USA > New Hampshire > The history of New-Hampshire > Part 13
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* [Capt. Benjamin Swett had formerly been an inhabitant of Newbury, where several of his children were born. A record of his death in the Nor- folk County records, says, he " was slayn att Black point by the barberus In- dians, the 29th of June, 1677."]
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UNION WITH MASSACHUSETTS.
1678.]
noon* and Mr. Fryert of Portsmouth, were appointed commis- sioners to settle a formal treaty of peace with Squando and 1678. the other chiefs, which was done at Casco, whither they brought the remainder of the captives.1 It was stipulated in the treaty that the inhabitants should return to their deserted settle- ments, on condition of paying one peck of corn annually for each family, by way of acknowledgment to the Indians for the posses- sion of their lands, and one bushel for Major Pendleton, who was a great proprietor .¿ Thus an end was put to a tedious and dis- tressing war, which had subsisted three years. The terms of peace were disgraceful, but not unjust, considering the former irregular conduct of many of the eastern settlers, and the native propriety of the Indians in the soil. Certainly they were now masters of it ; and it was entirely at their option, whether the English should return to their habitations or not. It was there- fore thought better to live peaceably, though in a sort of subjec- tion, than to leave such commodious settlements and forego the advantages of trade and fishery, which were very considerable, and by which the inhabitants of that part of the country had chiefly subsisted.
It was a matter of great inquiry and speculation how the In- dians were supplied with arms and ammunition to carry on this war. The Dutch at New-York were too near the Mohawks for the eastern Indians to adventure thither. The French in Canada were too feeble, and too much in fear of the English, to do any thing which might disturb the tranquillity ; and there was peace between the two nations. It was therefore supposed that the In- dians had long premeditated the war, and laid in a stock before- hand.2 There had formerly been severe penalties exacted by the government, on the selling of arms and ammunition to the Indians ; but ever since 1657, licenses had been granted to particular per- sons to supply them occasionally for the purpose of hunting, on
(1) MS. Journal, April 12. (2) Hubbard's printed Narrative, page 82.
* [Francis Champernoon, who was in 1684, appointed a Counsellor. It is said that he was a cousin of Ferdinando Gorges. He died about the year 1686.]
t [Nathaniel Fryer lived some time at New-Castle. He had been a repre- sentative of Portsmouth to the General Court in 1666. He was appointed a counsellor in 1683, and died 13 August, 1705.]
# [Bryan Pendleton was born about the year 1599, and came early to New- England, and fixed his residence at Watertown, in Massachusetts. He was admitted a freeman in 1634, and was the deputy or representative of Water- town from 1636 to 1639, 1647 and 1648. He was a member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company in 1646, and the principal military officer in the place. He removed to Portsmouth before 1654, and was the deputy of that town to the Court at Boston in 1654, 1658, 1660, 1661 and 1663. In 1658, he purchased a neck of land at the month of Saco river, and removed thither in 1665, but returned to Portsmouth in 1676. He was appointed a counsellor under President Danforth in 1680, in which, or the following year, he died, leaving one son, James, and a daughter who married Seth Fletcher, minister of Saco.]
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HISTORY OF NEW-HAMPSHIRE. [1678.
