Barnes m. flfcoffi'tt UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA GENERAL LIBRARY, BERKELEY \ T V ' f /^^ (j%b*t*c&&j (^ft^f^T^^^f^ ^^i ^^ ^ sy ' w '^ r < T f '& f ^ 77 J&Q JL ^JA PICTORIAL HISTORY AMERICA, Pizarro in Cuzco. The Temple of Tolomeco. PICTORIAL HISTORY or AMERICA; EMBRACING BOTH THE NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN PORTIONS OF THE NE WORLD BY S. G. GOODRICH. ILLUSTRATED WITH MORE THAN THREE HUNDRED ENGRAVINGS HARTFORD: PUBLI-fitiED BY HOUSE & BROWN. 1851. TBRBOTYPBD BT GEORGE A. CURTIS, NBW BtfLAMD TTPB AMI STBHSOTTPS KODMDEY, BOSTOI CONTENTS, GEOGRAPHICAL VIEW OF AMERICA. CHAPTER I. , ia - Geographical Description of North and South America 11 DISCOVERY OF AMERICA BY THE NORTHMEN. CHAPTER II. Account of the alleged Discovery of America by the Northmen, . . 21 DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS OF THE SPANIARDS. CHAPTER III. State of Geographical Science Efforts of the Spaniards and Portuguese Proceedings of Columbus, , : . 27 CHAPTER IV. Columbus discovers America, .... .,-.' . 37 CHAPTER V. Various Discoveries of Columbus in America Return to Spain, . . 46 CHAPTER VI. Second Voyage of Columbus to America His Third Voyage His Fourth Voyage His return to Spain and his Death Sufferings of the Natives, 57 CHAPTER VII. Spanish Discoveries on the Continent Proceedings of Cortez, . . 67 CHAPTER VIII. Final Conquest, of Mexico Death of Cortez Guatimala, . ..76 CHAPTER IX. Discovery of the South Sea Conquest of Peru, . . */.,. 86 CHAPTER X. Historical Sketch of the Peruvian Empire Proceedings of the Spaniards in Peru, . . ' \'"~ . . f9 CHAPTER XL Conquest of Chili Paraguay Rio de la Plata, . Ill 1* Vl CONTENTS. CHAPTER XII. PASS Proceedings in Venezuela and Guiana Commercial Operations in South America, - ' 121 BRAZIL. CHAPTER XIII. Discovery of Brazil Settlement and Progress, 137 CHAPTER XIV. Progress of the Colony, . . . . ... . .145 CHAPTER XV. Progress of the Colony, . . . 152 CHAPTER XVI. Flourishing Condition of Brazil The Mines Policy of the Government Present State of the country, . , . ? ., . t . 162 WEST INDIES. CHAPTER XVII. Porto Rico, Cuba, Jamaica, &c. Slaves and the Slave Trade, . v . 167 CHAPTER XVIII. The Buccaneers, .... . . . . . . .175 CHAPTER XIX. St. Domingo, .. . . 188 SPANISH SETTLEMENTS. CHAPTER XX. . 197 CHAPTER XXI. Peru, continued, . . . ^ f . . . . . . 06 CHAPTER XXII. Peru, continued, . . ...... 216 CHAPTER XXIII. United Provinces Banda Oriental T . 223 CHAPTER XXIV. Paraguay Chili, 234 CHAPTER XXV. Colomhia Venezuela New Grenada Ecuador Bolivia, . . .244 CONTENTS. vii PACK 252 CHAPTER XXVI. Mexico Texas Central America, ...... BRITISH AMERICA, &,c. CHAPTER XXVII. Canada, . .. , : 262 CHAPTER XXVIII. Canada, continued, . . 272 CHAPTER XXIX. Canada, continued, > 279 CHAPTER XXX. Nova Scotia, ........... 285 CHAPTER XXXI. Nova Scotia, continued Hudson's Bay Territory Russian America Greenland . . . . 295 UNITED STATES. CHAPTER XXXII. Florida, . ' 30J CHAPTER XXXIII. Florida, continued, . . . .313 CHAPTER XXXIV. Florida, continued, f .323 CHAPTER XXXV. Virginia, ............ 330 CHAPTER XXXVI. Virginia, continued, ... . , 339 CHAPTER XXXVII. Virginia, continued, V '. 351 CHAPTER XXXVIII. Massachusetts, .>,*.*. . . . . . 363 CHAPTER XXXIX.. Massachusetts, continued, . . 377 Tiii CONTENTS. CHAPTER XL. Massachusetts continued Connecticut, ^ **-; v-Y 387 CHAPTER XLI. New England Colonies, . . . . '. vj '1 .1 ; '.; . 39 CHAPTER XLII. New Hampshire Connecticut Rhode Island New Haven, . . . 407 CHAPTER XLIII. New York, . -. i ^ -. 413 CHAPTER XLIV. New Jersey Pennsylvania Delaware Maryland North and South Carolina Georgia, . . . 423 CHAPTER XLV. United Colonies of New England Philip's War, . . . t . .438 CHAPTER XLVI. The Charters of the New England Colonies revoked Sir Edmund Andres, 443 CHAPTER XLVII. Massachusetts, '. - '. '* '. . . 451 CHAPTER XLVIII. Witchcraft in Salem, . . V . . . . . . 400 CHAPTER XLIX. New England, . . '. '. '-;V 471 CHAPTER L. Indian Wars hi the South, . * * . > 477 CHAPTER LI. Collision with the Canadian Indians, ,.... 484 CHAPTER LII. Same subject continued, 491 CHAPTER LOT. The French War, '. .497 CHAPTER LIV. Troubles with England, ...... . 510 CHAPTER LV. The same subject continued, . . . . . 520 CONTENTS. CHAPTER LVL The same subject continued, . - CHAPTER LVII. Battle of Lexington Opening of the Revolution , . CHAPTER LVIII. Progress of the Revolution, 556 CHAPTER LIX. Declaration of Independence Capture of New York, .... 564 CHAPTER LX. Progress of the War, ' . . .674 CHAPTER LXI. Burgoyne's Expedition and Capture, ,~ , . , ,. . <^ 587 CHAPTER LXII. Negotiations with France, 608 CHAPTER LXIII. Progress of the War, . . #..'"*' . . * -I' -. . 630 CHAPTER LXIV. Arnold's Treason Progress of the War, .-.. ' , -* - 636 CHAPTER LXV. Progress of the War Surrender of Cornwallis Peace,. * . 645 CHAPTER LXYI. The Confederation The Constitution Washington President, &c., . 664 CHAPTER LXYII. French Revolution Adams President Madison President War with England, . G?4 CHAPTER LXVIII. Progress of the War, , , GDI CHAPTER LXIX. Events of the War, . . . ^ . ; * V 7O3 B X CONTENTS. CHAPTER LXX. PAGE Progress of the War Negotiations at Ghent Hartford Convention Peace, . ' 725 CHAPTER LXXI. War with Algiers Monroe President John Quincy Adams President Jackson President, . . . . . . . 