upon the Scots. Tliere, while burdened with tithes and thirsting for a larger liberty, they heard that there was a delightful region in the New World, yet unmarred by the foot-print of an oppressor. Cheered by the most flattering hopes, one hundred and twenty families embarked for America. Their voyage was prosperous. They arrived, some at Boston, others at Portland, and there passed the autumn and winter. The next year 3I'Gregore, with six- teen families, selected for their residence London- derry ; and there he preached his first sermon, under the shade of a spreading oak. Large ac- cessions of their countrymen were soon added to * "VVhiton, p. GG. 128 HISTORY OF CHAP, the original company ; and in a few years the ^^ church numbered two hundred and thirty mem- bers. They were Presbyterians. They Uved in that age of enthusiasm when the adherents of old and new creeds gloried in the name of martyrs, and dissenters demanded, (what they were seldom willing to grant,) unlimited freedom of religious opinion. These emigrants were proud to enjoy, and gloried in vjndicating, the Presbyterian faith. They were descended from men by whom that doctrine had been maintained with a spirit of in- dependence unequalled in any state in Europe, and hardly surpassed by the firmness and valor with which their more remote ancestors, unawed by the terror of the Roman name, defended their moors and marshes against the conquering arms of Agricola. It is not strange that they should have been ardently attached to their faith. They knew that it was Christianity that changed the savage man- ners of their remote ancestors, and brought to the depths of the morasses and woods the dignity and happiness of civilized social life. It was no won- der, then, that they should hold strong opinions. It was no wonder that they should worship, with fervent devotion, that Sun of Righteousness wliich had shed such a reviving light over the highlands and into all the glens of Caledonia. It is no won- der that they should deem it a sacred duty to serve the cause of Heaven by making the fiercest oppo- sition to what they deemed a false faith ; nor, when they had found what they esteemed true Christianity, that they should be willing to sacri- fice for it the last and best joys and possessions of NEW HAMPSHIRE. 129 man — even to forsaking their country and laying chap. down their lives. '^ Next to their piety, the most striking character- istic of the Scottish settlers was their national pride and high sense of honor. They held life in mean regard, compared with the slightest stain upon their honor. They felt the blood of the ancient Scots swelling their veins ; and though far removed from them by time, and far distant from home, ^ they still remembered Scotland, and cherished as household words the local names of Moray and Caithness, Galloway and Strath Clyde. It was natural for men to feel some pride of country, whose ancestors had been led to battle by such heroes as Wallace and Bruce. It was still more natural for those to feel it who had been taught that other generations of Scottish heroes had ren- dered memorable the fields of Harlow, Sterling, and Ancram-Moor. The earliest annals prove the Scots to have been a gallant people. The ancient Caledonians, preferring death to slavery, met the Romans in the forests of Lochleven and Loch Ore, and maintained their native indepen- dence, in spite of the universal conquerors ; com- pelling them to feel and acknowledge how great must be the patriotism and valor which move a people to defend such wild districts of mountain, moor, and marsh, against the victors of the world.. In process of time the descendants of the London- derry settlers spread over Windham, Chester, Litchfield, Manchester, Bedford, Goffstown, New Boston, Antrim, Peterborough, and Acworth, in New Hampshire, and Barnet, in Vermont. They were the first settlers of many towns in Massa- 17 130 HISTORY OF CHAP, chusetts, Maine, and Nova Scotia. They are ^^.^ now, to the number of more than twenty thousand,* scattered over all the states of the Union. But wherever located, and however situated, these ancestral recollections seem to have been cherish- ed by the posterity of the Scottish emigrants. To . this it is to be ascribed, in part at least, that Stark, Reid, M'Clary, M'Niel, and Miller, have ^ displayed, in later days, much of the same pride and patriotism which swelled the dauntless hearts of Wallace and Bruce. Inheriting the same great traits of character, the American heroes of Scot- tish descent have made the achievements of Bunker Hill, Bennington, and Bridgewater, not unworthy to be associated in history with those of Flodden, Melrose, Dundalk, and Bannockburn. In the character of the Scots of Londonderry industry was another and a prominent trait. It is said of them that they were " a well-principled people; frugal, hardy, and industrious."! It is certain that they made rapid advances towards wealth and importance ; and that the excellence of their manufactures and the products of their industry procured for them an extensive demand. It is easy for the physiologist to discover, even now, in the countenances of the people of Derry, the same traits of character which led the ancient Scots to encounter such formidable odds, and cling with such tenacity to the defence of hills clad in perpetual snow, and wintry shores washed by the Northern Ocean. It is easy to see, in the * Whilon estimates the descendants of the Londonderry settlers at be- tween twenty and thirty thousand — p. 67. t Whiton, p. 66. NEW HAMPSHIRE. 131 faces tliat assemble on a Sabbath day at Derry, chap. indications of the same deep feehng and high .^J^ resolve, which moved the Scots of olden time to , resist the fierce tyranny of the English church. CHAPTER VII. The Aurora Borealis seen for the first time in New England in 1721 — Inoc- ulation first used as an antidote to the small-pox — War with the Indians — The Jesuit missionaries — Father Rasle — his labors — his death and char- acter — War with the Indians — The family of Hanson — Captain Love- well — Last battle with the Indians at Lovewell's Pond — Defeat and death of Lovewell — Description of the battle-ground and the scenery in the valley of the Saco — Departure of the Penacooks — Boundary dispute — Settlement of Concord — Triennial act — Burnet — Belcher — Death of Wentworth — his character — Dunbar — Contest between the friends of the Union with Massachusetts and the advocates of a separate government — Boundary dispute — continues — decided in favor of New Hampshire — Banning Wentworth appointed governor — Sickness in New Hampshire — Intelligence — Morals — Schools — George Whitefield — comes to New Hampshire — his eloquence — his character. CHAP. The Aurora Borealis, the beauty of the north- VII. '' 1721. Dec. 17. ern sky, which is now gazed upon with so much dehght, was seen for the first time in New Eng- land in 1721, and filled the inhabitants with alarm. Superstition beheld with terror its scarlet hues, and transformed its waving folds of light, moving like banners along the sky, into harbingers of com- ing judgment, and omens of impending havoc. Under its brilliant reflections, the snow, the trees, and every object, seemed to be dyed with blood, and glowed like fire. Shortly after the appearance of this beautiful and still mysterious phenomenon of the northern heavens, it was for the first time proposed in New England to make use of inoculation as an antidote to the small-pox. It had long been known as a I HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRB. 133 remedy in Turkey, and was now introduced into chap. the colonies, under the auspices of Cotton Mather. _.^ It required all his influence to gain for it the coun- tenance of the clergy ; but the prejudices of the people were inflamed against it to such a degree, that when Dr. Boylston, who was the first indi- vidual to use it, offered to test its harmlessness or fatality by applying it to his own family, they raised a tumult and threatened his life. But the attention of the people was soon ab- sorbed by another and more fearful subject. The Indians were preparing for hostilities. The English must make ready for defence. In the long interval of peace, causes of war had been silently operating. The royal governors at the north did not strive, as did Oglethorpe and William Penn, to secure the attachment of the tribes by frankness and strict fidelity. The natives never regarded tlie northern governor as their father, nor did they confide in him, and appeal to him in every emergency of their internal disputes. Seldom or never did he enter the large square of the council place, or distribute presents to his " red friends," or drink with the P'fin- warriors "the sacred safkey," or smoke with the ni-. ' '' ' 434-5. nations the pipe of peace. They gave them few presents, and purposely avoided explaining to them the terms of treaties and conveyances of land. If they did not openly break their engagements with them, they pursued towards them a selfish and un- scrupulous policy. They erected dams and mills, careless of the injury they did to the Indian fisheries. The Indians more than once complained that they were cheated in trade. Avarice often led the English to obtain deeds of land by deceit ; and 134 * HISTORY OF CHAP, when the Indian had been tausht to get drunk, TT T r , . 1, his best possessions coukl be taken from him in a fit of intoxication, without an equivalent. They did not foresee that the erection of forts and mills was to drive away their game and fish ; and it was not till they found their means of subsistence cut off, that they repented of their unguarded confidence, and sought to dispossess those whom they had welcomed as friends. When they found that agri- culture was destroying their interests, they deter- mined, as a measure of self-preservation, to drive awTcy the new settlers, and bring back the already half-reclaimed wilderness to its primitive state. Having no records, the memory of bargains was soon lost ; and then many of the land titles which they had given came to be of doubtful validity. The lands which had been sold on the banks of the St. George and Kennebec at an early period, the Indians had no memory of; and when the sales were proved to them, they declared that the sachems had exceeded their authority. From the first landing of the English, they treated the natives as subjects of the crown. They declared war against them as rebels, and in treaties they styled them British subjects. When they were conquered, they were compelled to acknow- ledge their submission to the English government. The French, on the contrary, did not declare the Indians to be subjects of France. They left to all the tribes their native independence. Although their traders often travelled and resided amongst the Indians, they seldom or never sought to obtain their lands. The French sent to them mission- aries, wlio gained access to their hearts, and in- spired them with reverence and love. I NEAV HA 51 PS II I RE. 135 The Jesuits planted the cross at an early day chap. among the tribes of the Abcnaqiiis. But of the ,._,^ missionaries whom they sent there, no one endured or accomplished so much to christianize the In- dians as father Sebastian Rasle. In early youth he left the endearments of home and civilized life, plunged into the depths of wilds unexplored, and shared with the Indians the privations of the wil- derness. In the Indian village of Norridgewock, by a graceful curve of the Kennebec, on a beau- tiful prairie, stood his abode. All around lay a pathless wilderness. It was here that the mission- ary, then young, resolved to devote the remainder of his days to the spiritual services whereto he had been appointed. A church was erected, and supplied with those splendid decorations by which the Catholics seek to engage the imagination, and through that to reach the heart. Above the village stood one consecrated chapel, and below it another was erected, and bore on its walls the image of the holy virgin. By the assistance of women, the church was embellished with tasteful ornaments, and illumined by " brilliant lights from the wax of the bayberries, gathered from the islands of the Hist, sea." A bell was transported from Canada, through the wilderness, which, at morning and evening hour, called the hunters and warriors to prayer. Around tlie village the primeval forest yet stood in its grandear and glory. Islands, like gems, studded the clear expanse of the Kennebec, and a range of lofty mountains skirted the distant horizon. The matin song began to be chanted in these romantic solitudes, and with the unceasing music of the waterfall mingled the vesper hymn. 136 HISTORY OF CHAP. The Indians were taught to sing and recite in their VH ..^^.,,^ native tongue, and were charmed with the same ceremonies v>hich captivated the cultured minds of Fenelon and Cheverus. By the winning con- versation of Father Ilasle, and by the fervor and pathos of his preaching, the Indians were pro- foundly impressed with the truth of his religion, and 3^ielded almost implicit obedience to his will. He was master of all their languages, shared in their privations, and adopted the customs of the tribe. In times of scarcity he supplied them with food, secured their aiTections by his gentle deport- ment, and finally gained over them an ascendency superior to the influence of the native chiefs. When he had grown gray in poverty and absti- nence, he v»as suspected by the English of insti- gating the Indians to war ; and a party under Col. 1721. Westbrook was sent to Norridgewock to seize him. But a courier had preceded them to give him notice of their approach, and he escaped into the woods. The government soon resolved upon another expedition to Norridgewock ; and accord- 1724. ingly Captains Moulton and Harmon invested that fs!' village, each of them at the head of an Imndred men. When Father Rasle heard the tumult of their approach, he knew the danger to which him- self and his people were exposed. Nothing in- timidated,' he went forth, with fifty warriors, to meet the assailants, hoping to hold them in check till the women and children should have time to escape. As soon as he was discovered, a volley of musketry was directed towards him, and he fell dead at the foot of the cross which he had planted. The Indians mourned for him as for a chief and a NEW HAMPSHIRE. 137 father. He was buried near the place where his altar stood, and where he had so often celebrated the rites of his faith. More than a century after his death, gratitude and reverence reared an hum- ble monument to his memory on the spot where he fell. It was consecrated by Bishop Fenwick, with the solemn and imposing ceremonies of the Catlio- lic worship. No one could deny that it marked the spot where a good man was stricken down ; and when it was destroyed by the unseen hand of vio- lence, Charity could but mourn that enough of in- tolerant fanaticism should be found in the present enlightened age, to invade the precincts of :the dead, in order to trample upon a monument which the most savage conqueror would respect and spare. It was impossible for the Indians to overlook such an outrage upon their spiritual father, as that which was committed in the first attempt to seize Rasle. They regarded him v.'itli a reverence ap- proaching almost to worship. They determined to retaliate, and sought eagerly for revenge. The next summer they made an attack at Merry-meet- J'""^- . . . . . Junel3. ing-Bay, and carried captive nine families. At the fort of St. George's they were repulsed ; but destroyed Brunswick. This determined the gov- ernment upon hostilities, and accordingly a formal declaration of war was published at Boston and Portsmouth. Walton, Westbrook and Penhaliow led the New Hampshire forces. Thus, after an interval of ten years of peace, the colony was again involved in a war with the Indians. The enemy was expected on every part of the frontier, and again the people fled to their garrisoned houses. 18 138 HISTOJRY OF The growing unpopularity of Shute admonished him, at this time, to return to England, Although the people of New Hampshire were quiet under his administration, yet there was rising in Massachu- setts a violent and increasing opposition. Having been a soldier in his youth, and accustomed to military command and obedience, he was poorly prepared to brook the crosses and perplexities of politicrJ life. He did not possess that evenness of temper and calmness, Vvhich are so necessary for iTIa. ^^^6 management of difficult affairs. It was in the midst of an Indian war, when difficulties surrounded the government, that he left for England, and Lieutenant Governor Wentworth succeeded to the chair. It was resolved to prosecute the war vigor- ously. Wentworth, in the absence of Shute, took the field as commander-in-chief, and displayed the prudence and energy of an able leader. He was careful to supply the garrisons with stores and to visit them in person, to see that the duties of all were strictly performed. The Indians approached the settlements by way August of the Winnipiseogee. Their first appearance was at Dover ; their next at Lamprey River ; and they attacked, in quick succession, the settlements at May Oyster River, Kingston and Chester. A company jyiay marched to protect Oyster River, under the com- '^' mand of Abraham Benwick. At Dover some families of Quakers, scrupulously opposed to war, could not be persuaded to defend themselves. A party of French and Mohawks marked the family of John Hanson for their prey. They waited in ambush till the eldest daughter had gone and the two oldest sons. They then entered the house. NEW HAMPSHIRE. 139 killed and scalped two of the small children, and chap. took prisoners Mrs. Hanson with her infant. The _.^ first person to discover this disa-^ter was the absent daughter ; wdio, on her return, seeing the two chil- dren dead at the door, gave a shriek of despair, which was heard at the same moment by her mo- ther in the hands of the enemy, and by her brothers in the meadow. The people were quickly alarmed, and went in pursuit ; but the Indians, avoiding all the travelled paths, bore off their captives beyond their reach. After this catastrophe, Mr. Hanson removed to the house of his brother ; who, though 1724. a duaker, accustomed his family to the use of arms, and defended himself. Thus do scruples of con- science sometim.es yield to the supreme necessity of self-preservation. The captive lady, though tender and delicate, possessed a vigorous mind, and bore the hardships of the march with surprising fortitude. On arriving in Canada, the prisoners were all sold to the French. With ceaseless effort the sad father gathered gold and silver for their ransom ; and when a sufficient sum had been accumulated, he traversed the woods to Canada, in search of his lost family. Long and hopelessly he sought for them through all the French settlements, and was about to abandon the search, when, by the benevolence of a French lady, he was directed to the house where they were kept as slaves. Overwhelmed with joy, he paid the ransom, and received his wife, the three younger children, and the nurse. It was impossible to obtain the eldest daughter, though he saw and conversed with her ; and he returned, leaving her in captivity. But he remained not long 140 HISTORY OF CHAP, at home. The loss of his daughter continued to vn . . . . _..,-^ prey upon his mind, and it was impossible to solace 1727. his grief. In a short time he set out to tread again his lonely path to Canada. But the troubles of his mind and the exposure and fatigues of the first journey, had undermined his health, and be- fore he reached Crown Point his strength failed him. Parental affection urged him on till the last sands of life had run, and seemed to grow stronger as his end drew near, until death extinguished life and love together, and the father was laid in a grave equally distant from his home and his daughter. 1724. The enemy now ranged the whole extent of the Sept. 5. frontiers, plundering and laying waste ; and killing Sept. 7. several at Dunstable and Kingston. One after another, the Indian villages were visited ; but they were found deserted. The fate of Norridgewock was still fresh in their thoughts, and they could not be found in their former abodes. Scouting parties visited their principal villages, generally with little effect. But there was one of these parties, distin- guished at first by success, and afterwards no less distinguished by misfortune. Commanded by Cap- tain John Lovewell, they set out on their first 1725. excursion, north of Lake Winnipiseogee, killed Feb. 20. QY,Q Indian and brought another home to Boston. This trifling good luck augmented his company to March scvcuty. Tcn Indian scalps were the trophies of the second excursion. Encouraged by repeated suc- cess, Lovewell marched a third time to attack the villages of the once formidable Pequawkets, on the upper branches of the Saco. The company, at this time, numbered forty-six, including a chaplain and 9. NEW HAMPSHIRE. 141 surgeon. Two of them afterwards returned ; an- other fell sick. Partly for the accommodation of the sick man, and partly for a place of retreat in i^nap.' case of disaster, they halted and built a stockade fort on the west side of Great Ossipee pond. Here they left the sick man with the surgeon and eight of the company for a guard. The number was thus reduced to thirty-four. They had not pro- ceeded far northward, when they came to a pond, on the margin of which they encamped for the night. Early the next morning, they heard the report of a gun, and saw a solitary Indian standing, more than a mile distant from them, on the point of a promontory projecting out into the water. Suspecting that he had been placed there to decoy them, and that a body of the enemy was in front, they held a consultation and determined to march forward, encompass the pond, and endeavor to gain the place where the Indian stood. That they might be ready for action, they laid aside their packs, containing all their provisions. It hap- pened tliat two parties of Indians, commanded by Paugus* and Wahwa, were returning from a scout down tlie Saco, to the lower village of the Pe- quawkets. Falling on Lovewell's track, they fol- lowed it till they came to the packs. By counting these they discovered at once the weakness of their enemy. The number of men was less than their own. They then placed themselves in ambush near the spot, and quietly waited the return of the men to their packs. The single Indian, who had stood on the point of land {)rojccting into the pond, the party of Lovewell killed and scalped. Seeing * Charles James Fox's account of Lovewell's fisht — MS. 142 HISTORY OF no otiier enemy, they returned towards their packs, and while they were looking about for them, the Indians rose and rushed upon them with a horrid war-whoop. Captain Lovewell and eight men fell dead at the first fire ; Lieutenant Farwell and two others were wounded. By this time several of the Indians had fallen ; but being superior in number, they were able to keep up a brisk fire, which was as briskly returned. Perceiving that the Indians were endeavoring to surround them, they retreated a short distance, and chose a more advantageous position. Here they were partially sheltered by a point of rocks extending out into the pond, and by a few pine trees standing on the sandy beach. Here they made a stand. On their right was the mouth of a stream ; on their left the rocky point ; their front partly covered by a deep bog, partly exposed, and the pond in their rear. Thus they were hemmed in, and the enemy pressing upon them and galling them in front and flank. The fall of their commander and more than one quarter of their number, at the first onset, was disheartening. But they knew that their distance from the frontier cut ofi' all hope of safety by flight. Prudence as well as valor dictated a continuance of the engagement. They were now without a mouthful of sustenance. They had fought till past noonday, and their chap- lain and ensign Robbins were mortally wounded. Under these discouraging circumstances, the In- dians invited them to surrender, but they declined, and under the conduct of Lieut. Wyman, on whom the command had devolved, they kept up their fire. As night approached, the war-whoop NEW HAMPSHIRE. 143 grew fainter. The number of the Indians was chap. . . . , Vll greatly diminished; Paiigus was slain;* and ...,..-.1 before sunset they retired, carrying with them their dead and wounded. Such was the fortune of this bloody ^ay. The field was left to the col- onists. The enemy, awed by their brave resistance and weakened by their own loss, thought it pru- dent to yield them the honor of the field. The shattered remnants of the brave company now as- sembled together, and found but nine of their number who had received no hurt. Of the wound- ed, eleven were able to march. To dispose of those who were unable to move was now the sad duty of the survivors. To remain with them would be certain destruction to all ; to remove them was impossible ; and yet to leave their dying com- panions behind, to fall into the hands of those who felt not pity, was little less than death to the gen- erous soldier. There seemed, however, to be no alternative, and, after struggling with their feelings, they tore themselves from the spot. Ensign Rob- bins desired them to lay his gun by him loaded, that before his death he might kill one more Indian. By the light of the rising moon they quitted the fatal field and directed their march to the stockade fort, \\ here they had left the sick man with a guard, on their way to Ossipee pond. To their surprise they found it deserted. In the beginning of the action one man had fled from the field, and had gone and told them of the defeat of the company. They now abandoned the fort and set out to return home. On their way, Lieut. Farwell and two others died of their wounds. One by one the sur- * Charles James Fox's account, in MS. 144 HISTORY OF CHAP, vivors reached home, and were received with joy, vn >___ as men restored from the dead. A company from Dunstable, headed by Col. Tyng, went out to bury the bodies of Capt. Lovewell and his companions. They found twelve of them, and burying them, carved their names on the trees around the battle ground. The village of Fryeburg, in Maine, built in one of the most delightful valleys in America, stands near the sheet of water which has been made to commemorate this battle, by taking the name of Lovewell's Pond. The inhabi- tants are able to point out the spot where he fell. The pond is a beautiful sheet of water, three miles long. It is thought that the surrounding scenery has been changed but slightly, although more than a century has elapsed since the battle was fought. The inhabitants of the town suppose that they can designate the spot, now called Indian Point, near the mouth of a small stream, where stood "the decoy Indian." The waters are encircled by a wide sandy beach, which rises with a gentle slope, and is bordered with a growth of pines, which sur- round it like a belt. Loon island rises like a green spec, near the centre, and at a little distance from this is Pine island, crowned with trees. The Saco sweeps within twenty rods of the pond, as if com- ing to receive the waters, which flow into it through a narrow channel. The village of Fryeburg stands on a level plain, elevated a few feet above the broad intervals of the Saco. In the midst of this plain rises a single stupendous rock, two hundred feet high ; its top capped with small pines, its sides clad in dark brown moss. When standing under its NEW HAMPSHIRE. 145 overhanging cliffs, man appears to be an insignifi- chap. cant object. It rises like an observatory in the ...^^^ midst of the unrivalled charms of a landscape, over which the eye ranges for miles. From the south comes the Saco, flowing in graceful meandcrings, its banks frmged with the various trees that adorn the meadows, and loses itself at last towards the north, amidst the hills which range themselves on either side. Northward are the Pequawket moun- tains, and westward is Cliocorua peak, the monarch of the Sandwich range ; altogether, forming a semi- circular group of mountains of surpassing grandeur. Anciently, within this town, scarcely six miles in extent, the winding course of the Saco measured thirty-four miles in length. The frightful freshets of the river often compelled the inhabitants to re- treat, with their flocks and herds, to the highlands. They have now, by a canal running across the nar- rowest neck of land, led the river from its bed and dried it up for a distance of thirty miles. In early times the Pequawket Indians could float with their canoes, by making the circuit of Lovewell's pond near the shores, and passing through its outlet into the Saco, for more than a hundred miles, all with- in the town of Fryeburg. The features of this valley are hardly equalled in New England. From an observatory, raised by the hand of nature in its midst, the eye of the beholder ranges from Love- well's pond on the southeast, eastward over an almost unbroken forest, until the view is bounded by Pleasant mountain. He sees, almost at a glance, the silver thread of the Saco winding in the distance — the bright waters of the pond, and the plains and meadows — the clouds resting on the 19 146 HISTORY OF CHAP, summits of the mountains, or hanging wreathed ___L around their rugged sides, sometimes ilhimined by the sun's rays hke fluid gold, sometimes kindling with the first fires of morning. Never did nobler mountains fling their broad shadows, at sunset, over more beautiful plains and meadows than those which surround the village of Fryeburg. Nor is it the least interesting of the traveller's reflections, while gazing here, that he treads upon the favorite hunt- ing-grounds of the once formidable Pequawkets. The battle with Lovewell was the last expiring effort of the Indians in New Hampshire. They never took the field again. They seemed to be aware of their destiny. The prophecy of their great father, Passaconaway, made more than a century before, had been fulfilled.* The pale faces were indeed tenants of all the pleasant places ef their fathers. Copying the vices without the virtues of the white man, the Indian gained from civilization no advantages equal to the ills he suf- fered ; and while impelled by instinct to self- defence every effort which he made did but accel- erate his doom. The battle of Lovewell's pond was the most ob- stinate and destructive encounter in the war. Commissioners were now despatched, on the part of New England, to Vaudruil^ governor of Canada, 1725. to complain of the countenance he had ffiven to the Jan. 20. . , Indians. This procured the ransom of some cap- tives, and exerted an influence favorable to peace. After a few months, a treaty was ratified at Fal- Q^^ j5 mouth.f Never were the people of New Hamp- shire so well trained to war as at this period. * Seepage — . f Prov. Rcc, Jour. House, 1724—1743. NEW HAMPSHIRE. 147 Ranging parties constantly traversed the woods, cHAr. as far north as the White Mountains. Every man ,_,^ of forty years had seen twenty years of war. They had been taught to handle arms from the cradle, and, by long practice, had become expert marks- men. They were hardy and intrepid, and knew the lurking-places of the foe. Accustomed to fa- tigue and familiar with danger, they bore with com- posure the greatest privations, and surmounted with alacrity the most formidable difficulties. The Penacooks* had now gone from Concord and from all the valley of the Merrimack. Some of 1727. them, more warlike than the others, had gone to the Abenaquis. The residue of them emigrated to the confines of Canada, and mingled with the tribes of the St. Francis. All obstacles being removed, and there being no vicinity of hostile neighbors, the settlement of Concord v/as commenced in 1727 ;f the same year that was distinguished by oct.29. the second great earthquake which had shaken New England. J Not long after, scattering settlers plant- ed themselves along the Merrimack, from Dun- stable to Boscawen, and sometime afterwards, at HoUis, Amherst, Winchester, Keene and Swansey. Of the emigrants on the Merrimack and its western tributaries, the greater part were from Massachu- setts. Another class was at the same time added to the population. They came from Connecticut, and planted themselves on the cast bank of Con- necticut river. For years these different classes of settlers exhibited characteristics so peculiar as to be distinguished from each other like four na- * Farmer's note on the Penacook Indians. N. H. Hist. Coll., I., p. 218. t N. IT. Hist. Coll., I., 158. t N. H. Hist. Coll., IV., p. 92. 148 HISTORY OF tions ; and time has not wholly obliterated the pe- culiarities which once so strikingly distinguished from each other the inhabitants of the Pascataqua, Londonderry, Merrimack and Connecticut River settlements. While the cloud of war overhung the colonies, 1726. ^^^® boundary dispute had slept in silence. The return of peace brought with it leisure, and the contest revived afresh. Massachusetts asserted her charter claim to all the lands lying beyond a certain line. This line began at a point three miles north tm^rl. ^^ ^^^^ mouth of the Merrimack. From thence it ^kn?p! **^" west and north, at the same distance of three x'^P- miles from the river to a point in the present town- ship of Sanbornton — three miles beyond the paral- lel of the junction of the Winnipiseogee and the Pemigevvasset — thence due west to the Connecti- cut. This claim covered the whole of the county of Cheshire and the greater part of Hillsboro' Merrimack and Sullivan. Aware that their claim to jurisdiction might be overruled by the king, Massachusetts was desirous to acquire in these lands the right of property. To further this object, Massachusetts proposed the appointment of com- missioners to establish the line. The New Hamp- shire assembly refused to concur,* alleging that they had already submitted the case to the king. Both parties waxed warm in the dispute ; a sur- vey was ordered, and each state strove to plant settlements within the confines of this disputed ter- ritory. Every pretence was sought, and every en- couragement given to entitle persons to become * Prov. Rec, Jour. House, 1721—1743. Jour. Council and Assembly 1716—1728. NEW HAMPSHIRE. 14»9 grantees of tlie lands. A claim was soon discover- ed, founded in feelings of gratitude to the country's defenders. The descendants of those who had fought in the wars of the preceding century were yet unrewarded. Nine townships were readily granted by Massachusetts to the heirs of these sol- diers. Those nine were called the Canada town- ships, and six of them were within the space claimed by New Hampshire. To the survivors of brave Lovewell's defeat, and to the descendants of those who fell, a select tract was granted at Suncook. New Hampshire, also, granted the townships of Epsom, Chichester, Barnstead, Can- Mayi's terbury, Gilmanton and Bow. None of these were ~ within the disputed tract, except Bow ; which in- terfered with grants already made by Massachu- setts in Suncook and Penacook. This brought the parties directly into a contest ; for it was a practical assertion, on the part of New Hampshire, of her claim to the territory in dispute. A litiga- tion arose, which survived through the changes of forty years. The deserted homes of the peaceful Penacooks now invited the current of emigration to the banks of the Merrimack, and a settlement was commenced in 1727. In 1733 it was called Rumford,* and 1727. 1 700 did not take the name of Concord till 17G5. Al- lured by the level and pleasant lands on this river, settlers planted themselves along its whole course, and all along its western tributaries. They fol- lowed up the Ashuelot, and planted themselves at Keene, in one of the most beautiful vales in New England. These settlers were from Massachu- * N. H. Hist. Coll., I., p. 153— Ibid. 218. 1727. 150 HISTORY OF setts, and were distinctly marked as the third division of the inhabitants of New Hampshire. They exhibited pecuharities, intellectual, moral, social and political. The Connecticut, Pascata- qua, and Londonderry divisions have all likewise been distinguished by peculiar traits of character ; and long continued to display, in their manners, customs and modes of thinking, the peculiar char- acteristics of former generations. The settlers car- ried with them, into their new abodes, the habits, feelings and principles deeply impressed on their minds, when young, which long continued to dis- play their peculiar influences on their descendants. Thus these settlers continued to exhibit almost the national peculiarities of four distinct nations. During the absorbing excitement of the boundary contest, little progress was made in the improve- ment and settlement of the country. Projects for colonies were continually formed — meetings of proprietors were held, and an avaricious spirit of speculation in landed property prevailed every where ; but the best lands remained uncultivated and the real wealth of the country was diminished. Its improvement was retarded. But in the midst Nov. of these speculations and schemes of settlement, the death of King George I. dissolved the assem- bly, and writs were issued for the election of a new one, in the name of George the second. This as- sembly had subsisted for five years, which had been deemed a grievance. By so long a con- tinuance in office, tlie representatives became too independent of the people. Basking so long in the rays of royal favor, they became alienated from their constituents, and corrupted by long inti 21 NEW HAMPSHIRE. 151 macy with a royal governor and his council, and chap. popular opinion lost its just weight in government. ,^,.,-1., The death of the king furnished a fit occasion, and the democratic principle, which quickens the natural progress of power from the few hands to the many, now manifested itself in a general desire expressed by the people to limit the duration of assemblies. Immediately after the organization of the new assembly, a move was made for a trien- nial act.* The lieutenant governor, Wentworth, favored the proposal, and both houses agreed in framing an act by which the^present assembly was limited to three years, unless sooner dissolved by the governor. This act afibrded additional se- curity to the rights of the people, and was hailed as a popular triumph. Having taken the first step, the house were disposed to proceed to other alter- ations and reforms. They had already resolved upon remodelling the courts. But the council resisted. A contest arose be- 1727. tween the two branches, which Wentworth sudden- ly terminated, by dissolving the assembly ;f an act which embittered the people against him and his administration. Most of the old assembly were re-elected, and the same speaker, Nathaniel Weare, 1728. was again chosen. Wentworth, however, nega- tived tlie choice, thus assuming the power of a royal governor. After several days' suspension of business, the house reluctantly chose another speaker. The public business now proceeded with ill humor. Tiie chair and the house assumed hostile attitudes. Continual reproaches passed *Prov. PiCC, Jour. Council and Assembly, 1716 — 1728. Jour. House, 172-1 —1743. t P- R-; J- H. and A. 1717—1728. J. H. 1721—1713. 152 HISTORY OF CHAP, between them, and the house carried their oppo- ;_ sition so far as to resolve upon petitioning the king to annex the province to Massachusetts. But in the midst of this controversy, William Burnet, son of the famous Bishop of Sarum, arrived at Boston, commissioned as governor of Massachusetts and New Hampshire. He was an elegant scholar, and an enemy to ostentation and parade. He had been governor of New York and New Jersey. His fame had reached New England, and the people had formed high anticipations of favor and benefit 1730. from his appointment. Shortly after his arrival at Portsmouth he died of a violent fever, and was succeeded by Jonathan Belcher,* a man of a char- acter widely different from his predecessor. He was a merchant, of an ample fortune, had passed six years in Europe, and had been twice at the Bel- court of Hanover, before the Protestant succession p. 224. in the house of Brunswick. In his person he was graceful ; his manners elegant and polite, and of a lofty and aspiring disposition. He was frank and sincere, a generous friend, a vindictive, but not implacable, enemy ; proud of his office, and fond 1730. of splendor. When he found the emoluments of his office inadequate to support the luxuries in which he chose to live, he determined to support the dignity of his station at the expense of his private Def?2 ^*^i'^u*^6- Shortly after his appointment, occurred the death of Lieutenant Governor Wentworth. Until the unfortunate controversy between liim and the assembly, near the close of his administration, he had possessed the confidence of the people, and he carried with him their respect to the grave. * N. H. Hist. Coll., IV., p. 97. NEW HAMPSHIRE. 153 Wisdom and moderation marked the whole of his chap. VH. public career. For nearly thirteen years he had .^-.-1^ conducted the affairs of the province, through the perplexities of high party excitement and the diffi- culties of an Indian war. In every station he secured the general confidence and esteem. In his youth he had followed the seas. From being the commander of a ship, he became a merchant. He was charitable to the poor, courteous and affa- ble. As a merchant, he sustained the reputation of a fair and generous dealer. As a citizen, he was distinguished for his integrity, benevolence, and public spirit. At his death, David Dunbar, a native of Ireland, and a reduced colonel in the June 24. British service, succeeded him in the lieutenancy. No sooner did Dunbar arrive in New Hamp- shire, than he joined the party opposed to Govern- or Belcher.