USA > New Hampshire > The history of New Hampshire, from its discovery, in 1614, to the passage of the Toleration act, in 1819 > Part 9
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After the death of Hilton, Capt. Walton, with one hundred and seventy men, traversed the eastern shores in pursuit of the Indians. They encamped on an island, and by the smoke of their first fire some Indians, mistaking them for some of their own tribe, were decoyed to the camp and made prisoners. Among these was the sachem of Nor- ridgwock. He had been an active and fierce war- rior. When he found himself in the hands of his enemies, he surveyed them with haughty disdain. When required to disclose the lurking-places of his
* N. H. Hist. Coll.
16
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CHAP. warriors, he refused ; when they threatened him VI. with death, and made before his eyes the prepara- tions to execute him, he laughed scornfully. His wife, being an eye-witness of the scene, was so in- timidated as to make the discoveries which the cap- tors had tried in vain to extort from the sachem .* They followed to the place pointed out by her, and returned with seven scalps. This success, inconsiderable as it may appear, kept up the spirits of the people, and added to the loss of the enemy, who were now daily diminishing by sickness and famine.
The success of the second expedition against 1711. Port Royal, encouraged an attempt, the next year, on Quebec ; and an agent was despatched to Eng- 1711. land to solicit aid. To the surprise of all, the min- isters of Queen Anne acceded to the proposal, and a fleet came over, under the command of Admiral Walker, consisting of fifteen ships of war, fifty transports, and six store-ships. The troops which they brought, had been selected from the veteran legions of the Duke of Marlborough, the flower of English valor. Never had New England seen upon her waters a fleet or an army so formidable. When joined by the colonial troops, they amounted to six thousand five hundred men-a force con- sidered at that day fully equal to the reduction of Quebec.t Their bright anticipations of conquest were blasted in a single night. No sooner had they entered the St. Lawrence, than the admiral obstinately refused to direct his course by the ad- vice of the pilots. He had proceeded but ten leagues up the river, when, on the night of the
* F. Belknap, p. 179 ¡ Whiton. F. Belknap.
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twenty-third of August, the weather being thick, eight transports were wrecked upon an island, and a thousand men perished. Of the whole number only one was a New-Englander. The fleet put back, and with great difficulty beat down the St. Lawrence, and rendezvoused at the mouth of Spanish river. There the officers held a consul- tation, and finally resolved to abandon the enter- prise.
The Indians took courage from these misfor- 1712. tunes, and fell upon Exeter, Dover, and Oyster River. Such was the posture of affairs, when, to the great joy of the inhabitants, the news of the peace of Utrecht arrived in America. As soon as Oct.29. the Indians were informed of this, they came into Casco with a flag of truce, and desired to make a treaty. An unusual despondency was percepti- ble in their demeanor. Thoughtful of past misfor- tunes, they now saw that all further hostility would be useless, and asked for peace. A sus- Oct.29. pension of arms was proclaimed at Portsmouth, and, on the eleventh of July, the chiefs and depu- ties of the several tribes solemnly ratified the treaty of peace. Most joyfully did the inhabitants leave the garrisoned houses, where they had suffered so much, to resume once more the peaceful pur- suits of industry. The fields again looked gay with the harvest-the wilderness and the solitary place began "to bud and blossom like the rose."
Immediately after the peace, a ship was de- spatched to Quebec, to bring home the captives. The scene, on their arrival, is not to be described. Hundreds thronged the beach to meet them.
CHAP. VI. August 23.
1713. July 11.
1714.
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CHAP. VI. Mothers were eagerly searching through the crowd for their sons, and watching, with trembling solici- tude, each person that stepped upon the shore. Wives were there agitated with uncertain hopes, and fearing to interrogate the strange company of the ransomed ; for they were indeed strange. Some could only make signs of recognition. They stood locked in the embraces of their friends, and wept tears of joy in silence. They had forgotten their native language. Some came not. Captivity had not quenched the feelings. They had inter- married with the Indians, and refused the call that bade them return. They had grown out of the habits and the memory of home. A new love had been grafted, where the old had been broken. They preferred the hut of the wilderness to the home once so dear to them.
