USA > Massachusetts > The history of Massachusetts, the provincial period. 1692-1775 v. II > Part 15
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47
3 Am. Mag. ii. 323; Parsons, Life of Pepperrell, 108, 109.
4 A number of these were pub- lished, among which that of Prince is valuable for the information it con- tains.
154
GOVERNMENT OF THE ISLAND.
CHAP. Favorable weather facilitated the outfit of the troops ; and a VI. concurrence of incidents brought together from all parts the 1745. vessels of war cruising on the coast. During the siege the weather was unusually pleasant ; but the day after the fortress surrendered a storm set in, and the rain fell in torrents for the next ten days.1 Is it surprising that the French thought "the Virgin Mary was peculiarly kind to the English "?2 or that the English themselves exclaimed, " The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad "? 3 Religious enthusiasm had stimulated many to enlist in the war ; and, in the fervor of their piety, their success, if not miraculous, was esteemed providential. For a fortress so strong as, in the estimation of good judges, to require thirty thousand men for its capture, to have been taken by about four thousand undisciplined troops, most of whom had never before served in a similar enterprise, was certainly something to awaken astonishment; and one who was present, and who served with the French, observed that, "in all the histories he had read, he never met with an instance of so bold and presumptuous an attempt." 4
The government of the island, upon the surrender of the fortress, after some controversy was jointly assumed by Warren and Pepperrell ; and for his services in the expedition Warren was created vice admiral of the white, and the honors of knighthood were conferred upon Pepperrell.5 Governor Shir- Aug. ley, during the summer, visited Louisburg to inquire into the Dec. 8. condition of the army and fortress ; and at his return he was welcomed with the heartiest rejoicings.6 The expense of the
1 Prince, Chauncy, Eliot, &c.
2 Gibson's Journal, 78; Hutchin- son, ii. 377.
3 Prince's Ser. 33. " I scarce know of a conquest," says Chauncy, Ser. 12, " since the days of Joshua and the Judges, wherein the finger of God is more visible."
4 Gibson's Journal, 78, 79. Comp. Chauncy's Sermon, 18, 19.
castle to Pepperrell, Aug. 10, 1745 ; Marshall's Washington, i. 358; Par- sons, Life of Pepperrell, 109, 125. The latter, pp. 112-116, gives an account of the difficulties which occurred on this occasion, with extracts from the correspondence on the subject. War- ren was created baronet in 1747. Ibid. 165.
6 Mems. Last War, 52-60. Pep-
5 MS. Lett. of the Duke of New- perrell and Warren visited Boston in
155
PROJECTED INVASION OF CANADA.
expedition amounted to two hundred and sixty-one thousand CHAP. seven hundred pounds of the currency of the province, or one VI. hundred and eighty-three thousand six hundred and forty-nine 1745. pounds sterling ; and this sum, after a vexatious delay, was reimbursed through the intervention of Mr. Bollan, the son- in-law of Shirley and the agent of the province. The money thus received enabled Massachusetts to redeem a large portion 1749. of her outstanding bills ; the condition of the currency was Sep. 18. temporarily improved; and the commercial activity of the people was increased.1
The reduction of Louisburg was the signal for extensive plans for the conquest of Canada. Both Shirley and Warren were at the bottom of this movement ; 2 the Duke of Bedford was deeply interested in its success ; and at their solicitation a circular letter was addressed by the Duke of Newcastle, then secretary of state, to all the governors of the American colo- nies as far south as Virginia, requiring them to raise men, and form them into companies, to be ready to unite and act accord- ing to future orders. Eight battalions were to be raised in England, under Lieutenant General St. Clair, with a squadron commanded by Rear Admiral Warren; and these, with the New England troops, were to rendezvous at Louisburg, and from thence proceed to Quebec. The troops from the southern col- onies were to rendezvous at Albany, and from thence proceed to Montreal.3
June, 1746; and on this memorable occasion they were received at Long Wharf by his majesty's Council and the House of Representatives, and es- corted by his excellency's company of cadets to the council chamber, being saluted, as they passed through the streets, by the hurrahs of the people, who crowded the doors, windows, and balconies. Every one testified joy at their arrival ; and the congratulations of the legislature of the province were cordially tendered them. Mass. Rec's; Parsons, Life of Pepperrell, 140-143.
1 Trumbull MSS. vol. i. fols. 2, 17; Observations on Present Circum- stances of Prov. of Mass. Bay, ed. 1750, p. 6; Hutchinson, ii .; Bancroft, iv. 50, 51.
