chief, by appointment from the commissioners. The preparation and the march of this army, the most considerable that New England had then seen, were most prompt and persevering. In the depth of a severe winter, they advanced to the attack of a formidable foe, posted in a strong position in his wilderness retreat. The attack on the enemy's fort, December 19th, (O. S.,) was completely successful. It was a counterpart to the memorable exploit against the Pequots, forty years before, by the men of Connecticut. A day of horrible conflagration and slaughter inflicted a blow, from which the Narragansett nation never recovered. Seven hundred of their fighting men fell in the action, and it was computed that, at least, three hundred more died of their wounds and from the hardships which ensued. Such are the numbers given by Hubbard, in his Narrative, derived from the confession of Potock, one of the Indian chiefs, afterwards taken at Rhode Island, and put to death in Boston. It was a dear. bought victory to the assailants. Five brave captains were slain in the action: Davenport of Boston, son of Captain Richard Davenport, distinguished in the Pequot war, Johnson of Roxbury, Gardner of Salem, Gallop of New London, and Marshall of Windsor. Captain Sieley* of Stratford was mortally wounded, and lived but a few days after the fight. The whole loss sustained by the assailants was eighty-five killed, and about one hundred and fifty wounded. Among the wounded were Major Bradford and Captain Church, of Plymouth Colony, and Lieut. Upham of Massachu setts. The latter died of his wound some months afterward. J. Gorham of Barnsta ble, captain of one of Plymouth Colony companies, was seized with a fever, and died on the expedition. Church was a volunteer, and, as he informs us in his narrative, rode in the general's guard. He pointedly condemns the burning the wigwams in the fort, which would have afforded a comfortable shelter to the troops. For want of such accommodation, they were compelled, immediately after the action, to perform a severe march of sixteen or eighteen miles, in a cold and stormy night, to Wickford. This march was peculiarly distressing to the wounded men. Many of them died on the way, or soon afterward. None of them could have their wounds dressed until they arrived at head-quarters.-Davis' Edition of New England Memorial, 432 p.

From this blow, called the Swamp Fight, the Indians never recovered. They were not yet, however, effectually subdued. During the winter, the savages continued murdering and burning. The towns of Lancaster, Medfield, Weymouth, Groton, Springfield, Northampton, Sudbury, and Marlborough, in Massachusetts, and of Warwick and Providence, in Rhode Island, were assaulted, and some of them partly, and others wholly, destroyed. On the 12th of August, 1676, the finishing blow was given to the Indian power, by the death of king Philip, who was killed by a friendly Indian, in the vicinity of Mount Hope. In this distressing war, the English lost six hundred men, the flower of their strength; twelve or thirteen towns were destroyed, and six hundred dwelling-houses consumed.

In the height of the distress of Philip's war, and while the colony was contending with the natives for the possession of the soil, complaints were renewed in England, which struck at the powers of government. An inquiry was set on foot, and followed from time to time, until 1684, when judgment was given against the charter. In 1686, in May, a commissioner arrived, appointing a president and divers gentlemen of the council, to take upon them the administration of government. This administration was short, and productive of no grievances. In December, of the same year, Sir Edmund Andross arrived with a commission from king James, for the government of the New England colonies, with the exception of Connecticut. His kind professions for a while encouraged the

* Seeley of New Haven.

hopes of the people; he, however, soon threw off the mask, and did many arbitrary acts, whereby the people were oppressed, and himself and his followers were enriched. The press was restrained; public thanksgiving, without an order from the crown, was prohibited; fees of all officers were increased; and the people were compelled to petition for new patents for their lands, for which they were obliged to pay exorbitant prices. The colony was greatly disquieted by these and other tyrannical proceedings, and the hatred of the people was excited in proportion to their sufferings.

In the beginning of 1689, a rumor reached Boston, that William, prince of Orange, had invaded England, with the intention of dethroning the king. Animated with the hope of deliverance, the people rushed to arms, took possession of the fort, seized Andross, Randolph, the licenser of the press, and other obnoxious characters, and placed them in confinement. A council of safety, consisting of their former magistrates, was then organized to administer the government till authentic intelligence should be received from England. In a few weeks tidings arrived that William and Mary were firmly seated on the throne: they were immediately proclaimed with great rejoicings. The people of Massachusetts applied for the restoration of their old or the grant of a new charter. A definite answer was deferred, but the council was authorized to administer the government according to the old charter till further directions were given. Andross and his associates were ordered home for trial. A new charter was received in 1692 by Massachusetts, which added to her territory Plymouth, Maine, and Nova Scotia. By this charter, the appointment of the governor was in the crown, and every freeholder of forty shillings sterling a year, and every inhabitant of forty pounds sterling personal estate, was allowed to vote for representatives.

