USA > New Hampshire > The history of New-Hampshire > Part 33
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Both assemblies met again, in the same places, at the appointed time. The representatives of New-Hampshire having, by Oct. 12. the help of their committee, in the recess of the assembly, obtained the papers, framed their exceptions and sent a message, to know if the council were sitting ; but the council being deter- mined against an appeal, had met and adjourned, without doing any business. The house therefore was reduced to the necessity of desiring the commissioners to receive their appeal, without the concurrence of the governor and council. The appeal, from the assembly of Massachusetts, was presented in due form, authenti- cated by the speaker, secretary and governor. Their committee
(1) Printed brief.
248
HISTORY OF NEW-HAMPSHIRE. [1737.
entered a protest against the appeal of New-Hampshire, because it was not an act of the whole legislature ; nevertheless, the com- missioners received it, and entered it on their minutes. Having received these appeals, the commissioners adjourned their court to the first of August, in the next year, but they never met again.
The assembly of Massachusetts appointed Edmund Quincy and Richard Partridge agents, to join with Francis Wilks, their former agent, in the prosecution of their appeal before the king ; and raised the sum of two thousand pounds sterling, to defray the expense.1
When the representatives of New-Hampshire proposed the raising of money, to prosecute their appeal, the council noncon- curred the vote." Their reasons were, that the appeal was not an act of the council ; that they had no voice in the appointment of the agent ; and, that at the beginning of the affair, the house had declared to the council, that the expense of it would be defrayed by private subscription.
At this session of the Massachusetts assembly, Mr. Belcher put them in mind that he had suffered in his interest, by the con- tinually sinking value of their bills of credit, in which his salary was paid ; a point which he had, often before, urged them to con- sider. In answer to this message, they made him a grant of £333, 6,8, in bills of the new tenor.3 The same day, they made a grant of the like sum, to the president of Harvard college. Both these sums appear to have been justly due ; and at any other time, no exception could have been made to either. But, , because the grant to the governor happened to be made, at the same time with the grant of £2000 sterling to the agents, his opponents pretended, that he received it as a bribe, from the as- sembly of Massachusetts, for favoring their cause.
The appeal of New-Hampshire, from the judgment of the commissioners, was founded on the following reasons. With respect to the southerly line ; because it made the Black Rocks, lying in a bay of Merrimack river, the point from which the three miles were to be measured ; which point was three quarters of a mile north of the river's mouth ; and, because a line, parallel with the river, was not only impracticable, but founded on the old charter, which had been vacated ; and, if practicable, yet ought not to go farther than the river held a westerly course. With respect to the northern boundary, they objected to that part of the judgment only, which directed the line to run up the middle of the river ; alleging that the grant to Gorges was only of land, be- tween that river and Kennebeck ; and that New-Hampshire had always been in possession of the whole river, and had maintained a fortress which commanded its entrance.4
(1) Massachusetts Journal of Assembly. (2) Printed brief. (3) Hutch. ii. 390. Journal, Oct 19. (4) MSS.
249
PROVINCE. JONATHAN BELCHER.
1737.]
The appeal of Massachusetts was grounded on the following reasons. That by the charter of William and Mary, the old colony of Massachusetts was re-incorporated without any excep- tion ; that this charter empowered the governor and general as- sembly to grant all lands, comprehended in the old colony ; that the committee of New-Hampshire acknowledged, that New- Hampshire lay without the late colony of Massachusetts, by de- claring that it was between that and the province of Maine ; that the west line, claimed by New-Hampshire, would cross Merrimack river, thirty miles from its mouth, and exclude forty miles of said said river out of Massachusetts, though declared, by both charters, to be in it. They objected to extending the line of New-Hamp- shire till it should meet with his majesty's other governments ; because according to Mason's grant, New-Hampshire could ex- tend no farther than sixty miles from the sea. With respect to the northern boundary, they objected to a line north, two degrees westwardly, alleging that it ought to be on the northwest point ; they also excepted to the protraction of this line, till it should meet with his majesty's other governments ; alleging that it ought to extend no farther than one hundred and twenty miles, the fixed limits of the province of Maine.
It was unfortunate for Massachusetts that their committee liad brought Mason's grant, in evidence to the commissioners, and again recited it in their appeal ; for a line of sixty miles from the sea would cross Merrimack river, long before the similar curve line, for which they contended, could be completed. Besides, Mason's grant extended to Naumkeag ; which was much further southward, than they would have been willing to admit.