During the war, Dudley, as governor, and Usher,* as lieutenant-governor, had administered the go- vernment, as faithful servants of the crown, and to the satisfaction of the people. Affairs in Eng- land had now changed, by the accession of George I. Many valuable officers, who had served the English government in the late wars, were wasting away by the rust of peace. They must be provided for in America. Accordingly, George Vaughan was made lieutenant-governor, and Samuel Shute commander-in-chief of the province of New Hampshire. Dudley, expecting soon to be super- seded, went to pass the evening of his days in re- tirement, and left the helm of state in the hands of Vaughan.
1715.
1716. Oct. 13.
Vaughan's first act offended the people. It was
* P. R., Journ. Council and Assembly, 1692-1716.
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an attempt to establish a perpetual revenue to the CHAP. crown, by bringing into New England the land-tax VI. of Great Britain. The assembly declined to lay any imposts until the arrival of a governor. Shute, Oct. 17. however, soon came to the chair. He abandoned the land-tax, but displaced six of the old counsel- lors, and filled their seats with six more, all of Portsmouth. This gave the trading interest a preponderance in the assembly. The yeomanry feared that the burdens of government would be laid wholly upon their shoulders. Disputes and bickerings* arose between the governor and the house of representatives, and between the governor and lieutenant-governor. The rash and precipi- tate, hasty and imperious temper which brought on the contest,t disqualified Vaughan for managing it with success. He disgusted the council and as- sembly, and did not conciliate the crown.į Ven- 1717. turing to disobey some of the instructions of Dec. 7. Shute, he was complained of to the king, and superseded by John Wentworth. The same hand that penned the immortal soliloquy of Cato, and traced the finest harmonies of the Spectator, countersigned the commission of Wentworth. It was the hand of Addison.
During the last, long, and distressing war with the Indians, the resources and improvement of the colony had been at a stand. , But on the return of peace, Industry ventured once more to ply her busy hand, and the staple productions of the colony rose into view and became objects of at- tention. The royal navy needed masts, and, by
* P. R., J. C. and A., 1716-1728. House, 1711-1724.
+ F. Belknap, p. 187. ¿ P. R., J. C. and A., 1715-1728. House, 1711-1724.
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CHAP. law, all pine trees of a certain diameter were re- VI. served for the king. To encourage the colonists, Mass. Laws of 1688. N. H. Laws of 1708. and for the benefit of Great Britain, lumber was imported into England free of duty. In the east- ern waters the fisheries had been successful, and a considerable profit began to be derived from the manufacture of tar and turpentine from pitch-pine trees. A company of merchants soon attempted to monopolize the manufacture of these articles. But when many thousand trees had been prepared for use, they were destroyed by unseen hands. Thus did the fathers resist the first stride of the giant Monopoly.
Something was done at this time towards the culture of hemp. But it was soon found that the people could till no more land than was requisite for raising corn, and they turned their attention at once to the means of subsistence. Their peaceful pursuits were soon to be interrupted. The eastern 1717. Indians at this time discovered symptoms of un- easiness. With sullen discontent they saw the rapid progress of English settlements-the erec- tion of mill-dams and forts, and the increasing activity and power of the colonists. Governor Shute resolved upon an effort to produce recon- ciliation. Assembling their chiefs on an island in the Kennebec, he promised them trading-houses, supplies of arms, and smiths to keep their guns in repair. Their prejudices had been strongly ex- cited against the English. "Why are you so strongly attached to the French?"* demanded a stranger of an Indian sachem. " Because," re- plied the savage, "the French have taught us to
Whiton.
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pray to God, which the English never did." The CHAP. Indians found encroachments daily made upon VI. their lands, and desired the English to fix a boun- dary, beyond which their settlements should not extend. This desire Governor Shute never com- plied with. Nor were the promised supplies ever furnished.
1719. Arrival of the Scottish emi- grants.
While an Indian war hung in suspense over the colonists, they received an important accession to their numbers. Early in 1719 came the Scottish families, sixteen in number, to Londonderry. Near the beginning of the seventeenth century, their ancestors had emigrated from Argylshire, in the west of Scotland, to the counties of London- derry and Antrim, in the north of Ireland .* There they trusted that their posterity might dwell, be- yond the reach of tyrants. But the hand of per- secution, which fell so heavily upon all Protestants during the reigns of Charles I. and James II., reached Ireland, and was laid upon the Scots. There, while burdened with tithes and thirsting for a larger liberty, they heard that there was a delightful region in the New World, yet unmarred by the foot-print of an oppressor. Cheered by the most flattering hopes, one hundred and twenty families embarked for America. Their voyage was prosperous. They arrived, some at Boston, others at Portland, and there passed the autumn and winter. The next year M'Gregore, with six- teen families, selected for their residence London- derry ; and there he preached his first sermon, under the shade of a spreading oak. Large ac- cessions of their countrymen were soon added to
* Whiton, p. 66.
