USA > Connecticut > The history of Connecticut, from its earliest settlement to the present time. Ed. by W. H. Carpenter and T. S. Arthur > Part 8
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129
MEASURES OF ANDROSS.
1687.]
stands as the memento of an anxious period in the history of Connecticut.
Thwarted in all his efforts to recover the ab- stracted charter, Andross nevertheless assumed the chief authority; and appointing Treat and Fitz-John Winthrop members of his council, with his own hand closed the records of the colonial assembly in these words :-
" At a general court at Hartford, October 31st, 1687, his excellency Sir Edmund Andross, cap- tain-general and governor of his majesty's do- minions in New England, by order from his majesty, took into his hands the government of the colony of Connecticut, it being annexed to Massachusetts, and other colonies under his excellency's government.
FINIS."
But the existence of Connecticut as an inde- pendent commonwealth was not to be thus ter- minated. Yet, for nearly two years, the colonists mourned for their chartered liberties as if they were forever lost. Much, too, they suffered, meanwhile, from the arbitrary measures of the new governor ; but still far less than the people of Massachusetts, who were under his immediate supervision. A great deal of the leniency thus shown toward Connecticut, was undoubtedly due to the influence and affectionate interference of Treat and Winthrop, who, as members of An-
130
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
[1689.
dross' council, had the principal management of the colony's affairs.
Yet, though borne with a kind of desponding acquiescence, the administration of Andross was irksome and odious, and ultimately might have aroused a violent outbreak of colonial indigna- tion. But events presently transpired in Eng- land, which brought it to a conclusion as abrupt as it had been unexpected. In April, 1689, im- mediately on receiving rumours that a bloodless revolution had driven James II. from his throne, the people of Boston assembled in arms, and declared in favour of the new sovereign, William, Prince of Orange. The obnoxious Andross, deriving his authority from the deposed James, was seized and confined. A few weeks after- ward, the rumours which had induced this action were fully confirmed.
Meanwhile, the charter of Connecticut had been brought from its hiding-place, and Treat again chosen governor. The assembly, convening on the 13th of June, proclaimed the new sove- reign " with great joy and ceremony." "Great was that day"-thus ran their address to the king-" Great was that day when the Lord, who sitteth upon the floods, did divide his and your adversaries like the waters of Jordan, and did begin to magnify you like Joshua, by those great actions that were so much for the honour of God, and the deliverance of the English dominions
131
CHARTER DECLARED VALID.
1689.]
from popery and slavery." Declaring they had been "surprised by Andross into an involuntary submission to an arbitrary power," they an- , nounced that they had "presumed, by the con- sent of a major part of the freemen, to resume the government," according to the rules of their charter. For this they entreated " his majesty's most gracious pardon ;" and besides, expressed a hope that their former liberties would be con- firmed.
This address the king received favourably. With regard to the validity of the Connecticut charter, the opinions of several English lawyers were asked. Replies came, " that the charter, not being surrendered under the common seal, nor that surrender duly recorded," had never been invalidated in any of its powers, and was still good in law. This being the case, William had no opportunity to renew it; a circumstance for which the Connecticut people could not have been otherwise than thankful, when they saw the charter of Massachusetts restored with many of its important democratic features obliterated or modified.
Meantime war had been declared between England and France. Prevented from invading New York by the necessity of protecting his own territories from an irruption of the Iroquois, Frontenac, the governor of Canada, incited his Indian allies to undertake several smaller expe-
132
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
[1690.
ditions against the frontier settlements of the English.
Early in February, 1690, a party of French and Indians from Montreal, after wading for two and twenty days through the snow, at midnight fell suddenly upon the village of Schenectady. Many houses were burned : sixty of the English, men, women, and children, suffered death, at- tended by the most horrible barbarities; and among the victims were five members of a Con- necticut troop, then stationed in the town. But a few weeks afterward, a second company of French and Indians surprised an English settle- ment on the Piscataqua, burned the houses, massacred most of the male inhabitants, and hurried off fifty-four prisoners, chiefly women and children.
