USA > New Hampshire > The history of New Hampshire, from its discovery, in 1614, to the passage of the Toleration act, in 1819 > Part 7
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* Now Portland.
12
March.
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HISTORY OF
CHAP. IV.
The omens and prodigies of superstition attended this war. The human mind, ignorant at that time 1678. of the most common phenomena of nature, stricken by continual fear, and brooding constantly over hor- rors, sunk to puerile weakness, and readily resolved every unusual appearance into prodigy and miracle. Many people imagined that they heard guns and drums in the air. Even an eclipse was viewed with serious fears, and long lines of clouds in the evening sky, having their edges illuminated by the setting sun, were converted, by a disordered fancy, into flaming swords and spears, gleaming athwart the heavens, presaging wrath and impending havoc.
1675.
In the midst of the difficulties and distresses of this war, Mason again petitioned the king for the restoration of his property. The king referred the petition to his attorney general, Sir William Jones, and his solicitor general, Sir Francis Winnington. These officers reported that Mason " had a good and legal title to said lands." The Massachusetts 1676. colony were thereupon summoned to appear and March 10. answer the complaints which Mason and the heirs of Gorges had made of usurpation. Accordingly, William Stoughton and Peter Bullerly, two agents, were despatched to make answer for the colony. They arrived, and appeared before the Lords Chief 1677. Justices of the king's bench and Common Pleas. After hearing both parties, the judges decided that " Massachusetts has no right of jurisdiction over New Hampshire." They did not settle the ques- tion of the right of soil ; but decided that Mason had no right of government within the territory which he claimed. It was likewise determined that the four towns of Portsmouth, Dover, Exeter
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NEW HAMPSHIRE.
and Hampton, were out of the bounds of Massa- CHAP. chusetts. By this decision, it was evident that no IV. court in England had jurisdiction of the pro- prietary claims. In order to the establishment of Mason's title, it was necessary to erect a new jurisdiction, with new modes of trial and appeal. This decision paved the way to a separation from Massachusetts. The king himself was in favor of it. Influenced by his displeasure against that growing colony, and by his desire to favor the claim of Mason, he resolved on a separation of the two colonies. Accordingly, things having been pre- 1679. pared beforehand, a commission passed the great Sept. 18. seal for the government of New Hampshire ; re- straining the jurisdiction of Massachusetts, and erecting New Hampshire into a distinct province. The government was to consist of a President and Council, to be appointed by the crown, and an assembly of Representatives to be chosen by the people. JOHN CUTTS, an eminent and popular merchant of Portsmouth, was president, and the counsellors were Richard Martin, William Vaughan and Thomas Daniel, of Portsmouth ; John Gil- man, of Exeter ; Christopher Hussey, of Hampton ; and RICHARD WALDRON, of Dover. Thus was dissolved the union of Massachusetts and New
Hampshire. It had subsisted for thirty-eight years. It was beneficial and satisfactory to both. The growth of both had been promoted. The government about to take its place, was instituted at the instance, and with the view to favor the claim, of Mason, the most repugnant to the people.
The system prescribed in this commission was the most simple form of subordinate government in
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HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE.
CHAP. IV. America. The people were represented, in a body chosen by themselves, and had the right of in- structing their representatives. The king could disannul the acts of both bodies at his pleasure. Actuated by his aversion to Parliaments and repre- sentative bodies, king Charles, by a clause art- fully worded, retained the right to discontinue the representation of the people, whenever it should suit his pleasure to resist their will. Yet into this plan of colonial government there was infused much of the spirit of the British constitution, and there was much more protection given to the rights of the people than in England. There was no third branch between the king and the people. Thus the house of peers, the worst feature of the feudal system, composed of lords, enjoying a sovereignty over their own territory, and ruling powerful bands of vassals, was excluded from New England. The relation of lordship and vassalage was not to perpetuate the dependence of the many on the few. Though the king ruled, yet the yeo- manry, the natural defenders of their own rights and property, were the proprietors of the soil.
CHAPTER V.
ORGANIZATION of the new government-Laws-Crimes-Courts-Militia- Discontent of the people-Death of Cutts-Cranfield-His character-Ar- bitrary measures-Gove's rebellion-He is sent to the tower of London- Persecution of Moody-Character of Moody-Riot at Exeter-Andros made governor general-Revolution in England-Revolution in the colo- nies-Andros deposed-Union with Massachusetts-War with the Indians -Death of Waldron-Indian cruelty-Sufferings of the captives.