* To tlie exertions of this party New Hampshire is indebted for a large extent of terri- tory. Had it never sprung into existence, the boundary line would have been yielded to Massa- chusetts ; and New Hampshire, curtailed in terri- tory and without a separate governor, would have finally been annexed, as a mere appendage, to her more wealthy and flourishing neighbor. The rise of this party began before the death of Wenlworth, and received a powerful accession of numbers from his influence. After the death of Burnet, it was uncertain whether Belcher would be appointed, or whether Governor Shutc, who had been long absent, would return and resume the chair. Went- worlh wrote letters of compliment to both. Bel- ciici" was not apprized of the letter to Shute until * Prov. Eec, Jour. House. 1721—1713. 20 Rol- iiap.p. 224. 154 HISTOPwY OF CHAP, after his arrival in America. He was then inform- _^__ ed that Shute had received a letter from the lieu- tenant-governor, of the same tenor as his own. This was deemed an act of duplicity, and excited his displeasure. He withdrew all civilities from Wentworth ; and having control over the emolu- ments of his office, he cut down his salary to the smallest possible limits. At this, Wentworth's friends were disappointed and disgusted. He did not long survive. But his son, Benning Went- worth, and his son-in-law, Theodore Atkinson, resented the affi'ont, and having turned all their influence against Belcher, they became leaders of the opposition. Dunbar seconded their enmity with great zeal, and the current of popular feeling began to set strongly in their favor. The positions and views of the two parties at this time may be distinctly seen. Belcher and his friends had pro- jected the union of New Hampshire with Massa- chusetts. To effect this, it was necessary to induce the people unanimously to petition the crown. This project was unpopular, and was found to be impracticable. They therefore kept their plan out of sight, and awaited a favorable opportunity to accomplish it. On the other hand, the opposition warmly advo- cated the continuance of a separate government, and demanded a distinct governor, who should reside in the province. The greatest obstacle to this was the poverty and smallness of the province. The population of New Hampshire, at this time, numbered not above ten thousand ; three or four thousand of whom resided within the territory claimed by Massachusetts. There were little NEW HAMPSHIRE. 165 more than nineteen hundred dweHing-houses, and chap. the amount of shipping did not exceed five hundred .^^.^..^ tons. The number of seamen was but forty. The exports were small, and consisted chiefly of fish and wiu lumber. The customs and excise brought only a p ^s. revenue of four hundred pounds, while the annual expenses of government rose to over fifteen hun- dred pounds ; and the deficiency was supplied by a tax. In this state of things, the opposition saw the necessity of enlarging the territory and fixing its limits. They easily persuaded the people that great advantages would flow to them from establishing the line — that the expenses of it would be but tri- fling and that the lands, when once acquired, would be granted to them and their children. Both parties had become greatly embittered m their animosities, and the spirit of intrigue marks the whole course of their negotiations.* The governor and his party found strong aid in the powerful neighbor at their side, who, covetous of territory, was no idle spectator of the contest. Massachusetts stoutly asserted her chartered claims, and affected to look with contempt on the ambitious plans of the small province which she had once governed. On the other hand. New Hampshire, aspiring to the rank of an independent state, contested boldly every inch of ground with her proud rival, and when baffled in her efforts, made interest with the servants of the crown and sought refuge in royal favor. Such was the state of par- ties, when, in the autumn of 1731, a committee of 1731, both provinces met at Newbury, to settle this pro- ^2u' * Prov. Rec, Joar. House, 1724—1743. 156 HISTORY OF CHAP, tracted ciispvite. The influence of Massachusetts L prevented an accommodation, and this proved to he a fruitless conference. The representatives of New Hampshire now determined to treat no long- er with Massachusetts ; but represent the matter to the king, and petition the crown to decide the controversy. Accordingly, v/ithout the concur- rence of the council,* they commissioned John Rindge, a merchant of Portsmouth, to present their petition to the king. On its reception, it was referred to the lords of trade, and Rindge, on 1732, his departure from London, left his business in the hands of John Tomlinson, of London, and Mr. Parris, the solicitor. These shrewd and persever- ing men supported the petition of New Hampshire with great ability and success. In due time they obtained a royal order referring the question to a board of commissioners, to be selected from the ,-,0^ councilors of the neighboring province. Li Au- Aug. gust, 1737, this board convened at Hampton, and simultaneously with them the assemblies of the tvv'o contending provinces met in the same neigh- borhood ; that of Massachusetts at Salisbury, and that of New Hampshire at Hampton Falls. Thus arrayed, each jealous of the other, v/atcliing to circumvent, and eager to catch at the most trivial mistake, the parties, with their commissioners, entered upon the difficult business before them. Massachusetts contended for a line to be drawn whiton, three miles from the left bank of the Merrimack, up p. 81. , . ' * to the confluence of its two main branches, and asserted her right to all the lands south and west of this limit. She also contended that the eastern * Prov. Rec, Jour. House; 1724—1743. NEW HxV 31 PS II I RE. 157 boundary of New Hampshire should be a line drawn chap from the mouth of the Pascataqua to the source of — -!_ the Salmon Falls branch, and from thence doe ^vhuon, north-west. This would have cut off small por- tions of Grafton, and almost the \vhole of Coos county. On the other hand, New Hampshire claimed for her southern boundary a line drawn due west from a point three miles north of the mouth p. si.' of the Merrimac ; and for her eastern, a line pass- ing up the Pascataqua, to the source of Salmon Falls river, and thence north one or two degrees west. After a long and angry discussion between the parties, the commissioners fixed upon the present eastern boundary. The southern they were una- ble to determine. An appeal to the king was the only mode of adjustment. Tired of the contro- versy, both parties finally agreed to submit the whole subject to the royal decision.* Three years afterwards, George II. terminated the dispute in favor of New Hampshire. In regard to the east- ern boundary, he confirmed the judgment of the commissioners. His decision upon the southern line was not anticipated by either party. He substituted the present line for one running due west from a point three miles north of the mouth of the Merrimac ; thus giving New Hampsliirc a territory of fifty miles in length, by fourteen in breadth, more than she had claimed. This enlargement of territory, population and wealth gave to New Hampshire a new political importance ; and it was determined in England to gratify her wishes as to a separate government. Accordingly, Benning Wcntworth, the favorite of * Prov. Rcc, Jour. House, 1721—1713. 158 HISTORY OF CHAP, the people, and the warmest opponent of Belcher, . -i^ received the appointment of governor and com- • mander-in-chief of New Hampshire. After a long absence, he had at length returned to Ports- mouth in triumph, invested with the honors of his office. While this controversy was pending, the advance of New Hampshire in wealth and importance had been slow. A severe check had been given to her population, in 1735, by a malignant throat distem- per, which spread from Maine to Carolina. In New Hampshire alone more than a thousand per- sons, mostly children, fell victims to its ravages. But the intelligence and morals of the colony were in advance of her wealth. Schools had been well established and sustained.* No public execution had ever taken place since the first settlement, a period of one hundred and twenty years. Freed from the grasping claims of Massachusetts, pos- sessing solid resources, her boundaries enlarged and established, and with a separate government of her own, she started afresh in her career, and gave evidence of a capacity for improvement hitherto unknown even to herself. The popula- tion of New Hampshire at this period began to increase rapidly from emigration ; for there were in England many who "rather chose to spend ms^of themselves in seeking a new world, than servilely p. 3?' to be hired as slaughterers in the quarrels of strangers." 1744, An unusual religious excitement brought to America, at this period, one of the most remark- able men of the age. With the exception of t Rev. N. Bouton's Address. N. H. Hist. Coll., IV., p. 5. NEW HA^IPSIIIRE. 159 Patrick Henry, it may be safely said that no voice chap was ever heard on the western continent so elo- .^ J^ quent as that of George Whitefiekl ; nor is there a name so sacredly embalmed in the religious remembrances of the American people. He was of humble origin, and there is no genealogy of his family relations to swell the bidk of history. In his youth he discovered a predilection for the stage, and acted some plays at school. Yet a graceful delivery was so natural to him that he may be said to have imparted it to the stage rather than to have borrowed it there.* Like many of the great orators of ancient and modern times, he has left few memorials of his genius and excellence behind him. Yet it would be impossible to write the annals of eloquence and not insert the name of him who was regarded as the great model of excellence in his time. The lightning flashes of his eloquence were never written, and never could be reported. His printed sermons discover but faint traces of that masterly power which held multitudes fast bound, as by an almost supernat- ural spell. The free and hearty appeal, which stirs and enchants the multitude, if ever so cor- rectly transcribed, will leave on the mind, of the reader a feeling of disappointment. Such were the sermons of Whitefiekl. They were made up principally of those extempore effusions and bursts of passion, caught from the transient impulse of present feeling, or inspired by the presence of a vast assembly, which lose much of their force when the man and the occasion disappear. He was indifferent to worldly gain, and sought to * Memoirs of Whiteficld, p. 11. ]Q0 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. CHAP, build an orphan asylum, as the best legacy he ]}}^ could leave to the world. Gifted with a daring fancy, full of pathos and enthusiasm, he dealt familiarly with all the pas- sions of the human heart, and moved his hearers, at vvill, with every emotion of which human nature is susceptible. If he melted them to tears, it was only tliat he might pour upon them a flash of joy, and make it still brighter by the contrast, when he unveiled the face of a merciful Savior, and pointed them to the mansions of eternal purity and bliss. Whitciield preached many times in New Hamp- shire and in Massachusetts. So charmed were the people by his eloquence, that they shut up their shops,* forgot their secular pursuits, and laid aside their schemes for the world. Crowds fol- lowed him from place to place, and the oftener he preached, the more eager were they to hear him again. Nor is it at all to the disparagement of this eloquent and truly wonderful man, that he was opposed and vilified by the professors of Harvard College. While they are forgotten, and while the names even of the brightest of his cotem- poraries have passed away, like the transitory meteors of a lower sky, the fame of Whitefield shines from the upper heavens with a fixed and unalterable glory. * Memoirs of Whitefield, p. 252. CHAPTER VIII. Expedition to Cape Breton — William Pepperell — Siege and fall of Louis- burg — Vaughan — "War with the Indians — Settlement with the Masonian proprietors — Defence of Number-Four by Capt. Stevens — Contest con- cerning the Vermont lands — Stark — France resolves to connect Can- ada with Louisiana — Union of the colonies for defence — Congress of delegates meet at Albanj' — Campaign of 1755 — Defeat of Braddock — Washington — The Rangers — Expedition to Crown Point — Massacre at Fort AVilIiam Henry— Montcalm — Pitt — Attack upon the fortress of Ti- conderoga — The English repulsed— Quebec — Expedition against the St. Francis Imhans— Destruction of their village— Disasters of the Rangers — Conquest of Canada completed — The Rangers — Unsuccessful attempt of the Indians to exterminate the English— N. H. Gazette— Progress of set- tlement — Contest betAveen New York and New Hampshire for the lands of Vermont — The Revolution dawning. Fifteen leagues from Cape Ray, the south- chap. western extremity of Newfoundland, lies the cold ..^.^^ and rocky island of Cape Breton. Wrapped in a ^^'*'*- perpetual fog, which is impervious to the sun's rays, summer brings no vegetation to perfection on its sterile shores. It is visited by the long and fierce winters which reign between the forty-fifth and forty-seventh degrees of north latitude. The face of the isle is either rough and mountain ous or sinks into wet bogs. On the north and west sides it is steep and inaccessible, sometimes rising into mountains. On the south-eastern side it is level, and indented with fine bays and noble harbors. It invites no tiller to the soil. Its only productions are pitcoal and plaster. Fields of floating ice environ its shores long after spring 21 162 HISTORY OF CHAP, reigns triumphant over all the neighboring lands. J^ It acquired its name from the hardy mariners of Brittany, and Normandy, "from their remembrance of home."* It has no good fishing stations, and derives all its importance from its central position and the convenience of its ports. By the treaty of Utrecht, England had ceded this barren isle to France ; and received from the French crown the neighboring possessions of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. On a neck of land, south of one of the finest harbors on the island, the French had built the city of Louisburg, two miles and a quarter in circumference, surrounded by a wall of stone thirty-six feet high, and a ditch eighty feet wide. The entrance to the town by land was at the west gate, over a draw-bridge, defended by a circular battery mounting sixteen guns. Within this strong; enclosure the tov.n w^as regularly laid out in squares ; the streets were broad, the houses of wood or stone. On a high cliff, opposite the battery, stood the lighthouse ; a spacious citadel arose on the west side ; and under the ramparts were casements to receive the women and children in case of a siege. A space of about two hundred yards on the side next the sea was enclosed by a simple dike and a line of pickets. The side fire from the bastions swept this space, and secured it from attack. There were six bastions, and three batteries, containing embrasures for one hundred and forty-eight can- non. By the labors of twenty-five years, these mag- • Bancroft, Vol. I., p. 15. NEW HAMPSHIRE. 163 nificent works had been constructed ; and they chap had cost the crown not less than thirty miUions of L livres. In peace, the fine harbors on the south- eastern side formed a safe retreat for the ships of France, on their homeward course from the West Indies ; in war, they could harbor a swarm of privateers, to ruin the English fisheries and inter- rupt her coasting trade. France was at this time warmly attached to the interests of Spain, by the tie of relationship betAveen the royal families. Ever since the flame of war had been kindled between Britain and Spain, it had been expected that France would be involved in the quarrel, and it was foreseen by all, that when war should break out between France and England, their American colonies would be the scene of hostilities. These anticipations were realized by a declaration of war on the part of 1744. England against France, in 1744. Duquesnel, the French governor of Louisburg, who had received intelligence of this before it reached New England, immediately led a body of French and surprised the little English garrison at Canseau. He destroyed the fishery, the fort, and the other 1744. buildings ; and after menacing the English posts in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, returned with sixty prisoners of war to liOuisburg. croft, This early disaster drew the attention of the 457.' colonists to the importance of Louisburg, and inspired a strong wish for its reduction. The °^ prisoners of Canseau, after passing the summer in captivity, were sent to Boston on parole. From them Governor Shirley obtained an accurate ac- count of that fortress, and, with his characteristic 164 HISTORY OF energy and decision, resolved at once upon an enterprise against it. The fishermen of Marble- head, interrupted in their pursuits, " disdained an idle summer, and entered readily into the design." Massachusetts, by a majority of one vote in her legislature, resolved upon the expedition, and poured forth a force of three thousand volunteers. New Hampshire raised a detachment of five hun- dred,* bearing upon their banners the pious motto of Whitefield, " Nil desperandum Christo DUCE."t Connecticut sent five hundred and ^ec.' sixteen men, and three hundred sailed from Rhode Houle, Island too late to share the glory of the enterprise. ^mrT Nor did the generous supply of provisions sent by Couri. Pennsylvania arrive till after the surrender of the Assem. city. The cannon contributed by New York, 1750? more fortunate in their destination, came safely and seasonably to their hands. The merit of originating this expedition is sup- Dmi- posed by many to belong to Wilham Vaughan, of ufsl Portsmouth. He had learned from fishermen the York, strenajth and situation of the place, and conceived V 1 T P°3ji.' the design of taking the city by surprise. He was in Boston when the final vote was taken in the legislature of Massachusetts. On the passage of the resolution, circular letters were immediately despatched to all the colonies. With one of these * Bancroft estimates the number at three hundred and four; but it is not to be forgotten that one Imndred and fifty from New Hampshire had previ- ously joined one of the Blassachusetts regiments, and forty-six more manned one of the armed sloops wliich served as a cruiser. This accession of New Hampshire men swelled the Massachusetts force to upwards of three thou- sand one hundred; but I have chosen to put down the number actually raised in each state, giving to Massachusetts about three thousand, and to New Hampshire the number actually raised, which was five hundred, one eighth of the land forces. f Nothing is to be despaired of, Christ being the leader. NEW HAMPSHIRE. 165 Vaughan rode express to Portsmouth. The as- sembly was in session when his errand was an- nounced. The house of representatives caught the enthusiasm of Vaughan, and desired an imme- diate conference of the two houses. It was im- mediately held, and the proposition of Governor Shirley instantly agreed to ; and almost in a day a committee was raised — their report made, favora- ble to the expedition — a proclamation issued for enlisting men, and for providing military stores and transports. Such, at that day, was the en- thusiasm of New England men. Nothing checked the rush of legislators and people but the emission of bills of credit ; a measure made indispensable by the poverty of the exchequer. This was con- trary to the letter of royal instructions. But, by the united ingenuity of Shirley and Wentworth, a way was devised to surmount this obstacle, and the governor consented to a bill for the emission of ten thousand pounds. Feb.i3. The most important arrangements being thus made by the united colonies, it now remained to appoint a commander-in-chief There was not a man in New England qualified, by professional skill and experience, to take the command. But there were many possessing fidelity, courage, and popularity, the best substitute for military talents, and even ivith them, a necessary requisite to the commander of a volunteer army. Of these indi- viduals, William Pcppercll, of Kittery, was one — a militia colonel — a merchant of unblemished rep- utation — well known to the men, beloved and admired by them all. On him the appointment fell. It was in the midst of Whitefield's revival 166 HISTORY OF CHAP, that the expedition was resolved upon; and the vni I .^-.^^ famous preacher was consulted. He favored the expedition — his newly converted followers enlisted — and in some parts of the camp it assumed some- what the air of a crusade. The officers shrewdly excited the ardor of the men with the hope of destroying the images which, they had been told, adorned the French churches of the island. One Bel- of the chaplains even carried on his shoulder a p.'277. hatchet, to cut them down. Enthusiastic ardor and religious zeal threw aside the cooler maxims of prudence, toleration and justice ; and confidence and fortitude raised the minds of all above the dread of danger. In the beginning of January, orders from Eng- land had been despatched to Commodore Warren, to come from the Leeward Islands, with such ships as he could spare from his fleet, and co-operate with the land forces of the colonists. All fortu- nate circumstances concurred to favor, and Heaven seemed to smile upon the enterprise. Fierce Win- ter, tyrant of the north, relaxed his severity in the year in which this expedition was planned; and the montli of February resembled the mildness of November. The harbors and rivers were open. The abundant products of the preceding fruitful season made it easy to provide plentiful stores; and no intelligence of these preparations had reached Nova Scotia. The Indians, indeed, had carried the news of the Cape Breton Expedition to Can- ada, but the guardian angel of the colonies seemed to interpose, for the French gave no credit to the report. A wonderful good fortune brought to- gether, at this time, every ship of war from the N E W HAMPSHIRE. 167 American ports and islands, until Commodore chap. Warren, an experienced and judicious officer, had _-„^ at his disposal, for the assistance of the colonies, Bei- a formidable squadron, consisting of four ships of p. 273. the line and six frigates. An equally remarkable concurrence of unfortu- nate incidents, at this time, attended the French. Discontent and mutiny prevailed within the walls of Louisburg. The troops of the garrison were starving and unpaid. The ships that brought sup- plies for them from France, when they came upon the coast, and while vainly struggling to cut their way through the fields of ice which environed the shore, were taken by our cruisers. Yet all this was unknown to the garrison. In fancied security, but with murmurs and complaints, the French passed their days of privation, unconscious of the design formed against them. No know- ledge of the expedition to Louisburg had reached their ears. In the small vessels of New England, the March troops of Massachusetts embarked at Boston, and arrived at Canscau. Ardent for action, and impa- tient of delay, the New Hampshire forces, at their ^^^'^^ own request, were permitted to sail in advance of the others, and had arrived two days before them. Met by the ice drifting in heaps, they were obliged to stop. While thus delaying at Canseau, they were gladdened by the welcome arrival of Com- 23" modore Warren's squadron, and the next day, by ill the arrival of the Connecticut forces, in a fleet of nine vessels. Three weeks they waited for the ice of Cape Breton to dissolve, and during all this time remained undiscovered within sijjfht of the 168 HISTORY OF CHAP, enemy. An ample supply of provisions was ob- ..^ tained from the prizes which fell a prey to their vigilant cruisers. The armed sloop of New Hampshire took one ship from Martinico, and re- took a transport which had been taken the day before, and had made its escape. By the com- mand of Pepperell the same warlike sloop covered a detachment which destroyed the little secluded village of St. Peters. When the town had been laid waste and the inhabitants scattered, the whole fleet set sail. Many were the schemes which the inventive genius of New England suggested, at this early day, to supply the place of warlike art. One man produced the model of a flying bridge to scale the walls. It was to be so light that twenty men could carry it on their shoulders to the wall and raise it Bel- in a minute. Four blocks and two hundred fath- knap, p. 274. oms of rope were the apparatus for raising it, and it was to be floored with boards wide enough for eight men to march on it abreast. A covering of raw hides was to guard it from the enemy's fire. This bridge, it was said, might be erected against any part of the wall, even before a breach had been effected, and it was "calculated" by the inventor that a thousand men could pass over it in four minutes. An ingenious clergyman, burning perhaps with honest hatred of the Catholics, pre- sented to the general a plan for encamping the army, opening trenches and placing batteries. He also proposed a caution against subterranean mines. This was, that "two confidential persons, Be], attended by a guard, should, during the night, ^"""P- approach the walls ; that one should, with a beetle, NEW HAMPSHIIIE. 169 strike tlw) around, wliile the other should lay his ear chap. VIII to it, and observe whether the sound was hollow, ^_->l. and that a mark should be set on all places sus- pected." Vaughan, when he first conceived the 1745. design of taking Louisburg, had proposed to go over the walls on the drifted snow.* Shirley's plan was, that the whole fleet should make Chapeau- rouge point just at the shutting in of day — from thence to push into the bay undiscovered — the men to be landed in the dark and before midnight — to cut their way through the surf to the shore, then through thicket and bog, three miles, to the city, and some of them a mile beyond it, to the royal battery — to pull down the pickets with grappling- irons, and scale the fortification with ladders ; all this in the space of twelve hours from their first making the land, and nine hours from their de- barkation. Such a scheme could occur only to one unskilled in navigation, unmindful of the tem- pestuous season, and unacquainted with the dan- gerous and inhospitable coast. It was concealed from the troops and never attempted. The forces proceeded from Canseau with pleas- ant weather and favoring winds. Finally, on the Apni last day of April, at the dawn of morning, the armament of New England, in a hundred vessels, bearing only eighteen cannon and three mortars, entered the bay of Chapcau-rouge, and came in sight of Louisburg. They beheld the walls armed with an hundred and one cannon, seventy-six swivels, and six mortars. Upwards of sixteen liimdred men composed the garrison. But so * in that wintry reg^ion the depth of snow is immense, and llic winds sometimes raise it in drifts to the height of fifty or sixty feet. 22 30. 170 HISTORY OF CHAP, complete were the fortifications, and so decided ^^...^ were the advantages of locaHty, that three hun- dred men were considered sufficient to defend it against five thousand besiegers. The New Eng- land troops were composed of mechanics, husband- men and lumberers. But though unskilled in war, tliey were inured to danger. The mechanics had been bred with arms in their hands. The husbandmen had gone armed to their work in the field ; and the lumberer knew the hardships of a winter encampment. Many of them were skilful marksmen, and had trailed the Indians. They had now come to the reduction of a regu- larly constructed fortress, which none of them, not even their commander, had ever seei^. But they were resolute, and animated by an ardent patriot- ism, though they knew better how to confront, than to measure the dilTiculties and dangers before them. At the sight of Louisburg, they lowered their boats and flew to the shore. Although the plan of a surprisal had failed, by the fleet failing to reach Chapeau-rouge point in the evening, and the French had seen their white sails on the bay, yet they could hardly believe the ex- tent of the design formed against the place. The first detachments, who came down to oppose the besiegers on the shore, were panic-struck, and fled to the woods. The troops being landed, it was now resolved to invest the city ; and Vaughan, ever ready for the most daring adventure, volun- teered to conduct the first column through the woods and lead on the attack. At the head of four hundred men, chiefly from New Hampshire, Mi^y at the dead of night, he marched by the city, NEW HA3IP SHIRE. 171 salutinff it with three cheers, and took post near chap VHI the northeast harbor. There he set fire to the L warehouses containing the naval stores. The 1745. flames and smoke, which were driven by the wind upon the French who had charge of the royal bat- tery, annoyed them to such a degree that they abandoned it, and, having spiked their guns and cut the halliards off the flag-staff*, retired to the city. The next morning Vaughan observed from the hill May 2. which overlooked the battery, that the fires of the barracks were out, and the staff" without a flag. For a trifling reward he induced an Indian to enter at an embrasure and open the gate. Then he wrote to the general these words : " May it please your honor to be informed, that by the grace of God and the courage of thirteen men I entered the royal battery, about nine o'clock, and am waiting for a reinforcement and a flag." The city had now become alarmed, and a hun- dred men were despatched in boats to retake the battery. But Vaughan, with his thirteen men, resolutely confronted them on the beach, and, in the face of a galling fire from the city and the boats, kept them from landing till a reinforcement arrived. The siege was now prosecuted with en- thusiastic ardor. For fourteen nights successively the New Hampshire troops were employed in dragging the cannon over boggy morasses ; and when the wheels sunk in the mire, Meserve, a New Hampshire colonel and a ship carpenter, construc- ted sledges, on which the cannon w ere placed, and the men, with straps on their shoulders, and sink- ing to their knees in mud, drew them safely over from the landing place to the camp, within cannon- shot of the enemy's walls. 172 HISTORY OF CHAP. In the reduction of Louisburg, although courage ___!, and fortitude were often displayed, yet the move- 1745. ments of the assailants resembled the irregular and crazy ardor of a mob, rather than the systematic operations of an army. The whole siege was a scene of confusion and tumult. The men laughed at discipline ; and such were the irregularities and want of system, that the soldiers themselves, when they looked back upon the dangers they had passed, regarded their preservation as scarcely less than miraculous. Though the consultations of the officers preserved all the formalities of a council of war, though the orders of the general were formally issued, and returns made at the several posts, yet the camp was wholly without discipline. While the front of the army presented a formidable array to the enemy, the rear was a scene of confusion and frolic. The men, when not on duty in the trenches, were fishing, racing, wrest- ling, and running after shot from the enemy's guns. For these they received a bounty, and then sent them back to the enemy. Had the mutinous spirit of the garrison been so far subdued that the officers could have trusted the men to make a sortie, the camp of the besiegers might have been surprised and the whole army destroyed. The garrison numbered at least six hundred regular troops and a thousand Breton militia. But this force was too feeble to admit of making sallies. Hunting parties of the assailants were ever on the watch to prevent surprise by land, and the fleet of Admiral Warren, ever vigilant, guarded the approaches by sea. Still, however, the siege proceeded slowly. Four or five unsuccessful at- NEW HA3IP SHIRE. 173 tempts had been made to take the island battery, chap which commanded the entrance to the harbor. .___ The troops were chagrined by the failure, and 1745. the more it was talked of amongst them, the more their pride and obstinacy revolted against aban- doning the undertaking. At length a party of four hundred men volunteered, from the different regiments, to go, under a chief of their own selec- tion, and attack the battery by night. But this May2c. attempt, like the others, was signally defeated. Their approach was discovered ; — a murderous croft, fire struck the boats before they could effect a J^^'- •' F. Bel- landing ; — only a part of the forces reached the ^^^^?^ shore — and these, after a severe contest of nearly an hour, were glad to escape to the boats, leaving behind sixty killed and one hundred and sixteen taken prisoners. After this failure, it was evident that the expe- dition must be abandoned or the walls of the city scaled ; for, notwithstanding the incificicncy of the garrison, the French were daily making the fortifications stronger, and no breach had as yet been effected. It was now resolved in council of war to make preparations for a general assault. The naval officers agreed to sail into the harbor and bombard the city, while the land forces were to attempt to enter the fortress by storm. To annoy the island battery, the Americans, under command of Gridley, of Boston, erected a battery on the Lighthouse Cliff; while, within two hun- dred yards of the city, trenches were thrown up, and the guns of the royal battery began to play upon the northwest gate of the city. Yet no breach had been effected. The works were of immense 174 HISTORY OF CHAP, strength, and able to resist a much greater force, had Duchambon been acquainted with his duties. But in the midst of these hostile demonstrations, the garrison received intelligence that the Vigilant, a French ship of sixty-four guns, laden with mili- tary stores for the garrison, had been decoyed into the midst of the English fleet, and, after an en- Junei5. gagement of some hours, had been taken, within sight of Louisburg. When they heard of the loss 16. of their supplies, the garrison became discouraged ; the desponding and irresolute Duchambon sent out a flag of truce ; terms of capitulation were 17. agreed upon; and, on the seventeenth of June, the city, with the fort and all the batteries, were sur- rendered to the English. When they entered, and beheld the extent and variety of the means of defence, the stoutest hearts were appalled at the vast strength of the place, and the utter impracti- cability of carrying it by assault. They shud- dered at the dangers they had passed, and thought the taking of the city to be a special providence of God. No sooner was the city taken, and the victorious F.Bel- besiegers sheltered within its walls, than the S' weather, which had been remarkably dry, changed, and an incessant rain often days succeeded. Had this happened during the siege, it would have been fatal to many of the troops. They had no tents thick enough to keep off* the fogs, and slept upon the earth in turf and brush houses. But the weather was only in accordance with the general Doug- good fortune. The whole siege was a succession 330.' of lucky accidents on the part of the English, and of equally unlucky ones on the part of the French. I NEW HAMPSHIRE. 175 "If any one circumstance," says Douglass, "had chap. taken a wrong turn on our side, and if any one L .circumstance had not taken a wrong turn on the ^'^'^'^^ French side, the expedition must have miscarried." Soon after the surrender, the triumphant army held a council of war within the walls, and it was determined to maintain the place, and repair the breaches. The French flag was still kept flying upon the ramparts, and served to decoy many a rich prize into the harbor. With the exception of Cluebec, Louisburg was the strongest fortress on the continent. The fall of it, at such a time, could not but fill America with joy, and Europe with astonishment. It was the greatest achievement of the war. Pepperell and Warren each of them received the title of a baronet ; the latter was pro- moted to the rank of admiral, and the former was commissioned as a colonel in the British service. Vaughan sailed for England, and urged his claims to similar distinctions, which, after a year of delay, v/ere coldly rejected, shortly before his death. Thus, while the successful commanders of the expedition were distinguished by the honors of knighthood, Vaughan, the originator of the enter- prise, and the most gallant spirit of the crusade, remained more than a year in England, in the vain expectation of receiving some token of recognition from the sovereign, whom he had so signally Dim- served, and finally died in an obscure street in the m^x^ot metropolis, a disappointed man. Warren claimed voi."i.,' the victory to himself, and the English govern- \!.o ' ment awarded it to him. The ministry suppressed \\\'Ll:s the facts which were urged upon them in support land" of Vaughan's claims. Warren entered the high mcrica. 176 HISTORY OF CHAP, court of Admiralty in England, and deposed on ..^^ oath that, with the assistance of his majesty's ships, ^L^J' ^^^' ^^^^ deponent, " did subdue the whole island of 2^ Cape Breton." But it is time to declare that not Admiral Warren, nor yet Sir William Pepperell, was the real hero of Louisburg ; but that what was wanting in the good fortune of the besiegers and the inefficiency of the garrison, was supplied by the fiery valor of Vaughan, the cool intrepidity of Wol- cot, and the hardy courage of Gridley, Meserve and Fernald. The active mind of Shirley had contemplated, not merely the capture of Cape Breton, but the con- quest of all the French dominions on the western hemisphere. Immediately after the fall of Lou- isburg, he repaired thither, and consulted with Warren and Pepperell on the practicability of such a design. From the captured city he wrote to the British ministry, enforcing his solicitations by the 1746. brilliant success at Louisburg. In the follow- ApniG. jj^^ spring the Duke of Newcastle wrote to all the American governors, as far south as Virginia, call- ing upon them to form companies of one hundred men each, and hold themselves in readiness to march. The plan was, that a squadron of ships of war, and land forces from England, should be joined by the New England forces, at Louisburg, and proceed together up the river St. Lawrence. The troops of New York, and the other provinces at the southward, were to rendezvous at Albany, and march against Crown Point and Montreal. Besides the conquest of Canada, there were other reasons for this expedition. The Indians, as I shall hereafter relate, were at this time ravaging I NEW HAMTSIIIKE. 177 the fields, and carrying the torch and the scalping- chap. knife along the whole extent of the frontiers. Was .^.^1, it not an inefficient, as well as a disgraceful mode of warfare, to act entirely on the defensive, espe- cially after the success which had attended the arms of the colonists at Louisburg ? Were scouts and j,j,^^ garrisons sufficient to dispirit the enemy and secure the frontiers from depredations ? Little argument was needed. The design was popular, and the colonies readily furnished their quotas. The assembly of New Hampshire was immedi-r june. ately convened, and voted* to enlist a thousand mem They w^cre also to keep in pay two armed vessels. The same difficulty occurred about the emission of bills of credit, as on occasion of the Louisburg expedition — and was as easily remedied.! The command of the troops was given to Colonel At- kinson ; and so promptly did the men enlist, that at the beginning of July eight hundred were ready for embarkation. Transports and provisions were also prepared ; but neither orders, nor general, nor fleet arrived from England. Seven times did they leave Spithead, and seven times returned again. Only two regiments ever reached Louis- burg. All summer long, the men of the colonies lingered in suspense, waiting for employment. But the whole country is now thrown into con- sternation. France has planned the recovery of Louisburg and the desolation of all the English colonies. Report flies, that a large French fleet and army have arrived at Nova Scotia, under com- mand of the Duke D'Anville. The troops des- » Prov. Rec, Jour. Council and Assembly, 1742—1750. Jour. House, 1742—174':. t P- R-, J- C. and A., 1742—50. J. H., 1742—47. 23 178 HISTORY OF CHAP, tinecl for Canada are detained at home. The _.,..-^ mihtia are collected to join them. Old forts on the sea-coast are repaired — new ones are erected. Another battery of sixteen guns, throwing thirty- two and twenty-four pounds shot, is added to fort William and Mary, at the entrance of Piscataqua harbor ; another, of nine thirty-two pounders, is placed at the point of Little Harbor, Military guards are appointed, and for six weeks the people are kept in a state of fear and anxiety. At length some released prisoners bring the most affecting accounts of distress on board the French fleet. A pestilence has broken out amongst the men. Eleven hundred were buried at Halifax, and hun- dreds more of the dead were buried in the deep sea. 1746. The officers were divided in their councils, and this, added to the disasters of continued storms and shipwrecks, so dejected the commander-in-chief that he put an end to his life by poison. The second in command, in a fit of delirium, rushed F Bel- "P^^T' ^'^ sword and ended his life. By these mel- knap, ancholy events the first plan was disconcerted. They were next to attack Annapolis. But in sailing from Chebuctoo, they were overtaken by a violent storm, off Cape Sable, and the ships which escaped destruction returned singly to France. Thus the French armada had been vanquished without even the sight of an enemy. When the alarm of the French fleet had passed, Atkinson marched with his res^iment to cover the lower part of the frontiers, and encamped on the shores of Lake Winnipiseogee. Here they passed an idle winter, with plenty of provisions, without NEW HAMPSHIRE. 179 exercise, discipline, courts martial, or the punish- chap. . vni ment of offences. The men grew tired of the ser- .^..^.