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CHAP. the original company ; and in a few years the VI. church numbered two hundred and thirty mem- bers. They were Presbyterians. They lived in that age of enthusiasm when the adherents of old and new creeds gloried in the name of martyrs, and dissenters demanded, (what they were seldom willing to grant,) unlimited freedom of religious opinion. These emigrants were proud to enjoy, and gloried in vindicating, the Presbyterian faith. They were descended from men by whom that doctrine had been maintained with a spirit of in- dependence unequalled in any state in Europe, and hardly surpassed by the firmness and valor with which their more remote ancestors, unawed by the terror of the Roman name, defended their moors and marshes against the conquering arms of Agricola.
It is not strange that they should have been ardently attached to their faith. They knew that it was Christianity that changed the savage man- ners of their remote ancestors, and brought to the depths of the morasses and woods the dignity and happiness of civilized social life. It was no won- der, then, that they should hold strong opinions. It was no wonder that they should worship, with fervent devotion, that Sun of Righteousness which had shed such a reviving light over the highlands and into all the glens of Caledonia. It is no won- der that they should deem it a sacred duty to serve the cause of Heaven by making the fiercest oppo- sition to what they deemed a false faith; nor, when they had found what they esteemed true Christianity, that they should be willing to sacri- fice for it the last and best joys and possessions of
-
Pamted by Willard
Engraved by Pelton
GEN' JOHN M' NIEL.
John Mc Viel
.
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man-even to forsaking their country and laying down their lives.
CHAP. VI.
Next to their piety, the most striking character- istic of the Scottish settlers was their national pride and high sense of honor. They held life in mean regard, compared with the slightest stain upon their honor. They felt the blood of the ancient Scots swelling their veins ; and though far removed from them by time, and far distant from home, they still remembered Scotland, and cherished as household words the local names of Moray and Caithness, Galloway and Strath Clyde. It was natural for men to feel some pride of country, whose ancestors had been led to battle by such heroes as Wallace and Bruce. It was still more natural for those to feel it who had been taught that other generations of Scottish heroes had ren- dered memorable the fields of Harlow, Sterling, and Ancram-Moor. The earliest annals prove the Scots to have been a gallant people. The ancient Caledonians, preferring death to slavery, met the Romans in the forests of Lochleven and Loch Ore, and maintained their native indepen- dence, in spite of the universal conquerors ; com- pelling them to feel and acknowledge how great must be the patriotism and valor which move a people to defend such wild districts of mountain, moor, and marsh, against the victors of the world. In process of time the descendants of the London- derry settlers spread over Windham, Chester, Litchfield, Manchester, Bedford, Goffstown, New Boston, Antrim, Peterborough, and Acworth, in New Hampshire, and Barnet, in Vermont. They were the first settlers of many towns in Massa-
-
17
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CHAP. chusetts, Maine, and Nova Scotia. They are VI. now, to the number of more than twenty thousand,* scattered over all the states of the Union. But wherever located, and however situated, these ancestral recollections seem to have been cherish- ed by the posterity of the Scottish emigrants. To this it is to be ascribed, in part at least, that Stark, Reid, M'Clary, M'Niel, and Miller, have displayed, in later days, much of the same pride and patriotism which swelled the dauntless hearts of Wallace and Bruce. Inheriting the same great traits of character, the American heroes of Scot- tish descent have made the achievements of Bunker Hill, Bennington, and Bridgewater, not unworthy to be associated in history with those of Flodden, Melrose, Dundalk, and Bannockburn.
In the character of the Scots of Londonderry industry was another and a prominent trait. It is said of them that they were " a well-principled people ; frugal, hardy, and industrious."+ It is certain that they made rapid advances towards wealth and importance ; and that the excellence of their manufactures and the products of their industry procured for them an extensive demand. It is easy for the physiologist to discover, even now, in the countenances of the people of Derry, the same traits of character which led the ancient Scots to encounter such formidable odds, and cling with such tenacity to the defence of hills clad in perpetual snow, and wintry shores washed by the Northern Ocean. It is easy to see, in the
* Whiton estimates the descendants of the Londonderry settlers at be- tween twenty and thirty thousand-p. 67.