ON the first day of January, a royal commission CHAP. was brought to Portsmouth. Bearing the sanction V. 1680. Jan. 1. of the great seal, it declared New Hampshire a royal province. Unwelcome tidings to the people! Unwelcome was the messenger who bore them .* Having long enjoyed the advantages of the union with Massachusetts, they yielded with reluctance to the separation. They saw the evil genius of Mason in the change, and viewed it as the triumph of a vested right over rights acquired by purchase of the Indians, and defended at the price of blood. It was difficult for them to see how a piece of parchment, taking precedence of both contract and possession, should give title to the vast tract along the Pascataqua and stretching eastward to the Merrimack. The commission was received with regret, even by the officers whom it clothed with power. The aged and infirm, but upright and popular Cutts accepted of the office of President, only to prevent it from falling upon some instru-
* Edward Randolph, a kinsman of Mason.
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HISTORY OF
CHAP. ment of royalty. The same motive also moved the V. generous and public-spirited Vaughan, and Daniel Gilman, Hussey,* and Richard Waldron. These men were all favorites of the people ; who, though averse to the change, found some alleviation of their discontent in the appointment of their trusty friends. It was, with the king, a matter of policy to smooth the way to an unpopular government, by 1680. introducing it through these hands. But no arti- fice of that kind could make it satisfactory to the people. It struck liberty out of existence, by denying them the choice of their own rulers; and they viewed the loss of liberty as a precursor to an invasion of their prosperity ; for this government had kindled new hopes in the breast of Mason.
Feb.26. They, however, submitted in silence. Writs were 1 issued for calling a general assembly. An oath of allegiance was administered to each voter. A public fast was then observed, to propitiate the favor of Heaven and the continuance of their March 16. " precious and pleasant things."t In March, the assembly met at Portsmouth. They immediately wrote a letter to the general court at Boston,į full of gratitude and respect for their former protectors -full of regret for that separation which they had
. no power to prevent. They signified their wish for a mutual correspondence, and offered their services for defence against the common enemy.
Laws. Their next care was to frame a code of laws. They decreed no less than fifteen capital offences, and put witchcraft and idolatry on their black Crimes. catalogue.§ The president, council, and assem-
* Lewis's Hist. of Lynn, p. 29. + F. Belknap, p. 91. ¿ F. Belknap, p. 92. § Council Records, 1680. F. Belknap, p. 92.
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bly, constituted the supreme court, and inferior CHAP. courts were established in the towns. The V. militia was organized, and consisted of one com- Militia. pany of foot in each of the four towns, one com- pany of artillery at the fort, and one troop of horse; all under the command of the veteran Waldron.
The people were now watching, with jealous eyes, for the first infringement of their rights. They soon discovered it in the duties and restric- tions imposed by the acts of trade and navigation. The office of collector, surveyor, and searcher of the customs, throughout New England, had been conferred upon Edward Randolph. Having pub- lished an advertisement, requiring that all vessels should be entered and cleared with him, he be- gan to obstruct the vessels in passing from harbor to harbor. In the execution of his commission, he seized a ketch belonging to Portsmouth. When brought before the president and council, on the complaint of the master of the ketch, he behaved with haughty insolence. But the affair terminated with a reprimand to himself, and a fine upon his deputy, Barefoot. Randolph and his commission were equally unpopular at Boston. The decisions of the courts there were invariably against him. But the people, acting upon the ground that the royal authority could be exercised only through the president and council,* while they denied the authority of Randolph, passed an order of their own for the observance of the acts of trade, and officers of their own to see it executed. While the people were resisting the assumptions of this royal
March 28.
* Whiton, p. 35. F. Belknap, 93. Council Records, 1680.
1681. April 5.
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HISTORY OF
CHAP.
V. officer, President Cutts died, lamented, as he had lived beloved, and was succeeded by his deputy, Major Waldron. In a sequestered spot, in a gar- den, the inhabitants of Portsmouth can now point out his grave. The remembrance of his integrity and benevolence has survived the tomb.
1682. Mason was disappointed in the government he had been so solicitous to procure. He found that President Cutts and a majority of the council were opposed to his wishes. He, therefore, on his re- turn to England directed all his efforts to procure a change. To this end he was assisted by the necessities of the king. Negligent of the interests of his people, and careless of glory, Charles II. lavished their treasures with thoughtless extrava- gance. He raised immoderate supplies of money, and squandered it with profusion. Consequently, he was oppressed with debts, and straitened in his revenue .* By surrendering one fifth of the quit rents to the king, for the support of a royal Jan. 25. governor, Mason procured the appointment of Ed- ward Cranfield.