2 Mems. Last War, 60, 61; 1 M. H. Coll. vii. 70 ; Hutchinson, ii. 380, 381; Belknap's N. H. ii. 225-227; Marshall's Washington, ii. 360; Par- sons, Life of Pepperrell, 129. 3 Chalmers, Revolt, ii. 242-244; Marshall's Washington, i. 360; Par- sons, Life of Pepperrell, 148. The Duke of Bedford, the first lord of the
1745. Oct.
1746. Apr. 19.
156
PROJECTED INVASION OF CANADA.
CHAP. VI. In accordance with these plans, as the design was pleasing to the people, the measures of the ministry were cordially 1745. July 3. approved, and the colonies furnished with alacrity their quotas.1 But the French, in the mean time, were not inactive ; and an May. armament was fitted out from Brest and the West Indies, which, in conjunction with a body of land forces to be raised in Canada, was destined for the conquest of Nova Scotia, and the destruction of the settlements from thence to Georgia. This fleet, the most powerful hitherto sent to these shores, was under the command of the Duke D'Anville, an officer of experience and approved ability, and consisted of seventy sail, of which eleven were ships of the line, twenty frigates, five ships and bombs, and the rest transports and tenders, having on board upwards of three thousand disciplined troops.2 The energy of the French in making these preparations did not prevent the levy of more than eight thousand men from the colonies for the conquest of Canada ; but, as the fleet from England had not arrived, and the season was so far advanced that, if it should arrive, it would be too late to attempt the navigation of the St. Lawrence, it was judged prudent to defer the attack on Quebec, and to turn the attention of the army to the reduction of Crown Point.3
Sep. 12. At this juncture intelligence was received of the danger which threatened the eastern provinces, from the inroads of Aug. the French and Indians at Minas, and the expected revolt of Sep. 20. the Acadians ; and shortly after, by additional letters, the whole country was alarmed by reports of the arrival of the fleet from France. In this emergency, the preparations of Massachusetts were promptly made. Several hundred men had been sent to Annapolis to act there; and, as Castle Wil-
admiralty, and afterwards secretary of state, is said to have favored this pro- ject ; and, according to Pitt, the " great and practicable views for America " sprang from him alone. Bancroft, iv. 21.
1 Mass. Rec's; Parsons, Life of Pepperrell, 149.
2 Marshall's Washington, i. 362; Parsons, Life of Pepperrell, 146, 147. 3 Mems. Last War, 62-64; Bel- knap's N. H. ii. 229.
157
REVERSES OF THE FRENCH FLEET.
liam had been recently refitted, a large body of troops was CHAP. ordered thither, and nearly ten thousand persons offered their VI. services to aid in defending Boston. But the operations of 1746. the French were signally thwarted ; for, crippled by tempest and shipwreck, the gallant fleet, which had set forth sanguine May. of success, was so shattered after its arrival on the coast as to Sept. be unable to proceed ; and the death of the Duke D'Anville, and the suicide of his successor, led to the return of the sur- viving vessels, and the abandonment of the design upon which Nov. they had been sent.1
Thus ended the "expedition of the most formidable arma- ment ever fitted out against the coast of North America " - an armament "computed to consist of near half the naval force of France." To complete the series of catastrophes and disas- ters, some of the vessels were lost, and others were taken, on the voyage home ; and, by an infection among the seamen, a disease was communicated to the Cape Sable Indians, in the interest of the French, by which nearly two thirds of them miserably perished.2
In the mean time the arrangements for the contemplated attack upon Crown Point had been continued, and prepara- tions had proceeded so far that bateaux were provided for the transportation of the troops and stores across Lake Champlain ; ordnance stores and provisions were sent from Boston, and a. train of artillery from New York to the fort at Saratoga ; and fifteen hundred of the Massachusetts troops set out for Albany to join the troops from the southern governments ; but the general alarm occasioned by the appearance of the French armament suspended the prosecution of the attempt until the season was so far advanced that a portion of the colonies judged it too late to proceed, and refused to join with Massa- chusetts in the execution of the project. Yet Governor Shir-
Oct.
1 Mems. Last War, 64-67. Par- sons, Life of Pepperrell, 147, gives the name of D'Estournelle, instead of La
Jonquiere, as the successor of the Duke D'Anville.
2 Mems. Last War, 68.
158
RE-CESSION OF LOUISBURG.