+ Whiton, p. 66.
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faces that assemble on a Sabbath day at Derry, CHAP. indications of the same deep feeling and high VI. ~ resolve, which moved the Scots of olden time to resist the fierce tyranny of the English church.
CHAPTER VII.
THE Aurora Borealis seen for the first time in New England in 1721-Inoc- ulation first used as an antidote to the small-pox-War with the Indians -The Jesuit missionaries-Father Rasle-his labors-his death and char- acter-War with the Indians-The family of Hanson-Captain Love- well-Last battle with the Indians at Lovewell's Pond-Defeat and death of Lovewell-Description of the battle-ground and the scenery in the valley of the Saco-Departure of the Penacooks-Boundary dispute- Settlement of Concord-Triennial act-Burnet-Belcher-Death of Wentworth-his character-Dunbar-Contest between the friends of the Union with Massachusetts and the advocates of a separate government- Boundary dispute-continues-decided in favor of New Hampshire- Benning Wentworth appointed governor-Sickness in New Hampshire -Intelligence-Morals-Schools-George Whitefield-comes to New Hampshire-his eloquence-his character.
CHAP. VII. 1721. Dec. 17.
THE Aurora Borealis, the beauty of the north- ern sky, which is now gazed upon with so much delight, was seen for the first time in New Eng- land in 1721, and filled the inhabitants with alarm. Superstition beheld with terror its scarlet hues, and transformed its waving folds of light, moving like banners along the sky, into harbingers of com- ing judgment, and omens of impending havoc. Under its brilliant reflections, the snow, the trees, and every object, seemed to be dyed with blood, and glowed like fire.
Shortly after the appearance of this beautiful and still mysterious phenomenon of the northern heavens, it was for the first time proposed in New England to make use of inoculation as an antidote to the small-pox. It had long been known as a
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remedy in Turkey, and was now introduced into CHAP. the colonies, under the auspices of Cotton Mather. VII. It required all his influence to gain for it the coun- tenance of the clergy ; but the prejudices of the people were inflamed against it to such a degree, that when Dr. Boylston, who was the first indi- vidual to use it, offered to test its harmlessness or fatality by applying it to his own family, they raised a tumult and threatened his life.
But the attention of the people was soon ab- sorbed by another and more fearful subject. The Indians were preparing for hostilities. The English must make ready for defence. In the long interval of peace, causes of war had been silently operating. The royal governors at the north did not strive, as did Oglethorpe and William Penn, to secure the attachment of the tribes by frankness and strict fidelity. The natives never regarded the northern governor as their father, nor did they confide in him, and appeal to him in every emergency of their . internal disputes. Seldom or never did he enter the large square of the council place, or distribute presents to his "red friends," or drink with the warriors " the sacred safkey," or smoke with the nations the pipe of peace. They gave them few presents, and purposely avoided explaining to them the terms of treaties and conveyances of land. If they did not openly break their engagements with them, they pursued towards them a selfish and un- scrupulous policy. They erected dams and mills, careless of the injury they did to the Indian fisheries. The Indians more than once complained that they were cheated in trade. Avarice often led the English to obtain deeds of land by deceit ; and
Ban- croft, III., 434-5.
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CHAP. when the Indian had been taught to get drunk, VII. his best possessions could be taken from him in a fit of intoxication, without an equivalent. They did not foresee that the erection of forts and mills was to drive away their game and fish ; and it was not till they found their means of subsistence cut off, that they repented of their unguarded confidence, and sought to dispossess those whom they had welcomed as friends. When they found that agri- culture was destroying their interests, they deter- mined, as a measure of self-preservation, to drive away the new settlers, and bring back the already half-reclaimed wilderness to its primitive state. Having no records, the memory of bargains was soon lost ; and then many of the land titles which they had given came to be of doubtful validity. The lands which had been sold on the banks of the St. George and Kennebec at an early period, the Indians had no memory of ; and when the sales were proved to them, they declared that the sachems had exceeded their authority.