^ vice ; but not being permitted to engage in other business, they were employed in scouting, hunting and fishing. Some deserted. The ensuing sum- mer was passed in listless indolence. They re- posed in the expectation of peace, until autumn of the next year, when, by direction of the Duke of Newcastle, the provincial army was disbanded. It ^^^^^• appeared to many that England had not desired to drive the French from Canada. It was even sus- pected that England, from motives of policy, deemed it necessary to stimulate the love of the colonies for the mother country, by keeping this dangerous enemy on the frontier. It was sup- posed that the presence of the French was the only force that could urge the colonics to submission. They were forbidden to estaljlish manufactures. They were obliged to ship to England all the sil- ver and gold which they took from the earth. They were not allowed any commerce of their own* with foreign countries, except those under the dominion of England. These, and similar restrictions, cooled their ardor towards the father- land. Old England counted on long years of colonial dependence ; but a Swedish traveller,! even then, discovered in the rising colonies the germ of freedom. During the progress of the Cape Breton expe- 1746. dition and the meditated attack upon Canada, the frontiers were infested by tiie Indians. While the colonial troops wore away the summer in idly waiting for the armament from England, the In- » N. H. Hist. Coll., I., 323. t r<-''cr Kalm. Bancroft, HI., 461 180 HISTORY OF CHAP, dians were at leisure to infest the frontiers. This ;, inactivity was fatal to many a settler. No longer awed, but rather invited by the repose of an army 1745. able to fight, and prepared for the field, yet doing nothing, the Indians took courage and commenced a series of depredations. They first appeared at Julys. Great-Meadow,* and next at the Upper Ashuelot,t July 10. killing William Philips at the former place and Josiah Fisher at the latter. They approached the fort at Great-Meadow and carried captive the fa- ther! of a family. As they were leading him along the river-side, they met his son, before whose eyes the father was hurried away, and died in one of the prisons of Q,ucbec. Many were the heart-rending incidents like this, which marked the war — chil- dren carried captive before the eyes of their pa- rents — husbands slain while defending their wives — and brothers and sisters falling, while fighting at each others' side. 1746. The next spring the enemy appeared at Number Four,§ carried away three captives, cut out the tongues of their cattle, and in April laid a plan to surprise the fort at Upper Ashuelot. On the April twenty-third of April, when night came on, a par- ty of fifty silently approached and hid themselves in a swamp. Here they lay concealed till morn- ing, intending to rush into the fort. But they were discovered as day dawned, and the alarm was given. One man, who bravely defended himself against two Indians in close combat, one of whom he stripped of his blanket and gun, was over- 1746. powered at last and fell. Another man and one * Now Westmoreland. f Now Keene. X Penhallow. N. H. Hist. Coll., I. ^ occasioned the most violent fermentation. All were of one mind in asserting that parliament had no right to tax the colonies. On what ground did this asserted right rest ? Was it because England had expended money in the French war ? Why should the colonies pay the expenses of that war ? It was not brought on by America. It was a quarrel between England and France, in which the colonies had no share. Their country fur- nished a theatre for it — their blood and treasure flowed freely to assist the mother country. Was it because England had sent men and ships to protect the Americans against savage tribes ? She had been more than repaid for that by the profits of American commerce. Was it because parliament possessed authority to raise money for the crown ? The Americans were not represented in parliament. " Taxation and representation," said they — adopting the language of Pitt — " are inseparable." The more they reasoned, the more they became exasperated. Attachment and loy- alty rapidly turned to hatred and distrust. Every day widened the breach between the two coun- tries. Every hour diminished the affection of the Americans, and rendered more apparent the incon- sistency that they should be governed by a nation more than three thousand miles off, from whom they were separated by a wide ocean, and in whose legislative enactments they had neither a vote nor a voice. But the ministry were not to be intimidated. In defiance of the most solemn warnings, and the 220 HISTORYOF CHAP, visible signs of an approaching retribution, they obstinately persisted, and accordingly the question of the stamp act came up on its final passage in 1765. parliament, early in the session of 1765.* It was but natural that a period of delusive splendor, like that which England had just passed through, should be followed by one of corresponding disaster and gloom. It will be readily anticipated that the dis- cussion of this subject caused a violent shock of Bona, opinions in parliament. Indeed, the eyes of all 1-42-3. Europe were turned to watch the progress and decision of this question ; and it would be difficult to find, either in the history of times past or present, that there has been displayed more vigor of intel- lect, more love of country, more violence of party spirit, or more splendor of eloquence, than in these debates. The cause of America was not without advocates in parliament. The first men of the age were ready to espouse the American side. 163-3' ^hJ^c the cause of the government was ably vin- dicated by the skilful eloquence of Weddeburne, the majestic sense of Thurlow, and the masterly dexterity of Lord North, the cause of the Ameri- cans employed the lively declamation of Barre, and the philosophic fancy of Burke. Dunning, famous for legal acuteness, and Fox, for argumen- tative vehemence, were on the American side. Above all these rose the venerable form of Pitt,t his tones solemn and sincere, as was befitting a great man about to leave the world. " These Americans — our own children," ex- claimed the minister Grenville, " planted by our cares, nourished by our indulgence, protected by * Pari. Debates, 1765. t Earl of Chatham. NEW HAMrSIIIRE. 221 our arms, until they are grown to a good degree ciiAr. of skill and opulence — will they now turn their .^ !_, backs upon us, and grudge to contribute their mite to relieve us from the heavy load which overwhelms us ?" Col. Barre caught the words, and boldly re- joined — ^^ Planted by your cares! No! your oppression planted them in America ; they fied from your tyranny, into a then uncultivated land, where they were exposed to almost all the hard- ships to which human nature is liable, and, among others, to the savage cruelty of the enemy of the country — a people the most subtle, and I take upon me to say, the most truly terrible, of any people that ever inhabited any part of God's earth ; and yet, actuated by principles of true English liberty, they met all these hardships with pleasure, com- pared with those they suffered in their own coun- try from the hands of those that should have been their friends. " They nourished by your indulgence ! They grew by your neglect ; as soon as you began to care about them, that care was exercised in send- ing persons to rule over them in one department and another, who were, perhaps, the deputies of some members of this house, sent to spy out their liberty, to misrepresent their actions, and to prey upon them ; men, whose behavior, on many occa- sions, had caused the blood of those sons of liberty to recoil within them ; men, })romoted to the high- est seats of justice, some of whom, to my knowl- edge, were glad, by going to foreign countries, to escape the vengeance of the laws in their own. *' They protected by your arms ! They have 222 HISTORY OF CHAP, nobly taken up arms in your defence, have exerted , 1_ their valor, amidst their constant and laborious in- dustry, for the defence of a country, whose fron- tiers while drenched in blood, its interior parts have yielded for your enlargement the little sav- ' ings of their frugality and the fruits of their toils. And believe me, remeiinher, I this day told you so, that the same spirit which actuated that people at first, will continue with them still ; but prudence forbids me to explain myself any further. God knows, I do not, at this time, speak from motives of party heat ; what I assert proceeds from the sentiments of my heart. However superior to me, in general knowledge and experience, any one here may be, yet I claim to know more of Amer- ica, having seen, and been more conversant in that country. The people there are as truly loyal as any subjects the king has, but a people jealous of their liberties, and who will vindicate them if they should be violated." This bold speech left the house petrified with astonishment. A dead silence ensued, in which all continued to gaze on the speaker, without utter- ing a word. The right of parliament to tax the colonies called in question ! This was sufficient to make them act from jealousy of their contested authority, and the bill passed on the 7th of Feb- 1765. ruary.* There were two hundred and fifty yeas, while the nays did not exceed fifty. fThe house of lords approved the bill on the 8th of March fol- lowing, and on the 22d of the same month, it was sanctioned by the king. The night on which the bill passed. Dr. Franklin, then in London, wrote to Charles Thompson: — "The sun of liberty is * Pari. DebateS; 17G5--0. t Pari- DebateSj 17Go--6. — Lords. x\EW HAMPSHIRE. 223 set ; the Americans must light the lamps of indus- chap. try and economy." To which Mr. Thompson. . _!_ answered, " Be assured we shall light torches of quite another sort." It^is impossible to describe the ferment in the colonies* on the first report that the stamp act had become a law. On its arrival in America there was a general burst of indignation tlu^ough- out the colonies. f The house of burgesses of Virginia was then in session, and there tlie first opposition was made. The young and eloquent Patrick Henry was there. He pronounced it 1765. tyranny in the king to have sanctioned such an act; and, alluding to the fate of other tyrants, he exclaimed, " Caesar had his Brutus, Charles I. his Cromwell, and George III." — here he was interrupted by the cry of treason ; pausing for a moment, he added — " may profit by the exam- ple. If that be treason, make the most of it." These were bold words — such as had not then been heard even from the boldest. The irresist- ible eloquence of Henry prevailed. Resolutions condemning the act were passed by a major- ity of a single voice. Simultaneously with these proceedings, and before they were known in Mas- sachusetts, the General Court of that colony had adopted measures of opposition, and proposed a Congress of States. This proposition was gene- rally agreed to, though it met with so much oppo- sition, that no delegates were elected from New Hampshire and Virginia, nor from North Carolina * New Hampshire Gazette, 1765—1766. t Prov. Rec, Jour. C. and A., 1765—1774. H., 1759—171)5. Portsmouth Town Records, vol. H. New Hampshire Gazette, 17135. 224> HISTORY OF CHAP, and Gcori^ia; and on the first Tuesday of October _^__ delegates assembled at New York, from the States of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and South Carolina. They drew up an address to the king and petitions to parliament, asking for redress of grievances. Meanwhile the day ai)proached when the stamp act was to take effect ; and it was to be seen whether America would resist, or whether she would submit to a law by which no debt could be collected, no ship put to sea, no apprentice indented, no marriage solemnizedj without payment of stamp duty. The popular feeling against it had greatly increased, and had spread everywhere. Indeed, the opposi- tion to it had become strong and systematic. The 1765, women, animated by a zeal for liberty, united their exertions with the men. They cheerfully gave up the use of British goods, and even relinquished every species of ornament manufactured in Eng- land.* Everywhere tlie stamp act was treated with derision by the people. In New York it was carried about, attached to a death's-head, labelled, " The Folly of England and the Ruin of America." At Providence, in Rhode Island, the effigies of stamp officers were dragged, with halters about their necks, through the streets, hung to gibbets, and afterwards burnt. In Connecticut, also, effi- gies were carried through the ceremony of a mock trial and condemned in due form to be burnt. The stamp officers in Connecticut and in New York promptly resigned their offices. In Boston, the mob demolished the houses intended for stamp * Emma Wiliard's American Efpnblic, p. 119. NEW HAMPSHIRE. 225 officers, and hung up the effigies of government chap. officers on the branches of an old chii on the com- ___!_ mon, which took the name of " the Tree of Lib- erty." In Maryland the principal stamp distrib- utor was menaced, and fled for refuge to New York. In New Hampshire George Meserve had been appointed stamp distributor. He received his appointment when in England, and soon after arrived in Boston. The people requested him to Sept. 9. resion his office before he landed. This he readily Bei- T knap, did.* They then welcomed him on shore. The p-ssi. news of his coming had preceded him to Ports- Sep. 12, mouth, and an exhibition of effigies had prepared the minds of the people to receive him. At his coming they assembled, and he was compelled to 1765. make a more formal resignation, on the parade, *^"" before gothg to his house. f The stamp act was Nov. i. to commence its operation on the first day of No- vember. On the last day of October the New oct.31. Hampshire Gazette appeared with a mourning border, and the next day was ushered in by the tolling of bells, and a mock funeral was made for the Goddess of Liberty. She is carried to the grave ; but on depositing her there, some signs of life are discovered, and she is borne off* in tri- umph, amid the acclamations of the multitude. Thus did the populace propagate the spirit of independence, while the more moderate and even the most eminent citizens testified their resistance by more discreet but not less decided demonstra- tions. Governor Went worth alone remained silent. With failing health and an ample fortune, and now * New Hampshire Gazette, Sept., 1765. f Ibid. 29 226 HISTORY OF CHAP, far in the decline of life, he felt equally averse to ,__ putting liimself forward in the support of popular measures, or of contradicting openly the voice of the people. During these commotions, and while it was considered doubtful whether courts of law could enforce their decrees without the use of stamped paper, a few licentious persons endea- vored to excite a general opposition to the payment of debts. No sooner did this disorderly spirit manifest itself, than associations were formed at 1765. Portsmouth, Exeter, and all the principal towns, to support the magistrates in compelling obedience to the courts and enforcing the obligations of con- tracts. This spirit of disorder was soon quelled. Thus did the people show that, though resisting oppression, they had within themselves the ele- ments of virtue and order. It was soon suspected, notwithstanding the resignation of Meserve, that he intended to distri- bute stamped paper. Instantly the drums beat, 1766 and the Sons of Liberty were assembled. They Jan. 9. ^[^gj^ compelled him to deliver up his commission, which was put on board a ship, then ready to sail, and sent to England. It happened to arrive just at the time when the parliament had heard of the commotions in America, and when a strong effort was making by the friends of America to repeal the stamp act. A change had taken place in the British ministry, and the new ministers, among whom were the Marquis of Rockingham, the Duke of Grafton, and General Conway, were more favorable to the Americans. The petition of congress and other papers were before them. Dr. Franklin had been examined before the house of NEW HAMPSHIRE. 221 Commons, and had i^iven it as his opinion that chap. America would never submit to the stamp duty '^ unless compelled by force of arms. " My posi- tion," said William Pitt, "is this — I repeat it: I will maintain it to my last hour : — Taxation and representation are inseparable. This j^osition is founded on the laws of nature ; it is more — it is in itself an eternal laiv of nature ; for lohatever is a man's own, is absolutely his oicn : no man has a right to take itf'om him, without his con- sent ; tvhoever attemjjts to do it, attempts an injury ; ivhoever does it, commits a robbery. I lygg am of opinion that the stamp act ought to be repealed, totally, absolutely, and immediately." The repeal passed the Commons, and the cause of America having found an advocate in the person of Lord Camden, it prevailed in the house of Lords, and was finally repealed.* But the law requiring the colonies to maintain, at their own expense, the troops quartered amongst them, still remained ; and as this was considered an indirect mode of taxation, the same opposition was made to it. In July, another change of min- juiy, istry took place, and a cabinet was formed under ^'^^'^• the direction of Pitt. In May, 1767, a second plan was devised for taxation, by imposing duties on all tea, glass, paper, and painters' colors, im- ported into the colonies. All the bitter feelings engendered by the stamp act, now revived. Pe- titions and remonstrances poured into parliament. Meanwhile, an affray had taken place with the British troops in the streets of Boston, in which * There were great rejoicings at the repeal of the stamp act. See N. H. Gazette, January 2, 1767. 228 HISTORY OF CHAP, four of the inhabitants were killed. This served IX to fan the flame of war, now rapidly rising. Not- withstanding the duties on importations were all soon repealed, with the exception of the duty on tea, still, while that remained, the right of parlia- ment to tax the colonies was not relinquished. Committees of correspondence, those nurseries of liberty, were now organized in all the principal towns throughout the colonies, and produced a complete concert of action. The ships of the East India Company, laden with tea, were now arriving in the American ports. If it landed, the duties must be paid ; and it was determined not to permit it to land. Accordingly, in Boston, reso- lutions were adopted that it should be sent back to England in the same vessels in which it came. Similar resolves were passed in Philadelphia and New York. But the merchants, to whom the tea had been consigned in Boston, refused to grant the necessary discharges, and the ships tarried in the harbor. Apprehensive that the obnoxious article would be landed, the people resolved to destroy it, and in the night a band of citizens, dis- guised as Indians, boarded the ships, broke open their chests, and emptied their contents into the sea. J767 In New Hampshire, Governor Wentworth had been removed by the British ministry, on charges of neglect of duty, and his nephew, John Went- Aug. worth, appointed governor. He was a favorite of the people, had been active in procuring a repeal of the stamp act, and was appointed by the minis- try through whom it was repealed. Through the influence of his principal friends, he prevented the n. NEW HAMPSHIRE. 229 adoption of a non-importation agreement in Ports- chap. mouth. " We cannot depend on the countenance .— -i^ of many persons of the first rank here," said the Sons of Liberty; "for royal commissions and family connexions influence the principal gentle- men among us at least to keep silence in these evil times." But the support which the cause of England gained in New Hampshire fell far short of the sanguine hopes of the governor and his friends. It was evident that he was fast losing his popularity. The majority were on the side of liberty. As the crisis approached, the union became more general. Those who felt disposed to advocate the cause of England, from fear of the popular hatred and derision, either became silent, or were forced by the strong current of public opinion to espouse the popular cause ; so that j^^^ when the first cargo of tea arrived in Portsmouth, it required all the prudence of Governor Went- worth, all the vigilance of the magistrates, all the firmness of the friends of order, to send away the hateful commodity without a tumult.* jnne25. A town meeting was called, and it was pro- posed to Mr. Parry, the consignee, to reship it. To this he consented, and it was peaceably sent to Halifax. Not long afterwards, a second cargof came, sept. consigned to the same person. The popular fer- ^' ment could not be allayed. His house was attacked and the windows broken. He applied to the governor for protection. The governor sum- moned the council and magistrates. But, in the meantime, the town committee prevailed on Mr. » Portsmouth Town Records, H., i>p. 295, 297, 299, 300, 303. f Ibid. 305. 230 HISTORY OF CHAP. Parry to send the tea to Halifax, and quiet was '^ restored. Nearly all the towns had by this time passed resolves condemning the use of tea. Committees of vigilance and inspection, composed of the most vigilant of the Sons of Liberty, aided by the senti- ment of the people, carried those resolves into effect. Public sentiment banished tea from the table entirely. The women, with praiseworthy 1774. spirit, gave it up ; and tradition says that the more inveterate devotees of the herb descended into their cellars, and, having barred the doors, secretly and with trembling gave way to their love of the proscribed and obnoxious beverage. Everything indicated that the people of New Hampshire were fast uniting with the views of Massachusetts and the other colonies. In vain did the governor labor to prevent the free action of the people. In vain did he dissolve and adjourn their meetings. In vain did he declare them ille- gal. They rose when he entered among them to declare their proceedings void ; but no sooner had he retired than they resumed their seats and pro- ceeded, unrestricted by forms. An authority was rising in the province above the authority of the governor — an authority founded on the broad basis of the people's will — an authority before which the shadow of royal government was destined to pass away. The people appointed committees of cor- JuiyH. respondence, and chose delegates* to the provin- sept.4. cial congress at Philadelphia ; and nowhere were the proceedings of the congress more universally approved. " Our atmosphere threatens a hurri- * Nathaniel Folsom and John Sullivan. N E W II A 31 P S H I R E . 231 cane," wrote the governor to a confidential friend, chap. " I have strove in vain, ahnost to death, to prevent .SJ-^ it. If I can, at last, bring out of it safety to my country, and honor to our sovereign, my labors will be joyful." The people of New Hampshire soon gave an example of the spirit by which the whole country was animated equally with themselves. An order had been pjissed by the king in council prohibiting the exportation of gunpowder to America. A Bei- copy of it was brought by express to Portsmouth, at a time when a ship of war was daily expected from Boston to take possession of fort William and Mary. The committee of the town, with 1774. secrecy and despatch, collected a company from £" Portsmouth and some of the neighboring towns, Dec.n. and, before the governor had any suspicion of their intentions, they proceeded to Newcastle and as- . saulted the fort before the troops had arrived. The captain and five men, who were the whole of the garrison, were taken into custody, and one hundred barrels of powder were carried off. The next day another company removed fifteen of the lighter cannon, together with all the small arms and other warlike stores. These were carefully secreted in the several towns, under the care of the committees, and afterwards did effectual ser- vice at Bunker's Hill. Major John Sullivan and John Langdon were the leaders in this expedition. No sooner was it accomplished, than the Scar- borough frigate and sloop of war Canseau arrived, with several companies of soldiers. They took possession of the fort, but found only the heavy j^^Jf: cannon. Sullivan and Langdon were afterwards 232 HISTORY OF CHAP, chosen delegates to the next general congress, to ..^...J^ be holden on the tenth of May. The whiter of 1774 passed away in gloomy apprehension and anxiety. It was evident that the breach between the two countries was too wide to be healed. No mediator could be found, and there was too much reason to fear that this controversy must be decided on the field of battle.* The port of Boston was shut and guarded by ships of war. Its commerce was ruined, its poor with- out bread, its merchants without business. A military governor presided over them, and was concentrating troops, as if in apprehension of an approaching crisis. Parliament had voted the existence of rebellion in Massachusetts, and the king had demanded an augmentation of his forces by sea and land. On the night of the 18th of April, Gen. Gage, governor of Massachusetts, despatched a body of his troops privately, to destroy a magazine of pro- Aprii visions and ammunition which the provincials had collected at Concord. He hoped also to secure the persons of John Hancock and Samuel Adams, two of the most active and ardent of the Sons of Liberty. At eleven in the evening the troops were embarked at Boston, under the command of Lieut. Col. Smith and Maj. Pitcairn. The pro- vincials had notice of their approach, and at five o'clock, on the morning of the nineteenth, they had assembled at Lexington, to the number of * The spirit which was displayed by the people may be seen by reference to tKe New Hampshire Gazette for the period of 1760 to 1775. The follow- ing papers are of especial interest, viz. : 1767, Jan. 2 ; Nov. 27; Dec. 11, 24; 1768, Jan. 15, 22, 29; Feb. 12, 19, 26; March 11, 18; April 8, 15, 22, 29 ; May 6 ; June 17, 24 ; 1769, Nov. lU ; Dec. 29. 19 NEW HAMPSHIRE. 233 seventy. The royal troops appeared in sight, and Major Pitcairn, riding forward, brandished his sword at the head of his column, and cried out to the Americans, " Disperse, ye rebels ! lay down your arms and retire!" Not being instantly obeyed, he ordered his men to fire. Eight of the provincials fell, and the remainder retreated, pur- sued by the British. Thus was spilled the first blood of the Revolu- tion. Thus was opened the grand drama, which closed in the dismemberment of a great empire and the birth of the first American republic. The American Revolution ! — that revolution which was to make the names of its actors celebrated with immortal praises, and their memoiy dear to pos- terity — that revolution which was to be the dread of tyrants, and the example and the hope of free- men, to the latest ages. A simple monument, raised a few yards from the church, now marks the spot where fell these first martyrs to the cause of liberty. The detach- ment proceeded to Concord, and, after a hot skir- mish, destroyed or removed the stores, and then retreated precipitately towards Lexington, assailed with fury by the provincials. The minute-men, hastily assembling from all quarters, followed in close pursuit. Posted behind fences, trees, and stumps, they kept up a galling and destructive fire along the whole line of the march, which it was impossible for the British to return. They at length reached Lexington, where they were met by Lord Percy, with a reinforcement of nine hun- dred men. At sunset they reached Charlestown neck, overcome with fatigue, and having lost two 30 234) HISTORY OF CHAP, hundred and seventy-three in killed, wounded and ^JJ^ missing. The provincials lost eighty-eight. The news of the battle of Lexington spread everywhere with electric speed. From all parts the cry rung, to arms. The militia poured in from all quarters, and soon there was collected in the neighborhood of Boston an army of twenty thou- May. sand men. In May, the Americans, under Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold, surprised and took the strong fortress of Ticonderoga ; and soon after, a detachment, under Colonel Warner, took pos- session of Crown Point. During all these hostile movements. Governor Wentworth, who, like most of the British governors, entirely mistook the weems' g^uius of tlic pcoplc of Ncw England, continued w£h^ to be sanguine in his hopes to plant the root of ington. pejiee in New Hampshire. He summoned a new assembly, and in his speech* exhorted them to di- rect their councils to peace. He earnestly con- jured them to an affectionate reconciliation with the mother country. But the spell of royal influ- ence was broken. The assembly desired a short recess, and he adjourned them to the twelfth of June. Meanwhile, the crew of the Scarborough proceeded to dismantle fort William and Mary. They also seized two vessels, coming into the harbor, laden with provisions. The inhabitants demanded their release ; but the governor refused to give them up. Immediately a body of men armed themselves and proceeded to a battery at May Jerry's point, at Great Island, and seized eight pieces of cannon and brought them to Portsmouth. But while they were engaged in this, the Canseau 1 * Prov. Rec, Jour. House, 1770—1775. NEW HAMPSHIRE. 235 sloop convoyed the two provision-vessels to Bos- ton, for the supply of the British fleet and army. A convention of the people had been called, and was at this time sitting at Exeter. They passed a vote of thanks to those who had removed the cannon from the battery, and to those who had taken the powder and guns from the fort, under Sullivan and Langdon. Recognising the doctrine that the representative is the mere organ, servant, or agent of the people, and bound to obey their known will, the people had instructed the repre- sentatives how to proceed in several important par- ticulars at the next assembly. They had come freshly from the people. In this body the province knlp. was fully and equally represented, and the voice of the convention was therefore regarded as the voice of the people. Pursuant to adjournment, the house met on the twelfth of June, and the governor again 12 recommended "the conciliatory proposition."* The house gave him no heed, as appears by the first step they took. Recognising the duty of the representative to obey the voice of his constituents, they proceeded, in obedience to the instructions of the convention, to expel three members whom the governor had called by the king's writ from three new townships. This they did because these members were elected from their known partiality to the royal cause,! while other towns, much older and more populous, were not represented. One of the expelled members, having censured this proceeding, was assaulted by the populace, and fled for shelter to the governor's house. The peo- * The proposition of Lord North. Pari. Deb. t Prov. Rec, Jour. House, 1770—1775. June 236 HISTORY OF CHAP, pie demanded him, and, being refused, they pomted .^ L a gun at the governor's door ; whereupon the offender was surrendered and carried to Exeter. The governor retired to the fort, and his house was pillaged. He afterwards went on board the Scarborough and sailed for Boston. He had adjourned the assembly to the 28th of September. But they met no more. In September, he issued a proclamation from the Isles of Shoals, adjourn- ing them to April next. This was the closing act of his administration. It was the last receding step of royalty. It had subsisted in the province ninety-five years. The government of New Hamp- shire was henceforth to be a government of the people. The news of the battle of Lexington aroused all America. Men of all classes — the mechanic from his shop, the farmer from the field — all has- tened towards Boston ; and a volunteer army of thirty thousand men were found assembled in a short time, and closely pressing the siege upon the British within the city. Twenty thousand of these were sent home by the American generals.* But of those who remained, twelve hundred were from New Hampshire, under command of the colonels Stark and Reid ; the former of whom, while at work in his saw-mill, heard of the battle of Lex- •• ington, and instantly dropped the implements of labor, seized his musket, and hastened to the post of danger. So closely were the British troops besieged, and so completely was their communi- cation with the adjacent country cut off, that it was impossible to obtain supplies. They dared * Botta, I., 186. 1 NEW HA3IPSHIRE. 237 not to sally forth even to procure food ; yet they chap. looked upon the insurgent people with disdain. — 'J^ All eyes were now fixed on the two armies at 1775. Boston ; the one composed of the regular troops of the king within the city, the other a body of raw militia, collected from the workshop and the plough, closely pressing a siege upon their disciplined and confident foe. The Americans had elected Gen. Ward commander-in-chief, with Col. Putnam for the second in command. The British, already reinforced, were under the command of Gage, Howe, Clinton, and Burgoyne ; all skilful and ex- perienced commanders. They had come from the battle-fields of Europe freshly decked with lau- rels. They had combatted successfully against the most warlike nations in the world. Were they to be seriously opposed by "a flock of Yankees?" as they contemptuously named the Americans. Elated with the recollection of their past achievements, they panted to wipe off the dis- grace of Lexington. They could not bear to rest under the thought that they had turned their backs at Concord, and retreated before a foe whom they despised and persisted in calling cowards. They were now suffering extremely from scar- city of food. This, as well as a desire to execute something, determined the British to attempt some mode to extricate themselves from their diflicult position, and gain an entrance into the open coun- try. The American generals were apprized of their intention, and, in order to prevent this move- ment they resolved to fortify the heights of Bun- ker's hill. Orders were therefore given to Col. 1,202. William Prescott to occupy them with a detach- 238 HISTORY OF CHAP, ment of one thousand men, and to fortify himself . i_ there. But, from some mistake, instead of repair- ing to the heights of Bunker's hill, he advanced farther on, and commenced his entrenchments on the heights of Breed's hill, another eminence which overlooks Charlestown, and is situated towards the extremity of the peninsula, nearer to Boston. • The labor had been conducted with such silence as to be unperceived by the English ; and, by the following morning at daybreak, the Americans had already constructed a square redoubt, capable of affording them shelter from the enemy. The Eng- lish had no suspicion of what was passing. It was about four o'clock the next morning when the L.^'iS. captain of a ship of war first perceived it, and began to play his artillery. It now became impor- tant to dislodge the provincials from this formi- dable position, or at least to stop the progress 1775. of their entrenchments. The English, therefore, opened a general fire of artillery, which hailed a tempest of bombs and balls upon the works of the Americans. But, notwithstanding the fury of i^^aos ^"^^ enemy's artillery, the Americans continued to work the whole day with unshaken constancy ; and towards night they had already much advanced a trench, which descended from the redoubt to the foot of the hill and almost to the banks of Mystic river. The small passage between they obstructed with two parallel palisades, which were made by pulling up some adjoining post and rail fence, and setting it down in two parallel lines near each other, filling the space between with grass.* The right wing was flanked by the houses of Charles- * Morse's Revolution, p. 231. NEW HAMPSHIRE, 239 town, which they occupied ; the centre and left wing formed themselves behind the trench, which, following the declivity of the hill, extended towards Mystic river. The troops of Massachusetts oc- cupied Charlestown, the redoubt, and a part of the trench ; those of Connecticut, commanded by Capt. Nolten, and those of New Hampshire, under Cols. Stark and Reed, the rest of the trench.* Before the battle commenced. Dr. Warren, who had volunteered his services, arrived, and joined the troops of Massachusetts. Gen. Pomeroy made his appearance at the same time, and took command of those from Connecticut. Gen. Put- nam directed in chief, and held himself ready to repair to any point where his presence should be most needed. About midday, the heat being in- tense, all was in motion in the British camp. A multitude of sloops and boats, filled with British soldiers, the whole under the command of General Howe and Brigadier General Pigot, crossed over to Charlestown, and landed without meeting resist- ance. Their debarkation was protected by the fire of the artillery from the ships of war, which forced the Americans to keep within their entrench- ments. The troops, on landing, began to display, the light infantry on the right, the grenadiers on the left ; but having observed the strength of the position and the good countenance of the Ameri- cans, Gen. Howe made a halt, and sent to call a reinforcement. The English now formed them- selves in two columns. Their plan was that the left wing, under General Pigot, should attack the Botta, I., 204. Botta, I., 20-1. 1775. June 17 Botta, I., 204. * In describing the battle of Bunker's Hill, I have adopted the statements, and, in some instances, the language, of Botta, the Italian historian. 240 HISTORY OF cHAr. rebels in Charlestown, while the centre assaulted IX ._..__, the redoubt ; and the right wing, consisting of light infantry, should force the passage near the river Mystic, and thus assail the Americans in flank and rear. It appears, also, that Gen. Gage had formed the design of setting fire to Charlestown, in order that the corps destined to assail the redoubt, thus protected by the flames and smoke, might be less exposed to the fire of the provincials. The dispositions having all been completed, the Eng- lish put themselves in motion. The provincials that were stationed to defend Charlestown, fearing lest the assailants should penetrate between the town and the redoubt, and thus to find themselves cut off* from the rest of the army, retreated. The English immediately entered the town and fired the buildings, which being of wood, the com- bustion soon became general. They continued a slow march against the redoubt and trench, halting from time to time for the artillery to come up and act vrith some eflfect previous to the assault. The flames and smoke of Charlestown were of little use to them, as the wind turned them in a contrary di- rection. The scene presented by the hostile armies was sublime beyond the power of language. The veil of smoke rising from Charlestown, the flames, the crash of fiilling houses, the uproar of the artil- lery, and the sanguinary nature of the conflict, all conspired to render the spectacle one of surpassing sublimity and interest. On the part of the Eng- lish, honor was at stake — fame might be won. On the side of the Americans, the defence of their country, the liberty and rights of themselves and their posterity, now depended upon their arms and NEW HAMrSHIRE. 241 their valor. The spires and roofs of Boston, the chap. T"Y* hills and circumjacent fields, were covered with .„.-__ swarms of spectators, all intently viewing the men, who, unaccustomed to the glare of military show, clad in the rude vestments of husbandry, with scarcely a badge or a banner to deck their ranks, were to show, by this day's conduct, whether they were worthy to transmit freedom to their children. The English advanced, exulting in anticipation of an easy triumph. Their standards waved proudly above them, and the wild music of their martial bands rose on the air and mingled with the roar of the artillery. With muskets levelled, but re- serving their fire, the Americans awaited the result in profound tranquillity. The weather was clear, and permitted them to take good aim. Not a shot was fired until the English had advanced within a few yards of tKe works, when a terrible flash came from the redoubt, and a deluge of balls poured amidst the enemy's ranks. Volley after volley succeeded, with such fatal aim, that not even the practised courage of royal troops could withstand its effect. They reeled as before a whirlwind, and fled in wild disorder to the place of landing. Some threw themselves precipitately into the boats. The English officers were now seen running 1775. hither and thither amongst the disordered battal- •'""*^^''- ions, with promises, with exhortations and with menaces, attempting to rally the soldiers for a second attack. At length, after the most painful efforts, they resumed their ranks and turned their faces again towards the deadly redoubt. The Americans reserved their fire, as before, until they had advanced within a few yards, and then poured 31 242 HISTORY OF CHAP, upon them the same deluge of balls. Overwhelmed and routed, they again fled to the shore. For ^s^do'^' a moment General Howe remained alone upon the field of battle ; all the officers who surrounded him were killed or w^ounded. At this critical con- juncture, upon which depended the issue of the day, General Clinton, who from Copp's Hill had watched all the movements, seeing the destruction of his best troops, immediately resolved to fly to their succor ; and entering a boat he was rowed rapidly to Charlestown. By an able movement, this experienced commander re-established order, and being promptly seconded by the officers, who felt all the importance of success to English honor, ^°"^' led the troops to the third attack. It was directed against the redoubt at the several points. The rimmunition of the Americans being exhausted, and being without bayonets, they defended themselves vahantly for a w^hile with the butt-ends of their mus- kets ; but, seeing the redoubt and the upper part of the trench filled with enemies, they slowly retired. During the action the ships of war raked the isth- mus of Charlestown to prevent any reinforcements from passing to the Americans from Cambridge. General Putnam, seeing this, rode several times to and fro along the isthmus, to convince the Cam- bridge division that they could pass over with safety. But being apprehensive of an attack in their own position, they declined engaging in the battle. The Americans had not yet reached the Botta, period of their greatest peril. The only way of retreat was by the isthmus of Charlestown, which was raked by the guns of the Glasgow ship of war and two floating batteries. The Americans, how- NEW HAMPSHIRE. 