It may seem curious and unaccountable to most readers, that the commissioners should determine the northern, or rather east- ern bounds of the northern part of New-Hampshire, to be a line drawn north, two degrees westerly, from the head of Salmon-fall river ; when the express words of Gorges' patent are ' north westward.' The agents for Massachusetts, when this claim was put in by New-Hampshire, could hardly think it was seriously meant, when it was alleged that by northwestward must be under- stcod, north a little westward.1 The only ostensible reason, given for this construction was, that if a northwest line had been intended, then a southeast line, drawn from the mouth of the harbor, would leave all the Isles of Shoals in New-Hampshire; whereas, the dividing line runs between them." On the other side, it might have been said, with equal propriety, that a line drawn south, two degrees east, from the mouth of the harbor, would leave all these islands in Massachusetts. For the point where the islands are divi- ded bears south, twenty-nine degrees east, from the middle of the harbor's mouth; the variation of the needle being six degrees west.3
(1) Hutch. ii. 389. (2) MS. minutes of the commissioners. (3) [As] ob- served 1781.
34
250
HISTORY OF NEW-HAMPSHIRE. [1737.
When this affair was again agitated in England, the agents of Massachusetts obtained a certificate from the learned Dr. Halley, that a line northwestward ought to run forty-five degrees westward of the north point. This was demonstratively true ; but there were political reasons for dissenting from mathematical demon- stration. One of them is thus expressed, in a private letter, from a committee of the assembly, to heir agent Thomlinson. 'We ' hope that the northern line will be but a few degrees to the west- ' ward of north, that his majesty's province may include the great- ' est number, and best mast trees for the royal navy.' Though this thought might never have occurred to a mathematician, yet some of the commissioners were doubtless acquainted with it; and it was too important, not to have been communicated to the king's ministers. Another political reason of dissent was, that by en- larging New-Hampshire, there would be a better prospect of ob- taining a distinct governor, which was the grand object in view.
The new agent of Massachusetts, Edmund Quincy, died of the small pox, soon after his arrival in London. The affair was then
left in the hands of Wilks and Partridge, neither of whom
1738. understood so much of the controversy as Thomlinson ; who was also far superior to them in address. In his letters, to his friends in New-Hampshire, he frequently blames them for their negligence, in not sending to him the necessary papers in proper season ; and when sent, for the want of correctness and regularity in them. But their deficiency was abundantly com- pensated by the dexterity of his solicitor, Parris ; who drew up a long ' petition of appeal ;' in which, all the circumstances, attend- ing the whole transaction, from the beginning, were recited, and colored, in such a manner, as to asperse the governor and assembly of 'the vast, opulent, overgrown province of Massachusetts ;? while ' the poor, little, loyal, distressed province of New-Hamp- ' shire' was represented as ready to be devoured, and the king's own property and possessions swallowed up, by the boundless rapacity of the charter government. Concerning the manner in which this masterly philippic was framed, and the principal object at which it was directed, there can be no better evidence, than that which is contained in a letter, written by Parris to Thomlin- son, and by him sent to New-Hampshire. 'Two nights ago, I ' received a heap of papers from you, about the lines ;
Feb. 4. ' and have been four times to the colony office, and board ' of trade, to discover what I could in this imperfect affair ; but ' cannot see the case, till after Tuesday next. Notwithstanding ' which, I have, as well as I can, without proper materials, drawn ' up a long petition of appeal, to his majesty ; and as the Massa- ' chusetts have not yet presented theirs, I send you the draught ' of it, and hope we shall have our appeal, as well as the petition, ' from the New-Hampshire assembly, in, before the Massachusetts ' get theirs in. Had your principals considered the great conse-
251
PROVINCE. JONATHAN BELCHER.
1738.]