These and similar forays excited the alarm and indignation of the English colonies. Mas- sachusetts proposed a congress of colonial com- missioners, to meet at New York, and devise a scheme of retaliation. Accordingly, delegates from Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York, assembled at the proposed place of meeting, on the first of May, and determined to attempt the conquest of Canada, with a fleet and army, to sail from Boston against Quebec, and a land force of nine hundred men from Connecticut and New York, to march by the way of Lake Cham- plain upon Montreal.
1690.]
WINTHROP ARRESTED. 133
But both expeditions proved unsuccessful .. That against Montreal, with Fitz-John Winthrop of Connecticut at its head, advanced beyond Lake George; but Milborne, the son-in-law of the governor of New York, who had been ap- pointed commissary, failing to keep the army sufficiently supplied with provisions, a council of war declared it necessary to fall back upon Albany. For the retreat that followed, sick- ness and the want of canoes to transport the troops, afforded additional excuses. Being early informed of it by his Indian scouts, the aged but active Frontenac was enabled to concentrate all his forces in Quebec, and thus to repel the com- bined military and naval expedition from Mas- sachusetts.
Though Winthrop, in retreating, had but acted upon the advice of his officers, Leisler, the go- vernor of New York, charged him with treachery, and caused him to be arrested. This assumption of authority the Connecticut assembly rebuked in sharp terms. But long before their remon- strance could reach Leisler, the universal indig- nation of the army had compelled him to release his prisoner.
During the year following the unsuccessful attempt upon Canada, the colonies did little more than defend themselves from the war-parties of French and Indians, who continued to harass the frontiers. Though herself exempted from
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134
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
[1692.
the attacks of these marauding bands, Connecticut kept a considerable force in the field, chiefly to assist in protecting the western and north-eastern settlements of Massachusetts.
It had been with great reluctance that the English crown acknowledged the validity of the charter of Connecticut. William was still hope- ful and desirous of abridging, at least, the ample privileges and democratic liberties it guarantied. Appointing a new governor over New York, in the person of Colonel Benjamin Fletcher, a man of irascible temper, possessing much activity but little capacity to execute prudently, the king entrusted to him the accomplishment of an insi- dious design upon the liberties of Connecticut. Ostensibly to render easier the defence of New York, Fletcher was commissioned to command the militia of the New England colony. Per- ceiving at once, that to allow him to act under this commission would be virtually to surrender their chartered privileges, the legislature of Con- necticut took a firm stand in opposition. The question being referred to the freemen, it was resolved to appeal to the king against the au- thority delegated to the governor of New York. A petition was accordingly prepared, and placed in the hands of the faithful Winthrop, to be pre- sented by him to the throne.
Fletcher was furious at the resistance offered him, and would not await the decision of the go-
135
RAGE OF FLETCHER.
1693.]
vernment in England. On the 26th of October, 1693, he appeared suddenly in Hartford. “I will not set my foot out of this colony," declared he, " till I have seen his majesty's commission obeyed." The assembly were at this time in
session. Fletcher ordering the militia under arms; it was thought expedient to call the train- bands of Hartford together. Notwithstanding this apparent concession, the assembly declared that they would not surrender the command of the troops to any one save the officers in whom that right was expressly vested by the charter.
Finding the civil rulers inflexible in their de- termination, Fletcher proceeded with Bayard, one of his council, to the parade-ground, where he found the militia " training" under the direc- tions of Captain Wadsworth, whose faithfulness to the liberties of the colony had already been exhibited. Preparing to take command, Fletcher ordered Bayard to read his commission. “Beat the drums !" exclaimed Wadsworth, as the coun- cillor commenced reading. Loud was the up- roar that ensued. Fletcher furiously commanded silence. He was obeyed ; and Bayard once more began to read. Again the drums were beat. "Silence ! silence !" cried the irritated Fletcher. "Drum, drum, I say !" shouted Wadsworth, in a determined voice, adding, with startling em- phasis, as he turned toward the intrusive go- vernor, "If I am interrupted again, I will make
136
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
[1697.
the sun shine through you in a moment." Mark- ing the stern aspect of the speaker, and the excited countenances of the throng that was fast gathering around, Fletcher, awed into silence, prudently consulted his safety by_a hasty return to New York.