Cran- field.
The ruling passion of Cranfield was avarice. Mason, perceiving this, secured to him the payment of one hundred and fifty pounds per annum. This made the government of this poor province, num- bering scarcely four thousand inhabitants, appear to him a dazzling and inviting object ; and he came over less careful for the interests of the people than for the bettering of his fortune. Arbitrary, needy, and rapacious, he made no secret of his ob- ject in accepting the office, and openly sought to
* Hume, vol. IV., p. 405.
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NEW HAMPSHIRE.
return the liberality of Mason by a devotion to the CHAP. proprietary claim. V.
By his commission he was vested with extraor- May 9. dinary powers. He could adjourn, prorogue and dissolve general courts. He had a negative voice on all acts of government. He could suspend any of the council. He appointed judges and all sub- ordinate officers, and executed the powers of vice-admiral. Within six days after the publi- cation of his commission, he suspended the popu- lar leaders, Waldron and Martyn. From this exercise of power, the people plainly saw the dangerous designs formed against them. They perceived that the sole design of these novel and extraordinary powers was to facilitate the entrance of the claimant on the lands .* They had subdued the rough wilderness, and defended their families and estates against a savage enemy. Would they surrender their property to satisfy a doubtful and disputable claim ?
Meanwhile the assembly was summoned. Cran- field, to make a show of conciliation, restored Waldron and Martyn to the council. The assem- bly, hoping to detach him from the interest of Ma- son, voted him two hundred and fifty pounds. This put the rapacious governor in good humor, but it was of short duration. At the next session, the assembly refused to pass a bill for the support of government, and he hastily dissolved them. This kindled the popular discontent to a flame. The public voice against him was loud and violent, and the people, assembling in public meetings, be- gan to act in concert. They demanded redress.
Nov. 14.
1683. Jan. 20.
* F. Belknap, p. 97.
19
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HISTORY OF
CHAP. V. The more moderate only gave vent to their resent- ment in murmurs. But the rash and thoughtless proceeded to acts of rebellion and violence. A tumultuous body assembled from Exeter and Hampton, headed by Edward Gove, declaring for liberty and reformation. Marching at the head of his followers, Gove went from town to town, bearing arms in his hands, calling upon the people to rise and overturn the government. But the ma- jority, though disaffected, were not prepared for open revolt. Gove, finding himself but feebly sup- ported, paused from his measures, and peaceably surrendered. He was convicted of high treason, and received sentence of death. All his accom- plices were set at liberty by the king, and Gove himself, instead of being led to execution,* was imprisoned in the tower of London-that prison whose gloomy walls have so often echoed the sighs of innocence, genius, and virtue.
1683. Feb.14.
On the fourteenth of February the governor called upon the inhabitants to take out leases from Mason. This would be an acknowledgment of his claim, and they with one consent refused.
He threatened to seize the principal estates and beggar the owners. His threats, however, intim- idated no one. His position was well understood. He was determined, with the aid of the governor, to enforce his claim to the soil of New Hampshire, and the people were determined not to submit to it.
Cranfield, having assumed the whole legislative power, acted as if the assembly had either no existence, or no rights. He assumed to alter the
* N. H. Hist. Coll., II., p. 44.
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NEW HAMPSHIRE.
CHAP. V.
value of money, changed the bounds of townships, and established the fees of office. When the acts of trade were not observed in Massachusetts, he prohibited vessels from that colony to enter the harbor of Portsmouth. Notwithstanding these multiplied and extensive powers,* Cranfield was dissatisfied with his position. He discovered, with chagrin, that the path which he had seen leading to fortune, ended in public hatred. It was evident, also, that his hopes of sudden wealth must be pro- tracted to a length of years ; for he must apply for money to the people he had so much abused. As 1684 he could hope for nothing from their favor, he started a vague rumor of war, trusting that he could turn to his own benefit the measures which the people should adopt for defence. He called . an assembly at Great Island and tendered them a Jan. 14. bill for supplies. The house debated it awhile, and returned it with their negative. At this he was highly incensed, and dissolved them. Sus- pecting the influence of the Rev. Mr. Moody, of Portsmouth, a strenuous advocate of the popular cause, he from that hour marked Moody as an object for vengeance. Soon after the dissolution of the assembly, he sent an order to Moody, re- quiring him to administer to himself, with Mason and Hinks, " the Lord's supper," according to the liturgy. This vindictive and arbitrary mandate was contrary to the laws of England. By the stat- ute of 13 and 14 Charles II., it is enacted that no person shall presume to consecrate and administer " the Lord's supper," before he is ordained a priest by " Episcopal ordination." Moody had
* N. H. Hist. Coll., I., p. 261.