' quence of being first, surely, in all this time, they would have ' sent you a copy of their proceedings, in order to have enabled ' us to be first ; but, as it is, I am forced to guess at matters, and ' affirm facts at adventure, or upon dubious passages in letters ; ' which is a sad way of proceeding, and I wish we do not mistake ' some facts. They oblige us to make bricks without straw .- ' Above all, why did they not send a copy of their own appeal ? ' For want of it, I have been forced to guess what that appeal ' was, from loose passages in Mr. A.'s letters. Beg them, im- ' mediately to order, an exact copy to be made of all their votes, ' from March to October last. Had these votes come over regu- ' larly and authentically, his Excellency would have been shaken ' quite down, in a few weeks by them. You'll observe, I have ' laid it on him pretty handsomely, in my petition to the king.'*
Thus the petition of appeal became a petition of complaint, against the governor and assembly of Massachusetts. Copies were delivered to their agents, and the governor was ordered to make answer to the allegations against him. At the same time, Thomlinson advised his friends in New-Hampshire, to prepare their proofs, as silently as possible ; and by no means to give any offence to the governor ; assuring them of the favorable disposition of several lords of the privy council, as well as the board of trade, toward their cause ; and that they had need to be in no pain, about the event.1
The death of Mr. Quincy at this critical moment, and the length of time necessary to prepare and send over answers, to the com- plaint which Parris had thus artfully drawn up, obliged the agents of Massachusetts to suspend the presenting of their appeal for several months.
.
CHAPTER XVIII.
Revival of Mason's claim. Accusations against Belcher, real and forged. Royal censure. Final establishment of the lines. Hutchinson's agency. Spanish war. Belcher's zeal and fidelity. His removal. Examination of his character.
THE spirit of intrigue was not confined to New-Hampshire ; for the politicians of Massachusetts, by bringing into view the long dormant claim of Mason, had another game to play, besides proving the small extent of New-Hampshire. They perceived that the
(1) Thomlinson's MS. letters.
* This petition is printed at large, in the Journal of the Massachusetts as- sembly for 1738, with their vindication annexed, in which they call the peti- tion ' a chain of blundering, if not malicious falsehood.'
252
HISTORY OF NEW-HAMPSHIRE.
[1738.
line, whether settled according to their own demand or that of New-Hampshire, would cut off a considerable part of several of their townships ; and though they had, by their agent, obtained a promise, that private property should not be affected by the line of jurisdiction, yet they thought it best to have some other se- curity.
For what reason the government of Massachusetts did not purchase the province of New-Hampshire, from Robert Mason, at the same time (1677) that they purchased the province of Maine, from the heirs of Gorges, we are not now able precisely to determine. It is probable that the purchase might then have been easily made, and much controversy prevented. When it was sold, by John and Robert Mason, to Samuel Allen (1691) the bargain was made in England ; and the lands were, by fiction of law, supposed to be there ;* by which means, the process re- specting the fine and recovery was carried on in the court of king's bench. During the lives of the two Masons, no notice was taken of the supposed flaw; and the sale to Allen was not disputed. The brothers returned to America. John, the elder, died without issue. Robert married in New-England, and had a son ; who, after the death of his father, conceived hopes of invalidating Allen's purchase, and regaining his paternal inheritance ; which it was supposed could not have been transferred by his father and uncle, for any longer term, than their own lives. It was also said that the fiction, by which the lands were described, to be within the jurisdiction of the courts of Westminster hall, rendered the proceedings void ; and therefore that the entail was still good. Filled with these ideas, he made strenuous exertions, to acquire money, to assist him in realizing his expectations ; but died in the midst of his days, (1718) at the Havana, whither he had made a voyage with this view. His eldest son, John Tufton, was bred to a mechanical employment in Boston ; and came of age, about the time in which the controversy between the two provinces was in agitation. He inherited the enterprising spirit of his ancestors, and the public controversy called his attention to his interest. On this young man, the politicians cast their eyes ; and having con- sulted counsel on the validity of his claim, and the defect of the transfer, they encouraged him to hope, that this was the most favorable time to assert his pretensions.1 Had they purchased his claim at once ; they might doubtless have obtained it for a trifle, and have greatly embarrassed the views of their antagonists. In- stead of such a stroke of liberal policy, they treated with him,
(1) MS. copy of Read's and Auchmuty's opinions.
* In the process by which the entail was then docked, the situation of the land is expressed in these words :
' In New-Hampshire, Main, Masonia, Laconia, Mason-hall and Mariana, in New-England, in America, in the parish of Greenwich.' MS. in Proprie- tary Office.
253
PROVINCE. JONATHAN BELCHER.
