USA > New Hampshire > The history of New Hampshire, from its discovery, in 1614, to the passage of the Toleration act, in 1819 > Part 11
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1730.
1730. Dec. 12. fortune. Shortly after his appointment, occurred the death of Lieutenant Governor Wentworth. Until the unfortunate controversy between him 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.
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NEW HAMPSHIRE.
Wisdom and moderation marked the whole of his CHAP. public career. For nearly thirteen years he had VII. 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. 1731. 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 the 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 Wentworth, 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 Shute, who had been long absent, would return and resume the chair. Went- worth wrote letters of compliment to both. Bel- cher was not apprized of the letter to Shute until
* Prov. Rec., Jour. House, 1724-1743. 20
Bel- knap,p. 224.
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HISTORY OF
CHAP. after his arrival in America. He was then inform- VII.
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 affront, 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
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NEW HAMPSHIRE.
more than nineteen hundred dwelling-houses, and CHAP. the amount of shipping did not exceed five hundred VII. tons. The number of seamen was but forty. The exports were small, and consisted chiefly of fish and Whi- ton, p. 78. lumber. The customs and excise brought only a 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 in 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 both provinces met at Newbury, to settle this pro-
Prov. Rec., Jour. House, 1724-1743.
1731. Sept. 21.
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HISTORY OF
CHAP. tracted dispute. The influence of Massachusetts
VII. prevented an accommodation, and this proved to be 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, without 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 councilors of the neighboring province. In Au- gust, 1737, this board convened at Hampton, and simultaneously with them the assemblies of the two 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, watching 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
1737. Aug.
Whiton, p. 81.
three miles from the left bank of the Merrimack, up 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.
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NEW HAMPSHIRE.
boundary of New Hampshire should be a line drawn CHAP. from the mouth of the Pascataqua to the source of VII. the Salmon Falls branch, and from thence due Whiton, north-west. This would have cut off small por- p. 81. tions of Grafton, and almost the whole 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 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 1740. 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 Hampshire 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 Wentworth, the favorite of
* Prov. Rec., Jour. House, 1724-1743.
Whiton, p. 81.
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CHAP. the people, and the warmest opponent of Belcher, VII. received the appointment of governor and com- 1741. 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 themselves in seeking a new world, than servilely to be hired as slaughterers in the quarrels of strangers."
Gorges' Hist. of N.Eng. p. 3. 1744.
An unusual religious excitement brought to America, at this period, one of the most remark- able ment of the age. With the exception of
ยก Rev. N. Bouton's Address, N. H. Hist. Coll., IV., p. 5.
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Patrick Henry, it may be safely said that no voice CHAP. was ever heard on the western continent so elo- VII. quent as that of George Whitefield ; 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 bulk 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 Whitefield. 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 Whitefield, p. 11.
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HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE.
CHAP. build an orphan asylum, as the best legacy he VII.
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 will, with every emotion of which human nature is susceptible. If he melted them to tears, it was only that 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. Whitefield 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 Albany-Campaign of 1755-Defeat of Braddock -- Washington-The Rangers-Expedition to Crown Point-Massacre at Fort William Henry-Montcalm-Pitt-Attack upon the fortress of Ti- conderoga-The English repulsed-Quebec-Expedition against the St. Francis Indians-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 between 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 VIII. 1744. 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
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HISTORY OF
CHAP. reigns triumphant over all the neighboring lands. VIII. 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 forts.
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 town was 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.
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nificent works had been constructed ; and they had cost the crown not less than thirty millions of 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 between 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 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 buildings ; and after menacing the English posts in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, returned with sixty prisoners of war to Louisburg.
This early disaster drew the attention of the 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
CHAP VIII.
1744.
1744. March.
Ban- croft, III., 457.
May.
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HISTORY OF
CHAP. energy and decision, resolved at once upon an VIII. enterprise against it. The fishermen of Marble- Ban- croft, III., 457. 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."+ Connecticut sent five hundred and Prov. Rec. Jour. House, 1742- 1747. Jour. Coun. & Assem. 1742- 1750. sixteen men, and three hundred sailed from Rhode Island too late to share the glory of the enterprise. Nor did the generous supply of provisions sent by Pennsylvania arrive till after the surrender of the city. The cannon contributed by New York, more fortunate in their destination, came safely and seasonably to their hands.
Dun- lap's Hist. N. York, Vol. I., p. 354.
The merit of originating this expedition is sup- posed by many to belong to William Vaughan, of Portsmouth. He had learned from fishermen the strength and situation of the place, and conceived 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 hundred and fifty from New Hampshire had previ- ously joined one of the Massachusetts regiments, and forty-six more manned one of the armed sloops which 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.
+ Nothing is to be despaired of, Christ being the leader.
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NEW HAMPSHIRE.
Vaughan rode express to Portsmouth. The as- CHAP. sembly was in session when his errand was an- VIII. 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.
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 with them, a necessary requisite to the commander of a volunteer army. Of these indi- viduals, William Pepperell, 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
Feb.13.
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HISTORY OF
CHAP. VIII. that the expedition was resolved upon; and the 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- knap, 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 month 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
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American ports and islands, until Commodore CHAP. Warren, an experienced and judicious officer, had VIII. at his disposal, for the assistance of the colonies, Bel- knap, p. 273. a formidable squadron, consisting of four ships of 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 troops of Massachusetts embarked at Boston, and arrived at Canseau. 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- modore Warren's squadron, and the next day, by 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 sight of the
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