USA > New Hampshire > The history of New-Hampshire > Part 25
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(1) Penhallow, p. 72-80.
* [This " formal writing" or pacification is in Penhallow, in the Coll. of the N. H. Hist. Soc. i. 82.]
t [In the 2d volume p. 39 of the 2d edition, the following note is found : " The reader is desired to correct a mistake in the first volume. Instead of ' truck houses established,' read ' it was in contemplation to establish truck houses.'"]
182
HISTORY OF NEW-HAMPSHIRE. [1714.
During the whole of this long war, Usher behaved as a faithful servant of the crown; frequently coming into the province by Dudley's direction, and sometimes residing in it several months, inquiring into the state of the frontiers and garrisons, visiting them in person, consulting with the officers of militia about the proper methods of defence and protection, and offering his service on all occasions : Yet his austere and ungracious manners, and the in- terest he had in Allen's claim, effectually prevented him from acquiring that popularity which he seems to have deserved. He was solicitous to support the dignity of his commission ; but could never prevail with the assembly to settle a salary upon him. The council generally paid his travelling expenses by a draft on the treasury, which never amounted to more than five pounds for each journey, until he came from Boston to proclaim the accession of King George ; when in a fit of loyalty and good humor, they gave him ten pounds, which served as a precedent for two or three other grants. He often complained, and sometimes in harsh and reproachful terms of their neglect ; and once told them, that his " negro servants were much better accommodated in his house " than the queen's governor was in the queen's fort."1
Dudley had the good fortune to be more popular. Beside his attention to the general interest of the province and his care for its defence, he had the particular merit of favoring the views of those who were most strongly opposed to Allen's claim ; and they made him amends, by promoting in the assembly, addresses to the queen, defending his character, when it was attacked and praying for his continuance in office, when petitions were present- ed for his removal. One of these addresses was in one thousand, seven hundred and six, and another in one thousand, seven hun- dred and seven, in both which, they represent him as a " prudent, careful and faithful governor," and say, they " are perfectly satis- " fied with his disposal of the people, and their arms and the public " money." Addresses to the crown were very frequent during this female reign. Scarce a year passed without one or two. They either congratulated her majesty on her victories in Europe, or petitioned for arms and military stores for their defence, or for ships and troops to go against Canada, or represented their own poverty or Dudley's merits, or thanked her majesty for her care and protection, and for interposing in the affair of Allen's suit, and not suffering it to be decided against them.2 A good harmo- ny subsisted between the governor and people, and between the two branches of the Legislature, during the whole of this admin- istration.
On the accession of King George, a change was expected in 1715. the government, and the assembly did what they could to prevent it, by petitioning the king for Dudley's continu-
(1) Council Records. (2) Ibid.
183
PROVINCE. JOSEPH DUDLEY.
1715.]
ance. But it being now a time of peace, and a number of valu- able officers who had served with reputation in the late wars being out of employment, interest was made for their obtaining places of profit under the crown. Colonel Eliseus Burges, who had served under General Stanhope, was, by his recommendation, commissioned governor of Massachusetts and New-Hampshire ; and by the same interest, George Vaughan, Esq., then in London, was made lieutenant-governor of the latter province. He arrived and published his commission on the thirteenth of October. Usher had some scruples about the validity of it as he had form- erly had of Partridge's, and wrote on the subject to the assembly, who assured him that on inspection, they had found Vaughan's commission " strong and authentic ;" and that his own, was "null and void."1 Upon his dismission from office, he retired to his elegant seat at Medford, where he spent the rest of his days, and died on the fifth of September, 1726, in the seventy-eighth year of his age .*
Burges wrote a letter to the assembly in July, in which he in- formed them of his appointment, and of his intention to sail for America in the following month. But Sir William Ashurst, with Jeremy Dummer, the Massachusetts agent, and Jonathan Belcher, then in London, apprehending that he would not be an acceptable person to the people of New-England, prevailed with him for the consideration of one thousand pounds sterling, which Dummer and Belcher generously advanced, to resign his commission ; and Colonel Samuel Shute was appointed in his stead to the command of both provinces.2 He arrived in New-Hampshire and his com- mission was published the seventeenth of October, 1716. Dudley being thus superseded, retired to his family-seat at Roxbury, where he died in 1720, in the seventy-third year of his age.