1738.]
concerning the release all of those lands, in Salisbury, Amesbury, Haverhill, Methuen and Dracut, which the line would cut off ; and, for five hundred pounds currency, obtained a quit-claim of twenty-three thousand six hundred and seventy-five acres. They also admitted his memorial to the assembly ; in which lie July 1. represented to them, that his interest might probably be affected, by the final determination of the line, and praying that the province would be at the expense of his voyage to England, to take proper measures for securing it.1 To this, they consented, on condition that he should prove his descent from Captain John Mason, the original patentee .* Depositions were accordingly taken in both provinces, to which the public seals were affixed ; and they put him under the direction of their agents, ordering his expenses to be paid, as long as they should judge his presence in England serviceable to their views.2
The agents stated his case to their counsel, the king's solicitor ; and asked his opinion how they should proceed ; but he advised them, not to bring him into view, lest the lords should think it an artifice, intended to perplex the main cause. On this considera- tion, they dismissed him from any farther attendance ; and paid his expenses, amounting to above ninety pounds sterling.+ 3
(1) Journal of Assembly. (2) MS. copies in the proprietary office .- (3) Agent's letters in Secretary's office of Massachusetts.
* [His descent from the original proprietor of New-Hampshire will appear from the following :
Capt. Jolin Mason was born at Lynn -::: Anne, his wife, who survived him. Regis, in Norfolk, and died in Nov. 1635.
Jane Mason ::: Joseph Tufton, (see p. 16.]
1
John Tufton, who took the name of Mason and died sine prole.
Robert Tufton, who took ::: the name of Mason and died in 1688, aged 56.
Anne Tufton, who died 1677, sine prole.
John Tufton Mason, who died in Virgin- ia, sine prole.
Robert Tufton Mason, who ::: Catharine Wiggin. lived in Portsmouth, and was lost at sea in 1696.
John Tufton Mason, ::: who died at Havana, in 1718.
Elizabeth Mason, and several others.
1
John Tufton Mason, mariner of Bos- ton, born about 1713, in whom the title was revived in 1738.
Thomas Tufton Mason, who was a minor in 1738.]
t Mr. Hutchinson, in his history of Massachusetts, has passed over this whole transaction in silence ; though it is well known that he was one of the managers of it. See Journal of Mass. Rep. June 2, 1738, p. 11.
254
HISTORY OF NEW-HAMPSHIRE. [1738.
Such a transaction, though conducted as privately as the na- ture of the thing would admit, did not escape the vigilance of Thomlinson ; who, on finding Mason detached from the agents of Massachusetts, entered into an agreement with him, for the re- lease of his whole interest, to the assembly of New-Hampshire ; in consideration of the payment of one thousand pounds, curren- cy of New-England. This manœuvre served to strengthen the interest of New-Hampshire, and Thomlinson was much applauded for his dexterity. He had the strongest inducement, to continue his efforts in their favor ; for no less than twelve hundred pounds sterling had been already expended, in prosecuting the affair of the line ; which sum had been advanced by himself and Rindge. There was no prospect of repayment, unless the province could be put under a separate governor ; and this point could not be obtained, till the removal of Belcher.
The agents of Massachusetts, after a long delay, presented their appeal ; and followed it with a petition, for the benefit of their former protests, against the New-Hampshire appeal ; objecting also to its regularity, as it contained matters of personal complaint, against the governor ; which had been no part of the records of the commissioners.1 Thomlinson finding this new petition thrown in his way, applied for its being immediately heard ; and at the Nov.30. hearing, it was dismissed, but without prejudice to the agents of Massachusetts being permitted, to object against the regularity of the New-Hampshire appeal, when it should come to a hearing. Such were the complaints against the gov- ernor, and the importunity of his adversaries to prosecute them, that it was necessary to hear and despatch them, before the ap- peal respecting the lines could be brought forward.
It must be remembered, that Mr. Belcher had enemies, in his government of Massachusetts as well as New-Hampshire, who united their efforts to obtain his reinoval from both ; but as they supposed him more vulnerable in his capacity of governor of New-Hampshire, so they joined in strengthening the complaints, from that quarter, as a preparatory step, to effect his complete re- moval. Whilst he was engaged, in preparing for his defence, against the charges, in the petition of appeal, other attacks were meditating, which were conducted with such silence that it was impossible for him to guard against their effects. One of 1739. these was a letter, purporting to have been written at Ex-
May 5. eter, subscribed by five persons, said to be inhabitants of that town, and directed to Sir Charles Wager, first lord of the admiralty. In this letter, it was said, that ' finding his lordship " had ordered the judge advocate of the court of admiralty to in- ' quire into the riot, which had been committed there, (1734) and
(1) July 18-October 9. Printed brief and MS. letters.