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HISTORY OF
CHAP. not been episcopally ordained ; and, as Cranfield V. foresaw, refused to obey the order. This furnished the desired pretext for a criminal prosecution. When brought to the bar, Moody pleaded in his defence the laws of England, and the rights of conscience. Edgarly and Fryer, two of the justices, pleaded strenuously for his acquittal, and were rewarded by removal from office. Moody was condemned, and, to the great joy of Cotton Mather, was committed to prison. At a time when no clergyman could doubt the reality of witchcraft, without danger of a dismissal from his society, Moody exposed it as a delusion, and de- nounced the Salem magistrates as murderers. It was but natural that such a man should incur the displeasure of Cotton Mather; for, while that fierce and sullen bigot was riding through the country, fanning the excitement and dragging in- nocent victims to the gallows, Moody visited them in prison, warned them of their danger, plan- ned their rescue, and assisted them to escape. Throughout the whole dark period of the Salem excitement, he was the friend of the unfortunate accused; and while Boston and Salem, the theatre of Mather's influence, were immolating their own citizens on the altar of superstition, Portsmouth, under the pastoral influence of Moody, had learned to despise the delusion, and became the asylum of the accused.
It is thus that a great man sometimes stands out amidst the follies of his time, a solitary monument to the triumph of reason. Escaping, like Galileo, from the narrow prejudices and the conceited learning of his cotemporaries, he seems to pass the
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NEW HAMPSHIRE.
veil which divides the present from the future, and CHAP. while to mortal eyes the future seems shrouded in V. darkness, he beholds the dawn of a more enlight- ened age.
In obedience to an order* from England, Cran- field once more convened the assembly. But they May 27. refused to vote anything for the support of govern- ment. "They are persons of such a mutinous disposition," said he, in his letter to the Secretary of State, " that it is not safe to let them convene." He, however, called them together once more, to July 22. pass acts for the suppression of piracy, and to raise money. They passed the acts, but refused the money, and he called them no more. Vexed at their obstinacy and the failure of his plans, he re- solved upon a bold usurpation of power. Having filled the council with creatures of his own, he undertook to impose taxes on the people, by the authority of the governor and council, without the concurrence of the assembly. This was in defi- ance of the plain letter of the provincial laws. The people were resolved not to submit to such an imposition, and formed combinations for mutual aid and resistance. At Exeter they attacked the Dec.22. sheriff and drove him off with clubs. Most of the constables went over to the people, and refused to levy upon their goods.t
Such as persisted, met
with insult in every form. When they attempted to enter the houses, the women heated brimming kettles of water, and poured upon their heads.į The military were next called to aid the arm of civil power, and a troop of horse were ordered to march
* Orders of Cranfield. N. H. Hist. Coll., II., p. 200.
¡ N. H. Hist. Coll., III., p. 417. # Bancroft. F. Belknap. Whiton.
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HISTORY OF
CHAP, out on a certain day, completely mounted and V. armed. But the military were the people; and 1685. when the day came, not a soldier appeared. Thus Jan. 9. foiled in every direction, New Hampshire began to wear to the eyes of the governor a cheerless aspect. The voice of complaint reached England, and drew down upon him the royal censure .* The king at length " granted him leave of absence," and Walter Barefoot, his deputy, succeeded to the chair of the chief magistracy.
From the days of Cranfield down to the time of Sir Edward Packenham, English governors and generals, like English writers, have mistaken the character of the American people. It is only by the severest lessons of experience, that American courage and love of liberty have been made known to the English armies. Cranfield believed that menaces and prosecutions would bend the necks of the Congregationalists to the yoke of Episcopal forms ; and Packenham, leading on the veterans of Wellington, despised the American rifle in the hands of back-woodsmen. The former sacri- ficed his power to his error; the latter lost his life. Both found the Americans more resolute in defence of their rights than cautious of danger, or submis- sive to usurpation.