743 CHAPTER LXXII. Jackson's Administration, continued Van Buren President Harrison President Administration of John Tyler, . . . . . 757 CHAPTER LXXIII. Mr. Folk's Inauguration. Relations with Mexico. Proclamation of War by the President. Discussion in relation to Oregon. Military Opera tions Treaty of Peace with Mexico Inauguration of Zachary Taylor, . 770 APPENDIX, ABORIGINES OF AMERICA. CHAPTER I. Early Notions respecting the American Indians Their Origin General Remarks Indians of the United States, <-.. . . -. . f 1 CHAPTER 21. Indians of Mexico Central America South America General Remarks, 24 PICTORIAL VIEW OF AMERICA, GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION OF AMERICA. CHAPTER I. THE continent of America includes an extent of territory equal to one half of the continents of Europe, Asia, and Africa ; and con stitutes about three tenths of the dry land on the surface of the globe. It is bounded east and west by the great Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. On the west, the Pacific separates it from Asia, and at Behring's Straits, in the north, the two continents come almost in contact. On the north is the Arctic Ocean, divided by huge frozen islands into bays and inlets. On the east, the Atlan tic separates it from Europe and Africa. On the south, it presents a storm-beaten cape to the expanse of the Southern or Antarctic Ocean. The northern boundary of America is now found to ex tend to about 70 north latitude. The southern extremity of the 12 GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION OF AMERICA. continent, on the Straits of Magellan, is in lat. 54 south. Hence America comprehends the whole of the tropical and temperate, with part of the Arctic climates, on both sides of the equator. Its extent from north to south is about 9000 miles. This great con- The Western Hemisphere. tinent is nearly separated into two portions by the narrow Isthmus of Panama. It will be more proper, therefore, to describe North and South America separately. North America extends from 8 to 70 north latitude, and from 55 to 168 west longitude, and contains an area of about 7,500,- 000 square miles, exclusive of the islands in the neighborhood of Baffin's Bay and Barrow's Strait. Presenting a broad front to the Arctic Sea, it gradually expands in width to about 50 north latitude, when it again contracts its dimensions until it reaches the Isthmus of Panama. ' Its winding outline presents a great extent of seacoast, which is estimated to amount to about 9,500 miles on the eastern, and somewhat more on the western side, in addition to the frozen shores of the northern border. It may be divided into five physical regions. 1. The table-land of Mexico, with the strips of low country on its eastern and western shores. 2. GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION OF AMERICA. 13 The plain lying between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Ocean, a country with a mild and humid atmosphere as far north as 55, hut inhospitable and barren beyond. 3. The great cen tral valley of the Mississippi, rich and well wooded on the east side ; bare but not unfertile in the middle ; bare, dry, sandy and almost a desert on the west. 4. The eastern declivities of the Allegany mountains, a region of natural forests, and of mixed, but rather poor soil. 5. The great northern plain beyond 50, four fifths of which is a bleak and bare waste, overspread with innumerable lakes, and resembling Siberia both in the physical character of its surface and the rigor of its climate. South America lies between the 12th degree of north, and the 56th degree of south latitude, and extends in breadth from 36 to 81 of west longitude. It comprises 6,500,000 square miles. Its coast is less indented by bays than North America, but it presents the same tapering form to the south. Its greatest breadth, about six degrees south of the equator, is 3,200 miles, and its length 2 14 GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION OF AMERICA. 4,500. South America may also be divided into five distinct physical regions. 1. The low country on the shores of the Pacific, about 4,000 miles in length, and from 50 to 200 in breadth. The two extremities of this district are fertile ; the middle is a sandy desert. 2. The basin of the Orinoco, surrounded by the Andes and their branches, and consisting of wide plains nearly destitute of wood, but covered with a high herbage during a part of the year. 3. The basin of the Amazon, a vast plain, with a rich soil and a humid climate, and exhibiting a surprising luxuriance of vegetation. 