Meanwhile Winthrop was on his way to Eng- land. Safely arriving there, he presented the colony's petition to the king, who referred the whole matter to the solicitor and attorney-gene- ral for the crown. Their report sustaining Con- necticut, an order in accordance with it was passed in council. But, thus treating the ques- tion as a mere local quarrel between two colonial governments, no satisfaction was tendered to Connecticut for what was, undoubtedly, a royal attempt to encroach upon the rights and privi- leges of her charter. Still there was cause for the rejoicings with which the tidings of the deci- sion were received.
Returning from his successful mission in 1696, Winthrop was greeted by the hearty welcomes of the colony. Thanking him publicly for his good services, the assembly voted him a more substantial gratuity of three hundred pounds, as a "further testimonial of the high sense they entertained of his merit, fidelity, and labours."
In 1697, the war with Canada, which during all this time had been languishingly waged, was terminated by the peace of Ryswick.
137
YALE COLLEGE FOUNDED.
1698.]
CHAPTER X.
Fitz-John Winthrop governor-Yale College founded-Is re- moved to New Haven-Hartford and New Haven established as the colonial capitals-Charges against the colonies-Bill to abrogate their charters-Defence of Connecticut-With- , drawal of the obnoxious bill-War between England, France and Spain-Attempt of Cornbury and Dudley to abridge the liberties of Connecticut-Charges brought against the colony -Its vindication and triumph -- Dudley renews his attacks upon the colony-Promotes the claims of the heirs of Major Mason-Long-continuance of the Mason controversy-Is finally decided in favour of the colony-Death of Winthrop -Saltonstall governor-Progress of the war-Invasion of Canada projected -- Design abandoned-Successful expedi- tion against Acadia-Renewed attempt to conquer Canada- Its failure-Disappointment of the colonies-Peace-Condi- tion of Connecticut-Boundary dispute with Massachusetts settled.
ELECTING Winthrop governor in 1698, Con- necticut enjoyed nearly three years of uninter- rupted tranquillity. It was during this period of peace that the foundation was laid of an educational structure, which the commonwealth of to-day may justly regard with pride and satis- faction. Finding it inconvenient to send their youth to Cambridge University for a collegiate education, several gentlemen of New Haven, Milford, and Branford, suggested the establish- ment of a college in Connecticut. In 1699, ten
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138
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
[1701.
clergymen were appointed trustees of the pro- jected institution. Meeting at Branford during the following year, each of these trustees brought with him several books, saying, as he laid them upon the table, "I give these books for the founding of a college in this colony." The library thus contributed numbered about forty folio volumes. Various other donations were soon afterward made, both of money and of books. In 1701 the college was incorporated by the assembly, which, at the same time, grant- ed sixty pounds toward its support. Holding its earlier sessions at Saybrook, the college was pre- sently removed to New Haven. Here, eighteen years after its foundation, the name of Yale was conferred upon it, in memory of a generous benefactor.
In May, 1701, the assembly enacted that its sessions should be held alternately at Hartford and New Haven-an arrangement which has never since been changed.
Meanwhile the crown had not despaired of depriving the colony of its charter, without a resort to manifest tyranny. Complaining that the chartered colonies afforded refuge to pirates and illegal traders, and that they interfered with English commerce, by depreciating the worth of coins, and by encouraging " woollen and other manufactures proper for England ;" the British lords of trade, in April, 1701, introduced
139
CHARTER IN DANGER.
1702.7
into Parliament a bill to abrogate the colonial charters, and place over the colonies "such a government as should make them duly subser- vient to England."
The principal opposition which this measure met with came from Connecticut, against whose charter it was especially aimed. Leave being granted, Sir Henry Ashurst plead on behalf of the colony before the bar of the House of Lords. Glancing at the rights and privileges of the charter, Ashurst contended that the colonists had obtained them as the reward of valuable services rendered, in enlarging the English do- minions and commerce, by purchasing, planting, subduing, and defending an extensive country. To take away this reward in order to punish its recipients for slight offences, by no means clearly proved against them, would be not only unjust to the colonists in their corporate capacity, but ruinous to their individual interests, inasmuch as the titles of their estates depended for security upon the charter.