243 ever, issued from the peninsula without losing any chap. considerable number of men. Yet their loss was ^J^ great, for it was here that the brave Warren was killed. A British officer singled him out and shot him with a gun which he borrowed from a soldier. He fell and died upon the spot. In him America lost a man of the purest patriotism and the most undaunted bravery — an able statesman, an ac- complished orator. New Hampshire here lost a gallant son, Major Andrew M' Clary, who was killed by a cannon shot after he had passed the isthmus. Thus ended the battle of Bunker's* hill, and with it the confidence which the British had Records, reposed in the cowardice of the Americans. The Americans reaped the fruits of a victory. The '^'"^ British remained masters of the field. Their loss , ^^^' knap,p. was ten hundred and fifty-four. The Americans ^^^• . . Whi- lost, in killed, wounded and missing, four hundred ton, and fifty three.f ^' In this battle the New Hampshire troops, posted beliind the breast-work, on the left of the main body, behaved with distinguished bravery. They helped to sustain that galling fire which swept down whole regiments of the British as they advanced to the attack. They made good the defence of their position, until the loss of the redoubt compelled the American commander to sound the signal of retreat. The number lost from Stark's regiment was fifteen killed and missing, and sixty wounded ; the number from Colonel * In compliance with the popular language, I call the scene of the battle Eunher's hill, which is a quarter of a mile north of Breed's or Russell's hill, where the battle was fought. t Hale's Hist. U. S., vol. I., p. 269. Morse sets it down at 355. Revo- lution, p. 232. Neither of these authors gives any authorities. 244 HISTORY OF CHAP. Reed's regiment was three killed, one missing, J^ twenty-nine womided.*^ After the battle, the third New Hampshire regiment, under the com- mand of Colonel Poor, assembled and marched to the camp ; and, with the other New Hampshire regiments, was stationed on Winter Hill, under the immediate command of Brigadier General Sulli- van. Besides these troops, a company of artillery was raised to garrison the forts. A company of rangers was posted on Connecticut river, and two companies more were organized to be ready to march wherever the committee of safety should direct. The whole militia was divided into twelve regiments. t Out of these were enlisted four regi- ments of minute-men, J who were to hold themselves in readiness to march to any point, and were con- stantly trained to military duty. In the succeed- ing winter, the Connecticut forces, whose term of service had expired, withdrew from the camp, and sixteen companies of the New Hampshire militia 1776. supplied their place until the British troops evacu- 17. ated Boston. Meanwhile the American congress had assem- 1776. bled at Philadelphia. George Washington had June been appointed commander of the American 1775. army, and had entered Boston in triumph, amidst the rejoicings of the people. In the forty-fourth year of his age, a period of life which placed him beyond the illusions of youth, and possessed of an ample fortune, renowned for his fidelity and virtue, the congress found united in him all the * See Stark's letter, Coll. N. H. Hist. Soc, H., 145. Sweet's Hist. Bunker Hill Battle. t N. H. Hist. Coll., I., 336. because they were to march at a minute's warning. NEW HAMPSHIRE. 245 qualities necessary to secure success in the chief chap. , IX. of the union. To him they resolved to adhere ^JJ^ in every extremity with their lives and fortunes. Still further to ensure success, they resolved to place at the head of the army other able and experienced officers. Accordingly, Artemas Ward, Charles Lee, and Philip Schuyler were appointed major generals. Horatio Gates, an officer known to be profoundly versed in all the details of military science, was made adjutant Bona, . . . 1.,'217. general. They also created eight brigadier gene- rals, viz., Seth Ponieroy, William Heath and John Thomas, of Massachusetts ; Richard Montgomery, of New York ; David Wooster and John Spencer, of Connecticut ; John Sullivan, of New Hamp- shire ; and Nathaniel Green, of Rhode Island. After these appointments had been made, the congress applied themselves, with the greatest activity, to obtain the means to carry on a war. The people promptly seconded their efforts, and proceeded, in the several colonies, to raise men, to arm and equip them, and to provide themselves with arms and munitions of war. An exact scru- i., 219. tiny was commenced in the cellars and stables for saltpetre and sulphur. In every part of the coun- try manufactories of gunpowder and foundries of cannon were seen rising ; every place resounded with the preparations of war. All men fit to bear arms were ordered to form themselves into battal- ions. Those who could not bear arms, came forth to aid the cause by every other means in their power. The most rigorous religious opinions easily found evasions. Even the (Quakers, kindling in the great convulsion, allowed themselves to be transported 246 HISTORY OF CHAP, by a zeal for liberty, and joined the companies of J5_ the Philadelphians. The aged Germans resumed the profession of arms, so long relinquished, and resolved to bear a part in the common defence. With crape upon their hats, to denote their regret at the unfortunate causes which compelled them to take up arms, they formed themselves into a body, called the " Old Men's Company," and resumed their arms to defend the liberty of that country which had offered them an asylum, when oppression forced them to abandon their own. The women were forward to signalize their zeal for liberty. They chose to work the soldier's rough garb, rather than the embroidery of fashion. With their own hands they embroidered the colors and adorned them with appropriate mottos ; then presented them to the regiments, with eloquent discourses on liberty, and earnest entreaties to the soldiers never to desert their banners. In the county of Bristol, Pennsylvania, they resolved to equip a regiment of men at their own cost. While such was the enthusiasm for liberty, it was but natural that a violent resentment should be kindled against those who still adhered to the royal cause. These took the name of tories ; their opponents, the name of whigs,*or sons of lib- erty. The tories were persecuted with relentless fury. Some of them were arrested and imprison- Bei- ed. Some fled to Nova Scotia, or to England, p'^s?!'. some joined the British army in Boston. Others were restricted to certain limits, and their motions continually watched. The passions of jealousy, hatred and revenge were under no restraint. Although many lamented these excesses, there N E W 11 A 31 P S H I R E . 247 seemed to be no effectual remedy. All the bands chap. IX of ancient authority wer^ broken. The courts ..JJ^ were shut ; the sword of magistracy was sheathed. But amidst the general laxity in the forms of gov- ernment, order prevailed ; reputation, life and property were still secure ; thus proving that it is not in outward forms of austerity, or sanguinary punishments, or nicely written codes, or veneration for what is old, that our rights find protection — but in the potent, though unseen, influence of fam- ily ties, virtuous habits and lofty example. These contributed more, at this time, to maintain order than any other authority ; thus illustrating how much stronger are the secret than the apparent bonds of society. But^ the people of New Hamp- shire proceeded to perfect, as far as possible, their ^Jj^^ provisional government. The convention which had assembled at Exeter, was elected but for six months. Previous to their dissolution in h.* November, they made provisions, pursuant to the recommendations of congress, for calling a new convention, which should be a more full represen- tation of the people. They sent copies of these provisions to the several towns, and dissolved. 1775. * Dec. The elections were forthwith held. The new con- 21.^ vention promptly assembled, and drew up a tempo- rary form of government. Having assumed the name of House of Repre- 1776. SENTATivES, they adopted a constitution,* and pro- ^^'^- ^• cceded to choose twelve persons to constitute a dis- Bei- tinct and a co-ordinate branch of the legislature, p.^364. by the name of a council. These twelve were empowered to elect their own president ; and any * A copy of this is in N. H. Hist. Coll., IV., p. 150. 248 HISTORY OF seven of them were to be a quorum. It was or- dained that no act or resolve should be valid, 1776. unless passed by both branches of the legislature ; that all money bills should originate in the house of representatives ; that neither house should ad- journ for more than two days, without the consent of the other ; that a secretary and all other public officers of the colony and of each county for the current year, all general and field officers of militia, and all officers of the marching regiments, should be appointed by the two houses ; all subordinate militia officers by their respective companies ; that the present assembly should subsist one year, and, if the dispute with Britain should continue longer, ^Bei- jj^jjd ([^Q general congress should give no directions 2^^- to the contrary, that precepts should be issued annually, to the several towns, on or before the first day of November, for the choice of council- lors and representatives. Thus did the convention establish annual elec- tions and co-ordinate branches of government, each having a negative upon the other. But in this system there was still a material defect. It pro- vided for no executive. To remedy this, the two houses assumed to themselves the executive duty during the session, and they appointed a committee of safety to sit in the recess, varying in number from six to sixteen, vested with executive powers. The president of the council was president of the Bd- executive committee. To this responsible and p^'sm'. honorable station they called that old and tried servant of the public, Meshech Weare ; a man of no brilliant parts, but of a sound understanding, a calm temper, and a benevolent heart ; a ripe NEW HAMPSHIRE. 249 scholar, accurate in his judafment, of modest de- chap. IX portment, prudent and dihgent. So great was L_ the confidence reposed in Weare, that he was also made judge of the superior court.* Thus the people did not scruple to invest him, at the same time, with the highest offices, legislative, executive and judicial. To the offices of president of the state and judge he continued to he chosen, by annual elections, through the stormy period of the revolution, discharging his various duties with unsurpassed fidelity and wisdom. He died in the 17S6. seventy-third year of his age. As he had not enriched himself by public employments, he died poor in worldly goods, but rich in the gratitude of the people, and honored ])y their unaffected sorrow. Congress now resolved to contest the power of England, on her chosen clement, the seas. Having j-,^g observed the skill and success of a few privateers, in protecting the coasts of the continent, and in- tercepting English navigation, they decreed that five ships of war should be constructed and armed. Of tliesc, one was to be built in New Hampshire. After long delays, the Raleigh was completed in Portsmouth, and joined the other ships, all under command of Commodore Hopkins. With incred- ible despatch this little fleet was equipped. A multitude of privateers sprang into existence at the same time, and swarmed out into the sea, with a success fatal to English navigation. An immense quantity of provisions, cattle, arms and munitions of war, which the English were transporting across the ocean, at a vast expense, became the prey of the American ships. * N. H. Hist. Coll., v., p. 2.15. 32 250 HISTORY OF CHAP. While New Hampshire thus contributed her full IX . ._ ^ share to this humble squadron, she also furnished 1776 her quota of troops. Two thousand men were raised for the service of this year, and constituted four regiments. One moved from Boston to New York, in the army of Washington, and was placed under command of General Sullivan. One, raised in the western part of the province, under com- mand of Colonel Bedell, was destined to join the expedition against Canada — one of the most sin- gularly bold, and romantic enterprises recorded in military annals. The names of Montgomery, Morgan, Allen,* Warner, Livingston, Brown and Arnold, appear as leaders — all bold spirits, distin- guished for deeds of daring ; and all, with the exception of the last, true to the American cause. This expedition contemplated the bold plan of loading two forces, one of which, by the way of the Kennebec, was to emerge from the wilderness near Quebec, and join another force marching by the w^ay of lake Champlain. With incredible for- titude, and after incredible hardships, they had reached their destination, and, in the face of fear- ful odds, had taken Montreal. Hastening to Quebec, amidst the snows of that fierce climate, i-,-,^ in the month of December, Montgomery hurried Dec. on to the assault of that strong fortress. Pro- 31. . . digies of valor were performed by the American troops, but they were overpowered by numbers. Montgomery, the brave and generous Montgomery, fell there, wept and honored ; Arnold was carried oft' the field wounded, and Morgan succeeded to the command. Impetuous as the thunderbolt, he * Of Vermont, who led the " Green Mountain Boj's." NEW HAMPSHIRE. 251 rushed forward, and fought like a lion at the chap. IX head of his forlorn hope ; but was forced to sur- render. While the American troops were com- pelled to retreat from Quebec, calamity followed them in another quarter. The important post of the Cedars, about forty miles above Montreal, gar- risoned by four hundred men, under Col. Bedell, was surrendered, in the most cowardly manner, by a subordinate officer* of Colonel Bedell, to five hundred British and Indians. Finally, after linger- ing in the vicinity of Quebec until the augment- 1776. ed numbers of the British army rendered every hope vain, the Americans determined on evacuating Canada, and commenced their retreat. It was to meet the broken remnants of the army of Canada, that General Sullivan was detached by Washing- ton, from New York, at the head of the New Hampshire troops. At the mouth of the Sorel he met them, in the June i. last extremity of suffering. They had been com- pelled to subsist sometimes upon the meat of dogs, and had even boiled their shoes in the last extrem- ity of hunger. The small-pox had broken out amongst them, to which the commander-in-chief, General Thomas, had fallen a victim. Followed by an army of thirteen thousand men, they retreat- ed to St. Johns, where pursuit ceased, and on the first of July, they arrived at Ticonderoga. Near- J"'y »• ly one third of them had perished by sickness. Those that remained, marched under Washington, and took part in the brilliant actions of Trenton and Princeton. The American congress were now about to take * Colonel Bedell was, at the time, absent at IMontreal to obtain assistance. 252 HISTORY OF CHAP, an important step. Independence had become the .^,-J^ general voice of the people. On the eleventh of elmV June? 1776, a committee was chosen by the assem- ^r^ bly and another by the council of New Hampshire, ^InV " to make a draught of a declaration of the inde- aibif of pendence of the united colonies." On the fifteenth, pen- the committees of both houses reported a Decla- ration OF Independence, which was adopted 15. unanimously, and a copy sent forthwith to their delegates in congress. It was in these words : — "Whereas it now appears an undoubted fact, that, notwithstanding all the dutiful petitions and decent remonstrances from the American colonies, and the utmost exertions of their best friends in Eng- land on their behalf, the British ministry, arbitrary and vindictive, are yet determined to reduce, by fire and sword, our bleeding country to their abso- lute obedience ; and for this purpose, in addition to their own forces, they have engaged great num- bers of foreign mercenaries, who may now be on their passage here, accompanied by a formidable fleet to ravish and plunder the sea-coast ; from all which we may reasonably expect the most dismal scenes of distress the ensuing year, unless we exert ourselves by every means and precaution possible ; and whereas we, of this colony of New Hampshire, have the example of several of the most respectable of our sister colonies before us, for entering upon that most important step of dis- union from Great Britain, and declaring ourselves FREE AND INDEPENDENT of the crown thereof, being impelled thereto, by the most violent and injurious treatment ; and it appearing abso- lutely necessary, in this most critical juncture of NEW HAMPSHIRE. 253 our public affairs, that the houorable, the conli- chap. nental congress, who have this important object — 1-!_. under immediate consideration, shouhl be also informed of our resolutions thereon, without loss of time ; we do hereby declare that it is the opin- ion of this assembly, that our delegates at the continental congress should be instructed, and th<^ are hereby instructed, to join with the other colonies, in declaring the thirteen united colonies a free and independent state — solemnly pledging our faith and honor, that we will, on our parts, support the measure with our lives and fortunes — and that, in consequence thereof, they, the conti- nental congress, on whose wisdom, fidelity and integrity we rely, may enter into and form such alliances as they may judge most conducive to the present safety and future advantage of these American colonies : Provided, the regulation of our own internal police be under the direction of our own assembly." . . N. H. This declaration was not in advance of the pop- Gazette ^ * June 8, ular sentiment. The New Hampshire Gazette, as i""*^- early as October, 1775, had hinted at indepen- dence, and now advocated it. " AVherein," says a writer in the Gazette of June 8th, 177G, "is America lawfully subject to the crown of Great Britain, or to any other power in that island? The answer, at the present time, is very obvious ; that Great Britain, by the free consent and con- currence of the king with the other two branches of the legislature, having, by acts of the greatest injustice and inhumanity, and with unparalleled cruelty and violence, broke faith with America, the latter stands wholly disengaged from, and indepen- p. 3G3. 254 ^ HISTORY OF CHAP, dent of, and unconnected with, the former, and is IX ...-^ at hberty to form any new plan of union or dis- union, as she thinks fit and best. All charters and agreements betw^een the two countries are entirely cancelled and vacated ; and a state of nature in America, so far as relates to the laws of Great Britain, has revolved upon the former, wholly owing to the misconduct of the latter — all laws naturally returning back into the hands of the people, or at least, ought so to do, as often as tyranny and oppression extend their lawless sway." This writer only gave expression to the popular feeling and to the sentiments of the declaration. 1776. Otlier states passed similar resolves ; and on the fourth of July, a day ever memorable, that im- mortal body, the American Congress, in which jy, 4 New Hampshire was represented by Josiah Bart- lett, William Whipple and Matthew Thornton, i)ul)lished their high resolve to the world. It was framed by the philoso})hic mind of Jefferson, and proclaimed the complete independence of the col- onies. It dissolved all connexion with Great Brit- ain. It was received with joy by the army and the people. Within fourteen days, it was pub- kaap. lished by beat of drum in all the shire towns in New Hampshire. At Exeter it was read, by the i)atriotic Gilman, to the assembled multitude, with a rapturous emotion which for a few moments choked his utterance. And now America presented a spectacle inviting the admiration of the world. With defeat on her arms, yet with a resolution soaring above the reverses of fortune — with AVashington in the field NEW HAMPSHIRE. 255 — Franklin and Jefferson in her councils — Adams chap. IX and Henry in the popular assemblies, with hun- __J_ dreds like them in feeling, she stood before the world, confronting the giant power of England. The patriotism of New Hampshire, at this epoch,* did not evaporate in momentary feeling. For the service of 1777, three regiments, under the com- mand of Colonels Joseph Cilley, Nathan Hale and Alexander Scammcll, were raised for long enlist- 1777^ ments, and rendezvoused at Ticonderoga, under the immediate command of Brigadier General Poor. Here they remained until the approach of the British army, under General Burgoyne, rendered it advisable to abandon that post. On the retreat, Bei- Colonel Hale's battalion was ordered to cover p.'3^4'. the rear of the invalids, which brought him seven -^"'y^- miles behind the main body. The next morning he was attacked by an advanced party of the enemy at Hubbardton. A sharp skirmish ensued, in which Major Titcomb was wounded, and Colonel Hale, Captains Robertson, Carr and Norris, Ad- jutant Elliot and two other officers, with about one hundred men, were taken prisoners. The main body of the army fell back upon Saratoga. But, before their arrival, a skirmish took place at fort Anne, in which Captain Weare, a son of the president, was mortally wounded, and died after- wards at Albany. When the news of Burgoyne's advance reached New Hampshire, the asseml)ly was quickly summoned together, and, in a session of three days, adopted an effectual plan of defence. They formed the militia of the state into two * See "Returns of the Association Test," for 177G, in the office of the Secretary of State, at Concord. 256 HISTORY OF CHAP, brigades, under command of William Whipple _^_ and Jolin Stark. A portion of each were drafted, and were ordered to march immediately to stop the progress of the enemy. Stark pushed forward and joined the Vermont forces, under Colonel Warner, twenty miles above Bennington. Gen. Burgoyne, with the main body of the British army, had arrived at fort Edward. Burgoyne had 1777. vaunted that his course should lead through Ver- mont, and should be but a triumphal march, which was to complete the conquest of New England. Finding his army in want of provisions, and learn- ing that the provincials had a large depot of pork, beef and flour, at Bennington, he despatched Colonel Baum, with fifteen hundred men, to pene- trate to Connecticut river, to collect horses to mount the dragoons, and cattle for provisions. He was to persuade the people among whom he should pass that his detachment was the advanced guard of the army, which was in victorious march to Boston. Lejrrning that the provincials had a large depot of beef, pork and flour at Bennington, Colonel Baum went, with five hundred men, to seize them. Some of the Indians who preceded this detachment, being discovered about twelve miles from Bennington, Stark detached Colonel Gregg, with two hundred men, to stop their pro- gress. In the evening of the same day, informa- tion was given that a body of regular troops were 1777. marching upon Bennington with a train of artillery. The next morning he marched with his whole brigade to the support of Gregg, who, having found himself outnumbered, was retreating, the enemy pursuing within one mile of his rear. When they An 14. NEW HAMPSHIRE. 1957 perceived Stark advancing, they halted, erected chap. breastworks, and sent back to call a reinforce- ..Jj^ ment. Stark drew up his men on an eminence in open view, but could not bring the enemy to an engagement. He then marched back a mile, and encamped, leaving a few men to skirmish with the enemy. The next day being rainy, Stark kept his position; but, to try the spirit of his troops, he sent out skirmishing parties to harass the enemy. The militia being brave, in the several skirmishes between small detachments were uniformly suc- cessful. This sharpened their courage, and on Hales the sixteenth of August, Stark, who now had ^^f fi' his forces augmented by the Berkshire men from p- ^^^ Massachusetts, resolved to attack the main body. His force now amounted to sixteen hun- dred men. Colonel Nichols, v/ith two hundred men, was ordered to the rear of the enemy's left wing; and Colonel Hendrick, with three hundred, to the rear of their right. Three hundred men were ordered to attack them in front, and draw their attention. Then, sending Colonels Hubbard and Stickney, with two hundred, to attack the right wing, and one hundred more to reinforce Nichols in the rear of their left, the battle commenced by an attack on the rear of the left wing, at pre- cisely three o'clock in the afternoon. It was immediately seconded by tJie other detachments, and, at the same time, Stark himself advanced with the main body. For two hours the Hessians* fought bravely ; but, overwhelmed by numbers, and their entrenchments assaulted by yet braver troops, they were overpowered. The Americans * German troops in the English service. 33 258 HISTORY OF CHAP, forced their entrenchments, and they fled in dis- TX _-^ order. But carelessness had now well nigh lost what valor had won. The Americans, apprehend- ing no danger, dispersed in search of plunder and fugitives. Suddenly the reinforcements sent to Baum arrived, and fell furiously upon the scat- tered Americans. Fortunately, at this critical juncture, the Green Mountain Boys came up, under Colonel Warner, and threw themselves impetuously upon the enemy. The scattered militia rallied fast to his support. The battle lasted till night, when the enemy, retreating under cover of the darkness, made good their escape. Four pieces of cannon, with all the baggage wag- gons and horses of the enemy, were the trophies of this victory. Two hundred and twenty-six men were found dead on the field of battle. Colonel Baum, mortally wounded, was taken ; besides whom thirty-three officers and seven hundred pri- vates were made prisoners. Of Stark's brigade, four officers and ten privates were killed, and forty- two were wounded. Long before the battle. General Poor, a junior officer, had been promoted over Stark ; who, being offisnded, had resigned his commission, and, in dis- gust, retired to his farm. At the news of Bur- goync's approach, he had taken the field, and was acting under the authority of the assembly of New Hampshire. When congress heard of this, a few days before the battle, they passed a resolve, that the movements of General Stark were "destruc- tive of military subordination, and prejudicial to the common cause." But by accident the same congress heard of his victory. They immediately NEW HA3IPSHIRE. 259 passed a vote of thanks to him, and promoted him chap. to the rank of a brigadier general. ^ The colonies had long been depressed by dis- aster and defeat ; but the decisive victory of Ben- nington turned the tide of success, and diffused confidence and joy. The prospect of a more glo- rious victory burst upon the Americans, and crowds of militia flocked to the republican camp. It happened, at this time, that there was a change 1777. of officers, and General Gates had been appointed to the army of the north. Arnold, the thunder- bolt of war, whose path was always marked with carnage, was also there, and Morgan, already dis- tinguished for his brilliant achievements, with the patriot of Poland, the brave Kosciusko, were there. These several causes combined, produced a gen- eral rising of the people at the north, and it seemed that every man, who could bear arms, was rushing to the camp of Gates. Thus General Gates found himself at the head of an army of five thousand men. On the 8th of sept.s. September he left his encampment at the islands, proceeded to Stillwater, and occupied Bemus heights. On the twelfth, Burgoyne crossed the tf.' Hudson, and on the seventeenth, moved forward to sept. Saratoga, and encamped within three miles of the American army. The next day occurred the first Sept. battle of Stillwater. It began by skirmishes be- tween the scouting parties. Each side sent rein- forcements to their combatants, respectively, until nearly the whole of both armies were engaged. The Americans took advantage of a dense wood, from which they poured a deadly fire. Unable to withstand it, the British lines broke, and the 260 HISTORY OF CHAP. Americans, rushing from their coverts, pursued ..^^ them to an eminence, where, their flanks being supported, they ralhed, and, charging in their turn, 1777. drove the Americans into the woods, from which they again poured a fire too deadly to be with- stood. Again the British fell back. At every charge their artillery fell into the hands of the Americans. Night put an end to the conflict. The Americans retired to their camp, having lost between three and four hundred. The British loss was five hundred. Both sides claimed the victory. The former gained the advantages of a victory, the latter reaped the worst consequences of defeat. From this time to the seventh of October, fre- quent skirmishes occurred between the two armies. On that day a general battle was fought at Sara- Oct. 7. toga. It began by an attack of the Americans, under General Poor, on the left flank and front of the British. At the same time, Morgan made an onset upon their right. The action now be- came general. The eftbrts of the combatants on both sides were desperate, and both displayed equal valor. Burgoyne and his officers fought as if their all of reputation depended on the issue of the day ; while the Americans contested the field like men resolved to die rather than surrender their native soil to invaders. In fifty-two minutes the wii. invading army gave way. The defenders of the B^pub- soil pursued them to their entrenchments, and ic,206. fQj-ced the guard. Arnold was seen amongst the most furious, and seemed to court danger. Throughout the whole action, he fought like a lion, overturning with fierce slaughter all that onnosed his progress. Putting himself at the Oct. 17. NEW H A 31 P SHI RE. 261 head of a small band, he rushed into the thickest chap. IX of the enemy, and carried a portion of the works .^.,J^ by storm. His horse was shot under him, and he himself wounded. Mounting another, he plunged again into the thickest of the fight, but night com- ing on. Gates retired ; and the ruin of the British army was reserved to another day. The Americans, that night, rested on their arms upon the field which they had so nobly won. Gates Haie, now perceived that a bloodless victory was in his power. Burgoyne was completely surrounded and hemmed in on every side. His supplies were cut off*, and all hope of succor from General Clinton 1777. had failed. In this distressed condition, he sum- moned a council of war. Their advice was unan- imous, and on the seventeenth, the whole army, amounting to five thousand seven hundred and fifty- two, surrendered, prisoners of war. Their arms, thirty-five brass field-pieces and five thousand mus- kets, fell into the hands of the Americans. They marched out of their camp with the honors of war, and thus terminated the vaunted expedition of Burgoyne, from which so much was expected, and so much was feared. The news of this great vic- tory diffiised everywhere the wildest joy. At the news of Burgoyne's downfall, Clinton dismantled the forts he had taken, and retreated, bearing with him the execrations of a people whom he had plundered, and a fame for having revived, in an age distinguished for civilization, atrocities which be- long to the most barbarous times.* There no longer remained an army at the north, and the theatre of war changed to the south. Tn 177S, * WillarJ's Republic, p. 207. 262 HISTORY OF CHAr the battle of Monmouth, a part of the New Hamp- ^JJ^ shire troops, under Colonel Cilley and Lieutenant Colonel Dearborn, behaved with such distinguish- ed bravery as to receive the notice and approba- tion of the illustrious Washington. At the close of that campaign, they retired to huts at Reading. France had now become our ally in the struggle, and in July, congress received, with inexpressible Hak, joy, a letter from Count D'Estaing, announcing the approach of a French fleet. On his arrival, in concert with General Sullivan, who had com- mand of the troops in that quarter, he planned a combined attack by land and sea, on the British forces at Newport in Rhode Island. A- call upon the militia of New England, brought to the standard of Sullivan an army of ten thousand men. He took a position on the north end of Rhode Island, and then moved towards Newport. Admiral Howe, having received a reinforcement, appeared before the harbor ; but while preparing for battle, a storm dispersed both fleets. The ships being damaged, Count D'Estaing proceeded to Boston, and Sullivan, deserted by the fleet, and finding it unsafe to remain longer on the island, retreated to his first position. He was pursued and attacked. He gallantly resisted, and tlie British were repuls- ed with loss. Through the rest of the day he kept a bold face towards the foe ; and having deceived them into a belief that he was preparing to attack them, efiected, in the ensuing night, his retreat across the narrow sheet of water which divides the island from the main. With great secrecy and ^p. rlT.' without loss, this retreat was effected. The next morning the British discovered, from NEW HA3IPSHIRE. 263 an eminence, several American officers at break- chap. IX. fast, in the general's quarters. Immediately a cap- .^^.J^ tain of artillery was directed to point a cannon at the spot. It shattered the leg of John S. Sher- burne, at that time aid-de-camp to Gen. Sullivan. The massacre at the beautiful settlement of Wyoming, now attracted the notice of congress ; and General Sullivan was appointed to the com- mand of an army of four thousand men,* destined to carry terror to the savages. His route lay up the river Susquehannah, into the country of the Senecas. Into this unexplored region, no troops had ever penetrated before. General Sullivan had all the difficulties to encounter, which had so often proved fatal to the whites in the preceding Indian wars. With great judgment and sagacity his expe- dition was planned and conducted. The army, pro- ceeding in two divisions, one from the Mohawk, the other from Wyomhig, formed a junction on the Sus- quehannah, and proceeded, on the twenty-second of August, towards the lower lake. The Indians, in connection with two hundred tories, were drawn up in an advantageous position, and had erected for- tifications to oppose their progress. These were vigorously assaulted by General Sullivan, and after a slight resistance, the enemy gave way, and disappeared in the woods. The army advanced into the western part of New York. The Indians deserted their towns, which had begun to assume an appearance of civilization, never before found in the wilds of North America.f The houses were commodious, the apple and peach trees numerous, the crops of corn abundant. These were all de- * Hale, II. t Hale, II., p. 5-5. 264 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. CHAP, stroyed. Not a vestige was left of all that gave V— .-iw, beauty to the wilderness, and distinguished the Senecas from the ruder tribes around them. Hav- v"^ ing accomplished this work of vengeance, Sullivan Oct. returned to Easton, in Pennsylvania. Capt. Cloyes and Lieutenant McAulay had fallen, and with them he had lost forty men, by sickness and in battle. In the following year the New Hampshire regi- ments were stationed at West Point. Afterwards 1780. they marched into New Jersey, where Gen. Poor knap, died. He had accompanied the expedition of Sul- Sept. 8. livan as far as the Genesee, and had defeated the savage enemy. Afterwards he commanded a brig- ade under Major General La Fayette. The win- ter of this year was passed by the New Hampshire troops in a hutted cantonment near the Hudson river, at a place called Soldier's Fortune. At the close of this year, the three regiments were reduc- ed to two, commanded by the colonels Scammell and George Reid. The next year a part of them went to Virginia, and were present at the capture of the second British army, under Earl Cornwallis. Here the brave and active Colonel Scammell fell. They were quartered at Saratoga and on the IMo- hawk river, until the decisive battle of Yorktown drew from the king of England an acknowledg- ment that his revolted colonies in North America were free and independent states. In the moment of victory, and while possessing a boundless influence over the army, the incorrupt- ible Washington returned his sword to his country and retired to his plantation at Mount Vernon, where his ashes now repose. Ambition will for- ever be awed and admonished by such an example. CHAPTER X. Depreciation of continental money — Elforts of Congress to present the depreciation — Proscription of persons and confiscation of estates — Con- stitution proposed — rejected by the people — Another proposed — Revolt of sixteen towns — Blonetary distress — Insurrection — the insurgents made prisoners — Union of the states — Convention of delegates at Philadel- phia — The Federal Constitution — submitted to the people — Convention assembles at Exeter to ratify the Federal Constitution — Conflicting opin- ions — Joshua Atherton's speech against the adoption of the Constitution — It is finally ratified — Washington chosen President of the United States — John Langdon elected President of New Hampshire — Washington visits New Hampshire — Progress of settlements — Increase of population — Sup- port of common schools — Education — Establishment of post offices — State debts — Revision of the State Constitution — Josiah Bartlett — Formation of parties — Republicans — Federalists — Depreciation of paper money — The privateer ship M'Clary — Case of the prize ship Susanna — Remonstrances agiynst the acts of the general government — Jay's treaty — Progress of settlements — Lake Winnipiseogee — A medical school established — Troubles with France — Laws for the observance of the Sabbath— Death of AVashington — Administration of John Adams — Organization of parties — Manufactures — Coos county — Scenery around the mountains. To provide the " sinews of M^ar," congress chap. was compelled, after finding itself wholly cut off _^__ from every other resource, to issue continental 1^^^- bills of credit, based, not on specie, but on distant and problematical taxation. The patriotism of the people — the same self-sacrificing spirit that caused them to shed their blood for the sacred cause of liberty — for a short period sustained the credit of these worthless emissions. The colonies were soon flooded with them : they were the only currency in circulation. Those who had specie carefully hoarded it up. As the government, how- 34 266 HISTORY OF CHAP ever, became more settled and stable, and the _!__ people withdrew their attention from public affairs to their own private interests, these bills fell into gradual but fatal discredit. The authorities of the several states attempted to revive public con- fidence. Laws were enacted in New Hampshire making them legal tender, and if they were refused by a creditor, that refusal discharged the debt. Such an enactment, it may be readily supposed, increased rather than alleviated the general dis- tress. Creditors, by fraud or legal subterfuge, avoided it. In the meantime increasing effort was made by congress to stop the depreciation. 1777, Among other things, they issued a circular, which they ordered to be read to the congregations, throughout the states, assembled for religious worship. The circular was an ingenious and elab- orate argument in favor of a paper currency, which it called " the only kind of money which coultl not make to itself wings and fly away." The distress became so alarming that a conven- tion was held at Springfield, composed of delegates from tlie New England states and New York. The convention memorialized congress, praying that body, for the relief of the public difficulties, to establish a system of taxation, and open loan offices in the several states. Congress, in answer, recommended a plan of confiscation, which by seve- ral states was followed. 177S. New Hampshire proscribed seventy-six persons, who had for various causes left the state, and for- bade their return. The property of twenty-eight of them was confiscated, and all previous attach- ments thereby dissolved. This measure, doubtfully NEW H A lyi P S H I R E . 267 justified by extreme necessity, did not result so chap. beneficially as was anticipated to the treasury of ..^^J^ the state, as the net profit was comparatively un- important. While these estates were in process of settle- ment, the continental bills continued to fluctuate, occasionally rising slightly in nominal value, but always followed by a rapid depreciation, until, as by common consent, they disappeared, and spe- cie, from the public mint, took their place. -* A large convention of delegates assembled for 1779. the purpose of framing and recommending to the people a state constitution ; but it was deficient in so many respects that it was rejected by the popular vote almost unanimously. Another con- 17S1. vention was afterwards called, which occupied two years. The first plan proposed by that body was rejected, but the second was generally approved and adopted. The present constitution partakes of all the general features of that, but has received such modifications as the growing importance of the state and increase of population have demanded. To this convention sixteen towns, on the east- 17S2. ern side of the Connecticut river, refused to send delegates, on the ground that the war had dis- severed all colonial ties and responsibilities, that the inhabitants reverted to a "state of nature," and that each town had the entire right to govern itself as an independent municipal community. The people on the western side of the river, having adopted the same doctrine, had cut themselves loose from New York, and formed an independent state, which was called Vermont. These sixteen recusant towns immediately desired to be admitted 268 HISTORY OF CHAP, into the confederacy, which was granted by the .