At this period, the French in Canada and Nova Scotia instigated the northern and eastern Indians to commence hostilities against the English settlements. Dover and Salmon Falls, in New Hampshire, Casco, in Maine, and Schenectady, in New York, were attacked by different parties of French and Indians, and shocking barbarities committed. Regarding Canada as the principal source of their troubles, New England and New York formed the bold project of reducing it by force of arms. For this purpose, they raised an army, under General Winthrop, which was sent against Montreal, and equipped a fleet, which, commanded by Sir William Phipps, was destined to attack Quebec. The season was so far advanced when the fleet arrived at Quebec, October 5th, 1690, the French so superior in number, the weather so tempestuous, and the sickness so great among the soldiers, that the expedition was abandoned. Success had been so confidently expected, that no adequate provision was made for the payment of the troops. There was danger of a mutiny. In this extremity, the government of Massachusetts issued bills of credit, as a substitute for money; and these were the first ever issued in the American colonies.

In 1692, a great excitement was again revived in New England on account of the supposed prevalence of witchcraft. It commenced at this time in Danvers, then a part of Salem. Near the close of February, several children in this place began to act in a peculiar and unaccountable manner. Their strange conduct continuing for several days, their friends betook themselves to fasting and prayer. During religious exercises, the children were generally decent and still; but after service was ended, they renewed their former unaccountable conduct. This was deemed sufficient evidence that they were laboring under the "influence of an evil hand, or witchcraft." After a few days, these children began to accuse several persons in the vicinity of bewitching them. Unfortunately, they were credited, and these suspected persons were seized and imprisoned. From this time, this contagion spread rapidly over the neighboring country, and soon appeared in various parts of Essex, Middlesex, and Suffolk. Persons at Andover, Ipswich, Gloucester, Boston, and other places, were accused by their neighbors, and others. For a time, those who were accused were persons of the lower classes. But at length some of the first people in rank and character were accused of the crime of witchcraft. The evil had now become awfully alarming. Before the close of September, nineteen persons were executed; and one, (Giles Corey,) was pressed to death for refusing to put himself on a trial by jury; all these persons died professing their innocence of the crime laid to their charge. At length the magistrates became convinced that their proceedings had been rash and indefensible. A special court was held on the subject, and fifty who were brought to trial were acquitted, excepting three, who were reprieved by the governor. These events were followed by a general release of all who were imprisoned. At this period the belief of the actual existence of witchcraft, prevailed in the most enlightened parts of Europe. The learned Baxter pronounced the disbeliever in witchcraft "an obdurate Sadducee,' and Sir Matthew Hale, one of the greatest of English judges, repeatedly tried and condemned persons accused of this crime. It ought also to be mentioned, that, if we are to credit the testimony of many respectable witnesses, many things took place at that time, which, even in this age, cannot be satisfactorily explained.

The war with the French and Indians, which began in 1690, was not yet terminated. For seven years the frontier settlements were harassed by the savages, till peace took place between France and England. But in a few years war again broke out in Europe, which was the signal for hostilities in America. In February, 1704, Deerfield, on Connecticut river, was surprised in the night, about forty persons killed, and more than one hundred made prisoners, among whom were Mr. Williams, the minister, and his family. In 1707, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island, despatched an armament against Port Royal, in Nova Scotia; but the expedition was unsuccessful. In 1710, New

England, assisted by the mother country, with a fleet, succeeded in reducing the place; and its name, in honor of queen Annė, was changed to Annapolis. This success encouraged the commander, General Nicholson, to visit England and propose an expedition against Canada. His proposition was adopted, and in June, 1711, Admiral Walker, with a fleet of fifteen ships of war, and forty transports, with an army of veteran troops, arrived at Boston, from whence he sailed for Quebec about the last of July. At the same time, General Nicholson repaired to Albany, to take the command of the forces that were to proceed by land. When the fleet had advanced ten leagues up the St. Lawrence, the weather became tempestuous and foggy. Nine of the transports were dashed in pieces on the rocks, and upwards of a thousand men perished. Weakened by this disaster, the admiral returned to England, and the New England troops returned to their homes. Nicholson, having learned the fate of the fleet, returned with his troops to Albany. In 1713, peace was made between France and Great Britain at Utrecht.