These arguments, together with others directed against the general features of the proposed measure, did much to induce its subsequent with- drawal; but there is little probability that the result would have been so favourable, had not a press of other business demanded the serious attention of Parliament. A general European war was impending. In May, 1702, England
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140
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
[1702.
and her allies declared hostilities against France and Spain.
Again the colonies were involved in a fierce and desolating war with the French and Indians of Canada. Confined almost exclusively to the borders of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, the horrors of this conflict were not immediately experienced by Connecticut. There was consi- derable alarm, however, in the frontier settle- ments, for the defence of which the assembly took prompt and vigorous steps. Money and troops were also contributed liberally for the protection of Massachusetts and New Hamp- shire.
While the colony was thus exerting itself to meet the emergencies of the war, its enemies were not idle. Most active among these were Cornbury and Dudley, the governors of New . York and Massachusetts, both of whom had pro- moted the lately foiled scheme against the colo- nial liberties. Moved, the one by the avarice of a profligate spendthrift, and the other by am- bition to rule over all New England, the two governors left no means untried to accomplish their several ends. Both exhibited commissions to command the militia; Cornbury, of Con- necticut, and Dudley, of Rhode Island; but as it had already been decided that the crown had no right to grant such commissions, obedience was refused to them. Then, pretending to dread
141
CHARGES AGAINST COLONY.
1702.]
a French invasion, Cornbury called upon the Connecticut assembly for money to repair the defences of New York. As it was known that he had squandered the sums appropriated for this purpose by the New York legislature, that of Connecticut sturdily refused to vote him the desired grant. Incensed at this refusal, he wrote home a long letter of complaint, in which he laboured to furnish the crown with some plausiblo pretext for wresting away the colonial charters. Connecticut and Rhode Island were especially inveighed against. "They hate everybody," said he, "that owes any subjection to the queen." In this attack he was joined by Dudley, who pro- cured the services of a venal writer to prepare a slanderous volume, entitled the "Doom, or Miseries of Connecticut ;" in which, in addition to many vile calumnies respecting the colony, a royal governor was recommended for New Eng- land. At this very time Dudley evinced his duplicity, by inditing a letter of thanks to the Connecticut assembly, for the promptness and abundance of the supplies they had furnished him ; while, in the above-mentioned volume, their " remissness" on this point, was made an especial charge against the colony.
Neither Cornbury nor Dudley was without in- fluence ; the latter having many distinguished friends at court, while the former was a cousin to the queen. Their labours were so far suc-
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142
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
[1705.
cessful, that it was again proposed to place a royal governor over Connecticut. But the lords of trade would not condemn the colony unheard. Sir Henry Ashurst a second time exerted him- self nobly in its defence, and a complete vindica- tion was forwarded to England of all the charges that had been made against it. Connecticut tri- umphed. The proposed measure was abandoned.
But the two governors were not intimidated by this second defeat. During the same year of their repulse, (1705,) they brought fresh charges against the colony. Incited by their representations, the Quakers of England com- plained of the law that had formerly been passed by Connecticut, against the practicers of the peculiar doctrines of the Society of Friends. This law, long obsolete, and, in fact, never en- forced, save against a fanatical offshoot of the Quaker sect, the queen in council declared null and void, as if it were a new enactment, without waiting for the excuse presently given by Con- necticut for delaying to repeal it.
Though the colony was thus made to suffer considerable odium on account of what was called its Puritan intolerance, the promoters of the complaint against it were disappointed ; inasmuch as they had hoped that their exertions would result in the revocation of its charter.
Meanwhile, Dudley had taken a strong inte- rest in an affair which he thought might be
143
MASON CONTROVERSY.