4 The great southern plain of the Plata, in parts dry and barren, and in parts covered with a strong growth of weeds and tall grass. > 5. The high country of Brazil, ea^ward of the Panama and the Uruguay, presenting alternate ridges and valleys, thickly covered wi.th wood on the Atlantic slope. Mountain ranges, characterized by their lofty boldness and im mense extent, stretch across this continent, and give it a peculiar and striking character. One chain, the longest on the face of the GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION OF AMERICA 15 globe, and with one exception the loftiest, appears to extend from its northern to its southern extremity. By far the most distin guished portion is that colossal range, which, under the name of Andes, traverses South America along the shore of the Pacific. Commencing at the Isthmus of Panama, and throwing some lateral blanches along the northern coast, it continues in its progress southward, always swelling in magnitude, till almost beneath the equator it shoots up into the summits of Chimborazo and Antisana, Chimborazo. believed, till lately, the loftiest peaks on the globe; while it spreads terror by the tremendous volcanoes of Pichincha and Cotopaxi. In passing through Peru, it continues still very lofty, and on reaching its southern region forms a vast knot or mass, amid whose peaks tower Ilimani and Sorata, which recent observation has proved to exceed even Chimborazo in height, though still inferior to the highest summits of the Himmaleh. In its progress behind Chili, this great chain continues to form an exceedingly steep, though not very broad, ridge. It becomes less considerable as it approaches the southern limit of the continent, and the pecu liarly dreary and desolate aspect which it there assumes is owing less to elevation than to the wintry severity of the climate. The heights on the adjacent isle of Terra del Fuego do not exceed 6,000 feet; and even the formidable cliffs with which Cape Horn faces the tempests of the Southern Ocean do not rise higher than 1.600 feet. 16 6EOGRAFHICAL DESCRIPTION OF AMERICA. The same chain extends from the Isthmus of Panama north ward. The isthmus is occupied hy a ridge of moderate elevation ; but after a short interval it swells into that great plain of table land, upwards of 6,000 feet high, which covers the greater part of Mexico and Guatemala, and converts the tropical climate of those latitudes into a temperate one. From this level shoot up much higher the snowy, conical peaks of Orizaba, Popocatepetl and Toluca, the two former of which send forth formidable volcani* eruptions. Beyond Mexico this great elevation is partly pro longed in the great chain of the Rocky Mountains, which run parallel to the northern Pacific, and bound on the west the valley of the Mississippi. Though their cliffs are steep and rugged, they by no means equal the elevation of the Andes, scarcely at any point surpassing 12,000 feet Beyond the 55th parallel they rap idly sink, though a branch, about 2,000 feet high, runs along the western bank of the Mackenzie river, and even along the shores of the Arctic Ocean. Yery high mountains are seen at different parts of the shore of the northern Pacific, particularly in the 60th parallel, where mount St Elias is supposed to exceed 16.000 feet In North America an eastern chain, the Apalachians or Alle- ganies, may be traced, in a continuous ridge parallel to the Atlan tic. Detached and somewhat irregular branches spread through Canada, Labrador and the vicinity of Hudson's Bay. -The moun tains which, resting around the Gulf of Mexico, form the West India islands, appear to be elevated summits of the same range. After disappearing for a small interval in the delta of the Orinoco, it appear^ -<?ain in numerous ridges, which spread wide over Guiana. On the 9&J** *ide of the Amazon. Brazil is traversed by seve- ir ral La Plata, the Pampas. AH pared with die 2,000 to 3 ; 000f IS GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION OF AMERICA. covered with unbroken forests, and tenanted by rude and savage tribes. The extent of this plain is about 3,120,000 square miles. In the northern quarter is the great plain of the Orinoco, estimated at 348,OQO miles, covered with gigantic grasses, and almost uncul tivated at the present day. In the southern part of the continent is the immense surface of the Pampas, bordering the La Plata, and trodden by numerous herds of wild cattle. This plain com prehends 1,620,000 miles. Lofty plains or table-lands form a characteristic feature in the geography of the western continent. The principal one occu pies the whole of Mexico and part of Guatemala : it is 6,000 feet high. The Andes, within their lofty ridges, enclose very elevated sites, on which numerous cities are built. But the grandest natural features of America are her rivers, which in magnitude far surpass those of the Other quarters of the globe. They are unequalled both in the length of their course, and the masses of water which they pour into the ocean. The principal of these rivers take their rise in the great western chain of mountains, from its eastern side, whence, being swelled by numerous streams, they roll their deep and spacious waters across the great interior plain, till they approach the eastern range of mountains. Here they receive a fresh and copious series of tribu taries, till, bearing the waters of half a continent, they reach the ocean. The Missouri takes its rise in the Rocky Mountains, and flows eastward into the great North American valley, where it is joined by the Mississippi, and receives from the Allegany chain the copious tribute of the Ohio : these combined floods, subse quently augmented by tributaries from the eastern and western ranges, thus bear southward into the Gulf of Mexico. In South America, the Amazon, after a long course along the foot of the loftiest Andes, rolls eastward across the great plain, receiving ample* tributaries from the eastern ranges, till, on