(1) Council and Assembly Records. (2) Hutch. vol. 2, p. 215.
* [John Usher was son of Hezekiah Usher, who came early to New-Eng- land and was admitted freeman in 1638. He settled at Cambridge, from whence he removed to Boston, where the lieutenant-governor was born 27 April, 1648, and was admitted freeman in 1673. In a MS. catalogue of the graduates of Harvard college, by the late William Winthrop, Esq., of Cam- bridge, it is said that Rev. John Usher, who graduated at that institution in 1719, was a son of lieutenant-governor Usher, and that he was the Episcopal minister of Bristol, R. I., and died 30 April, 1775, aged 76. Rev. John Usher, who graduated at Harvard college in 1743, is said to have been a son of the Rev. Mr. Usher, and his successor at Bristol. He died in July, 1804, aged about 80 years.]
184
HISTORY OF NEW-HAMPSHIRE.
[1715.
CHAPTER XIII.
The administration of Governor Shute, and his Lieutenants, Vaughan and Wentworth.
GEORGE VAUGHAN, Esquire, was the son of Major William Vaughan, who had been so ill used by former governors, and had suffered so much in the cause of his country, that the advance- ment of his son, to the office of lieutenant-governor, was esteem- ed a mark of particular favor, from the crown to the province, and a singular gratification to the parent, then in the decline of life. The lieutenant-governor had been employed by the province, as their agent in England, to manage their defence against Allen. There he was taken notice of, by some persons of quality and influence, with whom his father had been connected; and by them, he was recommended as a candidate for the honor to which he was now advanced.
After he had arrived, and opened his commission, Dudley, Oct. 13. though not actually superseded, yet daily expecting Burges to succeed him, did not think it proper to come into the province, or perform any acts of government ; so that, during a year, Vaughan had the sole command. In this time, he Nov. 3. called an assembly, who granted him the product of the impost and excise, for one year, but refused to establish these 1716. duties for any longer time ; upon which he dissolved them, Aug. 21. and called another ; to whom he recommended, in a style too peremptory, the establishment of a perpetual revenue to the crown ;1 a matter in which he had been so much engaged, that while in England, 'he presented a memorial to the king and ' ministry, to bring New-England into the land tax of Great Brit- ' ain ; and proposed that a receiver should be appointed by the ' crown.'2 The assembly was of opinion, that the public charges might be defrayed in the usual manner, by an equal tax on polls and estates ; and declined laying an impost, or entering on any, but the common business of the year, till the arrival of a gov ernor .*
When Governor Shute came to the chair, several of the old Oct. 17. all of whom were inhabitants of Portsmouth. That town, counsellors were laid aside, and six new ones appointed,
(1) Assembly Records. (3) MS. Letter of Sir. W. Ashurst to Dr. Increase Mather.
* [1716. Stratham was incorporated. This town was included in the Squamscot patent granted to Edward Hilton. In 1693, it was annexed to Exeter, it having before that time been connected with Hampton. It was incorporated by charter, signed by Lieutenant-Governor Vaughan, 20 March, 1716. In 1695, it contained 35 families ; in 1767, it had 916 inhabitants.]
185
PROVINCE. SAMUEL SHUTE.
1717.]
at the same time, was unhappily agitated by a controversy, which had for some years subsisted between the two parishes. This had not only embittered the minds of the people, but had prejudiced some of the members of the council and assembly ; so as to af- fect the proceedings of the legislature, and break the harmony, which had been preserved in that body, during the preceding ad- ministration. The governor, in his first speech to the as- 1717. sembly, took notice of their division, and advised them to Jan. 10, unanimity. They thanked him for his advice, but remon- Jan. 23. strated against the removal of the old counsellors, and the confining of the new appointments, both in the council and the judicial courts, to residents in one town, as being contrary to former usage, and giving an advantage, to the trading, above the landed interest. This, they said, was the reason that an impost could not now be obtained, and that the whole burden of taxes was laid on the husbandman, and the laborer, who had been great- ly impoverished by the late war. The governor wisely avoided an answer to this remonstrance, by putting it on the council, who were a party in the controversy. The council, in their Jan. 28. answer, acknowledged that the province had been much
distressed by the war ; but had in a great measure recovered ; that there would have been no opposition to an impost, if the representatives had agreed to an act of export, according to the practice in England ; that the king had a right to appoint his counsellors, from any part of the province ; that it was an affront to the prerogative to find fault with the exercise of this right ; and that it was most convenient for the affairs of government, especially upon sudden emergencies, that the council should reside near the seat of government. This answer might have appeared decent enough if they had not added, that they were 'gentlemen of the ' best quality, and greatest ability to serve the government, in that ' station ; and had as good or better estates in land, and land se- ' curities, than any in the house, and not inferior to the gentlemen ' who were laid aside.'