^_1_ legislative body of the new state. New Hamp- shire refused to resign its claim, or to acknowl- edge the novel doctrines upon which the secession was based ; and the consequence was a long and bitter controversy, which soon involved so many collateral questions that New York and Mas- sachusetts were brought into the contest. After much discussion, the controversy was closed by the decision of congress. Vermont demanded admission into the Union, and threatened to make terms with the British government if that admis- sion was withheld. Congress required, as an indis- pensable preliminary, that the revolted towns should be restored to New Hampshire ; to which Vermont consented. The assembly of that state, during the absence of a portion of its members, passed an act drawing its eastern boundary by the western bank of the Connecticut, and relinquishing all claim to jurisdiction without that limit. After some slight opposition, and a manifestation of dis- content, the people returned to their allegiance to New Hampshire. Thus happily was settled a controversy which, at one period, threatened to renew the bloody scenes of the revolution. At the close of the war congress found itself burthened with a heavy debt, and with no imme- diate means of discharging it. But the creditors of the government were suffering and clamorous, and must be relieved. The debt might have been speedily cancelled by the adoption of a system of imposts ; but the powers of that body were confined within the narrowest limits, and they had no au- thority to adopt that course. They were, therefore. NEW HA Mr SHIRE. 269 compelled to put a tax on polls and estates. The chap. result was most disastrous to the people, and to S-^.^ none more than to those of New Hampshire. The courts of law were thronged with unhappy dehtors and importunate creditors — business stagnated — and distress was general. "^ To meet the evil, conventions, composed of the 1785. discontented, were held, and the assembly urged to emit large issues of paper money, based on real estate, and drawing interest. The assembly did all in their power to relieve the public suffering. They passed an act to call in all treasury notes issued by the states, " and give certificates for the interest and fifteen per cent, of the principal annually; which certificates were to be received by the treasurer for taxes, in lieu of, and equal to silver and gold." But farther than this they re- fused to proceed. They exhorted the people to industry and economy, as the only sure remedy for the public evils. They assured them that their true wealth was m the soil ; that attention to agri- culture would soon alleviate the monetary troubles of the state ; and that the granting of their petition would aggravate rather than cure their embar- rassments. » Massachusetts, about this' period, passed an act providing that cattle, and other articles enu- merated, should be a legal tender on executions, and be received at an appraisement of impartial men under oath. In compliance with a petition from certain parts of the state, the assembly of New Hampshire enacted a law somewhat similar. The import of it was that the debtor might tender to his creditor, on an execution, real or personal 270 HISTORY OF CHAP, estate sufficient, at a fair valuation, made by three X • • • ._^J^ sworn appraisers, to cancel the debt, and if it were refused, the body of the debtor was to be ever after exempted from arrest. The tender, however, if re- fused, did not discharge the debt. The creditor could keep it alive by taking out an alias within one year after the return of any former execution, and might levy on any estate that he could find, the debt in the meanwhile drawing six per cent, interest. This act continued in force five years, although it was justly complained of as unconstitutional and as a direct violation of the obligation of contracts. Its indirect effect was to secure the insolvent debtor in the actual, though not always nominal, posses- sion of property which, by right, belonged to his creditors. But there was another and still more general result produced by it ; — those who had specie refused to give it circulation while the 17S6. tender-act was in force. And though the legisla- ture, to encourage its importation into the coun- try, exempted from port duties those vessels that should bring only gold and silver, and one half the duties where one half the value of the whole cargo was gold and silver, yet it tended in no manner to relieve the monetary distress. The demand for paper money still continued, and became increasingly clamorous. A large por- tion of the press united with political demagogues to keep the public excitement upon this subject to its highest tension. The most extravagant argu- ments were urged by the zealots of that period. It was said that the people had a right to require their representatives to stamp value upon any- thing that was impressible, and that by passing NEW HAMPSHIRE. 271 an act of outlawry upon any person who should chaf refuse to receive it, depreciation would be forever _,-!_ prevented. As the confidence of this party in its numerical strength increased, a portion of them extended their demands. They required the abo- lition of the inferior courts, an equal distribution of property, and a release from all debts. To test the real sentiments of the people, the assembly proposed, for the public consideration, a plan for the emission of paper currency to the amount of fifty thousand pounds, to be loaned at four per cent., on real estate, and to be a tender in payment of taxes ; and desired a return of the votes of each town at the ensuing session. The leaders of the excitement were not satisfied with this proposition. They considered it, or pro- fessed to consider it, merely a manoeuvre to calm the public ferment. Stirred by the wild and vague rumors of Shay's rebellion in the sister state of Massachusetts, which was then at its height, about two hundred persons, principally from the western part of Rockingham county, assembled at Kingston, about six miles from Exeter, the seat of government. Armed with swords, clubs, scythes, and muskets, they marched, to the beat of a drum, into the meeting-house where the assembly were in session. The president, Gen. John Sullivan, with great moderation stated the reasons why their petitions could not be granted, and that the assembly could accede to nothing while threatened by an armed body. After some unimportant de- monstrations on the part of the insurgents, they were struck with panic at the cry, " Bring out the artillery!" and retired for the night. In the morn- 272 HISTORY OF CHAP ing, a numerous body of militia and a company of _JJ^ horse entered Exeter, and, when the insurgents appeared, rushed upon them, took about forty prisoners, without bloodshed, and dispersed the others. The assembly deemed mildness the wiser policy, and therefore dismissed all but six. These were required to recognise for their appearance at the next superior court, and their bonds were dis- charged. The firm and prudent course of the government thus crushed a political movement which in time might have swept away all law, and introduced a popular despotism far worse than that which had been fastened upon the state by a foreign power. 1787. The plan for a paper emission, proposed by the assembly, was rejected by the popular vote, and thus the whole question put at rest. 17SS. The commencement of the year 1788 presented one of the most important periods in our history. Having passed through the flames of a revolution, and obtained from Great Britain, at vast expense of blood and treasure, a recognition of their rights as an independent people, the next care of our forefathers was the establishment of a constitu- tion for the common government. Bound together during the war by a consciousness of the common danger and the necessity of mutual aid, the states were enabled, even under the imperfect govern- ment they had formed at the commencement of the revolution, to act harmoniously together in the great contest which led to its consummation. But no sooner had the common enemy relinquished his foothold on our soil, a treaty of peace been con- NEW HAMPSHIRE. 273 eluded with the power of which we had so recently chap. been unprivileged subjects, and the necessities of '^ war ceased to operate upon our national councils, than the people began to discover the necessity of a more perfect system of government. The con- federacy of 1778 was calculated only for a tem- porary existence. It neither defined with sufficient clearness the rights of the citizen, nor traced with the necessary precision the dividing line which separated the powers of the individual states and the confederacy itself. The necessity of a gov- ernment based upon more fixed and enduring principles, was admitted by general consent ; and there was scarcely a dissenting opinion in relation to the propriety of establishing a permanent union of the states, secured and protected by a general government, strong enough to protect our rights and our territories from the encroachments of for- eign powers, and liberal enough in its provisions to compensate the people for the hardships and dangers they had endured in their struggle for independence. The credit of making the first movement towards the accomplishment of this object, belongs to Vir- ginia. As early as 1786 that state formally proposed a convention of commissioners from the several states, 'Mo take into consideration the trade and commerce of the United States; to con- sider how far a uniform system, in their com- mercial intercourse and regulations, might be necessary to their common interest and permanent harmony ; and report to the several states such an act relative to this great object, as, when unani- mously ratified by them, should enable the United 35 274 HISTORY OF CHAP. States, in congress assembled, effectually to pro- _!__ vide for the same." By subsequent agreement, this convention was liolden at Annapolis, in Mary- land, in September of the same year. Delegates attended from five states only — Virginia, Pennsyl- vania, Delaware, New Jersey, and New York — and in consequence of the small number of states represented, deemed it improper to proceed with the important business with which they had been intrusted. Sensible, however, of the necessity of a re-organization of the government, they drafted an address to the people, expressing their views on that subject, detailing the defects of the arti- cles of confederation, and recommending a general convention of the states, to be holden at Phila- delphia, on the second Monday of May, 1787. Congress, having seconded this recommendation, delegates from all the states, except Rhode Island, assembled at the appointed time in Philadelphia, and on the seventeenth day of the following Sep- tember, agreed upon a Federal Constitution. This instrument was soon after, by the votes of eleven states, in congress assembled, submitted to the several states for their ratification. However unanimous the people might have been in the sentiment, that a national government, rest- ing upon some more substantial basis than the old articles of confederation, was essential to the pub- lic welfare, the convention of the states was divided by many conflicting opinions in relation to the principles upon which that government should be founded. A small portion of its mem- bers, permitting their partiality for a strong gov- ernment to lead them beyond those restraints NEW HAMPSHIEE. 275 which a regard for the great principle of equal chap. rights would seem to have dictated, favored as a .^-J^ matter of sound policy the establishment of a president and senate, to hold office during life, as the only means of protecting the government from those ruinous fluctuations of sentiment, which they contended would be the effect of a more re- publican form. On the other hand, a portion of its members were unwilling to invest the govern- ment which was to be the result of their delibera- tions, with the powers which are now universally conceded to be indispensably necessary to the common welfare in peace and the common de- fence in war. A vast variety of questions, all of them important, and some of them involving the peculiar interests of large sections of the country, successively claimed the attention of the conven- tion. At times almost despairing of being able to effect the purposes for which they were assembled, it was only by mutual concessions that its mem- bers were able to agree upon a constitution, which with slight amendments, now forms the connect- ing bond of twenty-six independent and^prosperous states — a constitution which is at once venerated by our citizens and regarded with admiration by the world. When the question of ratification was submitted to the states, the same objections which had embarrassed the deliberations of the convention which framed the constitution, were urged to pre- vent its adoption. The result was doubtful, and the whole community watched the deliberations of the state conventions with intense anxiety. The convention for the state of New Hampshire, 276 HISTORY OF CHAP, assembled at Exeter, on the second Wednesday _1__ of February, 1788. Eight states, some of them by small majorities, had given their assent to the constitution. The ninth only was necessary to its ratification. At this crisis, therefore, all eyes were directed to New Hampshire, as the state upon whose decision the fate of the constitution seemed in a great measure to depend. Its assent, on the one hand, would settle the question in its favor ; and its dissent, on the other, in the then divided state of public opinion, might create a popular impulse against it, fatal to its final success. The convention was composed, to a great extent, of men of the first talents and respectability ; men whose services, during the trying times of the rev- olution, had aflTorded them the advantages of expe- rience, and gained them the respect and confidence of the people. General John Sullivan was chosen its President, and such men as John Langdon, Josiah Bartlett, John Taylor Giiman, John Pick- ering, Samuel Livermore, Joshua Atherton and Joseph Badger were numbered among its members. In the disputes which followed the organization of the convention, Sullivan, Langdon, Pickering and Livermore took the lead in favor of the ratifica- tion, and Joshua Atherton, of Amherst, was the principal speaker against it. Among other objec- tions raised against the constitution, and urged with great earnestness, was that clause permitting the abolition of the slave trade after 1808,* and prohibiting any action on the subject, beyond a trifling tax on their importation, before that time. * Journal of the Convention which adopted the federal constitution, 1788, and which revised the constitution of New Hampshire, 1799. NEW HAMPSHIRE. 277 Mr. Atherton opposed this clause with great chap. warmth; and the following extracts from his re- , — J^ marks are believed to be the only relic of the debates of the convention, which has descended to the present time. " The idea that strikes those who oppose this clause, so disagreeably and forcibly, is that if we ratify the constitution, we become conseniers to and partakers in the sin and guilt of this abom- inable traffic in slaves, at least for a certain period, without any positive stipulation that it shall even then be brought to an end. We do not behold in it any assurance that ' an end is then to be put to slavery.' Congress may be as much puzzled to put a stop to it then as we are now. This clause has not secured its abolition. *' We do not think we are under any obligation to perform works of supererogation in the refor- mation of mankind ; we do not esteem ourselves under any necessity to go to Spain or Italy to suppress the Inquisition of those countries ; or of making a journey to the Carolinas to abolish the detestable custom of enslaving the Africans ; but, sir, we will not lend the aid of our ratifica- tion to this cruel and inhuman merchandise, not even for a day. There is a great distinction between refusing to take any part in a barbarous violation of the laws of God and humanity, and guarantying its existence for a term of years. Yes, sir, it is our full purpose to wash our hands clear of it ; and however unconcernedly we may remain spectators of such predatory infractions of the laws of our nation — however unfeelingly we may subscribe to the ratification of man-stealing, 278 HISTORY OF CHAP, with all its baneful consequences ; yet I cannot but 1_ believe, in justice to human nature, that if we reverse the consideration, and bring the effects of this claimed power somewhat nearer to our own doors, we shall form a more equitable opinion of its claim to ratification. " Let us figure to ourselves a company of these man-stealers, well equipped for the enterprise, arriving on our coast. They seize and carry oflT the whole or a part of the town of Exeter ; parents are taken and children left ; or, possibly, they may be so fortunate as to have a whole family taken and carried oflT together by these relentless robbers. What must be their feelings in the hands of their new and arbitrary masters ! Drag- ged at once from everything dear to them ; stripped of every comfort of life, like beasts of prey, they are hurried on a loathsome and distressing voyage to the coast of Africa, or some other quarter of the globe, where the greatest price may waft them; and here, if anything can be added to tbeir mis- eries, comes on the heart-breaking scene ! a parent is sold to one — a son to another, and a daughter to a third. Brother is cleft from brother — sister from sister — and parents from their dar- ling offspring. Broken down with every distress that human nature can feel, and bedewed with tears of anguisl), they are dragged into the last stage of depression and slavery, never, never to behold the faces of one another again." As the discussion of the provisions of the con- stitution progressed in the convention, the result became so doubtful that its friends were unwilling to hazard an immediate decision. At their request. . - N E W H A M r S II I R E . 279 the convention adjourned, to re-assemble at Con- chap. cord in the month of June following.* In the ^1_ meantime the subject was fully discussed among the people. Objections which had existed to a few features of the constitution, were, in many instances, gradually overcome by a candid con- sideration of the benefits which would result from its adoption ; in many cases, instructions adverse to the constitution were withdrawn; and when the convention again assembled, it was with a brighter prospect, and a greater harmony of sentiment among its members. A session of four days was found sufficient to complete the deliberations of that body. On the last day of its session, the opponents of the constitution having in turn become anxious for the result, and made an unsuc- cessful attempt to procure a second adjournment, the main question was taken. The result was the ratification of the constitution, fifty-seven mem- bers voting in its favor and forty-six against it.f The convention, however, proposed a series of amendments to the constitution, providing, among other things, that no standing army should be kept up in time of peace without the consent of three fourths of the members of both houses — that the general government should make no laws touching religion, or infringing the rights of conscience — nor disarm any citizen, on any otlier ground than actual rebellion. The convention excited an interest, with which the proceedings of no other deliberative body in this state have ever been re^iarded. The galleries of the church, where it assembled, were thronged * Journal of the Convention. f Ibid. 280 HISTORY OF CHAP, with spectators, and its members were surrounded, .^.J^ not only by large numbers of their own constitu- ents, but by individuals from distant states — engaged, some of them, in watching their deliber- ations, and some of them, no doubt, in efforts to influence the result. Even at this early period, purified as the moral "atmosphere of the country had been by the storms of a revolution, the most opposite motives might very probably have influ- enced our citizens to labor for the same result. Of the multitudes who thronged around the meet- ings of the convention, many, doubtless, supported the constitution from a selfish regard to private interests of their own ; while many opposed it from sentiments of the purest patriotism. Specu- lators, who had bought, at a ruinous discount, from the ofiicers and soldiers of the revolution, a large amount of continental certificates, natu- rally looked to the establishment of an energetic general government as the only chance for their redemption. This class of men, therefore, regarded the constitution with favor, rather as the sun which was to bring their own golden harvests to matu- rity, than the means of dispensing the blessings of equal rights and free institutions upon a great nation. So true it is, that the best and wisest measures are sometimes sustained from venal and unworthy motives, while the most discreet and vir- tuous men in the community, from mistaken views, may be found teuipornrily arrayed in the support of erroneous principles. ^ The result of the convention was received with general satisfaction by our citizens. Even where the constitution had met with the strongest oppo- NEW HAMrSIIIRE. 281 sition, public opinion seemed gradually to have chap. inclined in its favor, and, in many sections of the .^_J_ state, the news of its adoption was received with demonstrations of joy, second only to those with which the people received the Declaration of Inde- pendence itself. In 1788, John Langdon succeeded General Sullivan in- the presidency of the state. During the same year, in anticipation of the organization of the general government, John Langdon and Paine Wingate were elected members of the United States senate by the legislature, and Samuel Livermore, Abiel Foster and Nicholas Gilman were elected representatives to congress, by the people. Geor^-e Washinsiton liavlaor been called to the o o o presidency by the unanimous vote of the electoral colleges throughout the Union, the first congress, on the fourth of March, 1789, assembled at the city of New York. The wheels of the general government having now been put in motion, the credit of the country revived ; commerce received a new impulse from its legislation, and a perma- nent revenue v.as provided, sufficient not only to defray the expenses of the government itself, but also gradually to extinguish the national debt which the war had imposed upon the country. Such, indeed, was the favorable change, produced by the early action of the government, in the affairs of the country and the people, as gradually to reconcile most of those persons to the constitu- tion who had been the most honest and zealous in opposing it. The excitement which had at one time prevailed in relation to it, subsided almost 36 X 2S2 HISTORY OF CHAP, immediately upon its adoption, and a difference of opinion as to the construction of the constitution took the place of that which had prevailed upon the question of its ratification. Those persons who had opposed the constitution, on the ground of its impairing in too great a degree the power of the states, naturally favored a rigid construction of the powers conferred upon the general govern- ment. Those, on the other hand, who desired a sti'ong government, favored a liberal construction of the constitution, and sought to gain from it, by implication, powers for the general government which had not been conferred by its letter. To these causes may be traced, to a great extent, the party divisions which have so long existed in this country. In 1789 John Sullivan was again elected to the presidency of the state. During the year he had the pleasure of welcoming to the state the illustri- ous Washington, who, having visited New Eng- land on a tour of observation, extended his visit to New Hampshire. His approach was hailed with demonstrations of joy, both from the state authori- ties and the people. He arrived at Portsmouth on the thirtieth of October, having been met at the state line by the principal state officers, a regi- ment of cavalry, and a large number of citizens. His entrance into town was announced by the ringing of bells and the roar of cannon, and during his stay he received all those tokens of respect which are due from a free and grateful people to a distinguished public benefactor. His visit gathered new interest from the fact, that scarcely seven years had then elapsed since the closing NEW H A BI P S H I K E . 283 scenes of the revolution. His companions in arms chap. were, most of them, still in active life. Hundreds .J-J.^ of patriots, who with him had relinquished the comforts of their quiet firesides, and hazarded their lives to secure, by a long and arduous contest, the blessings of an independent government and a free constitution, gathered eagerly around the man, whose paternal affection for his troops, and inesti- mable services to the public, had entitled him to be deemed at once the father of the country he had saved and the armies he hnd commanded. From the close of the revolution, an increased regard for schools and institutions of learning began to be cherished among our citizens. During the present year, an academy was incorporated at New Ipswich, being the second institution of the kind in the state. The burthens occasioned by the war having been in some measure removed from the people, their attention was more generally directed to the importance of common schools, and more liberal provision was made for their support. Towards the closfi of the year, printing was first introduced, on rather a limited scale, at Concord. George Hough, who was during his life engaged more than fifty years in the typographic art, came to Concord from Windsor, Vermont, where he had been engaged, in company with Alden Spooner, in the publication of the Vermont Journal. His printing-press, the first established in this state north of Exeter, was set up in a small building in front of the ground now occupied by the state- house ; and the first work issued from it was "Doddsley's Christian Economy," which was pub- lished in October. On the 5th of Januarv, of the 284 ' HISTORY OF CHAP, following year, he commenced the publication of ..^_]_ a weekly paper, called the " Concord Herald," which, with several changes in its title, was con- tinued till 1805. Such was the first small begin- ning of printing in Concord, where it has since increased to such an extent, as to entitle that place to a high rank among the principal publishing towns in the country. 1790. The election of president, in 1790, was warmly contested, though upon personal and local grounds, rather than the prevalence of any divisions of polit- ical sentiment among the people. No choice having been made by the people, the duty of elect- ing a chief magistrate devolved upon the legisla- ture; and Josiah Bartlett was elected, though two of his competitors, John Pickering and Joshua Wentworth, had each received a larger number of popular votes than himself The election, how- ever, was approved by the people, and President Bartlett was, for nearly four years, the chief mag- istrate of the state. Having been honored, a short time previous, by an nppoiatmont to tho office of chief justice of the superior court, — an appoint- ment doubly complimentary to hun, as the only instance in ovir history in which a member of the medical profession had been elevated to a station requiring such high legal attainments, — that office became vacant upon his election to the presidency of the state. At the commencement of his admin- istration, John Pickering, who had been his com- petitor for the chief magistracy, received, at his hands, an appointment to that important station, which he filled, with honor to himself and advan- tage to the state, for several years. NEW HA Mrs III RE. 285 From the census which was taken this year, it chap. X appeared that the population of the United States .^1,^ had increased, since tlie commencement of the rev- olution, from less than three to nearly four mil- lions. New Hampshire had more than kept pace, in the growth of her population, with the country at large. At this period she had one hundred and forty-two thousand inhabitants ; having increased, notwithstanding the dangers and discouragements incident to a seven years' war, nearly sixty thou- sand in the fifteen preceding years. Not only were her towns on the seaboard and in the inte- rior strengthened by the natural growth of their population, but multitudes of adventurers from the northern section of Massachusetts, invited by tlie cheapness of her lands and the extent and fertility of her unoccupied domains, had found their way along the valley of the Connecticut, nearly to its sources, and, after occupying its intervales, grad- ually extended their settlements among the hills and valleys of the back country. Points, at an earlier period apparently inaccessible, were reach- ed by the advancing tide of emigration; and neither the want of roads, the absence of schools and reli- gious privileges, or the other innumerable priva- tions incident to a settlement in the wilderness, v/ere sufficient obstacles to stay its progress. Even the recesses of the White Mountains, whose snow-clad summits the Indians looked upon, during their early conflicts with the white men, as an eternal barrier against their intrusion, were reach- ed at this early period. During the session of the legislature in 1791, a 1791. law was passed, requiring the assessment of a tax 286 HISTORY OF CHAP, of seven thousand five hundred pounds sterHng ,_j.J^ upon the several towns in the state, in proportion to their taxahle property, for the support of com- mon schools. Hitherto the measures taken hy the state, for the establishment of schools and institu- tions of learning, while they proved that its citi- zens were not unmindful of the advantages of education, had possessed too little energy for the general diffusion of those advantages through the community. A law had passed, as early as 1693, requiring each town to " provide a school- master." In this act Dover was expressly ex- cepted, being at that time too much impoverished, by the frequent incursions of Indian enemies, to sustain any considerable burthen for any other purpose than its own defence. In 1719, towns with fifty or more freeholders were required to be " constantly provided with a schoolmaster to teach reading and writing;" and towns containing one hundred or more freeholders were also enjoined to maintain a grammar-school, under the instruc- tion of " some discrete person, of good conversa- tion, well instructed in the tongues." Considerable advantage resulted from these laws, though the poverty and scanty population of some of the towns rendered them entirely inoperative, and the want of proper books and competent instructors everywhere united with the insecurity of the times in retarding the progress of popular education. Reading and writing wQi'e, in those early days, the only branches of instruction in our common schools. The Bible and Psalter, and the New England Primer, were the only reading books; and those who aspired to the more liberal art of chirog- NEW HAMPSHIRE. 287 raphy, instead of white paper, very generally made chap. use of white birch bark. The first spelling-book __^ generally used was not introduced till 1770, and though very humble in its merits, when compared with those of the present day, it was considered, even then, a perfect epitome of all that was essen- tial to a common education. Some idea of the scientific attainments of our ancient rulers may be formed from the circum- stance, that, in a proclamation for a fast in 16S1, they assign as a reason for it, " that aivfid porten- tous blazing star, usually foreboding sore calam- ity to the beholders thereof." And some idea of the acquirements of the people, at about the same period, may be gathered from the fact, that, on a petition for protection against the Indians, ad- dressed to the general court of Massachusetts in 1690, signed by three hundred and seventy-four inhabitants of New Hampshire, about one fourth part of the whole number made their marks. The signatures of a large portion of the remainder, to use a favorite expression of Governor Andros, resembled " the scratch of a bear's paw," rather than the neat chirography of the present age. Very few of our leading men wrote a tolerable hand, and scarcely a schoolboy in the country, at the present day, would suffer by a comparison of the performances of his pen with those of our early secretaries of state. The schools which had grown up in our princi- pal towns prior to the revolution, under the influ- ence of the early laws for their encouragement, to which I have referred, and which had been attend- ed with considerable advantages, had been almost 288 HISTORY OF CHAF. universally prostrated by the turmoils and dangers _^_ of the war. The act of this year was the begin- ning of a series of decided measures, which have established the common school system, in New Hampshire, upon a firm and imperishable basis, and extended its advantages to the rich and the poor — the citizens of its most populous and flour- ishing towns, and the scattered dwellers among its mountains. Under the influences of a reviving interest in the cause of education, academies and public schools, generously endowed and liberally supported, sprung up at short intervals, and within a brief period of time, in the principal towns and villages of the state. During the year 1791, academies were incorporated at Atkinson and Amherst. The establishment of these invaluable institutions in different sections of the state, and in sufficient numbers to extend the advantages of an excellent elementary education in all direc- tions, and furnish an ample supply of well qualified instructors for our common schools, produced at once a decided and favorable change in the schools and the literary characteristics of the people. A taste for learning was suddenly diffused through every part of the community; habits of reading and investigation became general; schools revived; the patronage of the higher institutions of learning swelled with the rising tide of intellectual improve- ment, and the means of at least a tolerable edu- cation were gradually extended, not only to every town, but nearly to every family in the state. While the legislature of 1791 was attending to the interests of education, it was not unmindful of the importance of facilitating the means of com- NEW HAMTSHIRE. 289 mimication. At this time, nothinsj like an efficient chap. post-otlice establishment existed in the country. _IJ^. Two or three weeks were generally necessary for the transmission of letters from Philadelphia to ihe borders of this state ; and all organised means of spreading intelligence stopped within a few miles of the sea-coast, leaving the inhabitants cf the interior almost entirely dependent upon chance for those facilities for communication, which the present well organised post-office estab- lishment has since extended to every corner of our broad country. Even an ordinary stage-coach was an accommodation, which, at that time, was scarcely to be seen in our principal cities ; and a humble post-rider, journeying leisurely along the seaboard, and occasionally divel'ging a few miles into the country, for a considerable time performed the whole mail service of this state. To remedy these evils, the legislature of 1791 passed a law, establishing " four routes for posts, to be there- after appointed to ride in and through the interior of the state." By the provisions of this salutary law, each post- \ rider was to perform his route once in two weeks, reversing his course of travel once a fortnight. For the encouraQ;ement of this humble mail es- tablishment, and in consideration of an express provision that all public letters, and other matters belonging to the state, should be carried free of postage, the legislature granted twelve pounds per annum to the post-riders on the first, second and fourth routes, and nine pounds to the post-rider on the third. The postage, which on single letters was fixed at sixpence for every forty miles, and 37 290 HISTORY OF CHAP, foiirpeiice for any number of miles under forty, ^-^ was granted exclusively to the post-riders. Post- offices were established at Portsmouth, Exeter, Concord, Amherst, Dover, Keene, Charlestown, Hanover, Haverhill and Plymouth; and the several postmasters were allowed to charge a compensation of two pence on every letter and package which should pass through their respective offices. While the legislature was discharging the duties of the post-office department for its own constit- uency, the business of the patent-office as yet remained in its hands. The same legislature, accordingly, passed an act, " giving to John Young the exclusive right to build chimneys, agreeably to an invention of said Young — accord- ing to a description of said invention lodged with the secretary of state." The legislation of this, as well as a few pre- ceding and subsequent years, evinces at once great economy in the legislature and great finan- cial distress among the people. In 1791, the salary of the governor was fixed at two hundred pounds, of the chief justice at one hundred and seventy pounds, and the secretary of state at fifty pounds per annum. Laws, granting relief to towns — directing the treasurer not to issue extents for outstanding taxes — providing for the receipt of specie in payment of public dues, at the rate of one pound for two in state notes — granting reviews and staying, for a limited time, all proceedings against bondsmen, were of frequent occurrence, and indicated, in characters not to be mistaken, the severity of those financial embarrassments, which the expenses of the war had imposed upon NEW HAMPSHIRE. 20l the people of New Hampshire, and which neither chap. the unrivalled industry nor the reviving enterprise _,!J^ of its citizens had yet been able to remove. In the financial struggle which these embarrass- ments forced upon them, our legislature frequently assumed powers, which no similar bodies have recently exercised; while the general government having been but recently, and as yet but partially organised, the exercise of many of its functions devolved upon the states. The legislation of 1791 was, in many respects, a matter of curious interest to those who have regarded the legisla- tion of our states in those narrower channels only within which it is at present confined. The legis- lature of this state, at that time, exercised not only the proper powers of the legislature, and to some extent those of the judiciary also, but also, as we have seen, discharged on a humble scale, suited to the depression of its financial aflfairs, the important duties now confided to the patent-office and post- office department of the general government. Its exercised powers were more extensive than those which any legislative body in the country has assumed for the last forty years ; and if the una- nimity of the people, in the elections of that period, is to be taken as an indication of the public feel- ing, it exercised them in such a manner as to pro- mote the public welfare and gain the general confidence of the community. During this year, with a view to elevate the character of the medical profession, to discourage quackery, and prevent unqualified pretenders to medical skill from imposing themselves upon the community, the legislature incorporated the New 292 HISTORY OF CHAP. Hampshire Medical Society. Josiah Bartlett, the .J-.!^ worthy cliief magistrate of the state, was elected its first president. Some proceedings of the Icgislatm'e of this year, in relation to the " assumption of the state debts," render it necessary briefly to refer to the measures of the general government upon that subject. On the 19l,h of January, 1790, soon after the meet- hm of the first congress, Alexander Hamilton introduced his celebrated scheme for the assump- tion of the state debts. In compliance with his recommendation, and after a spirited opposition in both branches of congress, a bill, assuming the debts of the several states, to the amount of $21,500,000, became a law on the 4th of August, 1790. By the provisions of this law, the debts of New Hampshire, which had contributed $375,055 more than her equitable share to the means of conducting the war, were assumed only to the amount of $399,009; v/liilc, on the other hand, the debis of New Yoriv, wliicii liad expended $874,846 less than her proportion of the expenses of the same war, were included to four times that amount. This law met with a serious opposition from all parts of the Union — in some instances founded upon the injustice of its details, and, in others, upon the broad ground of its unconstitu- tionality. In November, 1790, the house of delegates, in Virginia, passed a series of resolutions, declaring the assumption of the state debts to be a violation of the constitution, and a flagrant invasion of the plainest principles of justice. In June, 1791, the le2:islature of New Hampsliire, surpassed by no NEW HAMPSHIRE. 293 body of men in the country in their general CHAr. attacliment to the administration, adopted, by a .