reaching the Atlantic, it becomes almost an inland sea. The La Plata, with its branches, collects all the southern waters of the Andes, and flows southeast to the Atlantic in the magnitude of an immense, gulf. Inferior to these, yet maintaining a rank among the great rivers of the globe, are, in North America, the St. Lawrence, which, witn the Mississippi, derives its ample store of waters not from any mountain chain, but from that cold, watery region of forests and swamps, forming the northern prolongation of the great central plain, and the Oregon, rising in the western declivity of the Rocky Mountains, and flowing west into the Pacific. In South America, another great stream, the Orinoco, taking its first rise in the Andes, is formed chiefly during its winding course GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION OF AMERICA. 19 among the inferior ranges that traverse the northern portion of South America. Though inferior to the two other gigantic streams in its neighborhood, yet, such is the store of waters it collects from this region of forests and swamps, that it pours its ample flood into the ocean by seven capacious mouths. The length of the navigable waters of the Amazon and its branches is estimated at 50,000 miles; of the Missouri, 40,000; of the La Plata, 20,000; of the Orinoco, 8,000; and of the St. Lawrence, 2,000. The internal navigation of the western continent surpasses therefore, beyond all comparison, that of all the rest of the globe. Still another grand and characteristic feature of American geography may be found in the lakes of this country. The lar gest and most numerous are in North America. They are not mountain lakes, nor formed by mountain streams. They origi nate in those great, wooded, watery plains in which the Mississippi and the St. Lawrence take their rise. The chain of connected lakes on the upper course of the latter river, form the largest bodies of fresh water in the world. Finally, the western continent is superior to the eastern, not only in its navigable waters, penetrating into its inmost recesses, but also in its not being defaced with sandy deserts to any remarkable extent. The desert of Atacama, in Peru and Chili, comprises only a narrow strip of country on the Pacific Ocean. The desert of Pernambuco, in the northeastern part of Brazil, is more extensive ; but both are insignificant when compared with those of the Old World. The wide tract at the eastern foot of the Rocky Mountains, which has been called the American De sert, and a similar tract at the eastern base of the Chilian Moun tains, are traversed by large rivers, and produce an abundant vegetation. The western continent, therefore, although only half the size of the eastern, has at least quite an equal amount of useful soil. Two thirds of the surface of the Old World are unproductive, and much of the remaining soil is poor; while more than two thirds of the New World are not only productive^ but for the most part fertile to the highest degree. We shall close this description of the western continent with a brief view of its political divisions at the present day. The northern part of America belongs to Russia and Great Britain, so far as the right of discovery and the possession of a few settle ments, thinly scattered over an icy and barren waste, afford those powers a claim to the property. These regions are peopled by wandering tribes of aborigines, but their numbers are few. The European settlements are insignificant, except those of the British on Hudson's Bay. South of this country is the more populous 20 GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION OF AMERICA. district of British America, extending to the 42d degree of lati tude, containing the flourishing colonies of Canada, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. The inhabitants are mostly of European descent, and the government is dependent on Great Britain. Next lies the republic of the United States, extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from forty-eight degrees north, nearly to the tropic. The eastern half of this immense territory is occupied by the Anglo-American race ; the western is still in possession of the aborigines, who however are daily receding and disappearing before the rapid progress of civilization. South of the United States is, first, the new republic of Texas, and next, the territory of Mexico, almost equal to the United States in extent, but less populous. This republic has a mixed population of Spanish and Indian descent, and large portions of the country are still in a savage state. Its limits extend to 'sixteen degrees of north latitude. The narrow portion of the continent which approaches the Isthmus of Darien is occupied by the republic of Guatemala, the inhabitants of which do not materially differ from those of Mexico. The West India islands, lying between North and South America, are colonies of several of the European pow ers, and are peopled by a mixture of the European and African race. One of these islands, Hayti, is independent, and has a population entirely African. The northern part of South America contains the republics of Venezuela, Ecuador and New Granada, with a few colonies in Gui ana, belonging to the British, French and Dutch. Proceeding south erly across the equator, we meet with the