paying an acknowledgment to the public treasury.1 This indul- gence, having been much abused by some of the eastern traders, who, far from the seat of government, were impatient of the re- straint of law, was supposed to be the source of the mischief. But it was afterward discovered that the Baron de St. Castine, a reduced French officer, who had married a daughter of Madok- awando, and kept a trading house at Penobscot, where he con- sidered himself as independent, being out of the limits of any established government, was the person from whom they had their supplies ; which needed not to be very great as they always husbanded their ammunition with much care, and never expended it but when they were certain of doing execution.2
The whole burden and expense of this war, on the part of the colonies, were borne by themselves. It was indeed thought strange by their friends in England, and resented by those in power, that they made no application to the king for assistance. It was intimated to them by Lord Anglesey, ' that his majesty ' was ready to assist them with ships, troops, ammunition or ' money, if they would but ask it ;' and their silence was constru- ed to their disadvantage, as if they were proud, and obstinate, and desired to be considered as an independent state.3 They had indeed no inclination to ask favors from thence ; being well aware of the consequence of laying themselves under obligations to those who had been seeking to undermine their establishment ; and re- membering how they had been neglected in the late Dutch wars, when they stood in much greater need of assistance. The king had then sent ammunition to New-York, but had sent word to New-England, ' that they must shift for themselves and make ' the best defence they could.'4 It was therefore highly injurious to blame them for not making application for help. But if they had not been so ill treated, they could not be charged with disre- spect, since they really did not need foreign assistance. Ships of war and regular troops must have been altogether useless ; and no one who knew tho nature of an Indian war could be serious in proposing to send them. Ammunition and money were neces- sary, but as they had long enjoyed a free trade, and had coined the bullion which they imported, there was no scarcity of money, nor of any stores which money could purchase. The method of fighting with Indians could be learned only from themselves. After a little experience, few men in scattered parties were of more service than the largest and best equipped armies which Europe could have afforded. It ought ever to be remembered for the honor of New-England, that as their first settlement, so their preservation, increase, and defence, even in their weakest
(1) Randolph's Narrative in Hutchinson's col. papers, page 492. (2) Ibid. p. 562. (3) Hutch. History vol. i. p, 309. (4) Hutch. collection of papers, p. 506.
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UNION WITH MASSACHUSETTS.
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infancy were not owing to any foreign assistance, but under God, to their own magnanimity and perseverance.
Our gravest historians have recorded many omens, predictions, and other alarming circumstances, during this and the Pequod war, which in a more philosophical and less credulous age would not be worthy of notice. When men's minds were rendered gloomy by the horrors of a surrounding wilderness, and the con- tinual apprehension of danger from its savage inhabitants ; when they were ignorant of the causes of many of the common appear- ances in nature, and were disposed to resolve every unusual ap- pearance into prodigy and miracle, it is not to be wondered that they should imagine they heard the noise of drums and guns in the air, and saw flaming swords and spears in the heavens,* and should even interpret eclipses as ominous. Some old Indians had intimated their apprehensions concerning the increase of the English, and the diminution of their own people, which any ra- tional observer in a course of forty or fifty years might easily have foretold, without the least pretence to a spirit of prophecy ; yet these sayings were recollected, and recorded, as so many predic- tions by force of a supernatural impulse on their minds, and many persons of the greatest distinction were disposed to credit them as such. These things would not have been mentioned, but to give a just idea of the age. If mankind are now better enlight- ened, superstition is the less excusable in its remaining votaries.
CHAPTER VI.
Mason's renewed efforts. Randolph's mission and transactions. Attempts for the trial of Mason's title. New-Hampshire separated from Massachu- setts, and made a royal province. Abstract of the commission. Remarks on it.
WHILST the country was laboring under the perplexity and distress arising from the war, measures were taking in 1675. England to increase their difficulties and divide their at-
tention. The scheme of selling the provinces of New-Hampshire and Maine to the crown being laid aside, Mason again petitioned the king for the restoration of his property ; and the king refer- red the matter to his attorney general, Sir William Jones, May 17. and his solicitor general, Sir Francis Winnington, who re- ported, that " John Mason, esq., grandfather to the petitioner, " by virtue of several grants from the council of New-England
*[ The rays of the rising or setting sun, illuminating the edge of a cloud, frequently produce appearances of this kind. Marginal Note of the Author in the corrected copy.]
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HISTORY OF NEW-HAMPSHIRE. [1675.