While these altercations were in hand, there was a great com- plaint of the scarcity of money, and some expedient was judged necessary to supply the place of current coin. A proposal was made to issue ten thousand pounds in bills, on loan, for twenty- three years, at five per cent. on land security. In this, both Jan. 24. houses agreed ; but the next day, the council proposed to enlarge the sum to fifteen thousand pounds, to which the house would not consent. The governor then ordered the house to at- tend a conference with the council. They desired to know on what subject ; he gave them no answer, but commanded their at- tendance. Having conferred about the proposed loan to no pur- pose, the circumstance of asking on what subject they were to confer was deemed an affront, and served as a pretext for dissolv-
26
186
HISTORY OF NEW-HAMPSHIRE. [1717.
ing them. The next assembly was more pliant, and issued fifteen thousand pounds, on loan, for eleven years, at ten per cent.1
A controversy also arose between the governor and lieutenant- governor about the power of the latter, in the absence of the former. Vaughan contended, that when the governor was pres- ent in his other province, he was absent from New-Hampshire, and consequently that the administration devolved on him. The position was a metaphysical truth, but the inference was to be measured by political rules. Shute alleged that his commissions, being published and recorded, in New-Hampshire and Massachu- setts, he had the power of commander in chief over both provin- ces', during his residence in either ; and thought it an absurdity to suppose, that the king had appointed the governor commander in chief, for five or six weeks only in the year, and the lieutenant- governor during the rest of the time ; and that if the lieutenant- governor should happen, in that time, to step over the province line, the senior counsellor must take the chair ; this he said would make the province ' a monster with three heads.' The contro- versy was soon brought to an issue; for Vaughan received an order from Shute, while at Boston, to appoint a fast, which he did not obey. He received another to prorogue the assembly, in- stead of which he dissolved them, without the advice of council. He required the opinion of the council on the extent of his power, but they declined giving it. Penhallow, the governor's chief friend, was a warm opposer of Vaughan's pretensions, and incur- red so much of his displeasure, that he publicly charged him with sowing discord in the government, and suspended him Sept. 24. from his seat in council. On hearing this, Shute hasten- ed to Portsmouth, and having summoned the council, ordered the king's instruction to him for suspending counsellors to be read, and demanded of Vaughan whether he had any instruction which superseded it. He answered, No. The governor then asked the council's advice whether the suspension of Penhallow was legal ; they answered in the negative. He then restored him to his seat, and suspended Vaughan.2
The assembly, which Vaughan had assumed the right to dis- solve, met again, and approved the proceedings against him, jus- tifying the construction which the governor liad put on his com- mission, and his opinion of the extent of the lieutenant-governor's power ; which was 'to observe such orders, as he should from ' time to time receive from the king or the governor in chief.' The representatives of Hampton presented a remonstrance; in which, admitting the lieutenant-governor's opinion, that " when the " governor is out of the province, the lieutenant-governor is im- ' powered to execute the king's commission,' and asserting that the governor was not in the province when the lieutenant-governor
(1) Assembly Records. (2) Council Minutes.
187
PROVINCE. SAMUEL SHUTE.