great empire of Brazil, occupying more than one third of the Southern continent. This empire, formerly a colony of Portugal, but now an independent territory, is peopled on its Atlantic borders by inhabitants of the Portuguese and African race. The interior is occupied chiefly by tribes of Indians. On the western coast lie the republics of Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Chili. The republic of Buenos Ayres, or the United Provinces, extends from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Between Brazil and this territory lie the two small republics of Paraguay and Banda Oriental. All these republics are inhabited by people of Spanish and Indian descent. The continent now becomes narrowed toward a point, and offers to our view the savage and inhospitable region of Patagonia, in which few inhabitants, except the aborigines, are to Be found. The southern extremity of America is formed by the craggy and desert island of Terra del Fuego, tenanted only by a scanty population of natives, as rude and savage as their own bleak and Btorm-beaten shores. DISCOVERY OF AMERICA BY THE NORTHMEN. CHAPTER II. Landing of the Northmen in America. THE Welsh have a tradition of some celebrity, in virtue of which they claim the discovery of the western world. Madoc, a Welsh chieftain, in 1170, fitted out several vessels on a maritime adventure. Proceeding to the westward, after a long navigation he arrived at " a fair and large country," in which many wonder ful things were seen. After leaving the greater number of his companions there, he returned to Wales, and prevailed on a num ber of his kindred and acquaintance to accompany him in a second expedition, from which he never returned. This is the substance of the Welsh tradition. There is no reason for serious belief that the Welsh ever crossed the Atlantic. The state of their naviga tion in the twelfth century was no way compatible with so long and hazardous a voyage. No trace of a Welsh settlement has ever been discovered in the western world. The resemblance affirmed to exist between some of the American languages and the Welsh is altogether fanciful. The discovery of America by the Northmen, in 1001, rests on stronger evidence; and strange as this may appear, the fact 22 DISCOVERY OF AMERICA BY THE NORTHMEN. becomes indisputable when we consider that the best authenti cated Icelandic chronicles unanimously affirm it; that their rela tions contain nothing that can admit of reasonable doubt; and that they are supported by several concurrent testimonies. There was, say those ancient chronicles, an Icelander, named Heriol, who, with his son Biarn, made every year a trading voyage to different countries, and generally wintered in Norway. Happening one time to be separated from each other, the son steered his course for Norway, where he supposed he should meet with his father ; but, on his arrival there, found he had gone to Greenland, a coun try but lately discovered, and little known to the Norwegians. Biarn determined, at all events, to follow his father, and set sail for Greenland; "although," says the chronicler, "he had nobody on board who could direct him on the voyage, nor any particular instructions to guide him; so great was the courage of the ancients. He steered by the observation of the stars, and by what he had heard of the situation of the country he sought." During the first three days he bore towards the west, but the wind varying to the north, and blowing strong, he was forced to run to the southward. The wind ceasing in about twenty- four hours, they discovered land at a distance, which, as they approached, they perceived to be flat and low, and covered with wood ; for which reason they would not go on shore, being con vinced it could not be Greenland, which had been represented to them as distinguishable at a great distance for its mountains covered with snow. They then sailed away towards the north west, and discovered a harbor which was formed by an island, but did not stop there. After some days they arrived in Green land, where Biarn met with his father. The following summer, namely, in the year 1002, Biarn made another voyage to Norway, where he informed one of the prin cipal Idrds of the country, named Count Eric, of the discovery he had made of some unknown islands. The count blamed his want of curiosity, and strongly pressed him to proceed with his discovery. In consequence of this advice, Biarn, as soon as he had returned to Greenland, began to think seriously of exploring those lands with more attention. Leif, the son of Eric Rufus, who had discovered Greenland, and who was still ch'ef of the colony settled there, being desirous of distinguishing him self like his father, determined to go thither himself; and prevail ing on Eric to accompany him, they fitted out a vessel with thirty-five hands; but when the old man was setting out on horseback to go to the ship, his horse happened to fall down under him an accident which he considered as an admonition DISCOVERY OF AMERICA BY THE NORTHMEN. 