" under their common seal was instated in fee in sundry great " tracts of land in New-England, by the name of New-Hampshire ; " and that the petitioner being heir at law to the said John, had a " good and legal title to said lands."1 Whereupon, a letter was dispatched to the Massachusetts colony, requiring them to 1676. send over agents within six months, fully empowered to
Mar. 10. answer the complaints, which Mason and the heirs of Gorges had made, of their usurping jurisdiction over the territo- ries claimed by them ; and to receive the royal determination in that matter. Copies of the complaints were enclosed ; and Ed- ward Randolph, a kinsman of Mason, a man of great address and penetration, resolute and indefatigable in business, was charged with the letters, and directed by the Lords of Trade to make in- June 10. quiry into the state of the country. When he arrived, he waited on Governor Leverett, who read the king's let- ter, with the petitions of Mason and Gorges, in council, Randolph being present, who could obtain no other answer than that "they would consider it."2
He then came into New-Hampshire, and as he passed along, freely declared the business on which he was come, and publicly read a letter which Mason had sent to the inhabitants .- July. Some of them he found ready to complain of the govern- ment, and desirous of a change ; but the body of the people were highly enraged against him; and the inhabitants of Dover, in public town-meeting, 'protested against the claim of Mason ; de- ' clared that they had bona fide purchased their lands of the In- ' dians ; recognized their subjection to the government of Massa- ' chusetts, under whom they had lived long and happily, and by ' whom they were now assisted in defending their estates and ' families against the savage enemy.' They appointed Major Waldron " to petition the king in their behalf, that he would in- " terpose his royal authority and afford them his wonted favor ; " that they might not be disturbed by Mason, or any other per- " son, but continue peaceably in possession of their rights under " the government of Massachusetts."3 A similar petition was sent by the inhabitants of Portsmouth, who appointed
Sept. 1. John Cutt and Richard Martyn, Esqrs., Captains Daniel and Stileman to draught and forward it.4
When Randolph returned to Boston, he had a severe reproof from the governor, for publishing his errand, and endeavoring to raise discontent among the people. To which he made no other answer than that ' if he had done amiss, they might complain to " the king.'5
After about six weeks stay, he went back to England and re- ported to the king, that " he had found the whole country com-
(1) MS. Copy in Superior Court files. (2) Hutch. col. papers, p. 504 .- (3) Dover Records. (4) Portsmouth Records. (5) Hutch. col. papers p. 510.
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1676.]
" plaining of the usurpation of the magistrates of Boston ; earn- " estly hoping and expecting that his majesty would not permit " them any longer to be oppressed ; but would give them relief " according to the promises of the commissioners in 1665."- With the same bitterness of temper, and in the same strain of misrepresentation, he inveighed against the government in a long report to the Lords of Trade ; which farther inflamed the preju- dice that had long been conceived against the colony, and pre- pared the way for the separation which was meditated.
After his departure, a special council being summoned, at which the elders of the churches were present, the question was proposed to them, " whether the best way of making answer to " the complaints of Gorges and Mason about the extent of their " patent, be by sending agents, or by writing only ?" To which they answered, " That it was most expedient to send agents, to " answer by way of information, provided they were instructed " with much care and caution to negotiate the affair with safety " to the country, and loyalty to his majesty, in the preservation " of their patent liberties." Accordingly, William Stoughton, af- terward lieutenant-governor, and Peter Bulkley, then speaker of the house of deputies, were appointed agents and sailed for Eng- land.1
At their arrival, an hearing was ordered before the lords chief justices of the King's bench and common pleas ; when 1677. the agents in the name of the colony disclaimed all title to
the lands claimed by the petitioner, and to the jurisdiction beyond three miles northward of the river Merrimack, to follow the course of the river, as far as it extended.2 The judges reported to the king, ' that they could give no opinion as to the right of soil, in ' the provinces of New-Hampshire and Maine, not having the ' proper parties before them ; it appearing that not the Massachu- ' setts colony, but the ter-tenants had the right of soil, and whole ' benefit thereof, and yet were not summoned to defend their titles. ' As to Mason's right of government within the soil he claimed, ' their lordships, and indeed his own counsel, agreed he had none ; ' the great council of Plymouth, under whom he claimed, having ' no power to transfer government to any. It was determined ' that the four towns of Portsmouth, Dover, Exeter and Hampton ' were out of the bounds of Massachusetts.'3 This report was ac- cepted and confirmed by the king in council.
After this, at the request of the agents, Sir William Jones, the attorney general, drew up a complete state of the case to 1679. be transmitted to the colony ; by which it seems that he Sept. 18.
had altered his opinion since the report which he gave to the king in 1675, concerning the validity of Mason's title.4 It was
(1) Hutch. Hist. vol. i. p. 311. (2) Narrative of Allen's Title, p. 5 .- (3) Hutch. vol. i. p. 317. (4) Hutch. vol. i. p. 317.