1706.]
turned to his and Cornbury's advantage in their plans against Connecticut. Claiming to be the guardians of the Mohegan tribe, the grand- children of Major Mason, the hero of the Pequod war, instituted a suit against the colonial au- thorities, on behalf of the Indians, to recover certain lands which, as they alleged, the colony had undertaken to make grants of, without pos- sessing any thing more than a jurisdiction right. Falsely representing that Connecticut had acted very unjustly in this matter, Dudley procured the appointment of a royal commission, of which he was himself president, to examine into and decide the dispute. After an ex parte hearing of the case, the commissioners decided one point against the colony, ordering it to restore to Dwaneco, chief of the Mohegans, two several tracts of land, containing many thousand acres, and to pay a heavy bill of costs. The court then adjourned, to convene again in May, 1706. This meeting, however, never took place. Appealing at once against the decision of the commissioners, many of whom were shown to be interested parties, the assembly forwarded a full statement of the affair to the queen, who presently ap- pointed a council to revise the whole case. Though nearly seventy years elapsed before this dispute was finally settled in favour of the colony, the purpose for which Dudley promoted it was completely frustrated.
144
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
[1708.
Rumors reaching the colony that the French and Indians were preparing for a descent upon New England, a council of war convened at Hartford, in February, 1707. Danbury, Wood- bury, Waterbury, and Simsbury, the then west- ernmost settlements, were ordered to be placed in a condition to repel attacks. In November of the same year, Governor Winthrop died, at an advanced age, lamented by the colonists as one endeared to them by his blameless life and valuable services in their behalf. Meeting in the following month, a special assembly chose the Rev. Gurdon Saltonstall, of New London, to occupy the vacant gubernatorial chair. By a law of the colony, all candidates for the go- vernorship were required to be selected from among the members of the upper house of as- sembly. This law was now repealed; and, in May, 1708, the votes of the freemen confirmed the election of Saltonstall, who continued to be annually rechosen during the next seventeen years. About this period, it would seem, the custom, long afterward prevalent in Connecticut, of preaching "freemen's meeting sermons," ori- ginated in an order of the legislature that, " on the day appointed by law for choosing civil rulers," "the ministers of the gospel should preach to the freemen a sermon, proper for their direction in the work before them."
Meanwhile, marauding bands of French and
145
INVASION OF ACADIA.
1709.]
Indians, marching with silent celerity from Ca- nada, continued to harass the frontiers of New England. To put an end to these incursions, an invasion of Canada was projected. Promised aid from England, the colonies bestirred them- selves actively ; sanguinely expecting, in one campaign, to add to the British dominions all New France eastward of the great lakes. By extraordinary efforts, two considerable armies were assembled; one near the head of Lake Champlain, to march upon Montreal ; the other, at Boston, to act in conjunction with the ex- pected fleet against Acadia, Newfoundland, and Quebec. But unforeseen events withheld the promised aid from England; and the colonial troops, after spending the summer idly in camp, were mostly disbanded in the autumn of 1709. The expenses of this useless display of energy were exceedingly heavy. Wanting money to support her quota of the troops, Connecticut now issued her first bills of credit, to the amount of eight thousand pounds. Of the three hundred and fifty levies sent into the field by the colony, ninety fell victims to disease while in camp.
An expedition, fitted out the following year against Acadia, was more fortunate. Thirty transports, bearing four New England regiments, supported by six British men of war, having on · board five hundred marines, the whole under the command of Colonel Nicholson, set sail from
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146
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
[1711.
Boston in September, and soon after cast anchor before Port Royal, of which a vigorous siege was immediately commenced. The conquest of this fortress, one of the strongest in North America, proved a work of no great difficulty. On the 16th of October, the French garrison, numbering one hundred and fifty-six ragged and half-fa- mished men, surrendered as prisoners of war. Leaving four hundred soldiers in the captured fortress, which was now named Annapolis, Nicholson returned in triumph to Massachusetts with the remaining troops.
Animated by this easy acquisition of Acadia, the northern colonies again took up the favourite project of conquering Canada. Little expecting to obtain what they asked for, they despatched Nicholson to England to solicit the assistance of government. Returning in June, 1711, he gave notice that an English fleet of fifteen ships of war, and forty transports, having on board five veteran regiments, was already on its way to Boston. Sudden and scarcely hoped for, the arrival of the fleet a few days afterward found the colonists unprepared for immediate co-opera- tion. But, exerting themselves with remarkable promptitude and energy, the northern provinces, in little more than a month, collected provisions for the support of the troops, and levied two considerable armies ; one of which, about three thousand strong, embarked on the 30th of July,
147
EXPEDITION AGAINST CANADA.
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