1717.]
dissolved the assembly, they declared that they could not act with the house, unless they were re-elected.1 This remonstrance was deemed a libel, and the governor in council having summoned them before him, laid them under bonds of four hundred pounds each, for their good behaviour.2 He then issued a proclamation, asserting his sole power, as commander in chief; and declaring that the lieutenant-governor had no right to exercise any acts of government without his special order.3
To maintain a controversy with a superior officer on the extent of power, equally claimed by both, requires a delicacy and an address which does not fall to the lot of every man. An aspiring and precipitate temper may bring on such a contention, but dis- qualifies the person from managing it with propriety. Had Vaughan proposed to submit the question to the king, he would have acted more in character, and might have preserved his rep- utation, though he had lost his power. But having offended the governor, and disgusted the council and assembly, he could hope for no favor from the crown. When the report of the proceed- ings was sent to England, Sir William Ashurst, who had great in- terest at court, and was a friend to New-England, and who greatly disrelished the memorial which Vaughan had formerly presented to the king, easily found means to displace hin ;4 and in his room was appointed John Wentworth, Esquire, whose commission was published on the seventh of December. The celebrated Mr. Addison, being then secretary of state, this commission is coun- tersigned by a name particularly dear to the friends of liberty and literature.5
John Wentworth, Esquire, grandson of William Wentworth, formerly mentioned as one of the first settlers of the country, had been in the early part of his life, commander of a ship ; and had acquired a handsome fortune by mercantile industry. Without any superior abilities or learning, by a steady attention to business, and a prudent, obliging deportment, he had recommended him- self to the esteem of the people. Having been five years in the council, before his appointment as lieutenant-governor, he had carried the same useful qualities into public life, and preserved or increased that respect which he had acquired in a private station. The rancor of contending parties made moderation a necessary character in a chief magistrate ; and the circumstances of the province, at that time, required a person of experience in trade, at its head.
It being a time of peace, after a long and distressing war, the improvement of which the province was capable, in regard to its natural productions, lumber and naval stores, rose into view and became objects of close attention both here and in England. As
(1) Assembly Records. (2) Council Minutes. (3) Penhallow's MSS .- (4) Ashurst's letter, MS. (5) Original MS.
188
HISTORY OF NEW-HAMPSHIRE. [1717.
early as 1668, the government of Massachusetts, under which the province then was, had reserved for the public use all white pine trees of twenty-four inches in diameter, at three feet from the ground.1 In King William's reign, a surveyor of the woods was appointed by the crown ; and an order was sent to the Earl of Bellomont, to cause acts to be passed in his several governments for the preservation of the white pines.2 In 1708, a law made in New-Hampshire prohibited the cutting of such as were twenty- four inches in diameter, at twelve inches from the ground, without leave of the surveyor ; who was instructed by the queen, to mark with the broad arrow, those which were or might be fit for the use of the navy, and to keep a register of them.3 Whatever severity might be used in executing the law, it was no difficult matter for those who knew the woods and were concerned in lumbering, to evade it ; though sometimes they were detected and fined.4 Great complaints were frequently made of the destruction of the royal woods ; every governor and lieutenant-governor had occasion to declaim on the subject, in their speeches and letters ;5 it was a favorite point in England, and recommended them to their supe- riors as careful guardians of the royal interest. On the other hand, the people made as loud complaints against the surveyor, for prohibiting the cutting of pine trees, and yet neglecting to mark such as were fit for masts ; by which means many trees, which never could be used as masts, and might be cut into logs for saw- ing, were rotting in the woods ; or the people who got them were exposed to a vexatious prosecution.6 When no surveyor was on the spot, the governor and council appointed suitable persons to take care that no waste should be made of the mast trees ; and these officers with a very moderate allowance, performed the duty, to much better purpose, than those who were sent from England and maintained at a great expense to the crown.7
As those trees which grew within the limits of the townships were deemed private property, the people were desirous to get other 1718. townships laid out, that the trees might be secured for their own use. This was a difficult point. The assembly in 1704, during the controversy with Allen, had explicitly disclaimed all title to the waste lands, by which they understood all those with- out the bounds of their towns. The heirs of Allen kept a jeal- ous eye upon them. Usher, who claimed by mortgage from gov- ernor Allen, was still living, and was daily inviting purchasers by advertisements.8 The heir of Sir Charles Hobby, whose claim was founded on purchase from Thomas Allen, had offered his title to the assembly, but they had refused it. The creditors of Hobby's estate had applied for letters of administration ; and
(1) Mass. Rec. (2) Council Minutes. (3) Laws, Chap. 20. (4) Usher's MSS. (5) Council and Assembly Records. (6) Penhallow's MSS. (7) As- sembly Records. (8) New-England Courants.