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HISTORY OF NEW-HAMPSHIRE. [1679.
also admitted that the title could be tried only on the place, there being no court in England that had cognizance of it.
It became necessary then to the establishment of Mason's title, that a new jurisdiction should be erected, in which the king might direct the mode of trial and appeal at his pleasure. This being resolved upon, the colony of Massachusetts was informed, by a July 24. letter from the secretary of state, of the king's intention to separate New-Hampshire from their government, and re- quired to revoke all commissions which they had granted there, and which were hereby declared to be null and void.1 To prevent any extravagant demand, the king obliged the claimant to declare, under his hand and seal, that he would require no rents of the inhabitants for the time passed, before the twenty-fourth of June, 1679, nor molest any in their possessions for the time to come ; but would make out titles to them and their heirs forever, provided they would pay him sixpence in the pound, according to the yearly value of all houses which they had built and lands which they had improved.
Things being thus prepared, a commission passed the great seal on the eighteenth of September, for the government of New- Hampshire ; which ' inhibits and restrains the jurisdiction exer- ' cised by the colony of Massachusetts over the towns of Ports- ' mouth, Dover, Exeter and Hampton, and all other lands extend- ' ing from three miles to the northward of the river Merrimack " and of any and every part thereof, to the province of Maine ; ' constitutes a president and council to govern the province ; ap- ' points John Cutt, esq., president, to continue one year, and till " another be appointed by the same authority ; Richard Martyn, ‘ William Vaughan, and Thomas Daniel of Portsmouth, John Gil- ' man of Exeter, Christopher Hussey of Hampton and Richard ' Waldron of Dover, esquires, to be of the council, who were au- ' thorised to choose three other qualified persons out of the sev- ' eral parts of the province to be added to them. The said pres- ' ident and every succeeding one to appoint a deputy to preside ' in his absence ; the president or his deputy with any five to be a ' quorum. They were to meet at Portsmouth in twenty days af- ' ter the arrival of the commission, and publish it. They were ' constituted a court of record for the administration of justice, ' according to the laws of England, so far as circumstances would ' permit ; reserving a right of appeal to the king in council for ' actions of fifty pounds value. They were empowered to appoint ' military officers, and take all needful measures for defence a- ' gainst enemies. Liberty of conscience was allowed to all pro- ' testants, those of the church of England to be particularly en- ' couraged. For the support of government, they were to con- " tinue the present taxes, till an assembly could be called ; to (1) Hutch. col. pap. 522.
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' which end, they were within three months to issue writs under 'the province seal, for calling an assembly, to whom the president ' should recommend the passing such laws as should establish their ' allegiance, good order and defence, and the raising taxes in such 'manner and proportion as they should see fit. All laws to be ' approved by the president and council, and then to remain in ' force till the king's pleasure should be known, for which purpose, ' they should be sent to England by the first ships. In case of " the president's death, his deputy to succeed, and on the death ' of a counsellor, the remainder to elect another, and send over ' his name, with the names of two other meet persons, that the ' king might appoint one of the three. The king engaged for ' himself and successors to continue the privilege of an assembly, ' in the same manner and form, unless by inconvenience arising ' therefrom he or his heirs should see cause to alter the same. If ' any of the inhabitants should refuse to agree with Mason or his ' agents, on the terms before mentioned, the president and council ' were directed to reconcile the difference, or send the case stated ' in writing with their own opinions, to the king, that he with his ' privy council might determine it according to equity.'1
The form of government described in this commission consid- ered abstractedly from the immediate intentions, characters, and connections of the persons concerned, appears to be of as simple a kind as the nature of a subordinate government and the liberty of the subject can admit. The people, who are the natural and original source of power, had a representation in a body chosen by them- selves ; and the king was represented by a president and council of his own appointment ; each had the right of instructing their repre- sentative, and the king had the superior prerogative of disannulling the acts of the whole at his pleasure. The principal blemish in the commission was the right claimed by the king of discontinuing the representation of the people, whenever he should find it incon- venient, after he had solemnly engaged to continue this privilege. The clause, indeed, is artfully worded, and might be construed to imply more or less at pleasure. Herein, Charles was consistent with himself, parliaments being his aversion. However, there was in this plan as much of the spirit of the British constitution as there could be any foundation for in such a colony ; for here was no third branch to form a balance between the king or his representatives, and the people. The institution of an house of peers in Britain was the result of the feudal system : the barons being lords of the soil and enjoying a sovereignty within their own territories and over their own vassals ; the constitution was formed by the union of these distinct estates under one common sovereign. But there was nothing similar to this in New-England. The set- tlements began here by an equal division of property among inde-
(1) Commission.