In 1716, Samuel Shute, a colonel in the army of the celebrated Duke of Marlborough, was appointed governor of Massachusetts. For a long period afterwards, many controversies and difficulties took place between the royal governors sent from England and the representatives of the people, who were jealous of their rights as British subjects. These disturbances continued, with some intervals, till the period of the American Revolution.

In 1744, war again broke out between England and France, and the colonies were again involved in its calamities. Their commerce and fisheries suffered great injury from privateers fitted out at Louisburg, a strong fortress on the island of Cape Breton. This place was considered one of the strongest in America; the fortifications had been twenty-five years in building, and had cost the French five and a half millions of dollars. The legislature of Massachusetts, convinced of the importance of reducing this place, planned a daring, but successful enterprise for its reduction. Accordingly, about four thousand men, from Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Connecticut, under the command of Gen. Pepperell, sailed from Boston for the conquest of this place. Having the assistance of four ships of war, under Commodore Warren, from the West Indies, the troops arrived at Louisburg, about the 1st of May, 1745, and commenced the siege. For fourteen nights successively, the New England troops, sinking to their knees in mud, drew their cannons and mortars through a swamp two miles in length. By this means, the siege was pushed with so much vigor, that, on the 16th of June, the garrison surrendered. France, fired with resentment against the colonies, the next summer sent a powerful fleet to ravage the coast of New England and recover Louisburg. The news of their approach spread terror throughout New England. But an uncommon succession of disasters, which the pious at that time ascribed to the special interposition of Providence, blasted the hopes of the enemy. The

French fleet was delayed and damaged by storms: some of the ships were lost, and a pestilential fever prevailed among the troops, and the two admirals killed themselves through chagrin on the failure of the expedition. The war at this period was ended by the peace of Aix la Chapelle, in 1748, by which all prisoners on each side were to be restored without ransom, and all conquests made during the war were to be mutually restored.

Scarcely had the colonies begun to reap the benefits of peace, before they were again thrown into anxiety and distress by another war against France. The war actually commenced in 1754, though not formally declared till May, 1756. Early in the spring of 1755, preparations were made by the colonies for vigorous exertions against the enemy. Four expeditions were planned :-one against the French in Nova Scotia; a second against the French on the Ohio; a third against Crown Point; and a fourth against Niagara. The expedition against Nova Scotia, consisting of three thousand men, chiefly from Massachusetts, was led by Gen. Monckton and Gen. Winslow. With these troops, they sailed from Boston on the 1st of June, arrived at Chignecto, in the bay of Fundy. After being joined by three hundred regular British troops, they proceeded against fort Beau Sejour, which surrendered, after a siege of four days. Other forts were taken, and Nova Scotia was entirely subdued. In order that the French in Canada should derive no assistance from this territory, the country was laid waste, and the inhabitants were taken from the country, and dispersed among the English colonies. One thousand of these proscribed Acadians were transported to Massachusetts, where many of them embarked for France. The expedition against Niagara was committed to Governor Shirley, of Massachusetts, whose force amounted to two thousand five hundred men. The season, however, was too far advanced before he had completed his preparations, to effect any thing of importance, and the expedition was abandoned.

The war continued, with varied success, till the conquest of Quebec by the army under Gen. Wolfe, in September, 1759, and the final reduction of Canada in 1760. This event caused great and universal joy in the colonies, and public thanksgivings were generally appointed. A definitive treaty, the preliminaries of which, had been settled the year before, was signed at Paris in 1763, by which all Nova Scotia, Canada, the isle of Cape Breton, and all other islands in the gulf and river St. Lawrence, were ceded to the British crown.

After the peace of 1763, the British parliament formed a plan for raising a revenue by taxing the colonies. For this purpose, an act was passed for laying a duty on all paper, vellum, or parchment, used in America, and declaring all writings on unstamped materials to be null and void. This act, called the Stamp Act, received the royal assent March 22d, 1765. When the news of this act reached the colonies, the people everywhere manifested alarm and a determination to resist its execution. The