From the first landing of the English, they treated the natives as subjects of the crown. They declared war against them as rebels, and in treaties they styled them British subjects. When they were conquered, they were compelled to acknow- ledge their submission to the English government. The French, on the contrary, did not declare the Indians to be subjects of France. They left to all the tribes their native independence. Although their traders often travelled and resided amongst the Indians, they seldom or never sought to obtain their lands. The French sent to them mission- aries, who gained access to their hearts, and in- spired them with reverence and love.
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The Jesuits planted the cross at an early day among the tribes of the Abenaquis. But of the missionaries whom they sent there, no one endured or accomplished so much to christianize the In- dians as father Sebastian Rasle. In early youth he left the endearments of home and civilized life, plunged into the depths of wilds unexplored, and shared with the Indians the privations of the wil- derness. In the Indian village of Norridgewock, by a graceful curve of the Kennebec, on a beau- tiful prairie, stood his abode. All around lay a pathless wilderness. It was here that the mission- ary, then young, resolved to devote the remainder of his days to the spiritual services whereto he had been appointed. A church was erected, and supplied with those splendid decorations by which the Catholics seek to engage the imagination, and through that to reach the heart. Above the village stood one consecrated chapel, and below it another was erected, and bore on its walls the image of the holy virgin. By the assistance of women, the church was embellished with tasteful ornaments, and illumined by " brilliant lights from the wax of the bayberries, gathered from the islands of the sea." A bell was transported from Canada, through the wilderness, which, at morning and evening hour, called the hunters and warriors to prayer. Around the village the primeval forest yet stood in its grandeur and glory. Islands, like gems, studded the clear expanse of the Kennebec, and a range of lofty mountains skirted the distant horizon. The matin song began to be chanted in these romantic solitudes, and with the unceasing music of the waterfall mingled the vesper hymn.
CHAP. VII. ~
Maine Hist. Coll.
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CHAP. VII. The Indians were taught to sing and recite in their native tongue, and were charmed with the same ceremonies which captivated the cultured minds of Fenelon and Cheverus. By the charming con- versation of Father Rasle, and by the fervor and pathos of his preaching, the Indians were pro- foundly impressed with the truth of his religion, and yielded almost implicit obedience to his will. He was master of all their languages, shared in their privations, and adopted the customs of the tribe. In times of scarcity he supplied them with food, secured their affections by his gentle deport- ment, and finally gained over them an ascendency superior to the influence of the native chiefs.
When he had grown gray in poverty and absti- nence, he was suspected by the English of insti- gating the Indians to war; and a party under Col. 1721. Westbrook was sent to Norridgewock to seize him. But a courier had preceded them to give him notice of their approach, and he escaped into the woods. The government soon resolved upon another expedition to Norridgewock ; and accord- 1724. Aug. 12. ingly Captains Moulton and Harmon invested that village, each of them at the head of an hundred men. When Father Rasle heard the tumult of their approach, he knew the danger to which him- self and his people were exposed. Nothing in- timidated, he went forth, with fifty warriors, to meet the assailants, hoping to hold them in check till the women and children should have time to escape. As soon as he was discovered, a volley of musketry was directed towards him, and he fell dead at the foot of the cross which he had planted. The Indians mourned for him as for a chief and a
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father. He was buried near the place where his CHAP. altar stood, and where he had so often celebrated VII. the rites of his faith. More than a century after his death, gratitude and reverence reared an hum- ble monument to his memory on the spot where he fell. It was consecrated by Bishop Fenwick, with the solemn and imposing ceremonies of the Catho- lic worship. No one could deny that it marked the spot where a good man was stricken down; and when it was destroyed by the unseen hand of vio- lence, Charity could but mourn that enough of in- tolerant fanaticism should be found in the present enlightened age, to invade the precincts of the dead, in order to trample upon a monument which the most savage conqueror would respect and spare.
It was impossible for the Indians to overlook such an outrage upon their spiritual father, as that which was committed in the first attempt to seize Rasle. They regarded him with a reverence ap- proaching almost to worship. They determined to retaliate, and sought eagerly for revenge. The next summer they made an attack at Merry-meet- ing-Bay, and carried captive nine families. At the fort of St. George's they were repulsed ; but destroyed Brunswick. This determined the gov- ernment upon hostilities, and accordingly a formal declaration of war was published at Boston and Portsmouth. Walton, Westbrook and Penhollow led the New Hampshire forces. Thus, after an interval of ten years of peace, the colony was again involved in a war with the Indians. The enemy was expected on every part of the frontier, and again the people fled to their garrisoned houses.
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