23 from heaven to desist from the enterprise ; and, therefore, return ing home, the less superstitious Leif set sail without him. He soon descried one of the coasts which Biarn had before seen, that lay nearest to Greenland. He cast anchor and went on shore, but .found only a flat, rocky region, without any kind of verdure: he, therefore, quitted it, after bestowing upon it the name of Helleland, or the "Stony Land." A short navigation brought him to another place, which Biarn had also noted. In this land, which lay very low, they saw nothing but a few scat tered thickets and white sand. This he called Markland, or the " Woody Land." Two days prosperous sailing brought them to a third shore, which was sheltered to the north by an island. They disembarked there in very fine weather, and found plants which produced a grain as sweet as honey. Leaving this, they sailed westward in search of a harbor, and at length entering the mouth of a river, were carried up by the tide into a lake. As soon as they landed, they pitched their tents on the shore, not yet daring to wander far inland. The river afforded them plenty of very large salmon; the air was soft and temperate; the soil appeared to be fruitful and the pasturage very good. The days in winter were much longer than in Greenland, and they had less snow than in Iceland. Entirely satisfied with their new resi dence, they built houses and spent the winter there. But before the setting in of this season, a German of their com pany, named Tyrker, was one day missing. Leif, apprehensive for the safety of a man who had been long in his father's family, and who was an excellent workman, sent all his people in search of him. He was at length found, singing and leaping, and express ing the most extravagant joy. The astonished Green! anders inquired the reason of such strange behavior. Tyrker informed them that he had discovered wild grapes. Excited by this news, they immediately went to the place, and brought back several bunches to their commander, who was equally surprised. Leif still doubted whether they were grapes, but the German assured him he was born in a country where the vine grew, and that lie knew them too well to be mistaken. Yielding to this proof, Leif named the country Vinland, or the Land of Wine. Leif returned to Greenland in the spring, but one of his brothers, named Thorwald, thinking the discovery yet imperfect, obtained from Eric this same vessel and thirty men. Thorwald, arriving in Vinland, made use of the houses built by Leif, and living on fish, which were very plenty, passed the winter there. In the spring he took part of his people and set out westward to examine the country. They met everywhere with very pleasing 24 DISCOVERY OF AMERICA BY THE NORTHMEN. landscapes, all the coasts being covered with forests, and the shores with a black sand. They saw a multitude of little islands, sepa rated by small arms of the sea, but no marks either of wild beasts or of men, except a heap of wood piled up in the form of a pyramid. Having spent the summer in this survey, they returned in autumn to their winter quarters: but the summer following, Thorwald being desirous of exploring the eastern and northern coasts, his vessel was a good deal shattered by a storm, and the remainder of that season was taken up in repairing her. He afterwards set up the keel, which was unfit for service, at the extremity of a neck of land, thence called Kiellar Naes, or Cape Keel. On his landing one day, attracted by the beauty of the shore he discovered three little leathern canoes, in each of which were three persons, seemingly half asleep. Thorwald and his com panions instantly ran and seized them all, excepting one who escaped ; and, by a ferocity as imprudent as it was cruel, put them to death the same day. Soon afterwards, as they.lay on the same coast, they were suddenly alarmed by the arrival of a great number of these little vessels, which covered the whole bay. Thor wald gave immediate orders to his party to defend themselves with planks and boards against their darts, which quite filled the air ; and the savages, having in vain wasted all their arrows, after an .hour's combat betook themselves to flight. The Norwegians called them in derision Skrsellings, or Mannikins. The chronicles tell us that these men were small and timid, and that there would be nothing to fear from a whole army of them : they add that these Skrsellings are the same people who inhabit the western parts of Greenland, and that the Norwegians who are settled on those coasts, had called the savages there by the same name. Thorwald was the only one who was mortally wounded, and 'dying soon after, paid the penalty that was justly due for his inrmman conduct. As he desired to be buried with a cross at his feet and another at his head, he seems to have imbibed some idea of Christianity, which at that time began to dawn in Norwegian Greenland. His body was interred at the point of the cape where he had intended to make a settlement ; which cape was named Krossa NCBS, or Cape Cross. The season being too far advanced for undertaking the voyage home, the rest of the crew spent the winter there, and did not reach Greenland till the following spring. We are further told that they loaded the vessel with vines, and all the raisins they could preserve. Eric had left a third son, named Thorstein, who, as soon as he was informed of his brother Thorwald' s death, embarked the same year, with his wife Gudride and a select crew of twenty men. DISCOVERY OF AMERICA BY THE NORTHMEN. 