CHAP. ley, unwilling to abandon the enterprise, renewed the attempt VI. to carry it into effect, and induced the legislature to favor his 1746. plans. The governor of New York, equally eager for war, was likewise inclined to aid in the expedition. But, by the prudence of the members of the Connecticut assembly, who deemed the winter an improper season for so great an under- taking, the rash scheme was defeated, and further thoughts of exterminating the French were reluctantly abandoned. The troops from New England remained under pay until the follow- ing fall, when, by order of the ministry, they were disbanded ; the governors drew bills on the British treasury for their sup- port; and Parliament granted the money to reimburse the charges of their equipment and subsistence.1
1747. Oct. 31.
1748. Oct. 8.
The peace of Aix la Chapelle, concluded in 1748, caused a temporary suspension of hostilities between England and France. By the terms of this peace, New England had the mortification to find the fruits of her toil, in the conquest of Louisburg, wrested from her grasp ; for, under the compromise for restoring the French conquests in the Low Countries to the Queen of Hungary and the States General, and for a gen- eral restitution of places captured from the other belligerent powers, the Island of Cape Breton was delivered back to its former possessors ; and Massachusetts was left to calculate at leisure the expenses of her warfare, and the benefits which had accrued to her from the loss of her citizens who had fallen a prey to the ravages of disease, and the damage to her com-
1749. July 12.
1 Mems. Last War, 68-75; Hutch- inson, ii. 386; Belknap's N. H. ii. 234, 235; Minot, i. 80. The total expenses of the Canada expedition to the colonies were £224,741 12s. 8ªd. Of this sum Massachusetts received £87,434 18s. 7d .; Connecticut re- ceived £17,191 15s. 83d .; N. Hamp- shire received £21,446 10s. 10&d. ; New York received £84,098 18s. 6d .; New Jersey received £2,231 18s. 4&d. ; and Pennsylvania, Virginia, and
Rhode Island received £12,338 0s. 7ªd. Trumbull MSS. in Mass. Hist. Soc. vol. i. fol. 30. Letters relating to the share of Connecticut may also be seen in ibid. fols. 1, 3, 5, 18, 32. The Connecticut troops were permit- ted to go home on furlough October 31, 1746; but half pay was demanded from that date to October 31, 1747, when the troops of the colonies were ordered to be dismissed. Ibid. fols. 18, 30.
159
IMPRESSMENT OF SEAMEN.
merce from the interruption to her trade. English policy, CHAP. however, at this time, was little concerned with colonial pros- VI. perity ; and the people of New England, on this as on other 1749. occasions, were made sensible that they were merely dependen- cies of the crown, and that their interests were to be sacrificed at the caprice of the dominant powers, however prejudicial that sacrifice might be.1
The conduct of the English government throughout the war with France did not, to the inhabitants of America, seem to justify the belief that it acted in good faith towards the colo- nies, or designed to render efficient aid in the conquest of Canada. Nor was the course pursued by the commanders of English vessels of war such as to inspire confidence in their integrity or good will. For, before the conclusion of the peace of Aix la Chapelle, a tumult occurred in Boston, equal to, if not more threatening than, any which had preceded it. A number of sailors having deserted from the squadron at Nan- tasket, Commodore Knowles, who had charge of the same, and who had been active at Louisburg, demanded a supply equal to those he had lost ; and, sending his boats to the town early in the morning, he seized the seamen of the vessels in port, and swept the wharves, impressing some ship carpenters' ap- prentices and laboring landsmen.2 This high-handed outrage aroused the indignation of the people, and all united in con-, demning it. The laboring class, especially, who were the greatest sufferers, were enraged beyond measure; and, hastily arming with sticks and clubs, they gathered in crowds, clamor- ing for redress. A lieutenant was the first person seized ; but he was released on the assurance of Mr. Hutchinson, the speaker of the House, that he was guiltless, and was conducted
1747. Nov. 17.
1 Minot, i. 81; 1 M. H. Coll. vii.
69. " Of such consequence to the French was the possession of that im- portant key to their American settle- ments," says the last authority, " that its restitution was, in reality, the pur-
chase of the last general peace in Eu- rope."
2 Impressment had long been prac- tised in England, though not enforced by law. Address to Inhabitants of Mass. Bay, p. 5.
160
DISTURBANCE OCCASIONED BY THIS ACT.
CHAP. to a place of safety. Receiving intelligence that several of the VI. commanders were at the house of the governor, the mob imme-
1747. diately repaired thither. The house was surrounded, and the adjacent court filled ; but no act of violence was committed, until a deputy sheriff presumed to interfere, when he was seized and set in the stocks. Soldiers had been posted at the head of the stairway, with loaded carbines, to repel an assault ; and it was probably owing to this circumstance, and to the persuasions of the prudent, that no more decided measures were taken.