-
255
PROVINCE. JONATHAN BELCHER.
1739.]
' the assault of the surveyor and his officers ; and fcaring to be ' brought into trouble on that account, they would confess the ' whole truth. That they had been indulged, by former survey- ' ors, in cutting all sorts of pine trees, till the appointment of ' Colonel Dunbar to that office ; who had restrained and prosc- ' cuted them ; but that Governor Belcher had privately given ' them encouragement to go on ; by assuring them that they had ' the best right to the trees ; that the laws were iniquitous, and ' ought not to be regarded ; that although he must make a shew ' of assisting that Irish dog of a surveyor ; yet he would so man- ' age it with the council and justices, who were under his influ- 'ence, that they should not suffer ; and further to encourage ' them, he had made several of them justices of the peace, and ' officers of militia. That he had also told them not to fear any ' inquiry into their conduct ; for that he would write to the board ' of admiralty, in their favor ; and boasted that he had such an 'influence over their lordships, that they would believe every ' thing which he should say. That as they had now confessed ' the truth, they hoped to be forgiven, and not prosecuted in the ' admiralty court ; and begged that this information might be kept 'secret till the governor's removal, which they hoped would soon ' be effected. That whatever might have been said to the con- ' trary, they could assure him that the province of New-Hamp- ' shire contained the largest number of pine trees, and of the best ' quality, in all his majesty's American dominions ; and, for fur- ' ther information, they referred his lordship to several persons ' then in London, particularly to Mr. Wentworth and Mr. Waldo ; ' the latter of whom, was agent to Mr. Gulston, for procuring ' masts for the royal navy.'1
On the receipt of this letter, Sir Charles, with the candor of a gentleman, sent a copy of it to Mr. Belcher ; who immediately ordered an inquiry ; and it was proved to be an entire forgery ; four of the persons whose names were subscribed utterly dis- claimed it, and the fifth was not to be found ; no such person be- . ing known in the town of Exeter. The evidence of this forgery was transmitted to England, with all possible expedition ; but not till it had made an impression, to the disadvantage of the governor.
Another artifice used against him, was a memorial of Gulston, the navy agent, and others ; complaining of the defenceless state of the province ; that the fort lay in ruins, and that the militia were without discipline ; notwithstanding the probability of a war. This memorial was so artfully drawn, as to throw the blame of the neglect on the governor, without mentioning his name ; which was intended, to prevent his obtaining a copy, and being allowed time to answer. Another complaint was made in the form of a letter, respecting the grant of the tract called Kingswood ; in
(1) MS. copy of Exeter letter.
256
HISTORY OF NEW-HAMPSHIRE.
[1739.
which he was represented, as partial to his friends, in giving them an exclusive right, to the whole of that territory, which they deemed, the unappropriated lands of the province. Several parts of his administration were also complained of ; and in particular, the infrequency of his visits to New-Hampshire.1 This letter was signed by six members of the council, and a majority of the rep- resentatives.
Gulston's memorial was presented to the lords of council ; and by them referred to the board of trade, accompanied by the let- ter ; and though Mr. Belcher's brother and son applied for copies, and time to answer, the request was evaded ; and a report was framed, in favor of putting New-Hampshire under a separate gov- ernor. When this report came before the privy council, Lord Wilmington, the president, ordered it back again ; that the gov- ernor might have that justice which his agents had asked. By this means, he had opportunity to answer in his defence ; that without money, the fort could not be repaired ; that it was not in his power to tax the people ; that he had frequently applied to the assemblies for money, to repair the fort ; to which they had con- stantly answered, that the people were too poor to be taxed ; and had solicited him to break through his instructions, and allow them to issue paper money, without any fund for its redemption ; that the militia had always been trained according to law ; and that he liad constantly visited New-Hampshire, and held an assembly, twice in the year, unless prevented by sickness; for which he appealed to the journals. To corroborate these pleas, the gov- ernor's friends procured five petitions, in his favor, and praying for his continuance, signed by about five hundred people. The petitions, however, did not express the sense of the majority ; who had been persuaded into a belief, that they should receive much benefit by a separate governor ; and accordingly, a counter petition being circulated, was signed by about seven hundred of the inhabitants .*
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