25 His principal design was to bring his brother's body back to Greenland. But, during the whole summer, the winds proved so contrary and tempestuous, that, after several fruitless attempts, he was driven back to a part of Greenland far distant from the colony of his countrymen. Here he was confined during the rigor of the winter, deprived of all assistance, and exposed to the severity of so rude a climate. These misfortunes were increased by a contagious sickness, which carried off Thorstein and most of the company. His widow took care of her husband's body and, returning with it in the spring, interred it in the burial place of his family. Hitherto we have seen the Norwegians only making slight efforts to establish themselves in Vinland. The year after Thor- stein's death, proved more favorable to the design of settling a colony. A rich Icelander, named Thorfin, whose genealogy the chronicles have carefully preserved, arrived in Greenland from Norway, with a great number of followers. He cultivated an acquaintance with Leif, who, since his father Eric's death, was chief of the colony, and with his consent espoused Gudride, by whom he acquired a right to those claims her former husband had on the settlements in Vinland. Thither he soon went to take possession, having with him Gudride and five other women, besides sixty sailors, much cattle, provision and implements of husbandry. Nothing was omitted that could forward the enter prise. Soon after his arrival on the coast, he caught a whale, which proved very serviceable to the whole company. The pas turage was found to be so plentiful and rich, that a bull they had carried over with them became in a short time remarkable for his fierceness and strength. The remainder of that summer and the winter following were spent in taking all necessary precautions for their preservation. The next summer, the Skro3llings came down in crowds and brought various merchandises for traffic. After staying there three years, Thorfin returned home with a valuable cargo of raisins and other commodities, the fame of which spreading through the north, drew many adventurers to Yinland. Such is the story of the settlement of Vinland; and it is a fortu nate circumstance that these ancient accounts have preserved not only the geographical descriptions, but also nautical and astrono mical facts, which, besides substantiating the narrations, serve to fix the position of the points of the American coast named above. Helleland is the island of Newfoundland; Markland is Nova Scotia; Vinland is Massachusetts and Rhode Island, in which latter state the chief settlement appears to have been made. 3 D 26 DISCOVERY OF AMERICA BY THE NORTHMEN. Kiellar Naes is Cape Cod, which the Northmen describe with per fect exactness as consisting of trackless deserts, and long, narrow beaches and sand hills. Krossa Naes is either the Gurnet at Plymouth, or Point Alderton at the entrance of Boston harbor. Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard and the Elizabeth Islands are also described with an accuracy that leaves no doubt of their identity. There is reason to suppose that the people of the north con tinued to make voyages to Yinland for a long time, and the Ice landic chronicles continue to speak of Vinland afterwards. A Saxon priest, named John, passed over to Yinland with an inten tion of converting the Norwegian colony; but we may conclude his attempt did not succeed, since we find that he was condemned to death. In the year 1121, Eric, a bishop of Greenland, went over there on the same errand, but we know not with what success. Since that time Vinland seems, by degrees, to have been forgotten in the north, and that part of Greenland which had embraced Christianity being lost, Iceland also fallen from its former state, and the northern nations being wasted by a pestilence and weak ened by internal feuds, all remembrance of the discovery was at length utterly obliterated ; and the Norwegian Vinlanders them selves, having no further connexion with Europe, were either incorporated with their barbarian neighbors, or destroyed. DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS OF THE SPAN IARDS. CHAPTER III. State of geographical science during the middle ages. Origin of the spirit of maritime discovery. Efforts of the Spaniards and Portuguese. Ancient legends of the Atlantic Ocean. Birth and education of Christopher Colum bus. His reasons for believing the existence of a continent in the west. His attempt to carry his project of discovery into execution. His scheme condemned by a learned body at Salamanca, and rejected by the Spanish court. Persever ance of Columbus. Queen Isabella patronizes the undertaking. Preparations for the voyage. Columbus soliciting Queen Isabella to aid his projects of discovery. A THOUSAND years had passed away since the barbarous nations of the north of Europe overthrew the Roman empire of the West, and erected new institutions upon its ruins ; yet the science of geography had made but little progress. The Western World was still unknown, and the intercourse between Europe and India was carried on through the Red Sea. The spirit of maritime discovery received its first impulse from the kings of Castile, in the beginning of the fifteenth century. These monarchs, in fol lowing up their conquests and settlements in the Canary islands, 28 