^-J^ unanimous vote, a spirited memorial to congress on the same subject. In tliis memorial they set fortli, that this state had contributed, to its utmost abihty, both men and money for the successful prosecution of the late war, and thereby accumu- lated a heavy debt ; and that, considering this state alone responsible for that debt, by " burthensome taxes" upon themselves, its citizens "had suc- ceeded in paying not only the interest of its debt, but likewise a great part of its principal," — that having, by these means and by the " most rigor- ous economy, extinguished a large part of their debt, they had received, with general disappro- bation and uneasiness, that part of the late act of congress, in which it is proposed to assume $21,500,000 of the debts of the several states, and make provisions for ftinding the same." They complained that, by this measure, an increased debt was brought upon the general government, involving the necessity of an increased revenue; and that, " what was still more objectionable and disgusting to the citizens of ISiew Hampshire," while that state had contributed one twenty-eighth part of the expenses of the war, the sum proposed to be assumed of the debts of the state was less than one seventieth part of the whole; thereby throwing $000,000 of the debts of other states upon the state of New Hampshire. In conclusion, they solemnly " remonstrated against the said act, so far as it relates to the assumption of the state debts," and requested that, " if the assumption must be carried into effect, New Hampshire might 294 HISTORY OF CHAP, be placed on an equal footing with other states." _i._ Opposed as they then were in their political attachments, it is a singular circumstance, that, at this early period, Virginia and New Hampshire occupied the same ground upon this important question. Though generally belonging in name to that federal party, which was by many deemed to favor a concentration of all political power in the general government, the people of New Hamp- shire showed, on more occasions than one, a fii'm attachment to democratic principles, and a patri- otic zeal for their rights as citizens of a sovereign state. In consequence of the demands of a rapidly increasing commerce, a bank was, in 1792, estab- hshed at Portsmouth, with a capital of $160,000, to continue fifty years. A period of seven years having expired from the first adoption of the sttite constitution, a con- vention of delegates assembled, near the close of the year 1791, for the purpose of undertaking .its revision. The Hon. Samuel Livermore, who had been a distinguished member of the previous con- vention, was elected its president. A variety of amendments, many of them important, were attempted at this time. Among them were, the erasure of the sixth article of the bill of rights, the total abolition of religious tests, and the exclu- sion of attorneys at law from seats in the legis- lature. None of these amendments were adopted. The fact that they were proposed, however, indi- cates, at once, something of the spirit of the times and the condition of the people. Embar- rassed with those debts, which the total depre- NEW HAMPSHIRE. 295 ciation of the currency of the revokition had im- chap. posed upon them, their jealousy of lawyers may ^Ij^ be considered a fearful indication of the pecuniary distresses with which they were afflicted ; while the proposition to expunge all religious tests from the constitution, shows that the spirit of religious toleration had already begun to shed its ennobling influences upon a people, who, in after times, have become so distinguished for its exercise. It was not till its third session, holden in May, 1792. 1792, that the business of the convention was completed. The constitution, as revised, was marked by very few important changes. The title of the chief magistrate was changed from jwesi- dent to governor, the more readily to distinguish that officer from the head of the general govern- ment. The senate, under the old constitution, had consisted of twelve members, elected by the several counties — five for the county of Rockingham, two for Strafford, two for Hillsborough, two for Cheshire, and one for Grafton. Under the new constitution the number of senators remained the same, but a provision was made for the division of the state into twelve equal districts, upon the basis of taxation, for their election. The basis of representation in the house of representatives and all the main features of the constitution remained unchanged. As the constitution of 1784, thus modified, has remained unchanged for a period of nearly fifty years, and is now the basis of our legislation and the corner-stone of our government, a brief synop- sis of its most striking features can neither be unprofitable nor misplaced. 296 HISTORY OF CHAP. The executive power of the state is vested in a -—1-^ governor and five coimcillors, elected annually by the people. All judicial officers are appointed by the governor and council, and removable upon impeachment, originating in the house of repre- sentatives, and heard and determined by the sen- ate. Both branches of the legislature are judges of the elections, returns and qualification of their own members. The power of pardoning offences against the criminal laws of the state is vested in the governor who is to exercise it only with the consent of the council. Every bill or resolve must, before it becomes a law, be presented to the governor; who, if he approves, is to sign it, and if he disapproves, is to return it to the house where it originated, with bis objections. Two thirds of both branches of the legislature, however, concur- ring in the passage of any bill or resolve returned and objected to by the governor, it becomes a law without his assent. All money bills must, by the constitution, originate in the house of representa- tives, though the senate may propose amendments. No member of the legislature can be arrested or held to bail, on any mesne process, during his attendance upon its business, or on his way to or from its sessions. Every male citizen of the state, excepting persons convicted of infamous crimes or supported at the public expense, was allowed the privileges of a freeman. The convention which assembled soon after the close of the revolution, proposed to limit the num- ber of representatives to fifty, to be duly appor- tioned among the several counties. This pro- position was rejected by a large majority of the NEW HAMPSHIRE. 297 popular vote. With a large share of the population chap. thinly scattered over a wide expanse of territory — .^^J-^ with a large number of new settlements springing up in the midst of the wilderness, sprinkling the valley of the Connecticut, from the southern line of the state to its source, and gradually finding their way among the hills and mountains of the northern counties — the people w isely judged that a representation so limited, would be altogether inadequate to the purposes for which it was de- signed. It would have placed the legislature at too great a distance from a large portion of the people, to understand their wishes, to judge with accuracy of their interests, or act with any degree of certainty in accordance with their will. These considerations doubtless suggested the excellent system established by the present constitution, under which every town, having one hundred and fifty rateable polls, has its representative, while the larger towns are allowed an additional repre- sentative for every three hundred polls in addition to the above number, and the smaller towns are classed in such a manner as to extend the privi- lege of direct annual representation to every citizen in the state. "^ During the year I7D3, Elder Jesse Lee came from A^irsinia to the New Eimland states, and, after remaining some time in Massachusetts, vis- ited New Hampshire, and prepared the foundation for the establishment of the first Methodist socie- ties which existed within its limits. The legislation of this period partook of the simple and economical spirit which characterized the citizens. Our revenue tlicn, as it has been 38 298 HISTORY OF at all times, was small when compared with our resources ; and the expenditures of the state were regarded with a watchful eye and managed with a prudent hand. By the rules of the house for this session, it was provided that no member should be absent, without leave, niore than a quarter of an hour at a time, on pain of forfeiting his travel and incurring the censure of the house. Every day's absence of a member, even upon leave, was scru- pulously noted by the clerk, in a roll kept for that purpose, and made the foundation for a corre- sponding reduction in his pay. In a legislature governed by such primitive views of economy, it may be safely inferred that few laws were enacted, and those plain in their provisions and suggested by the wants of the people. 1793. In June, 1793, the legislature assembled at Concord. Josiah Bartlett had been re-elected governor, with great unanimity ; being the first person who had discharged the duties of chief mag- istrate under the new constitution. The smallness of the popular vote at this and the preceding elec- tion, as well as its unanimity, affords us some clue to the political characteristics of the time. The people, at this period, seem hardly to have enter- tained any strongly marked diversity of political opinions. Their elections turned rather upon the merits of the candidates for public favor, than the importance of particular and conflicting senti- ments in relation to public affairs. The high places of the government were generally filled by men who had, in one way or another, evinced an honest devotion to the cause of liberty in the days of the revolution ; and the opinions of these men, NEW HAMPSHIRE. 299 even when on some points they differed from those chap. of their fellow-citizens, were lost sight of in a SJ^ universal attachment, which existed in the minds of all classes of the people, for the soldiers and statesmen, who had proved faithful to their coun- try in the most eventful crisis of its history. Of this class of men, Josiah Bartlett was among the most distinguished. With an imperfect education, he had commenced the practice of medicine, at Kingston, as early as 1750. During the preva- lence of a malignant distemper, in 1754, he pur- sued a course of practice so universally successful as to give him at once a high rank in his pro- fession. Promoted to several offices, at different times, by Governor Wentworth, he was, in Febru- ary, 1775, deprived of all his commissions, as a zealous whig, whom the frowns of the royal gov- ernor could not intimidate, or his favor secure. In 1776 he was a delegate to congress, and was among the first to give his vote and his signature to the Declaration of Independence. For several years he was a judge of one or the other of the state courts, and, in 1790, was raised to the chief magistracy of the state. Honest and unimpeach- able in his private character, simple and yet dig- nified in his manners, deservedly popular in the community in which he lived, and firm and inflex- ible in support of the principles of that Declaration of Independence to which he gave the sanction of his name, he passed the noonday of his existence ^ amid the storms and clouds of a revolution ; and the unclouded light of popular favor, shining upon him in the evening of his life, was his just and appropriate reward. # 300 HISTORY OF CHAP. Towards the close of the year, Governor Bart- _11_ lett was iiiducedj by declining health, to resign the high and responsible station in which the people had placed him; and his retirement to private life was followed not long afterwards by his death. The ocean of political discussion, which has since been agitated by so many successive and almost perpetual storms, had hitherto rested in unruffled repose. The popularity of Washington, and the mildness and impartiality with which he had administered the government, had united those parties, which circumstances had already created, in support of his measures and of his re-election. The eftects of the revolution, however, which had recently occurred in France, soon reached our own sliores, and disturbed the harmony of our citizens. The sympathies of a portion of the peo- ple were naturally enlisted in favor of the people of France, whose struggles for liberty reminded them of their own. Another portion, influenced by the exaggerated accounts of the excesses of their former allies, which continually reached them, regarded them witli horror, and sympathized with Great Britain in her hostile operations against them. The former class, embracing most of the more ardent friends of state sovereignty and demo- cratic principles, assumed the name of republi- cans. The latter class, including most of those who had favored an imilalion of the aristocratic , qualities of the British government in the estab- lishment of our own, were called federalists. The first clnss, many of them, maintained that we were bound by the generous aid which France had af- forded us in our contest with Great Britain, to NEW HA^IPSIIIRE, 301 make common cause with lier, in defending her chaf. rights against the aggressions of the same arbi- ^.^ trary power. Many of the people, of both parties, were in favor of the strict neutrahty of position which was maintained by General Washington and his administration. On the other hand, a portion of the federal party, more violent than the rest, seemed ready at any moment to form an open alliance with Great Britain, and aid her in her attacks upon a people, whc^ had been so recently the benefactors and faithful alhes of this'country. The excitement generated by this state of things extended to New Hampshire, in common with other states ; and opposing parties sprmig into existence, as the immediate and necessary consequence. The federalists, however, for a long time maintained an indisputable majority. John Taylor Gilman, a gentleman of great personal inilaence and un- spotted private character, who vras for a long time the acknowledged lioad cf t!ie federal party in i H cw liampsinre, was, iii kio^<, eieoiea governor. He retained this position for a period of no less than eleven years, and for tlie same period his party remained in the ascendency. The history of tliis state, under the adminis- tration of Governor Gilman, was marked by few public events of importance. Our legislation re- lated principally to the ordinary municipal regula- tion of the little communities into which we were divided ; and our political conflicts, though such occasionally existed among us, sprung rather from a diversity of opinion in relation to national affairs, than any general dissatisfaction with the manner in which the concerns of the state itself were con- 302 HISTORY OF CHAP, ducted. To the popular manners of Mr. Oilman, ,JJ.^ and the general fairness with which he managed our affairs, rather than any deep-rooted attach- ment to federal views of government, must be attributed the repeated re-elections of that gen- tleman, and the long ascendency of his party in this state. The legislature of 1794 held its June session in the meeting-house at Amherst. During that session, a law was enacted, providing for the redemption of " certain evidences of debts due from the state, and making compensation for the same." This law provided for the redemption of the state notes and state orders, at the rate of fif- teen shillings to the pound ; of the bills of the "new emission," so called, at five shillings to the pound ; and of the "copper-plate notes," and every other species of bills "not before enumerated," at the rate of Jive shillings for every hundred dollars ! All outstanding taxes, and the stock of the state in the United States' funds, were pledged for that purpose, and the treasurer was authorized to bor- row twenty-five thousand pounds for two years, at six per cent, interest, for the same object. All notes, of a less denomination than three dollars, were to be redeemed at the above rates in specie, and one half of the residue to be paid in specie, and the other half in state notes, payable in eighteen months, and bearing interest at the rate of six per cent. The entire prostration of the credit of the states, during the revolution, and the almost incalculable losses it imposed upon the community, were never better illustrated, than by the passage of this law. NEW HAMPSHIRE. . 303 Immediately after the commencement of hos- chap. tilities in 1775, this state issued paper bills for the -SJ^ payment of the troops it furnished for the common defence, and for the support of the government, promising to redeem them in gold and silver. These bills, based upon nothing but the faith of the state, were, for the purpose of giving them greater currency, made a legal tender for the pay- ment of debts. In spite, however, of all the efforts of the legislature, their value constantly depreciated. In 1780, the general government issued a new paper currency, called the "new emission," declaring one dollar of that emission to be worth forty dollars of the old ; and sent to each state its proportion, guarantying its redemption. That proportion of this first national paper cur- rency which fell to this state, was finally redeemed, as I have before related, while large sums of its other bills and evidences of indebtedness were bought up by the treasurer, at the rate of one hundred dollars for one. The notes and bills of this state were greatly increased in their nominal amount, by the large sums issued to its officers and soldiers, to com- pensate them, from time to time, for the rapid depreciation of its paper already in their hands. Thus, by a fruitless attempt to remedy the evils of a depreciated currency of this state, its debts were immensely increased, and its securities plunged still lower in the scale of worthlessness and depreciation. When these facts arc known, the law of 1794, for the payment of the state debt, may be more readily reconciled with the principles of justice. If 304 HISTORY OF CHAP, a mere fraction only of the nominal amount of J^l^ the currency of which that debt consisted, was ten- dered for its redemption, it should be remembered that it was issued from necessity, passed dis- credited and depreciated from the treasury, and circulated among the people only for an incon- siderable percentage on its apparent value. One lesson, however, stands out in bold relief from the history of these transactions. It is that neither a noble excuse for issuing a currency which consists in the mere evidence of debt, nor arbitrary laws to sustain its credit with the people, can give it either stability or value, v.ithout the existence of a proper and certain fund for its redemption. The second session of the legislature was this year convened at a period somewhat earher than usual, in consequence of a controversy arising between this state and the general government, in relation to a seizure made by an armed privateer ship, belonr>;inoscd that such a work, starting at the Merrimac, at the junction of the Contoocook, might be ex- tended to the waters of lake Sunnapee, and thence along the valley of Sugar river, to the Connecti- cut. During the year 181G, a conmiittec of the Massachusetts legislature, with which the Honor- able Henry B. Chase, of Warner, was associated by our own, made a thorough survey of the contem- plated route. The lake was found to be eleva- ted more than eight hundred feet above the level of the two rivers whose waters it had been pro- posed to connect, and the enterprise was aban- doned as wholly impracticable, excepting by such 392 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. CHAP, an expenditure as its advantages could never re- JL pay. During the year, David L. Morrill and Clement Storer were elected to the United States senate, in place of Jeremiah Mason and Thomas W. Thompson ; six republicans were elected to the lower branch of congress, and the electoral vote of the state was given to James Monroe. This year was marked by an unusual prevalence of cold weather during the summer and autumn, and has ever since continued to be referred to as the cold season. Snow fell in the southern part of the state on the 9th of June. August was the only month of the year entirely exempt from frost. A scanty harvest and a general scarcity of bread, the natural results of a season of such unusual rigors, gave a new impulse to western emigra- tion. Hundreds of farmers, discouraged by the scanty reward of their toil at this unfortunate pe- riod, gave up their farms, and sought, in the fertile wilds of a distant land, for that bright sunshine of prosperity, which, in most cases, would have smiled far more surely upon them on their own native hills. CHAPTER XII. Contro\t:rsy with Dartmouth College — Message of Governor Plummer — The state assumes jurisdiction — The trustees refuse to submit to the law — they are summoned to meet at Hanover — A quorum do not obey the summons — they declare the law unconstitutional — Second message of Governor Plummer — Wheelock reappointed president — Charges against the professors — their address to the public — Death of President Wheel- ock — Trial of the Dartmouth college case — Arguments of counsel — Opinion of Chief Justice Richardson — overruled by the supreme court of the U. S. — President Monroe — The toleration act — Toleration in Connec- ticut — Bill of rights — Act of 1791 — Vexatious lawsuits brought against dissenters — Toleration in Blaryland and Vermont, Pennsylvania and Maine — Speech of Dr. Whipple — Bill of rights — Speech of Dr. Whipple — Speech of Henry Hubbard — Dr. Whipple in reply to Mr. Parker — Speech of Ichabod Bartlett — The toleration act is assailed — it passes — is again as- sailed violently — finally becomes popular — The Methodists — The Bap- tists — TheUniversalists — Scenery of New Hampshire — Ascent up Moose- hillock mountain — Owl's Head— Scenes in the valley of the Connecti- cut — View from IMoosehillock — from Catamount hill — from Haverhill corner — from mount Pulaski — Appearance of an American forest in Au- tumn — Route to the White Hills from Haverhill through Bethlehem and Franconia — from Lancaster — The Notch — Valley of the Saeo — Scenery about Indian Stream and the country near the Magalioway — Dixville Notch. The trustees of Dartmouth collesre, (so called chap. XII. from the name of its founder and patron, the Earl of Dartmouth,) had for a considerable time pur- " ' sued a course calculated to render them unpopular with a majority of the people. Possessing, under their charter from George III., the power of re- moving members of their board and appointing their own successors, they had confided tlic exclu- sive control of an institution, designed for the com- mon benefit, to members of a single religious sect and a single political party. Funds, bequeathed to the college for the establishment of a professorship, had been applied to purj)oses partaking of a secta- rian character. John Wiieelock, himself a liberal 50 394 HISTORY OF CHAP, benefactor of the college, and the son of its illustri- J^. ous patron, had been removed by a summary exer- cise of the power of the trustees, and a man more subservient to their views appointed in his place. Entrusted with the care of a great public semina- ry, designed to promote the general good, the trus- tees were accused of using the influence it gave them for ambitious and selfish purposes. Con- trolling an institution established by the bounty of all sects and all parties, they were believed by many to have perverted it from its true purposes, and made it a powerful instrument, in the hands of a particular class, for the diffusion of its own pecu- liar opinions. Patronised by people of every shade of opinion, and favored at times with liberal grants from the legislature of New Hampshire, the people could see no reason to justify the sectarian posi- tion which it had assumed. It was from such views as these, that the legis- lature of 1S16, believing that the trustees had adopted a policy in direct conflict with the charter from which they derived their powers, determined to claim jurisdiction over this institution, in behalf of the state, for whose "benefit" only it had been created. They accordingly passed two laws upon this subject, increasing the number of trustees from twelve to twenty-one ; empowering the gov- ernor and council to appoint the nine additional trustees, and fill all vacancies which should occur in the board, previous to its next annual meeting, and changing? the name of the institution from Dartmouth college to Dartmouth university. In executing the duties devolving upon him under this law, the governor conducted with great moderation, appointing several of his political op- NEW HAMPSHIRE. 395 ponents among the new members of the board of chap trustees. It had been neither his design, nor that , ^ of his party, to make the college subservient to any particular interest. On the contrary, it was the wish of the legislature of 1816, by introducing men of different religious and political opinions in- to its government, to secure an impartial extension of its advantages to every sect and party. They believed it to be no part of the proper business of such an institution to inculcate the favorite dog- mas of any one class m that community for whose common benefit it had been established. They wished, rather, to place the only college in the state in such a position — a position that it should be regarded not as an engine to stamp a peculiar creed upon the minds of its citizens, but as the fountain of that correct knowledge which enables men to reason for themselves — in such a position, in short, that it should deserve the equal favor and equal patronage of the whole community. At the opening of the June session of the legis- is 16. lature, June 6, 1816, Governor William Plummer thus called the attention of the legislature to the subject of Dartmouth college : " There is no system of government where tlie jour- general diffusion of knowledge is so necessary as "uie' in a republic. It is, therefore, not less the duty fsie, ' than the interest of the state to patronise and sup- port the cause of literature and the sciences. So sensible were our ancestors of this, that they early made provision for schools, academies, and a col- naUf lege, the good effects of which we daily experi- senate, ence. But all literary establishments, like every- session, thing human, if not duly attended to, are subject p d. to decay. 396 HISTORY OF CHAP. " Permit me, therefore, to invite your consider- _,.J_ ation to the state and condition of Dartmouth college, the head of our learned institutions. As the state has contributed liberally to the establish- ment of its funds, and as our constituents have a deep interest in its prosperity, it has a strong claim to our attention. The charter of that college was granted Dec. 30th, 1769, by John Wentworth, who was then governor of New Hampshire, under the authority of the British king. As it ema- nated from royalty, it contained, as was natural it should, principles congenial to monarchy. Among others, it established trustees, made seven a quo- rum, and authorized a majority of those present to remove any of its members, which they might consider unfit or incapnble ; and tlm survivors to perpetuate the board, by themselves electing others to supply vacancies. This last principle is hostile to the spirit and genius of a free govern- ment. Sound policy, therefore, requires that the mode of election should be changed, and (hat trus- tees, in future, should be elected by some other body of men. To increase the number of trus- tees, would not only increase the security of the college, but be a means of interesting more men in its prosperity. If it should be made, in future, the duty of the president, annually in May, to report to the governor a full and particular account of the state of the funds; their receipts and expendi- tures; the number of students and their progress; and generally the state and condition of the col- lege ; and the governor to communicate this state- ment to the legislature, in their June session ; this would form a check upon the. proceedings of NEW HAMPSHIRE. 397 the trustees, excite a spirit of attention in tlie ofii- ciiAP . XI[ cers and students of the college, and give to the J__ legislature such information as would enable them to act with greater propriety upon whatever may relate to that institution. " The college was formed for the public good ; not for the emolument of its trustees ; and the right to amend and improve acts of incorporation of this nature has been exercised by all gov- ernments, both monarchial and republican. Sir Thomas Gresham established a fund to support lecturers in Gresham college, in London, upon the express condition that the lecturers should be unmarried men, and upon their being married, their interest in the fund should absolutely cease; but the British parliament, in (he year 1708, passed a law removing the college to another place, and explicitly enacted that if the lecturers were mar- ried, or should marry, they should receive their fees and stipend out of the fund, any restriction or limitation in the will of the said Gresham to the contrary notwithstanding. In this country, a number of the states have passed laws that made material changes in the charters of their colleges ; and in this state, acts of incorporation, of a similar nature, have frequently been amended and changed by the legislature. By the several acts incorpo- rating towns their limits were established ; but whenever the legislature judged that the public good required a town to be made into two, they have made the division, and in some instances against the remonstrance of a majority of its in- habitants. In the charter of Dartmouth college it is expressly provided that the president, trus- 398 HISTORY OF CHAP, tees, professors, tutors, and other officers, shall ■J^,^ take the oath of allegiance to the British king ; but if the laws of the United States, as well as those of New Hampshire, abolished by implica- tion that part of the charter, much more might they have done it directly and by express words. These facts show the authority of the legislature to interfere upon the subject ; and I trust you will make such further provisions as will render this important institution more useful to mankind." These views of Governor Plummer met the ap- probation of a majority of both senate and house. Accordingly, on the twenty-seventh of June, 1816, a law was passed assuming to the state of New Hampshire complete jurisdiction over the college, and changing its name to Dartmouth university. To this law the trustees refused to submit. In obedience to the law the governor summoned the trustees and overseers of Dartmouth university to meet at Hanover on the twenty-sixth of Au- gust, 1816. But a quorum did not obey, nor did they answer the governor's request. Two days after, they declared that the law of the state, to amend the charter and enlarge the corporation of naUf I^tii'tiiiouth college, was, in point of precedent SeSate ^^^ principle, dangerous to the best interests of N°7- society; that it subjected the collese to the arbi- session, J ' J o '^|.^' trary will and pleasure of the legislature ; that it contained palpable violations of their rights ; was unconstitutional ; and that they would not recog- nai"of iiise or act under its authority. Senate, ^^ tlic Opening of the November session their proceedings were laid before the legislature, and Nov session J^is. upon- them Governor Plummer thus remarked : — » NEW HAMPSHIRE. 399 " It is an important question, and merits your chap serious consideration, whether a law, passed and J^.^ approved by all the constituted authorities of the state, shall be carried into effect ; or whether a few individuals, not vested with any judicial au- thority, shall be permitted to declare your statutes dangerous and arbitrary, unconstitutional and void. Whether a minority of the trustees of a literary institution, formed for the education of your chil- dren, shall be encouraged to inculcate the doctrine of resistance to the law, and their example toler- ated in disseminating principles of insubordination and rebellion against government. *' Believing you cannot doubt the course proper to be adopted on this occasion, permit me to re- commend the passage of a bill to amend the law respecting Dartmouth university. Give authority to some person to call a new meeting of the trus- tees and overseers ; reduce the number necessary to form a quorum in each board ; authorize those who may hereafter meet to adjourn from time to time till a quorum shall assemble ; give each of the boards the same authority to transact busi- ness at their first, as they have at their annual meet- ings ; and, to remove all doubts, give power to the executive to fill up vacancies that have or hereafter may happen in the board of trustees ; and such other provisions as will enable the boards to carry the law into effect and render the institution use- ful to the public." During the year, two of the original board of trustees, together with the nine who had received their appointments from the executive of the state, constituting a majority of the whole number, as- 400 HISTORY OF CHAP, sembled at Hanover. They reappointed John .^ _!_. Wheelock to the presidency, and elected William H. Woodward, Esq., treasurer of the university. Thus Dr. Wheelock was finally restored to the presidency of the Dartmouth university, to the great joy of the friends of science and liberal principles. Thus did the veteran president, after years of persecution, springing from the intoler- ance of a religious sect, return again to his post in the field of literature. His friends hailed his return as "a triumph of liberty and justice over intolerance and oppression." To the use of the university the trustees committed the use of all the college buildings ; and entrusted the records, books of account, and other property of the institution to the treasurer they had appointed. In the mean- time, three fourtlis of the old board of trustees, claiming the exclusive and absolute control of the college property under their charter, and declaring the law to be an invasion of their constitutional rights, refused to accept of its provisions. Under their direction, the officers of the old college, re- taining a large majority of the students, continued their usual course of instruction, in apartments procured for the purpose. Thus we had two conflicting institutions in the same town, a university and a college, each claim- ing the control of the same property and each coming in active competition with the other. The old trustees and professors busied them- selves in writing volumes of abuse against the state government and Governor Plummer. Pre- vious to the March election of 1817, they pub- lished the most inflammatory and treasonable NEW HAMPSHIRE. 401 appeals to the people, with the hope of inflii- chap encing the popular vote. The natural effect of '^ this was to give the repuhlicans a great gain, especially in the vicinity of Hanover. When tlie committee, appointed by the legisla- ture to take possession of the buildings and appa- ratus of the university, applied to President Brown, he refused to surrender the keys, and the commit- tee were obliged to break open the buildings. Brown and the professors then withdrew to other buildings, taking with thom such of the students as chose to follow them, and then organized classes and continued to instruct them during the existence of the university. The trustees of the university, early in Febru- ary, 1817, assembled at Concord and preferred charges ajrainst Presidont Brown and Professors Shurtleff and Adams ; the substance of which was, a refusal to yield obedience to the late act of the legislature : and cited them to appear before them on the twenty-second of February, to show cause Feb why they should not be removed. On the twenti eth of February, they sent to the board an answer, refusing to comply with the citation, but couched in courteous terms, and setting forth their resolve to appeal to the highest judicial tribunals. On the twenty-eighth of February, they published an address to the public, in the same tone, declaring the votes of the university trustees, removing them from office, as wholly unauthorized and destitute of any legal effect ; and affirming that they were still, as they had uniformly claimed to be, officers of Dartmouth college, under the charter of 1769 — 51 m HISTORY OF CHAP, and that they liad resolved to assert their corpp- ___ rate rights. They frankly stated that they had taken into consideration the act of June, and had voted "not to accept its provisions." They re- fused to take the oath of allegiance to the United States and to the state of New Hampshire. Their charter required them to take an oath of allegianpe to the British crown ; but this they had omitted to do since the American revolution. They disclaimed any intention to ofier forcible resistance to the laws, but intimated plainly in their address that their rights of conscience had been invaded, and oppression practised upon them to such an extreme degree as to greatly endanger or defeat the great ends of civil government — that ill the act of June the legislative branch of govern- ment had transcended its legitimate power, and had assumed to perform certain acts which the constitution had assigned to the province of the judicial branch. This address and answer was signed by Francis Brown, Ebenezer Adams, and Roswell Shiu'tleft'. The people read it and were greatly exasperated. It seemed to them that the professors — entrenched behind a British charter, and actuated by a preference for monarchy — were impudently defying the constituted author- ities of the state, and trampling upon the consti- tution and the laws. Denunciation was showered upon the professors from all quarters. The pa- pers of the day attacked them with violence, and denounced them as an "Orthodox junto." The professors in return poured forth volleys of epithets upon the state government and upon Gov- NEW HAMPSHIRE 4^)3 ernor Plummer ; stigmatizing them as " agrari- chap. ans," "infidels," "democrats," "French jaco- ,_<,.,^ bins," "villains," and " sans-cuUotes." The papers in the interest of the college de- scribed the committee sent by the legislature to take possession of the college, as a gang of unprin- cipled villains, who had risen up in defiance of law and had wantonly broken open and taken posses- sion of the college buildings. The papers of the people promptly returned the attack ; and compared the charter professors to the infuriated bigots of popery in the dark ages — as "a set of abominable intolerants," "aspiring not only to the sole direction of our literature, but to the management of our government" — as " the gangrened persecutors of President Wheel- ock," "like the Jews who had sworn not to eat until they had killed Paul" — as "hunting up evi- dence against Wheelock," and having the expense "clubbed against them," and when they had failed of procuring evidence, "hurling him from his station, without the sanction of the usual cere- mony." Such was the tone of public discussion. The popular voice was loud against the profes- sors ; and they, in their turn, poured forth, if pos- sible, louder execrations and more bitter vials of wrath upon the people. In the heat of the contest, in April 1817, Presi- dent Wheelock died, at the age of sixty-three, la- mented even by his persecutors : — a ripe scholar — a liberal Christian — an ornament to literature — an unrivalled instructer — a good man — vigorous in intellect — assiduous in toil. The most industrious of his pupils, in the vigor of youth and inspired by 404 HISTORY OF CHAP, emulation, vainly strove to outwatch the midnight '^ lamp of their instructer. All admitted that his virtues demanded a durable monument. Meanwhile the contest continued. The leading members of the legislature, who advocated the state authority and approved of the course pur- sued by the legislature, were denounced by the college papers as "vipers," "slanderers," and " executioners." The professors having failed to affect the people, next sought to intimidate the superior court by proclaiming that the act of the legislature could be regarded in no other light than as a war against religion ; and if the judges should sustain it, "the execrations of this age and posterity awaited them." In this movement the professors were equally unsuccessful. The old board of trustees brought an action of trover against the treasurer of the university, for the recovery of " books of record, charter, com mon seal and books of account," which they alleged to be their property. The defendant sel up as a defence, the laws of 1816, and his appoint- ment ; by virtue of which laws and appointment he claimed a legal right to hold the property in con- troversy in his possession. The general question was, whether the acts referred to were binding on the plaintiffs without their assent. When the case came on for final adjudication in the superior court of New Hampshire, the Hon- orable Jeremiah Mason, as counsel for the plain- tiffs, maintained that these acts were not binding. 1. Because they were not within the scope of the legislative power. 2. Because they violated cer tain provisions of the constitution of New Hamp NEW HAMPSHIRE. 405 shire. 3. Because they violated the constitution chap. xn. of the United States. . ,^ In June, the case was argued in Grafton coun- jgi?. ty, by Smith and Mason for the college, and by ^'"**' Sullivan and Bartlett for the people ; but was continued for a further hearing in Rockingham county in the following September. It was finally sept decided in the superior court of the state, at Ply- mouth, in Grafton county, on the sixth of No- vember. Chief Justice Richardson gave the opin- no^. e ion of the court, drawn up in that lucid and cogent style for which he was distinguished, and which made the opinion celebrated for its elegance as well as for its learning, and for its harmony with the popular opinion. In delivering his opinion, Chief Justice Rich- ardson commenced by adverting to the distinction between public and private corporations ; the lat- ter constituted for the immediate benefit of indi- viduals — the former for the advantage of the whole community. Dartmouth college, in the language of its charter, was established "to encourage the laudable and charitable design of spreading Chris- tian knowledge among the savages of our Ameri- can wilderness, and also that the best means of education be established in the province of New Hampshire /o?' the benefit of said province." The trustees had no greater interests in these objects than any other individuals in the community. They had no interest in the institution which they could sell or transfer. Should all its property be lost, there would be no private loss to them. The franchises of the college were exercised for the public benefit ; and for the public benefit its char- 406 HISTORY OF CHAP, ter was granted. It must be regarded, tnerefore, .