By dusk several thousand people were assembled in King Street, below the town house, where the General Court was sitting, and stones and bricks were thrown into the council chamber ; but the governor ventured into the balcony with several of his friends, and, in a well-timed speech, expressed his disapproval of the conduct of the commodore, and promised his utmost endeavors for the discharge of those who had been taken. Other gentlemen likewise addressed the crowd ; but their speeches had no effect. Even Pepperrell, "with all his personal popularity, was equally unsuccessful in stilling the tumult."1 The multitude clamored for the arrest of those who had committed the outrage, and insisted upon this as the only security for the release of the prisoners.
As conciliatory measures were fruitless, it was deemed expe- dient for the governor to withdraw to his own residence. But this did not allay the excitement ; and, shortly after, a report being raised that a barge from the ships had touched at one of the wharves, the mob flew to the spot, but took, by mistake, a boat belonging to a Scotch ship, which they drew in triumph through the streets to the governor's house, and prepared to burn it. A consideration of the danger of this proceeding, however, prevented the execution of the design, and the boat was taken to a safer place and burned.
1 Parsons, Life of Pepperrell, 172.
161
ADJUSTMENT OF THE DIFFICULTY.
The next day, the military companies of the neighborhood CHAP. were ordered to be mustered under arms, and a watch was VI. appointed to be kept the succeeding night. The governor, by 1747. Nov. 18. this time, was alarmed for his own safety ; and, leaving the town privately, he withdrew to the Castle, notwithstanding the assurance of a number of gentlemen that they would stand by him in the maintenance of his authority and the restoration of order. On reaching the Castle, a despatch was sent to Com- modore Knowles, representing the confusion occasioned by the misconduct of his officers ; but he refused all terms of accom- modation until the officers on shore were released, and threat- ened to bombard the town in case they were not liberated. 1
For three days the General Court continued in session with- Nov. 17 out directly interfering in the affair ; but towards noon of the to 19. latter day, some of the members of the House reflecting upon Nov. 19. the serious consequences which might result from leaving the governor unsupported, a series of resolutions was presented and adopted, expressing a determination to "stand by and sup- port, with their lives and estates, his excellency the governor and the executive part of the government, and to exert them- selves, by all ways and means possible, in redressing such grievances as his majesty's subjects have been and are under."
With the passage of these resolves the excitement abated ; and, at a town meeting held in the afternoon, the " tumultuous ' and riotous acts of such as had insulted the governor and the other branches of the legislature " were condemned, though deep regret was expressed at the "great injury and insult caused by the misconduct of the naval officers." The governor, not knowing what course the affair might take, had in the mean time issued his orders to the colonels of the regiments of Cambridge, Roxbury, and Milton, and the regiment of horse, to be ready to march at an hour's warning to such rendezvous as he should direct ; but the next day he was agreeably sur- Nov.20. prised at the appearance of the militia of Boston, accompanied by many who had never before borne a musket, who assured VOL. II. 11
162
PROJECTED ESTABLISHMENT OF EPISCOPACY.
CHAP. him of protection, and conducted him to his residence with VI. great parade. The commodore, upon this, liberated most of
1747. those who had been impressed ; and the squadron took its de- parture, to the infinite joy and relief of the people.1
1749.
Another measure, adopted in England soon after the peace of Aix la Chapelle, was not particularly acceptable to the peo- ple of New England. This was the revival of the project of Archbishop Secker for sending episcopal bishops to America, which was favored by Sherlock, the new Bishop of London, by Bedford, the secretary of state, and by Halifax, the presi- dent of the Board of Trade. The political reason assigned for this step was, that several nonjuring clergymen, in the interest of the Pretender, had emigrated to the colonies, whose influ- ence it was necessary to counteract and destroy ; but the pro- ject was opposed by leading persons in the ministry, and was finally laid aside. The Society for Propagating the Gospel then took the matter up ; and, conceiving the chief obstruction to arise from the jealousy of ecclesiastical jurisdiction in the colonies, they labored to remove this difficulty by declaring that no coercive power was intended to be exercised over the laity in any case ; that it was not designed the bishops should interfere with the dignity or authority of any of the civil officers ; that their maintenance was not to be charged to the people ; and that no bishops were to be settled in the colonies where the government was in the hands of dissenters. Hap- pily for Massachusetts, this project, though generally unpalata- ble, did not cause special alarm to her citizens ; and the cir- cumstances of the province were such that, if the attempt had been made to foster episcopacy contrary to the wishes of a majority of the laity, it would have been instantly resisted, and must have failed to succeed. Yet the fact that such a measure was devised, and enforced in the colonies less refractory than those of New England, proves that the arbitrariness of the
1 Mass. Rec's ; Address to the In- hab. of Mass. Bay, &c., by Amicus
Patriæ; Hutchinson, ii. 386, 390; Chalmers, Revolt, ii. 244-246.