189
PROVINCE. SAMUEL SHUTE.
1718.]
though the matter had been, by the judge of probate, submitted to the general court, and by their advice suspended, yet the letters had been granted.1 Allen's other heirs were in a state of minori- ty in England ; but their guardian was attentive to their interest. 2 The controversy had become more complex than before ; and the claimants, however multiplied in number and discordant in their views, yet had an interest separate from that of the public. The royal determination could not be had, but on an appeal from a verdict at law ; but no suits were now pending ; nor could the lands be granted by royal charter, without seeming to intrench on the property of the claimants. Notwithstanding these difficulties, the necessity of extending the settlements, and improving the nat- ural advantages of the country, was too apparent to be neglected.
Great quantities of iron ore were found in many places ; and it was in contemplation to erect forges on some of the riv- ers and to introduce foreign artists and laborers to refine 1719. it. A law was made laying a penalty of ten pounds per ton on the transporting of it out of the province ; but for the further en- couragement of the manufacturer, it was deemed necessary, that some land should be appropriated, to the purpose of supplying with fuel, the iron works which were to be erected, on Lamprey river, and of settling the people who were to be employed in that service.3 On this occasion, it was recollected, that in 1672, while this province was subject to the Massachusetts government, and after the town of Portsmouth had made a liberal contribution for the rebuilding of Harvard College, a promise had been made by the general court to grant to that town a quantity of ' land for a ' village, when they should declare to the court the place where ' they desired it.'4" Upon this, a petition was presented to the governor and council praying for a fulfilment of this promise ; and after some hesitation, a grant was made of a slip of land two miles in breadth above the head line of Dover, for the use of the iron works, which was called the 'renewing a grant formerly ' made.'5 This was known by the name of the two mile slip, and it was afterward included in the township of Barrington.
In some parts of the province, were many pitch-pine trees, unfit for masts, but capable of yielding tar and turpentine. A monop- oly of this manufacture had been attempted by a company of merchants ; but when many thousand trees were prepared for use, they were destroyed by unknown hands.6 Afterwards a law was made providing that tar should be received in lieu of taxes, at twenty shillings per barrel.7 This encouraged the making of it for some time. Another law laid a penalty on the injuring of trees for drawing turpentine.8 But, private interest was too strong
(1) Assembly Records. (2) Printed state of Allen's title. (3) Laws, chap. 90. Council Minutes. (4) Mass. Rec. (5) Council Minutes. (6) Ibidem.
(7) Laws, chap. 19. (8) Chap. 94.
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HISTORY OF NEW-HAMPSHIRE. [1719.
to be counteracted by a sense of public utility. Too many in- cisions being made in the trees at once, they were soon destroyed ; and those which were near at hand became scarce, the manufac- ยท ture was gradually discontinued.
Hemp was another object. Some had been sown, and from the specimen of its growth, much advantage was expected. An act was made to encourage it ; and it was allowed to be received at the treasury, in lieu of money, at one shilling per pound.1 But as there was scarcely land enough in cultivation, for the produc- tion of corn, it was vain to think of raising a less necessary com- modity.
The parliament of England was attentive to the advantages which might be derived to the nation from the colonies, to which they were particularly incited by the war, which at this time raged between Sweden and Russia, the grand marts for naval stores in Europe. A duty which had been paid on lumber imported from America, was taken off ; and this was esteemned so great fa- vor to New-Hampshire that the assembly thanked Shute for the share he had in obtaining it.2 About the same time, an act of parliament was made for the preservation of the white pines .- Penalties in proportion to the size of the trees, were laid on the cutting of those which grew without the bounds of townships ; and for the greater terror, these penalties were to be recovered by the oath of one witness, in a court of admiralty ; where a single judge, appointed by the crown, and removable at pleasure, de- termined the cause without a jury.3 While this bill was pending, Henry Newman, the agent for New-Hampshire, petitioned against the severity of it, but without effect.4
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