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HISTORY OF NEW-HAMPSHIRE.
[1679.
pendent freemen. Lordship and vassalage were held in abhor- rence. The yeomanry were the proprietors of the soil and the natural defenders of their own rights and property; and they knew no superior but the king. A council, whether appointed by him or chosen by the people could not form a distinct body, because they could not be independent. Had such a simple form of colony government been more generally adopted, and perse- veringly adhered to, and administered only by the most delicate hands, it might have served better than any other, to perpetuate the dependence of the colonies on the British crown.
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CHAPTER VII.
The administration of the first council. Opposition to the acts of trade .--- Mason's arrival. Opposition to him. His departure. State of trade and navigation.
THE commission was brought to Portsmouth on the first of January, by Edward Randolph,1 than whom there could not be a 1680. more unwelcome messenger. It was received with great
reluctance by the gentlemen therein named ; who, though they were of the first character, interest and influence, and had sustained the principal offices civil and military under the colony government ;* 2 yet easily saw that their appointment was not
(1) Council Records. (2) Fitch's MS.
* The president JOHN CUTT was a principal merchant, of great probity and esteem in Portsmouth ; but then aged and infirm.
Richard Martyn, was of goed character, and great influence. He had been very active in procuring the settlement of a minister in the town of Ports- mouth.
William Vaughan was a wealthy merchant, generous and public spirited, and of undaunted resolution. He was of Welch extraction, but was bred in London under Sir Josiah Child, who had a great regard for him, and whose interest he made use of for the good of the province.
Thomas Daniel, was a person of such note and importance, that when he died in a time of general sickness and mortality, Mr. Moodey preached his funeral sermon from 2 Sam. ii. 30. " There lacked of David's servants, nine- teen men and Asahel." Fitch's MS.
John Gilman, was a principal man in Exeter, as was Christopher Hussey, in Hampton. [Christopher Hussey was born in Darking, in Surry, came to New-England as early as 1634, in which year he was admitted a freeman by the Massachusetts colony. He settled at Hampton in 1638, and represented that town in the General Court in 1658, 1659 and 1660. In 1685, he was cast away and lost on the coast of Florida. He had three sons, Stephen, born in 1630, who died in Nantucket in 1718, aged 88; John, who removed to New- Castle in Delaware, and Joseph, who remained in Hampton, and was the representative in 1672. Lewis, Hist. Lynn, 29.]
Richard Waldron, was a native of Somersetshire, and one of the first set- tlers in Dover. He was much respected and eminently useful, having sus- tained divers important offices civil and military, and approved his courage and fidelity in the most hazardous enterprises.
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PROVINCE. JOHN CUTT.
1680.]
from any respect to them or favor to the people ; but merely to obtain a more easy introduction to a new form of government, for a particular purpose, which they knew would be a source of per- plexity and distress. They would gladly have declined acting in their new capacity ; but considering the temper of the government in England, the unavoidable necessity of submitting to the change, and the danger (upon their refusal) of others being appointed who would be inimical to the country, they agreed to qualify themselves, determining to do what good, and keep off what harm they were able. They therefore published the commission, and took the oaths on the twenty-first day of January, which was the utmost time limited, and published the commission the next day. 1 Agreeably to the royal direction, they chose three other gentlemen into the council ; Elias Stileman of Great Island, who had been a clerk in the county courts, whom they now appointed secretary, Samuel Dalton of Hampton, and Job Clements of Dover. The president nominated Waldron to be his deputy or vice president ; Martyn was appointed treasurer, and John Roberts, marshal.
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