163
PROGRESS OF THE PROVINCE.
mother country was daily increasing, and that the measures of CHAP. her statesmen aimed not to enfranchise her Cis-Atlantic sub- VI. jects, but to reduce them to a state of more complete vassalage.1 1748.
Yet, notwithstanding the mismanagement of England, the Province of Massachusetts continued to prosper, and the ener- gies of her people it was impossible to repress. Where the spirit of freedom inspires the soul, obstacles are easily sur- mounted, and success is insured. The advancement of the interests of Massachusetts, during the fifty-six years which had elapsed from its erection into a province, if not equal in every respect to its advancement in the fifty years which followed the confederacy of 1643, was certainly as great as could have been reasonably expected. The population, at this time, was estimated at two hundred thousand souls ; and Boston, the metropolis of the province, contained not far from twenty thousand inhabitants.2 Sixty-eight towns had been incorporated in the different counties, swelling the num- ber, in all, including those of the " old colony," to one hundred and forty - nearly double what it was at the grant of the charter of William and Mary.3 The value of the imports from Great Britain to North America, for the ten years ending in 1748, amounted, in the aggregate, to about seven and a half millions sterling, or seven hundred and fifty thousand pounds
1692 to 1748. 1643 to 1692. 1748.
1738 to 1748.
Gordon's Am. Rev. i. 85, 86; Minot, i. 136-138.
2 Douglas says, by the valuation of 1742, there were reported 16,382 souls in Boston. Governor Shute, in 1723, estimated the population of Boston at 18,000. Chalmers, Revolt, ii. 26. Governor Shirley, in one of his letters to the Board of Trade, speaks of Boston as a " town inhabit- ed by 20,000 persons." Bancroft, iv. 39. Burnaby, Travels, 133, says Bos- ton contained from 18,000 to 20,000 inhabitants in 1759, and 3000 houses. 3 The names of these towns, in the order of their incorporation, were, Harwich, Attleborough, Framingham, Dracut, Brookline, Plympton, Truro,
Needham, Chatham, Norton, Abing- ton, Pembroke, Dighton, Lexington, Weston, Medway, Oxford, Chilmark, Leicester, Northfield, Sunderland, Hopkinton, Littleton, Sutton, West- borough, Bellingham, Rutland, Hol- liston, Walpole, Methuen, Stoneham, Easton, Kingston, Stoughton, Hano- ver, Provincetown, Uxbridge, Shrews- bury, Southborough, Middleton, Lu- nenburg, Westford, Bedford, Wil- mington, Brimfield, Raynham, Town- send, Harvard, Dudley, Sheffield, Halifax, Tewksbury, Acton, Berkeley, Grafton, Upton, Sturbridge, Waltham, Bolton, Hardwick, Wareham, Stock- bridge, Leominster, Blandford, Hol- den, Warren, Pelham, Douglass.
164
PROGRESS OF THE PROVINCE.
CHAP. per annum - upwards of three millions of dollars of the cur- VI. rency of the United States.1 This sum, indeed, is not much 1748. larger than the value of the imports from 1715 to 1718; but it must not be hence inferred that the commerce of the country was decreasing. The statement simply indicates that the peo- ple were depending more upon their own resources, and that inter-colonial exchange was taking the place, in a measure, of the trade with foreign ports. This is evident, not only from the acts of Parliament restricting manufactures, but also from the statistics of that period, which show that the shipping of the colony had largely increased ; 2 that the trade with the West Indies was much more extensive; and that more atten- tion was paid to those interests upon which, after all, every people must principally depend for support, and without which no nation can rapidly progress.
The discipline through which the people had passed had been painful, and such as they would probably have gladly avoided, had it been in their power. But it was exactly the discipline adapted to their circumstances, and exactly the disci- pline which prepared them for the future. They had learned something of the feelings of Great Britain towards her colo- nies, and were able to comprehend better the policy of her statesmen. Wise men, even at this date, foresaw the impend- ing struggle, and predicted that a generation would not pass before it would commence.3 The military training, which was to fit the citizens of New England for the battles of the revo- lution, had already been begun, and in the next few years it was surprisingly advanced. Even the taking of Louisburg,
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.