^..^1- as a public corporation. " In order to determine the question submitted to us," said he, "it seems necessary, in the first place, to ascertain the nature of corporations. — A corporation aggregate is a collection of many individuals united into one body under a special name, having perpetual succession under an arti- ficial form, and vested by the policy of the law with the capacity of acting in several respects as an individual, and having collectively certain fac- ulties, which the individuals have not. A cor- poration considered as a faculty, is an artificial, invisible body, existing only in contemplation of law : and can neither employ its franchises nor hold its property, for its own benefit. In another view, a corporation may be considered as a body of individuals having collectively particular facul- ties and capacities, which they can employ for their own benefit, or for the benefit of others, according to the purposes for which their particular faculties and capacities were bestowed. In either view it is apparent that all beneficial interests both in the franchises and the property of corporations, must be considered as vested in natural persons, either in the people at large, or in individuals ; and that with respect to this interest, corporations may be divided into public and private. ''Private corporations are those which are cre- ated for the immediate benefit and advantage of individuals, and their franchises may be consid- ered as privileges conferred on a number of indi- viduals, to be exercised and enjoyed by them in the form of a corporation. These privileges may NEW HAMPSHIRE 407 be given to the corporators for their own benefit, chap. or for the benefit of other individuals. In either — > . case the corporation must be viewed in relation to the franchises as a trustee, and each of those, who are beneficially interested in them, as a cestui que trust. The property of this kind of corporations, and the profits arising from the employment of their property and the exercise of their franchises, in fact belongs to individuals. To this class be- long all the companies incorporated in this state, for the purpose of making canals, turnpike roads and bridges ; also banking, insurance and manu- facturing companies, and many others. Both the franchises and the property of these corporations exist collectively in all the individuals of whom they are composed ; not however as natural per- sons, but as a body politic, while the beneficial in- terest in both is vested severally in the several mem- bers, according to their respective shares. This interest of each individual is a part of his property. It may be sold and transferred, may, in many cases, be seized and sold upon a fieri facias, and is assets in the hands of his administrator. This is by no means a new view of this subject. The supreme court of Massachusetts, in the 'case of Gray vs. the Portland Bank,* most evidently viewed corpo- rations of this kind in the same light. In the case of the Bank of the United States vs. Devaux,t the supreme court of the United States decided, that in determining a question of jurisdiction de- pending upon the citizenship of the parties, and a corporation being a party, they could look to the citizenship of the individual corporators as of the * 3 Mass. Rep. 9.~9 f 5 Cranch, til. 408 HISTORY OF CHAP, real litigants. The rejection of a corporator as a „ L witness, in cases where the corporation is a party, on the ground of private interest, is a matter of familiar practice in all our courts. ^^ Public corporations are those which are cre- ated for public purposes, and whose property is devoted to the objects for which they are created. The corporators have no private beneficial inter- est, either in their franchises or their property. The only private right which individuals can have in them, is the rigiit of being, and of acting as members. Every other right and interest attached to them can only be enjoyed by individuals like the common privileges of free citizens, and the common interest, which all have in the property belonging to the state. Counties, towns, parishes, &/C., considered as corporations, clearly fall within this description. A corporation, all of whose fran- chises are exercised for public purposes, is a pub- lic corporation. Thus if the legislature should incorporate a number of individuals, for the pur pose of making a canal, and should reserve all the profits arising from it to the state, though all the funds might be given to the corporation by indi- viduals, it would 'in fact be a public corporation. So if the state should purchase all the shares m one of our banking companies, it would immedi- ately become a public corporation. Because in both cases all the property and franchises of the corporation would in fact be public property. A gift to a corporation created for public purposes is in reality a gift to the public. On the other hand, if the legislature should incorporate a bank- ing company for the benefit of the corporators. N E W HAMPSHIRE. 4)09 and should give the corporation idl the necessary chap. funds, it would he a private corporation. Because J_^^ a gift to such a corporation would be only a gift to the corporators. So, should the state purchase a part of the shares in one of our banks, it would still remain a private corporation so far as individ- uals retained a private interest in it. Thus it seems, that whether a corporation is to be con- sidered as public or j)rivate, depends upon the objects for which its franciiises are to be exer- cised ; and that as a corj)oration possesses fran- chises and property only to enable it to answer the purposes of its creation — a gift to a corporation is in truth a gift to those who are interested in those purposes. "Whether an incorporated college, founded and endowed by an individiial, who had reserved to himself a control over its afi'airs as a private visi- tor, must be viewed ;is a {lublic or as a private corporation, it is not noces.sary now to decide, be- cause it does not appear tliat Dartmouth college was subject to nny privjite visitation whatever. "Upon looking into the charter of ])artmouth college we find that iho king ' being willing to encourage the laudable and charitable design of spreading Christian knowl<;dge among the savages of our American' wilderness, and also that the best means of education be established in the prov- ince of 'New Hampshire, for the benefit of said province,' ordained tliat there !-:hould be a col- lege created in said province by the name of Dart- mouth college, ' for the education and instruction of youth of the Indian tribes, in this land, in read ing, writing and all parts of learning, which should 52 410 HISTORY OF CHAP appear necessary and expedient for civilizing and J^^il christianizing children of Pagans, as well as in all liberal arts and sciences, and also of English youth and any others ;" and that there should be in the said Dartmouth college, from thenceforth and forever, a body politic, consisting of trustees of Dartmouth college. He then 'made, ordained, constituted and appointed' twelve individuals to be trustees of the college, and declared that they and their successors, should forever thereafter be a body corporate, by the name of the trustees of Dartmoutli college ; and that said corporation should be ' able, and in law capable for the use of said college, to have, get, acquire, purchase, receive, hold, possess and enjoy tenements, here- ditaments, jurisdictions and franchises, for them- selves and their successors, in fee simple or other- wise ;' — and ' to receive and dispose of any lands, goods, chattels and other things, of what nature soever, for the use aforesaid ; and also to have, accept and receive any rents, profits, annuities, gifts, legacies, donations or bequests of any kind whatsoever, /or the use aforesaid.' Such are the objects, and such the nature of this corporation, appearing upon the face of the charter. It was created for the purpose of holding and managing property for the use of the college ; and the col- lege was founded for the purpose of ' spreading the knowledge of the great Redeemer' among the savages, and of furnishing ' the best means of education' to the province of New Hampshire. These great purposes are surely, if anything can be, matters of public concern. Who has any pri- vate interest either in the objects or the property NEW HAMPSHIRE. 4ll of this institution ? The trustees themselves have chap xn no greater interest in the spreading of Christian 1 — L, knowledge among the Indians, and in providing the best means of education, than any other indi- viduals in the community. Nor have they any private interest in the property of this institution, — nothing that can be sold or transferred, that can descend to their heirs, or can be assets in the hands of their administrators. If all the property of the institution were destroyed, ihc loss would be exclusively public, and no private loss to them. So entirely free are they from any private inter- est in this respect, that they are competent wit- nesses in causes where the corporation is a party, and the property of the corporation in contest. There is in Peake's cases at Nisi Prius, 154, an authority direct to this point. It is the case of Welier against the governors of the Foundling Hospital, and was assumpsit for work and labor. Most of the witnesses called on behalf of the de- fendants, were governors and members of the cor- poration. Lord Kenyon was of opinion that they were nevertheless good witnesses, because they were mere trustees of a public charity, and had not the least personal interest. The office of trustee of Dartmouth college is, in fact, a i)ublic trust, as much so as the office of governor, or of judge of this court ; and for any breach of trust, the state has an unquestionable right, through its courts of jus- tice to call them to an account. The trustees have the same interest in the corporate property, which the governor has in the property of the state, and which we have in the fines we impose upon the criminals convicted before this court. 41j2 history of CHAP Nor is it any private concern of theirs, whethei XH . ___. their powers, as corporators, shall be extended or lessened, any more than it is our private concern whether the jurisdiction of this court shall be enlarged or diminished. They have no private right in the institution, except the right of office — the right of being trustees, and of acting as such. It therefore seems to us, that if such a corporation is not to be considered as a public corporation, it would be difficult to find one that could be so considered." The acts in question could affect only i^uhlic and private rights. No clause, in the constitu- tion either of the state or United States, pro- tected the public interest in the institution from legislative interference. All private rights con- nected with it, belonged to those who founded or endowed it ; to the officers and students ; or to the trustees. The trustees were the only parties to the action, and upon their rights alone, the court were called to decide. Did then these acts unconstitutionally impair any private rights of the trustees ? The addition of new members to a corporation did not destroy it. It still retained the title to the common prop- erty. The old members in this instance had no personal title to be infringed upon. The new members acquired none. If new members could not be added to a corporation, no new duties could be imposed upon it, and the people must be denied the right of legislating for these institu- tions at all without their consent. The plaintiff contended that the acts of 1816 had impaired their right to manage the affairs of NEW HAMFSHIRK. 413 this institution, in violation of that chiuse of the chap bill of rights which declares that "no subject J_l^ shall be despoiled or deprived of his immunities or privileges, but hy the judgment of his peers or the law of the land." That the right to manage the affairs of the college, was a privilege within the meaning of this clause was certain. But how a privilege could be protected from the operation of a " law of the land," by a clause in the constitu- tion declaring that it should not be taken away but by the " law of the land," was not very easily understood. It had been urged that the charter of 1769 was a contract, the validity of which was impaired by these acts, in violation of a clause in the constitu- tion of the United States, which declares that "no state shall pass any law impaiririji the obli- gations of contracts.'" This clause was obviously intended to protect private rights of property only. It could not be construed to embrace contracts in the mere nature of civil institutions nor grants of a state to individual.s for public purposes. The charter of Dartmouth college was not such a con- tract as this language of the constitution referred to. But admitting the charter to have been such a contract — what was that contiijct ? Could the king have intended, when he chartered this insti- tution, to bind himself to the corporators and their successors forever, that they alone should control it, free from all legislative restraints, however strongly such restraints might be required by the public interest ? Such a contract would have been repugnant to all the principles of just govern- ment. Neither the king nor the legislature pos- sessed the power to make it. 4>14 HISTORY OF CHAP. Having thus glanced at the points of the case, _^ in an argument of which the above is but an imper- fect outhne, in concluding, Judge Richardson used the following language : — "I have looked into this case with all the atten- tion of which I am capable, and with a most pain- ful anxiety to discover the true principles upon which it ought to be decided. No man prizes more highly than I do, the literary institutions of our country, or would go farther to maintain their just rights and privileges. But I cannot bring myself to believe, that it would be consistent with sound policy, or ultimately with the true interests of literature itself, to place the great public insti- tutions, in which all the young men, destined for the liberal professions, are to be educated, within the absolute control of a few individuals, and out of the control of the sovereign power — not con- sistent with sound policy, because it is a matter of loo great moment, too intimately connected with the public welfare and prosperity, to be thus intrusted in the hands of a few. The education of the rising generation is a matter of the highest [)ubhc concern, and is worthy of the best atten- tion of every legislature. The immediate care of these institutions must be committed to individu- als, and the trust will be faithfully executed so long as it is recollected to be a mere public trust, and that there is a superintending power, that can and will correct every abuse of it. But make the trustees independent, and they will ultimately for- get that their office is a public trust — will at length consider these institutions as their own — will overlook the great purposes for which their NEW HAMPSHIRE. 415 powers were originally given, and will exercise chap them only to gratify their own private views and .^L. wishes, or to promote the narrow purposes of a sect or party. It is idle to suppose that courts of law can correct every abuse of such a trust. Courts of law cannot legislate. There may be many abuses, which can be corrected by the sov- ereign power alone. Nor would such exemption from legislative control be consistent with the true interests of literature itself, because these institu- tions must stand in constant need of the aid and patronage of the legislature and the public ; and without such aid and patronage, they can never flourish. Their prosperity depends entirely upon the public estimation in which they are held. It is of the highest importance that they should be fond- ly cherished by the best affections of the people; that every citizen should feel that he has an inter- est in them, and tliat they constitute a part of that inestimable inheritance which he is to transmit to his posterity in tlie institutions of his country. But these institutions, if placed in a situation to dispute the public will, would eventually fall into the hands of men, who would be disposed to dis- pute it ; and contests would inevitably arise, in which the great interests of literature would be forgotten. Those who resisted that will would become at once the object of popular jealousy and distrust; their motives, however pure, would be called in question, and their resistance would be believed to have originated in private and in- terested views, and not in regard to the public welfare. It would avail these institutions nothing that the public will was wrong, and that their right 416 HISTORY OF CHAP, could be maintained in opposition to it, in a court ^__1, of law. A triumph there might be infinitely more ruinous than defeat. Whoever knows the nature of a popular government, knows that such a con- test could not be thus settled by one engagement. Such a triumph would only protract the destruc- tive contest. The last misfortune which can befal one of these institutions, is to become the subject of popular contention. "I am aware that this power, in the hands of the legislature, may, like every other, at times be unwisely exercised ; but where can it be more securely lodged ? If those, wliom the people an- nually elect to manage their public affairs, cannot be trusted, who can ? The people have most emphatically enjoined it in the constitution, as a duty upon ' the legislators and magistrates, in all future periods of the sfovernment, to cherish the interests of literature and the sciences, and all seminaries and public schools.' And those inter- ests will bo cherished, botli by the legislature and the people, so long as there is virtue enough left to maintain the rest of our institutions. Whenever the people and their rulers sliall become corrupt enough to Mage war with the sciences and liberal arts, we miiy ho assured that the time will have arrived, when all our institutions, our laws, our liberties must pass away — when all that can be dear to freemen, or that can make their country dear to them, must be lost, and when a govern- ment and institutions must be established, of a very different character from those under which it is our pride and happiness to live. " In forming my opinion in this case, however, I NEW HAMPSHIRE. 417 have given no weight to any considerations of expe- chap. diency. I think the legislature had a clear con- ___ stitutional right to pass the laws in question. My opinion may be incorrect, and our judgment erro- neous, but it is the best opinion, which, upon the most mature consideration, I have been able to form. It is certainly, to me, a subject of much consolation, to know that if we have erred, our mistakes can be corrected, and be prevented from working any ultimate injustice. If the plaintiffs think themselves aggrieved by our decision, they can carry the cause to another tribunal, where it can be re-examined, and our judgment be reversed, or affirmed, as the law of the case may seem to that tribunal to require." Judgment was rendered for the defendant. The case was then carried up to the supreme court of the United States, where, in 1819, judgment was pronounced in favor of the trustees, reversing the decisions of the courts below. This judgment was based upon the opinion that the college charter was a contract within the meaning of the con- stitution; an opinion, which, had it remained un- questioned, would have given to our chartered corporations a supremacy over the laws of the land, which nothing short of revolution could ex- tinguish. Such, however, was not the result. Our federal courts have gradually adopted dif- ferent rules of construction, under which char- tered rights have sometimes yielded to the public welfare. The decision of Chief Justice Richardson was sustained generally by public opinion in New Hampshire and throughout the United States. 53 4,18 HISTORY OF The farmers, merchants, and mechanics, adopt- ing common sense views without much reflection or research, could not perceive that when their fathers threw off' the British yoke and established a republican government, there yet remained within their territory a vestige of that other government which they had rejected — the offspring of royalty — with power to perpetuate itself forever — yet pro- tected from all responsibility and control ; that while every town and every citizen in his individ- ual capacity, and every other corporation, was obliged to submit to the state laws, yet that a col- lege might set those laws at defiance and stand aloof from accountability; and that the revolu- tion, which changed the relations and rights of the citizen, yet wrought no change in the rights of a college chartered before the revolution ; that while the revolution swept every vestige of royalty away, yet that a college remained as a fortress of royal rights — and, while deriving its authority from the crown, might be seeking to destroy liberty, or might, in any other respect, pursue a course of ever so great wickedness and unlawfulness, without being subjected to either punishment or restraint. They thought there was a manifest difference between a corporation granted for the private advantage of its members and one in- stituted and continued in existence solely for the public good ; that though, in the former case, the corporators may have vested rights, because they have an interest in the income of the corporation, yet, in the latter, as there is no such interest, so no such rights exist ; that, in the one case, the mem- bers may justly seek their own emolument — in the NEW HAMPSHIRE. 419 Other, the public welfare should be their sole chap. XII object; that the trustees of Dartmouth college, ^.J^ therefore, could justly have no private interest in their offices, but were the mere servants of the public, to carry into effect the objects of the legis- lature and the people, in patronising that institu- tion; that public sentiment is greatly influenced, if not entirely regulated, by the liberally educat- ed ; that the liberally educated imbibe their sen- timents from their instructors and the books stud- ied in the course of their education ; that it is, therefore, a matter of the highest public concern that these instructors and books should teach sen- timents congenial with republican institutions ; and that the certain attainment of this object re- quires that colleges and public seminaries should be directly or indirectly within the control of the legislature. Whoever should consult the newspapers of the college, the Dartmouth Gazette and the Ports- mouth Oracle, and adopt their opinions, would deem the legislators and the people the most abso- lute agrarians and assassins. Whoever should consult the New Hampshire Patriot and other papers of the people, would infer that the charter professors and their abettors were little better than *' Spanish inquisitors." Both sides were partially wrong. The people were not assassins, nor were the charter professors with strict justice compared to Spanish inquisitors ; but a question had arisen, of great public concern on the one side, and of private interest and ambition on the other. It was but natural that the people should be irritated by what they deemed a factious opposition to con- 420 HISTORY OF CHAP, stitutional laws, and that the college should cling ..^,^.,;^ tenaciously to its long enjoyed interests and pow- ers. It was but natural that bitter animosity should be engendered by dispute, and that passion 1816. and prejudice should rule the hour. The decision of the superior court of New Hampshire was finally overruled and reversed by the supreme court of the United States ; and thus the laws of the state were crushed under the wheels of the general government. When it was known at Hanover that the decision of the state court had been reversed at Washington, the stu- dents of the old college riotously entered the uni- versity and seized the books by force. The pro- fessors of the university were assailed with clubs and threatened with death ; and when they at- tempted to defend themselves, they were com- plained of as criminals. The students of the old college found a magistrate of the village subser- vient to their purpose; and the university profes- sors, for attempting a feeble defence against over- whelming numbers, were arrested and carried * before him for trial and punishment. They were then burnt in effigy. While such were the proceedings of the stu- dents, the people received the decision of the United States court, although they believed it to be wrong, with the utmost dignity and moderation of conduct. Indeed, it afforded a new and con- vincing proof of their patriotism and love of or- 1816. der that they submitted to a decision which they deemed to be manifestly at variance with the con- stitution and the laws, and an arbitrary encroach- ment of the general government upon the rights NEWHAMrSHIRE. 4,21 of the state. The doctrines of the court in this chap. case have met with a growing disapprobation in all 1. parts of the country, and are now regarded as of very doubtful authority. But it is not to be de- nied that the people acted wisely in yielding to the established tribunals of the country, and awaiting the slow operation of time to correct the errors of human judgment. It is believed by many that the day is not far distant when the Dartmouth col- lege case will be subjected to an entire revision, and the institution be placed under the control of the legislature. During the summer of 1817, James Monroe, having been elected to the presidency by a large majority, made a tour to the northern states. He visited Portsmouth, Dover, Concord, and Han- over in this state, and here, as everywhere else, was received with distinguished tokens of respect. Both parties united, with equal zeal, in the gen- erous preparations which were everywhere made for his reception. And, indeed, a suspension of that political warfare which had so long agitated the country, commencing amid the festivities which everywhere attended the progress of the chief mag- istrate of the Union, and favored by the pacific policy of his administration, continued with little interruption to its close. -> The state-house at Concord was this year erected — a neat, spacious and beautiful building of hammered granite, from the extensive quarries of the same town. Its expense was more than eighty thousand dollars, a considerable portion of which was sustained by the citizens of Con- cord. During the same year the Athenceum was 1817. 422 HISTORY OF CHAP, established at Portsmouth; an institution which XII .^...^ now possesses a valuable cabinet of minerals, an extensive collection of antiquities, and one of the largest and most valuable libraries in the sf^te. 1819. Governor Plummer having declined a re-elec- tion, the Hon. Samuel Bell was, in March, 1819, elected his successor in the chief magistracy. The Hon. William Hale, of Dover, received the votes of the federal party, which, on this occasion, made only a very feeble opposition. The seat on the bench of the superior court, which Mr. Bell had resigned to enter upon his duties of governor, was filled by the appointment of Samuel Green, Esq., of Concord. The passage of the toleration law, in 1819, was by far the most important measure of this admin- istration. It for the first time placed all religious sects in the state upon equal ground, and made them dependent upon the free contributions of the people for their support. From the first establishment of a few infant set- tlements in this state, the people had been dis- posed to resist the imposition of all restraints upon their religious opinions, and all unnecessary bur- thens upon their property. The first settlers were men who sought to better their condition by the use of such humble resources as our woods and waters aftbrded. These were soon followed by religious non-conformists, flying from the persecu- tions of the puritans. The former class thought more of their fisheries, their searchings after mines, and their trade, and the latter of secluded homes and reUgious liberty, than of the doubtful advan- NEW HAMPSHIRE. 423 tages to be derived from the exclusive establish- ment of a particular sect. Here Quakers and non-conformists were safe. Religious distinctions were unknown in public affairs. And as a natural consequence, when our little settlements were an- nexed to Massachusetts, the religious tests which the rigid rulers of that colony had established, were entirely dispensed with, so far as related to citizens of New Hampshire. They were author- ized to vote, and their deputies were allowed to sit in the general court, even when they did not claim to be members of that church, to which, in Massachusetts, all such privileges were confined. Descending from such a stock, and representing ancestors of every possible creed, there was never any general feeling among the people averse to the religious rights of any portion of the community. From a regard, however, for religion in the aggre- gate, rather than the interests of any particular sect, the early legislators of this state had enact- ed a law, empowering the several towns to raise money, by taxation, to build churches and support a Christian ministry. The progress of new sects, gradually springing up in the state, soon produced a great diversity of religious sentiment among its people. Over these new and feeble divisions of the religious commu- nity, a single denomination held the supremacy in nearly every town. The dissenters from this pre- vailing sect, divided among themselves, were sel- dom strong enough to support a ministry of their own. In this event, they were liable to be pur- sued with all the rigors of the law, if they failed to pay the established clergy a full share of the 424 HISTORY OF CHAP, expenses incurred in their support. Thus many ,_^.^ of the people were compelled to pay for the erec- tion of churches they never entered, for teachings they never heard, and clerical labors which they conscientiously regarded as tending only to perpet- uate the dominion of religious errors over the pub- lic mind. A law, undoubtedly established in the first instance from pure motives and for the public benefit, had thus become converted into an engine of oppression. Its repeal, however, met with a very decided opposition. It was declared that it would at once be destructive of religion and the public morals. Such objections have ever been raised against measures designed to extend the liberties of man- kind. But when the toleration bill had once gone into operation, equalising the privileges of the dif- ferent sects, and promoting harmony of feeling among their members, it gained additional respect for the sentiments of all religious denominations, and operated injuriously upon the interests of none. Churches have grown up under its provisions in every neighborhood, and a numerous ministry, de- pendent upon the voluntary contributions of the people, have been sustained with the most honor- able liberality. The people have given twice as much, of their own free will, as could be wrung from them under the old law, and it seems long since to have been conceded tliat the true inter- ests of every sect have been promoted by its repeal. Before the passage of the toleration act, the people had borne, with astonishing patience, the support of the congregational order by law. Year NEW HAMPSHIRE. 425 after year had the honest Quaker, the Baptist, chap. the UniversaUst, been taxed for the support of a .^,-^-^ rehgion in which he did not beheve ; and when he refused payment, was sent to a dungeon, or ru- ined by a never-ending lawsuit. The courts were tinctured with orthodoxy, and corruption ap- peared upon the bench. The jury were secretly *' culled" — dissenters were taken off, and their places supplied with those whose well known or- thodoxy afforded a guaranty that the law, right or wrong, would be enforced. While such was the state of things at home, the people of New Hampshire had seen a revolution progressing in Connecticut, similar to that which was now beginning among themselves. Ever since the first settlement of Connecticut, the people had groaned under an oppressive system of religious intolerance. It was a complete and most odious union of church and state. None but the standing order of clergy could there obtain a legal support; and the laws for the support of that order were such a direct violation of the right of every man to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience, that by many they were deemed "dis- graceful to humanity." Often was the parish col- lector seen robbing the humble dwelling of honest poverty of its table, chairs and andirons, or selling at vendue the cow of the poor laborer, on which the subsistence of his family depended, in order to load with luxuries the ta])lc of an indolent [)riest, or clothe in purple those who partook with him of the spoils of the poor. All ministers not of the standing: order were viewed as thieves and rob- bers — as wolves in sheep's clothing — who had 54 4,26 HISTORY OF CHAP, gained a dishonest entrance into the fold, and XII . . ._,^^_ whom it was the duty of the standing order to drive out. In 1818, a bill was reported to the convention of that state, confirming freedom of conscience to all. Every man possessed of real independence and enlightened views, rejoiced at a revolution which sundered so monstrous a union of the church and the state in Connecticut. The cler- gy of the standing order deprecated — mourned — threatened, and exclaimed, "Alas! for that great city!" But the vast concourse of the people joined in thanksgiving for its destruction. Such was the change which the people of New Hamp- shire had witnessed in a neighboring state. They themselves were bound by a system less odious in the degree of practical evil which it inflicted, but in principle essentially the same. The act of the 13th of Anne, empowered towns to hire and settle ministers, and to pay them a stipulated salary from the town taxes. This was not directly a union of church and state ; but it operated most oppressively. Each town could select a minister of a particular persuasion, and every citizen was compelled to contribute toward the support of the clergyman and to build the church, unless he could prove that he belonged to a different persua- sion and regularly attended public worship else- where on the Lord's day. Bill of The bill of rights declares, "that no person of Rights, ^ ^ ' 1 . ,. Art.o. any one particular religious sect, or denomination, shall ever be compelled to pay towards the sup- port of the teacher or teachers of another persua- sion, sect, or denomination, and that no subordi- nation of any one sect or denomination, to another. NEW HAMPSHIRE. 427 shall ever be established by law." Notwithstand- chae ing these clear provisions, the statute of Anne L continued substantially to prevail. The act of 1791 changed the form but not the nature of the oppression. It vested in the selectmen of the tovv^ns the powers (essentially) which had before been vested in the body of the citizens. The selectmen could still settle a minister and tax the people for his support. They could build a church, and search the pockets of dissenters for the funds. They could prefer whatever persuasion they pleased, and thus compel the people to bow to whatever image man might set up. How could a dissenter avoid paying the tax ? Only by prov- ing that he belonged to another sect. The proof was often difficult to obtain, sometimes impossible. When a suit was instituted against him for the tax, and he was brought into court, he was met by able counsel, employed by the selectmen, well versed in law, and ready to quibble at the slight- est lack of proof, and vex him by nice legal distinc- tions. Mr. Smith and Mr. Mason, in one case, contended that the defendant, whose defence was that he was a Baptist, could not avoid the pay- ment, because he had not proved that he had been dipped. Neither is he a Congregationalist, re- plied Mr. Sullivan and Mr. Bartlett, because he has not proved that he has been sprinkled. Such was the vexatious nature of the suits to dissenters themselves. But if they could not avoid the tax, how must it be with those who belonged to no religious sect ? For them there was no escape. They were compelled to pay, notwith- standing the plain declaration of the constitution of the United States. 428 HISTORY OF CHAP. Were it not for the general intolerance of that XII ^.^^.^ day, it might be a subject of wonder that the peo- ple should submit to a law thus unconstitutional and void, as well as oppressive, for the space of twenty-eight years. Yet such was the period of their submission and such the provisions of the law. But they manifested an increasing dissatis- faction. They had seen the poor man cast into prison, and the obstinate man after spending his fortune in a fruitless resistance to the claims of the selectmen, overpowered at last, when perhaps the destitute wife and children needed the little for- tune he had thus squandered in an unsuccessful contest. The New Hampshire Patriot,* a popular paper at the seat of government, had spoken warmly against the oppressive exactions of the old law. 31 any of the most enlightened minds in the state were known to be its opponents. Besides the revolution in Connecticut, they had seen the representatives of France vote down a proposition to enforce respect to the established religion of the French empire and to punish out- ' rage against it. They had read of those move- ments in Maryland, in which the name of Breck- enridge had become famous for a speech which he had made on the Jew bill, and in which he brought out, and set in lucid and beautiful order, the great doctrines of civil and religious liberty. The state of Vermont had commenced, in 1791, the same system established in New Hampshire. In 180.3, it was relaxed, and any person declaring to or writing to the selectmen, that he was not of the same religious sect with the majority of the town, * Then conducted by Isaac Hill. NEW HAMPSHIRE. 429 was exempt from taxation. In 1807, the compul- chap. sory law was wholly abolished. Yet the state of J__ Vermont was not ruined by the change, as had been predicted by the advocates for compulsion. In Connecticut the laws had been abolished which compelled uniformity of religion, by obliging every town to support a clergyman, and allowed to no man the right of suffrage, unless he was in full communion with the church. All this was swept away, to give place to complete toleration and equahty — yet neither vice nor crime increased. The state of Pennsylvania never compelled the support of religion ; yet the people were not want- ing in piety, and they had little of the clamor of religious faction. The constitution of Maine, formed about this 1819. time, seemed to embody the liberal sentiments tmioil which began everywhere to prevail. Her bill of Midne. rights, modelled after that of New Hampshire, declared that there should ])e no religious test as a qualification for any oHice — that no person Bin of should be hurt, molested or restrained in his per- ^'=^^^- son, liberty or estate for worshipping God in the manner and season most agreeable to the dictates of his own conscience. Such was the progress of opinions abroad, when the toleration act of New Hampshire came up on its final passage in the esof Hull. house of representatives. It was a favorite maxim bard' with the anti-tolerationists, that " every man ought and"' to be compelled to pay for the support of religion somewhere;"* and they contended that this was es^'oi' implied by the constitution. The tolerationists pief* denied both the constitutionality and the expedi- lett, ency of the doctrine, and contended for absolute Butters * Hubbard's Speech, 430 HISTORY OF CHAP, freedom and voluntary contribution. The oppo- '^ nents of toleration maintained that it was the design of the framers of the constitution that every citi- bard's zen should be compelled to contribute his just and Xne, equal proportion for the maintenance and support of the ministry. They also gravely contended, and with much sincerity argued, that the passage of this law would produce the dire etTect to " make young people walk in the fields and associate and visit much together on the Sabbath" — that it would introduce confusion — that it would dis- courage preachers of the gospel, by making them too dependent. On the other hand, the advocates for toleration maintained that the law of 1791 was an attempt to compel uniformity of religious faith, and that such attempts were destructive to liberty and dis- astrous to religion. They endeavored to prove that by the constitution neither the selectmen nor the courts had any right to require evidence of a man's religious faith, beyond his own declaration — that his own deliberate avowal of his belief should be the highest evidence required, and should ex- speech cusc him from paying the tax. " Have we," said Whip- Whipple, " any tribunal to which, as a standard ^'^' of faith, men's consciences can be referred for de- cision and regulation ? Has our constitution pro- vided any such? How then, sir, is this question to be settled, but by the individual's declaration, concerning his own religious belief? And, sir, do not your existing laws in effect establish such an inquisitorial tribunal ? They authorize the selectmen to assess monies voted by towns for the support of ministers, and for building and re- pairing meeting-houses. In this assessment they NEW HAMPSHIRE. 