The rising settlements were now fast gain- ing upon the wilderness. One after another the hardy pioneers of that day progressed into the forest, until they reached the southern borders of Cheshire county. The hand of oppression was lightly laid upon them. The course of the
* Articles of complaint against Lieut. Gov. Cranfield. N. H. Hist. Coll., I., p. 267.
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government was conciliating. The king was CHAP. preparing them for the introduction of a governor- V. general.
1685. Feb. 6.
Three years before his death, Charles II., had declared the charter of Massachusetts forfeited. James II., his successor, inherited the arbitrary disposition of his brother Charles. The colonies could hope for no favors from him. He organized 1686. a new government and placed at its head, Joseph May 25. Dudley. But the administration of Dudley was short. In December, Sir Edmund Andros arrived Dec.30. at Boston, with a commission appointing him captain-general and governor-in-chief of New England. He began with fair professions and conciliatory measures ; but he soon disclosed his real object in accepting the appointment. It was to enrich himself .* Finding the council backward in aiding his oppressive exactions, he appointed to that body none but willing instruments. Thus fortified, he pronounced all the land titles forfeited by the surrender of the Massachusetts charter ; and, that he might cut off any reliance which the people had upon titles purchased of the Indians, he declared an Indian deed to be no better than the scratch of a bear's paw. His intention was to compel all the landholders to purchase of him new titles. In addition to this, he imposed upon them exorbitant taxes.
To silence the popular complaint, he restrained the liberty of the press. That the people might not consult upon their grievances, he prohibited town meetings, except one in each year. To pre- vent complaints from reaching England, he forbade
* N. H. Hist. Coll., p. 269.
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HISTORY OF
CHAP. any one to leave the colony without permission V. from the governor.
1688.
1688.
The people had borne with this "rapacious plunderer"* for two years. Their patience was exhausted. Meanwhile, the strides of King James towards arbitrary power were preparing the way to a revolution in England. His reign had been one continued invasion of civil and religious liberty.t It terminated in his expulsion from the throne; which William III. ascended in 1688. When the news of this great revolution reached Boston, Andros affected to discredit the rumor, and imprisoned the man who brought it. But the people believed it, and were filled with joy. Their native love of freedom kindled at the prospect of deliverance. Actuated by a kindred spirit with their brethren in England, they deter- mined to act with similar promptitude. Accord-
1689. April 18. ingly, on the morning of the eighteenth of April, the drums in Boston beat to arms. Crowds came flocking in from the country, as the day advanced, to the assistance of the Bostonians ; and Andros was seized and thrown into prison. A committee of safety was hastily organized, and assumed, for the time, the functions of government. Andros 1690. was afterwards, by order of King William, sent to England, a prisoner of state, and New Hamp- shire was without a government. For some time the people waited for orders from England. None Jan. came, and they chose deputies to form a plan of government. They met, and resolved upon a March 12. union with Massachusetts. Their petition was readily accepted at Boston, and New Hampshire once more became a part of Massachusetts.
* Whiton.
+ Hume, vol. IV., p. 463.
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NEW HAMPSHIRE.
Amidst the oppressions of Andros,* and the CHAP. contests with Mason, the colony became involved IV. in an Indian war. The seeds of hatred, long since sown, had begun to spring up. The Indians had brooded over the seizure of their brethren, by 1688. Major Waldron, with deep though silent resent- ment. Thirteen years had not been sufficient to erase from their hearts the remembrance of injury and the thirst for vengeance. Besides this, they alleged other grievances and immediate causes of war. In vain did the government strive to concil- iate them with presents, and eagerly sue to them to make a treaty of peace. The Ossipees, the Pequawkets, and even a portion of the Pena- cooks, united to raise the warwhoop. A grandson of Passaconaway led the dreadful enterprise. It required all the influence of Wonolanset, although the dying charge of his father was often repeated, to persuade a portion of the Penacooks to peace. The Pequawkets were the movers of the war, and were not without provocation. The mansion of the Baron de St. Castine stood at this time at Penob- scot. The baron, though of an ancient and proud family of France, chose to lead the life of an Indian trader in the wilds of America. He had adopted Indian customs, and had married a daughter of the sachem Madokewando. Andros, unprovoked, sailed up the Penobscot in the Rose frigate, and plundered his house and fort, scarcely leaving him the ornaments of his chapel. This called on Castine for revenge. Instigated by him, the Indians began to commit depredations at North Yarmouth. Some of them were pursued
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