USA > New Hampshire > The history of New Hampshire, from its discovery, in 1614, to the passage of the Toleration act, in 1819 > Part 3
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imagination. It was everywhere extolled, and all Europe began to dream of America as a land 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 who looked to Laconia as a region where nature would smile in eternal fertility and bloom-where wealth would 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 had 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 " a faire large river, well replenisht with many fruitfull islands ; the ayr thereof is pure and whol- 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."t
* Gorges, p. 31.
+ Gorges, p. 58.
CHAP. I.
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CHAP. I. 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, Mineralls, Quarryes, Shoares, Soyles, Wa- ters, Lakes, Fishings, Huntings, Fowlings, Com- modities, Hereditaments, Prerogatives, Rights, Jurisdictions, and Royalties, Privileges, Fran- chises, Escheats, Liberties and Prochemiences."+ But it is not from the testimony of Gorges alone, nor yet from the technical 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. t Gorges, pp. 34-36. Patents of New England.
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chiefly turned towards the discovery of lakes and CHAP. mines." It also appears that they expected to derive a considerable revenue from the culture of
I. - grapes. They fell into the errors which 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. They 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,t 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. Belknap, p. 13.
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CHAP. of them yielded great profits. Meanwhile, by the 1. 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 future grew dark before them, and they began to be dis- couraged. Around them lay a repulsive and un- explored wilderness. 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 effort 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 alacrity 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
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magnificent, and so refreshed his confidence that he CHAP. ever saw his glory ripening, and chided the seem- I. 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- 1634. liams governor, and sent over from England a fresh supply of servants and materials for build- ing.
Shortly after this time the Plymouth colony 1635. 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 Coke in the chair, Gorges came forward to the bar .* Sir Ed- ward briefly explained to him that the charter of the Plymouth colony had 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, the charter must be brought into the house and de-
* Gorges, p. 23.
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CHAP.
I. 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."t 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 advancement 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."į 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 Councell 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. 24. + Gorges, p. 24. # Gorges, p. 28.
§ Gorges, p. 29.
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established Church Government in such scorne CHAP. and contempt, as finding themselves in a country of Liberty, where tongues might speake without
I. - 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, t following the course of the river, from its mouth to its farthest head, and in- cluded 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 darling 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.
+ F. Belknap, pp. 14, 15.
5
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HISTORY OF
CHAP. his all; still dreaming of the profits of discovery, I. and 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 away, 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 but of losse; in that I was 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.
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1288666
savage People and overgrowne trees. So as I CHAP. found it no meane matter to procure any to go I. ~ 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. + Gorges, D. N. E., p. 12.
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HISTORY OF
CHAP. government and law. It was the philosophy of I. 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."* He 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.
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and iron in abundance. But silver nor gold would CHAP. it reveal. Had it possessed these, New Hampshire I. 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.
1
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, the 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- ing part of that beautiful eminence which lies be- tween the two branches of the river, they erected
CHAP. II.
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a church. Danger compelled them to surround it CHAP. with an intrenchment, and flankarts. High above II. 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 independent 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 1638. efficiency to those doctrines which they sacredly
* F. Belknap, p. 18.
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CHAP.
1I. cherished, and for which they had been driven from Boston, they formed themselves into a church. They also combined into a separate body politic, 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 equality 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.
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the foundation of the state. That government has CHAP. continued with trifling alteration for more than two II. 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 1638. formed at a place which the Indians called Winni- cumet. The salt meadows had attracted the 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. ment, with this accession, numbered fifty-six. It was considered at this time as belonging to the colony of Massachusetts.
After the death of Capt. Mason, his widow, 1639. weary of the great expenses and inadequate re- turns of the Portsmouth plantation, informed her 1639. servants that they must provide for themselves.
F. Bel- knap, p. 20, 21.
6
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CHAP. Some removed with their goods and cattle ; others II. remained, keeping possession of the buildings and improvements, which they henceforth claimed as
Whiton p. 14.
1640.
Oct. 22.
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 the same.t 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 factį 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 difficul-
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