431 necessarily exercise their judgments, and assess chap. those whom they deem liable; your collectors , '^ are armed with strong powers; no barrier is in- terposed between the delinquent's property and their grasp; property is taken, exposed to pub- lic sale and the tax satisfied. The only remedy ^le'l" left the oppressed citizen is an appeal to his ^^Tnc,' peers — under the direction of judicial officers, '^'^" where his conscience is submitted to the arbit- rament of jurors, and of jurors too, perhaps, under the influence of strong religious preju- dices! After struggling for years against the combined influence of the town, the prejudices of the jurors, the corruption of witnesses, the ingenuity of counsel, disposed to perpetuate the oppression, and the 'glorious uncertainty' of the law; after spending the means on which his family depend for support, ruining his fortune and re- ducing himself to beggary ; he may recover the amount of tax and cost. For, sir, let it be remembered that unless he shows corruption in the selectmen, or assessors, or a design to tax wrongfully, he can recover no exemplary damages. But even this pitiful redress is not certain. In- stances have frequently occurred when jurors could not agree, and the man wrongfully assessed has been dismissed from the tribunal, where ' drowsy justice still nodded upon her rotten seat, intoxica- ted by the poisonous draught of bigotry prepared for her cup.'" It was not enough for a man to declare to the selectmen that he was not of the established reli- gion. This denial, far from pacifying, rather served to inflame the agents of the dominant creed, 432 HISTORY OF CHAP, who were never satisfied until the dissenter was XH _,,.^ arrested and committed to prison. Bill of The fifth article of the bill of rights declares, Rights,, ° ' Art. V. that "every individual has a natural right to wor- ship God according to the dictates of his own con- science and reason; and no subject shall be hurt, molested, or restrained, in his person, liberty, or estate, for worshipping God in the manner and season most agreeable to the dictates of his own conscience, or for his religious profession, senti- ments or persuasion ; provided he doth not dis- turb the public peace, or disturb others in their religious worship." Notwithstanding this plain declaration of the bill of rights, no Christians but Congregationalists were recognised as a religious sect. There was but one sect known to the law of 1791. Univer- salists, Methodists, Baptists, were indiscrimingtely classed with the Orthodox, and when they plead- ed their difference of sentiment as a reason why they should not be taxed, they were told that they were not acknowledged by the laws as religious denominations, and that the assessors therefore might assess them with Congregationalists. The courts even sanctioned this doctrine ; and, for the first time, perhaps, the confidence of the people in the judiciary was shaken. After having been "molested" by the most oppressive taxes, con- trary to the express language and plain meaning cor*ds of the bill of rights for thirteen years, the Freewill %ec.^j\ Baptists procured an act of the legislature to be jinM3, passed in 1801, recognising them as a rehgious 'aSV denomination ! The Universalists did the same in ^1^07.'' 1805, and the Methodists in 1807. NEW HAMPSHIRE. 433 In the course of the discussions which arose chap: upon this vitally important question, the opponents .^^ of toleration strenuously contended that it was the duty of the state government to establish and en- force uniformity of religion. This position was as- sailed in a most powerful manner by Dr. Whipple. "This attempt at uniformity," said he, "has Speech . . of Dr. in all governments and countries produced that whip- . . pie. very state of public depravity and moral desola- tion so much deprecated by the opponents of this amendment. The requirement in a foreign gov- ernment,* that any individual shall have partaken of the sacrament, before the exercise of any civil trust, is directly calculated to produce hypocrisy and irreligion. For this reason you see men aris- ing from the the sacred emblems of the blood and body of our Lord, to drunkenness, lewdness and profanity. It was this spirit which kindled the fires of the Inquisition — collected the fagots, and emboldened the horrid inquisitor to chant ' ex- piTTgat Deus,' aroimd the consuming corse of the human victim. This was the spirit, sir, which, under the mask of Christianity, ' With Heaven's own thunders shook the world below, And played the God an engine on his foe.' " It was the indulgence of this spirit which fixed a stain on the character of Calvin, which not all his excellent virtues, nor time, nor oblivion can wash out. To this idol, Servetus was sacrificed as a burnt offering. To glut this monster, the blood of Balzec flowed ; and to slake his thirst for re- venge, the amiable, learned and industrious Cas- * Connecticut. 55 434 HISTORY OF CHAP, talio was slandered, traduced and exposed to L suffering. It was this, sir, which caused the bloody Mary to sacrifice her hecatombs of human victims in the sight of Heaven, in the sight of that God who has declared himself the common Father of us all. " This spirit, sir, caused our forefathers, who themselves fled from persecution, to banish Qua- kers, whip dissenting females, persecute Baptists, and to do other enormities which have stained the pages of our history. And is none of this spirit left among us ? Is it extinct ? No, sir — this spirit now operates. It is this which causes those who advocate the cause of religious freedom to be stigmatized with the opprobrious epithets of deist, atheist, and men of no religion.'^ After this speech was delivered, the antagonists of Dr. Whipple sharpened their weapons anew, and prepared to make another and stronger ap- peal to the prejudices and fears of the legislature. bard's *' Pass the bill now on the table," said Mr. 1819.' Hubbard, "and the temples now consecrated to July. the worship of the Saviour of the world will soon be deserted and forsaken." ke"'s The opponents of the bill carried the minds of *5^iJ, ' their hearers back to the epoch of the French rev- olution, and informed the house that the bloody scenes of that drama commenced by treating with contempt the institutions of religion. Yet so rapid was the change of public sentiment in favor of the bill, and so poorly did the objec- tions raised against it bear the test of examination, that even some of the ablest opponents* of the bill, * Amonff these was Mr. Hubbard. 1817. NEW HAMPSHIRE. 435 while it was under discussion, voted in the affirm- chap. • XTT ative on the question of its final passage. The remaining opponents of the law, however, endeavored to convince the house that some of the most bloody scenes in history had been caused by a want of respect for the clergy. It was for Dr. Whipple to reply to arguments like these, by illus- trations drawn from the same sources. " Has the gentleman," (Mr. Parker,) said he, "forgot- ^^ ten the day of St. Bartholomew, at Paris, when, ^j^|p- in one fatal night, sixty thousand dissenters were ^v^^'^^- murdered in cold blood, under the direction of the officers of the established church ? Has he forgot- ten the revocation of the edict of Nantz, in the reign of Louis XIV., by which measure fifty thou- sand dissenting families went into exile and num- bers perished ? Or can it be said, that those scenes, so shocking to humanity, so repugnant to the pure principles of the Christian religion, hap- pened from any want of respect for the clergy of that day? No, sir; the church was then abun- dant in her revenues, splendid and imposing in her worship, and the clergy dictated the government itself. These outrages originated, sir, not in a want of respect for the clergy, nor in sectarian influence; but in that desire for uniformity, that itch for splendid external worship, which in all ages and in every country has produced domina- tion and cruelty in the clergy and stupidity and slavery in the people. We neither ridicule nor oppress the clergy. We commend their virtues and value their labors, while directed to the great and important purposes of teaching that religion which is pure, peaceable, gentle, easy to be en- 43^ HISTORY OF .ih-,"«- CHAP, treated, full of good works, without partiality and ,3!L, witliout hypocrisy. But, sir, when we see them anxious to amass power, wealth, worldly honor, rather than that which cometh from above ; when we see them endeavoring to establish ' the splen- dor of the church upon the misery of the citi- zen ' — heady, high minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of truth, justice, mercy and charity; when, like Thomas A. Becket, they are aiming at the civil authority — then shall we have reason to exclaim, in the language of the litany, from such men 'good Lord deliver us! '" This speech was replied to at great length, and ably, by the advocates for intolerance, who lost no opportunity to show that the law was unconstitu- tional and subversive of religion. Their argu- ments were met by Ichabod Bartlett, a young but distinguished advocate, of Portsmouth. ofTcha- " It is objected," said he, " that the bill before B^rt- the house permits every person to settle the ques- Juiy, tion for himself, what denomination he is of — that ^^'^" his consent is necessary, to be subjected to any denomination, and his dissent frees him. Praised be God, that the wisdom of our fathers has so Consti- ordained — for thus I undertake to say it is decreed tution . . . y_,, . . • 1 r* of New m our constitution. Ihis is apparent, in the nrst shire, place, fi'om the nature of the evils intended to be guarded against by the provisions of that consti- RilVts tution. Their object was not only to secure the Art. v. perfectly free exercise of religious opinions, but to remove all pretence for disturbing or annoying any in the enjoyment of it. The intention was not merely to authorize a defence against oppressors, but to disarm bigotry and fanaticism — not only to NEW HAMPSHIRE. 437 interpose the shield of charity and toleration, but chap. to wrest from the hand of persecution the sword .^^.-^ that would be used to perforate it. The framers of that instrument had learned, by fatal expe- rience, the truth of Lord Mansfield's declaration before the house of peers, that 'conscience is not controllable by human laws ; nor amenable to human tribunals. Persecution or attempts to force conscience can never produce conviction, and are only calculated to make hypocrites or martyrs.' They had learned the outrages of religious infatu- ation when countenanced by law. History had told them of the horrors of the civil power, under the pretence of pious purposes, which v^cre prac- tised upon the followers of our Saviour. They had seen, with the cruelty, the inefficacy too of the civil government upon this subject. They had seen an army of seven hundred thousand men, for religious purposes, making prisoners and victims, but never converts or Christians. They had seen its absurdity in ' solemn convocations ' upon the most frivolous pretences. They had not only seen the effect of the stake and fagot in the reign of Mary ; they had not only looked upon the con- dition of the sufferer, but had themselves passed through the fires of persecution. They had en- countered the savage beasts and savage men of the wilderness, to escape the more savage fury of relisfious intolerance. And, such is the effect of fanaticism, they had seen those yet bleeding with the stripes and wounds of persecution, themselves become persecutors ; and even the legislative re- cords of a neighboring colony stained with an act authorizing the putting to death, without even the 438 HISTORY OF CHAP, form of a trial, ' any Quaker, Adamite, or here- XII • J__ tic' Disgusted with the follies and absurdities, shocked at the horrors, and bleeding with the wounds, which religious bigotry, armed with civil power, had inflicted, the framers of our constitu- tion determined to guard against the repetition of such scenes. They had become convinced, too, that the pure religion of the gospel would ever flourish best unencumbered with legal pains and penalties; that every eflbrt of compulsion and force reacted upon the movers ; and that even should an external observance of any particular creed be enforced by the civil authority, it could at best command but a hypocritical service ; that tenets, enforced by an oflicer of the law, or the point of the bayonet, could produce no salutary influence upon the mind. And while experience had taught them the ineflicacy of such attempts, revelation proclaimed that the principles of the gospel were their own best support ; and that the work, 'if it were of God, would prevail.' With such convictions, they determined to remove every pretence for violence — and that the arm of civil power should in no case interfere where the peace of civil society was undisturbed. " Those evils, sir, are not guarded against ; the views of those who framed our constitution are not accomplished upon any other construction of that instrument than the one adopted by this bill. Say to the majority of any town that they may tax, not only their own sect, but all, who, they may please to say, do not belong to some other sect ; and deprive the person so assessed from deciding that question ; and what is the consequence ? Do NEW HAMPSHIRE. 439 we want new evidence of the propensity of any chap. dominant sect to assume to itself all claim to cor- ^..-^ rectness — to dispense indiscriminately the title of infidel and heretic to all who differ ? Do we not know that the privileges and powers of the consti- tution, thus interpreted — 'Like saving faith, by each would be applied To one small sect, and all are damned beside ? ' "Did those who sought the blood of our fore- fathers believe they were sending to the scaffold and stake persons of any religion? Never. Take from the dissenter the power of determining his faith for himself, and the sect in power, while they levy their contributions upon him, will claim the merit of seizing the goods of infidels for the support of religion ; as the executioners of our ancestors did the praise of destroying their bodies to save their souls from heresy. " It may perhaps be thought that in the present age there can be no danger in putting a construc- tion upon this provision of the constitution, which shall give the majority a right to decide upon and control the religious opinions of the minority. Has human nature changed ? Has it ceased to be true that like causes produce like effects ? Give to religious bigotry the power, and you shall again hear the thunders of the Vatican denouncing all dissenters. You shall soon see a second edition of the famous unam sanctam, declaring a univer- sal assent to the exercise of omnipotence by some particular sect, in matters of faith, essential to sal- vation. They may not perhaps again clothe those they condemn as heretics in garments of pitch for 410 HISTORY OF CHAP, a conflagration, or in the skins of wild beasts to ,« — 1, be devoured by dogs ! but they will enrol them in their tax lists, to support doctrines which may be thought of a pernicious tendency, and set upon them a no less ravenous race of blood-hounds. ' Fanaticism,' said Sir James M'Intosh, ' is the most incurable of all mental diseases, because, in all its forms, it is distinguished by a mad contempt for experience.' Not the enemies, but the friends of religion have too much reason, with regard to the leaders of different denominations, without dis- tinction, to describe each in the language of an eloquent divine of the present day, as ' arrogating all excellence to his own sect, and all saving power to his own creed ; sheltering, under the name of pious zeal, the love of domination, the conceit of infallibility, and the spirit of intolerance; and trampling on men's rights under pretence of sav- ing their souls.' " These and similar speeches went forth to the people — were eagerly read and loudly applauded by all but the Congregational order. The sound- ness of their arguments produced great effect. Indeed, so evident are most of their positions, and so apparent, tliat at the present day the only won- der is that they should ever have been doubted, or should ever have found opponents. These opponents constantly sought for historical proofs of the danger of multiplying sects. But had they sought to find illustrations of the danger of swal- lowing up all minor sects in one predominant order, they would have been much more successful in their researches. Against the toleration act fanaticism fought NEW HAMPSHIRE. 44)1 with its usual ferocity. By the eiiHghtened por- crat. lion of the people it was hailed with joy. By the — ,-l_ orthodox it was loaded with anathemas. The clergy feared that their tithes would be diminished when the people were no longer compelled to pay them. The ignorant and bigoted mourned over the change with well-meant sorrows. "Alack! Alack!" said they, "religion! we have none of it. Our general court at Concord have put away our religion. The godly folk there fought hard and long for religion, but the wicked ones outnumbered them, and religion is clean gone." The clergy had instilled into the minds of the igno- rant that the wicked ones (who composed a major- ity of the legislature) had destroyed a law with- out which religion could not exist. After the passage of the toleration act, a clamor was raised throughout the state, with the hope of producing a reaction against the bill and thus in- fluencing the elections. Some declared it to be "a repeal of the Christian religion;" others said that "the Bible is abolished ;" others that "the wicked bear rule." The truth perhaps was that the dominant sect could no longer support their system by extortion and oppression, that all sects were placed upon a level — so that it was not reli- gion which was abolished, but the power of the Congregational order. In the passage of this law the friends of reli- gious liberty found cause for rejoicing. They regarded it as an auspicious era in the history of New Hampshire, and believed that it would bv^ viewed with peculiar interest throughout the country, and with pride and pleasure by their 56 442 HISTORY OF CHAP, posterity. They rejoiced that a law, which they J L regarded as a stain upon the statute book, had at length been wiped away — and that every citizen might now worship in the manner and season most agreeable to him, without being driven to a con- fession of faith before a jury, or to the necessity of expending hundreds of dollars in a court of law to recover back an illegal assessment of a few shillings. Notwithstanding all the clamors raised against the toleration act, no sooner had it gone into oper- ation than religion began to be supported more liberally by voluntary contribution than it had be- fore been by compulsion. When this fact was apparent, and stood clearly revealed by the light of experience, the bitter censures which had been passed upon the friends of the law, began to be withdrawn, and the severest strictures were dealt out freely to its opponents. Thus it happened that the men, who, at the outset, while the law was unpopular, put their political character and suc- cess at stake by their fearless and decided con- duct, gained finally their reward, while the honest dupes of fanaticism, and the timid and time-serv- ing politicians who stooped to gain popularity by compromising principle, met with the odium which was their due, and with the distrust which their conduct inspired — thus illustrating the wise say- M*^^-„ ino- of Governor Bell, that " the statesman who sage 01 O ' g^^Y takes the constitution for his guide, and faithfully adheres to its spirit, may confidently indulge the assurance that he cannot materially err; and though prejudice or self-interest may misrep- resent and censure his official acts, time, with NEW HAMPSHIRE. 443 that candid and dispassionate consideration which ciiap it never fails to bring, will eventually do justice to .^ '^ his motives and his conduct." During the toleration contest, the Congrega- tional order levelled their sharpest weapons against the Methodists ; a sect then comparatively feeble and possessed of but limited means to make their real doctrines known. The Orthodox denounced them as "antichrist" and immoral; and affirmed that their church government was a monarchy. / Time has shown that whatever may be the faults of their system of church government, no denomi- nation of Christians has done more to improve the morals of society. Their distinguishing charac- teristic is humility — the substance without the show of godliness. They seem to take no pride in collecting large funds, erecting costly churches, and pasTsing in splendid pageantry before the world. Their preachers receive but a scanty livelihood, and expect no more. Is a Methodist clergyman rich? it is in the treasures of another world. In- cessant in labor, plain in his garb, and meek in his deportment, he moves through the humble sphere of his labors, visiting the abodes of the poor as well as the mansions of the rich, imparting com- fort to the dying and the destitute, encouraging the disconsolate, rebuking the proud, and holding out a free salvation, without partiality and vvith- out hypocrisy, to the whole family of man. When these humble Christians first appeared with their doctrines, they were described as "disturbers of the peace" — "brawlers" — "disorderly persons," and "enemies to learning;" and their arduous and honest labors were treated by the Congrega- 444 HISTORY OF CHAP, tional order with proud contumely and vaunting J„_^ reproach. Nothing intimidated by this undeserved censure, they continued their labors, which at first began with the poor, but gradually spread through the wealthier portions of society. If they have not disarmed the hostility of opposing sects, they have ^ commanded respect by their increasing numbers intelligence, and power. They have commended themselves to all men by their ardent love for humanity, by the genuine simplicity of their faith, and by their attachment to liberty and the rights of man. The coldest skeptic can hardly deny that they have been successful imitators of Christ ; and it would be difficult for the most jealous republican to discover that their system of church government has thus far had any practical tendency to monarchy. The hostility which had been displayed towards the Methodists, was directed with equal severity against the Baptists, and was equally undeserved. The Universalists, a sect then much weaker than either of the others, and distinguished by essential differences of opinion from both, did not escape the general attack. The doctrine of Universalism was first preached in New Hampshire, in 1773, by Mr. Murray. In 1802, Christopher Erskine, of Claremont, hav- ing been sued for parish taxes, by the Congrega- tionalist society in that town, asked advice of the general convention of Universalists. The judges of the supreme court had decided that Congrega- tionalists and Universalists were the same sect in the eve of the law ; and thus Erskine was called upon to comply with the demand of the parish, in NEW HAMPSHIKE. 445 which he Hved. If this decision was to abide, chap. suits without number might be brought against J-,.^ Universalists. The convention appointed Rev. George Richards to present a memorial to the judges on the subject. In 1803, the profession of beHef and plan of the convention was declared. A special address was also sent out fi-om the con- vention to the Universalists of New Hampshire, "occasioned by the decision of the judges of the supreme court of said state, adjudging the pay- ment of ministerial taxes to Congregationalist min- isters." " They complain that by this decision a whole body of professing Christians in that state, ^ are blotted from the volume of legal existence." The points of faith in which Universalists and Congregationalists differ are pointed out, by which it is shown that they cannot be one and the same denomination. The sufferers are persuaded to submit peaceably as good citizens, until redress should be had of the legislature. The profession of belief was drawn up to show that Universalists differed from all others, and were necessarily a distinct sect.* The "profession of belief" declared by the con- vention in 1803, is as follows. It has never been altered, and is satisfactory to the denomination. "Art. I. We believe that the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments contain a revela- tion of the character of God, and of the duty, interest and final destination of mankind. "Art. II. We believe that there is one God, whose nature is love; revealed in one Lord Jesus Christ, by one Holy Spirit of grace; who will * Whilteinore's Modern Ilistorj' of Universalism. 446 HISTORY OF CHAP, finally restore the whole family of mankind to holi- ^^.^^ ness and happiness. "Art. III. We believe that holiness and true happiness are inseparably connected; and that believers ought to be careful to maintain order, and practise good works ; for these things are good and profitable unto men." The Universalists were recognised as a distinct sect, June 13, 1S05. Rev. Hosea Ballou, a leading and distinguished minister of this denomination, was born in Rich- mond, in this state. He has in his day acquired great distinction as a minister and theological con- troversialist. The denomination of Universalists has gradu- ally increased in New Hampshire, as in other states of the Union. There are now in the state one convention, six associations, eighty-two soci- eties, besides churches, sixty-six meeting-houses, owned wholly or in part by Universalists, and thirty-five ministers. The doctrine which they preach is sometimes called "universal restoration," but more commonly Universalism ; and places in a most attractive light the paternal character of the Deity. It is a doctrine of extended charity, infinite benev- olence and boundless love. It teaches that the sorrows of man cease with his mortal career * — that pain may die and every wo may find an ob- livion — but that joy and hope (in which fear is not mingled,) that life and love are immortal; that infinite goodness watches over the life and the des- * Some of the Universalists, called " Kestoratiouists," believe in a limited punishment after death. NEW HAMPSHIRE. 447 tiny of man ; and that when the trials of a brief chap. ... XH existence are past, the Deity will finally bring all _..^ men to a state of felicity, sublime in its nature, infinite in duration. Such is the doctrine of Universalism. When first taught, it was violently assailed by many of the best men of every faith. By some it was not understood, and by others it was deemed hostile to morality and dangerous to the good order of so- ciety. Yet, in its progress and development, it does not appear to be distinguished by any of those practical evils which were apprehended from the efforts of the few followers by whom it was first propagated. It was at this period that the scenery of New Hampshire began to attract increased attention, and travellers came in greater numbers to view those features which arc peculiar to the mountains and lakes of this state. Proceeding northward from Orford, where the intervals are narrow, the traveller enters a broad and fertile valley at Haverhill, which is spotted by villages, watered by abundant streams, and sur- rounded by picturesque hills, swelling into moun- tains along the eastern horizon, and rising to lofty heights at the south and west. The route to Moosehillock from Haverhill leads by Owl's Head, an abrupt mountain, which presents its bald and rugged face at the road side which winds along the Oliverian. The sombre green foliage of the black alder fringes this wild stream, min- gled with the sprightlier leaves of the birch, maple and white ash, with here and there a willow or a slender mountain ash. From this stream a rude 44(8 HISTORY OF CHAP, foot path has been cleared, which winds up the .......^ mountain's side. Your approach to the summit becomes visible by the diminished size of the trees, and by their naked, dead and gnarled aspect. They are pine, spruce and fir — the only one that retains its greenness is the mountain ash, which seems to flourish at an elevation where all others die. The mountain sorrel, which adorns the path with its delicate white bell, striped with red, ap- pears to be the attendant of the trees, and ceases where they disappear. At last they sink to craggy dwarfs, and are destitute of foliage. Approach- ing the summit, the moss becomes thicker and thicker, until near where the trees disappear it covers the ground with a carpet of the brightest green. Emerging at last from a forest of small firs, the summit of the mountain rises before you, bearing no forest tree, but bare and seemingly composed of ledges and loose blocks of granite. The blueberry and harebell lie hid amid the cran- nies of the rocks, and the low and knotted vines of the mountain cranberry run over them, even upon the extreme summit ; where also the same small and solitary white flower, which flourishes on mount Lafayette, springs up amidst the thick beds of moss. From the summit of this mountain, which is elevated four thousand six hundred and thirty-six feet above the level of the sea, far to the eastward a vast expanse of forest stretches away over hills thickly covered with hemlock and spruce, to the purple islands of lake Winnipiseogee, which is distinctly visible. Westward, the pros- pect is bounded by the rolling ranges of the Green mountains. Southward hills rise o'er hills, far as NEW HAMPSHIRE 449 the eye can see; and to the north, the Franconia chap. mountains and the more majestic peaks of the ^ White Hills rise and lose themselves in the clouds. The broad valley of the Connecticut is the charm of this landscape. Its numerous villages, its hun- dreds of farms and orchards, and all the tributary streams that swell the river, may be traced in their devious windings by the naked eye. Another and more charming view of this valley may be seen from Catamount Hill, which is a more moderate elevation one mile from Haverhill Cor- ner. This view commands twenty miles of the valley, bounded by the green hills of Vermont and the parallel range of New Hampshire mountains, which seem to form the outer walls of this fine amphitheatre of nature. A nearer view of the valley, and by many deemed more delightful, is afforded from the tops and the upper windows of tlie hotels at Haverhill Corner. This village is built on a noble swell or broad table of land, in the midst of the valley. The houses are neatly arranged on the four sides of the public square, which is a fine level green, ornamented with trees. The houses on the west- ern side are built on the ridge of a declivity which leads quite down to the meadows which border the river. The height of this declivity, together with the height of the houses, raises the traveller to an elevation which tnables him to overlook twelve miles of the valley, which lies immediately below him, and to view the meanders of the river throughout its whole extent. Nowhere else are the intervals so broad, nor is there any other spot where the river sweeps from side to side of 57 450 HISTORY OF CHAP the valley with such varied aiul graceful curves. .^..^ Towards the north it is divided into two streams, which having encircled the Oxbow peninsula unite again below it. Passing southward with a gently deviating course, now eastward, then westward, it receives the waters of the Oliverian and AVait's river, and having almost encircled the Piermont meadows, at the south point of which it turns and seems to run back upon its course, it returns and passes southward through Orford and Hano- ver. When the freshets of spring have swelled the river to a tlood, it overflows the banks, and what was a valley now seems a lake ; but when mantled in summer green or covered with a golden harvest, everything growing with rank luxuriance, the meadows present the appearance of a vast plantation shaded here and there by majestic trees and waving with the richest crops. When the frosts of autumn have given to the woods those varied Inics which constilut(^ the peculiar charm of American forest scenery, this valley [)resents a picture, of many miles in extent, where, in the many-colored woods, the red, yellow and russet brown are interspersed and blended in those rich and diverse shades, which, as they are never seen in Europe, are the \vonder of European trav- ellers. Another and dirter<>nt view is atlbrded from the sunnnit of mount Pulaski, which rises on the Vermont side of tho river, immediately be- hind the village of Newbury, and not far from the Sulphur springs, which make that town the frequent and delightful resort of travellers. The ascent up this little mountain is by a winding path of half a NEW HAMPSHIRE. 451 mile, leading througli rough pastures, which, in chap August, are fragrant with the sweet fern and .^,...-;^ adorned by the flowers of the beauteous harebell. Pursuing it upward, you enter the woods, from which you emerge suddenly upon the edge of a precipice, rising almost perpendicularly from the plain, on which stands the village of Newbury. The Oxbow,a green peninsula, lies immediately be- fore you, and in the distance Moosehillock, sur- rounded by a group of smaller mountains. A number of villages of the valley appear at intervals, and the course of the Connecticut is seen for seve- ral miles pursuing its devious channel, and occa- sionally washing the bases of the hills on either side. Leaving the Connecticut at Haverhill, the trav- eller passes the wild rapids of the Ammonoosuck, and begins to leave behind him the abrupt cliffs on its banks. It is not, however, till lie has ascended far up the eminences which divide the two rivers that the roar of that impetuous torrent ceases to be heard. But he has now arrived where the lands recede towards Lancaster, when, turning his face towards the south, he is presented with one of the most magnificent views of mountain scenery in the world. Westward stands Moosehillock, its dark brown rocks wound in a sheet of snow, which shrouds it from the base upward, and seems to blend with the clouds which float along or hang lodged upon the summit. Farther eastward are the Franconia mountains. Except their tops, they present, from their iron foundations upward, only the dark outline of an impenetrable evergreen for- est. Further south extends a long range of moun- 4^ HISTORY OF CHAP tains in Lincoln, but growing loftier in" their pro- J^ gress, their dazzling heights at last overtop the lower Franconia mountains, and exhibit their bald peaks, brown witJi the hues of the rocks, and slop- ing dow^nwards into a deep wilderness. Eastward is the great Haystack mountain, and still farther is the grand feature of these regions, the White Hills, which seem to prop the heavens, and strike the beholder with emotions of awe. In winter they appear like vast mounds of snow, drifted on high, peak over peak, to the skies. Westward a dense forest spreads itself, and lends the charm of its various coloring to the picture of grandeur which springs from the sublime structure of the mountains around. In winter these cold summits afford no variety, except in the shadows of the clouds, which throw fantastic figures moving in groups over the snows of the mountains. Some- times, at night, the outline of tliese towering cliffs is dimly discernible by the light of the moon and stars ; but they never present a more magnificent view than when tlie first rays of morning flash upon them, or the rays of the sun gild them at its setting. Descending from the heights of Beth- lehem, a short ride, which completes the distance of forty-five miles from Haverhill, brings him to the hotel at the Notch. Another route to tlie mountains is from Lancas- ter. Leaving Dalton, intervening hills hide them from the traveller, until he emerges upon the mead- ows around the village of Lancaster, at the mouth of Israel's river. This stream is fed r)y springs which ooze from beneath the White Hills. He approaches the mountains by ascending the river N E W HAMPSHIRE. 453 through an avenue fenced in by hills of the wild- CHAr. est structure. Boughs of the tamarac and spruce .^ overhang the road. Pondicherry mountain stands on the right, and Pliny mountain walls up the left ; both clad in deep green foliage to their utmost heights. Sometimes the heat of the sun in this region causes an evaporation, which gives them the appearance of being veiled in soft azure. This route from Lancaster is twenty-five miles, in a southeastern direction, and ends at " the Gothic battlements of the White Hills." Before arriving there, the traveller comes again upon the meadows of the wild Ammonoosuck, which winds westward. Over these level lands he passes to the Notch, and comes upon the source of the Saco, which first appears a gentle rill, that sends its current east- ward down through that immense gap which seems to have been rent in the mountains by some dread convulsion of nature. At the entrance of this ter- rific chasm, a huge fragment, which has started from the precipice, impends towards the road, and seems ready to fall. Descending the river, the mountains in some places seem to close before you, and meet together. In other places their bare sides, scarred with avalanches, rise perpendicularly at first, then, receding, swell into rugged pinnacles, with projecting crags on either side, which nod over the bleak ridges beneath, threatening to burst from their gigantic mounds and crush the lower walls that surround them. The Saco has now swelled to a maddening torrent, and thunders down the chasm with a fierce roar and a wild echo. Over a cliff on one of the highest points of elevation, distinctly seen, bursts a cataract. In 454 ' HibTORy OF CHAP, summer it is a beautiful cascade. But in spring ^^^..^ it comes, apparently gushing from the rocks, leaps down, foaming, whiter than the snow which swells it into fury, and, crossing the road under a light bridge, tumbles headlong into the Saco. After struggling through the mountains, the river issues, with a calm flow, upon the plain below ; and scarcely can the country furnish a more pleasant vale than that which borders the slow-winding (current of llie Saco in the towns of Conway and Fryeburg. Brilliant crystals of quartz, of fine prismatic forms and a pure transparency, some- times slightly tinged with purple, are washed into the tributary torrents, and are found amongst the rocks that border their banks. Previous to the survey of Dr. Jackson, the scenery at the extreme north of the state was little known. Its striking features were observed by him, and are known, to a few persons who have since visited them, to be among the grandest ex- hibitions of nature in North America. Indian Stream is a small settlement near the falls at the outlet of Connecticut lake. It is the most north- erly inhabited place in New Hampshire, and com- prises, in the whole, a colony of three hundred and fifteen persons, scattered on the undulating shores of the lake. They are far removed from any other settlement, and for many years refused obedience to the laws of the state. Desiring none of the benefits of civil government, they claimed exemp- tion from its burdens ; and under a simple govern- ment of their own, they resisted the officers of the law, until they were visited by a military force and reduced to subjection. Their country borders NEW HAMPSHIRE. ^55 on the table-lands of Canada, and exhibits striking chap. XH. and peculiar features. In 1841, Dr. Jackson ex- L, plored Camers Rump mountain, at some distance from the village. It is supposed that none but the Indians had ever ascended it before. It was in the midst of a violent storm, and having pitched his tent, he remained there two days. The last being clear, and the barometer having risen apparently to its usual height, he found the proximate height of the mountain to be three thousand six hundred and fifteen feet above the level of the sea ; which deter- mined it to be one of the highest mountains in the state, next to the AVhite mountain range. Its geo- logical character he describes as peculiar. The •J.^'f; specimens of rock which he found consisted of JjJ^^,.j amorphous masses of hornstone, of various hues of Hj^' color, from a liglit apple green to almost black. He found it covered with a low and tangled un- dergrowth, with stunted fir-balsams and spruce. The view from its summit is one of surpassing in- terest and grandeur. Northward stretches the lofty range of hills which divide the watel's flow- ing into the St. Lawrence from those of the Ma- galloway and Connecticut ; and beyond these the broad prairies or table-lands of Canada. South- ward are seen Umbagog lake and the Diamond liills, with the numerous waters in their vicinity, and far beyond them the lofty heights of the White mountains. Westward are the lakes and tribu- tary streams of the Connecticut, and along the horizon's verge, the Green mountains. Eastward the view is bounded by the granite peaks of Maine, mount Bigelow and mount Abraham. Through the mountains in the town of Dixville 456 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. CHAP, there is a narrow defile, which may be regarded as J L. one of the most remarkable exhibitions of nature in the state, and is described by Dr. Jackson, as Jack- . son's " perhaps surpassing even the famous Notch of Report. -^ ^,-*. * . . . , ,, p. 87. the White mountams m picturesque grandeur. Angular and precipitous rocks, rising hundreds of feet almost perpendicularly on either side, present in their rugged appearance a stronger resemblance to the rocks of the Alps than is found elsewhere in New England. Such are the natural features of this remote and but partially explored section of the state. A region so interesting cannot long remain unnoticed by those who visit the state to view its peculiar and sublime features ; and it is not improbable that the time will soon come when the traveller, from the shores of Lake Winnipiseo- gee and the peaks of the White mountains, not content with the wonders of nature already seen, v> ill pass Dixville Notch, and view the magnificent scenery of the Magalloway. w LIBRARY OF CONGRESS II' II' II II III! II' I III 014 042 804 8