SPANISH DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS. led the way to further navigations into the Atlantic, in search of new islands in the west. Hence, also, arose the traffic with the African coast, and the splendor and wealth of the city of Seville, the great mart for slaves and other African productions; and hence the extraordinary zeal for nautical adventure along the coast of Andalusia. The Portuguese, emulous of the glory of their neighbors, entered into the same career, and pursued it with such vigor and perseverance, as to outstrip their precursors, by improv ing naval science and extending their commerce in a surprising manner. Their ships sailed along the western coast of Africa, and at length reached the Cape of Good Hope. Curiosity received a new stimulus from these discoveries ; the boundless ocean of the west offered a wide field for speculation. The annals of the Egyptians, cotemporary -with the most ancient human records ; the marvellous narratives of Plato, concerning the Atlantic island, and its mighty monarchs and nations in the western ocean, re gained their lost reputation; and the credit which Alexander the Great gave to the opinion of Anaxarchus, respecting the existence of a new world, was now deemed to be well founded. These notions spread themselves over Europe, from the period of the Spanish conquest of the Canary islands, as literature and nautical science shed mutual light on each other. A number of ancient manuscripts were brought to light, in which many sayings were found relative to several countries, formerly seen, or con jectured to exist in the Atlantic Ocean. What chiefly impressed the minds of men, however, was the large island, abounding with navigable rivers, which, it was said, the Carthaginians had discov ered at a distance from the continent, the extraordinary fertility of which had induced them to inhabit it ; but the government, afraid that this happy colony might eclipse the mother country, ordered the settlers to evacuate it, and never to return thither under pain of death. . The book in which this account was found, bore the name of Aristotle, and its authenticity no person dared to doubt. To the narration of this philosopher several embellishments were added , for instance, that seven Spanish bishops, with a number of Chris tians, had fled thither, and found an asylum from the persecution of the Moors, the conquerors of Spain, in the eighth century. There were also fabulous, but still credited accounts, of Portuguese voyagers who had sailed to that island ; and the settlements were soon represented in books and maps under the name of the Seven towns. At last it was reported that of a quantity of earth, brought from one of these western harbors, the third part was pure gold. This idle legend stimulated several mariners to set out in FABLES OF THE ANCIENTS IN RESPECT TO THE ATLANTIC. 29 pursuit of the ore ; and though they persisted in vain, yet their disappointment was not sufficient to discredit the story ; on the contrary, it spread still wider, and the island was actually repre sented under the name of Antilla on most of the maps of the fifteenth century. The island of Brandon was not less renowned and stood higher in fable. This name was given to a meteoric appearance which had been observed westward of the Canary islands ; and which induced the inhabitants of the Azores and Madeira, as well as the mariners who sailed to the coast of Africa, to fancy that they saw a country, which, however, only existed in their own imagination. This gave rise to a number of voyages of discovery in the western ocean, and not a few, by the orders of the court of Portugal. Various pretended discoveries were soon represented on the maps, as realities. General maps of the unknown ocean were drawn, and filled with painted islands and continents, which no person had really visited or even seen. Notwithstanding this, after the mature consideration of all authorities, maps, and traditions, so little certainty could be attained, nay, even so little probability, that no person would venture to seek discoveries in such a bound less sea, unless he had yielded himself up wholly to the influence of rash credulity. The ancient Carthaginians, the Arabs of the middle ages, and the later adventurers of Portugal and Spain, had made researches in vain for this purpose. The unsuccessful perseverance of the latter seemed to be an evident proof, that, if those pretended west ern countries were really in existence, they were not, however, situated at a convenient distance from those shores to which the seamen, in the existing state of navigation, were under the neces sity of returning. As long as this necessity existed, adventurers dared not risk a distant voyage on the Atlantic wave ; nor could they be expected to persevere long enough in fruitless, hazardous, and expensive efforts. But at the time which Providence had deter mined as the period for opening a communication between the two worlds, a man appeared, who was born for the achievment of dis coveries of incalculable importance to mankind. This was Christopher Columbus, or Colon, as he called himself after he had removed to Spain. He was born at Cogoleto, in the republic of Genoa, in 1446. His father, Domingo Colombo, a citizen of that republic, manufactured and dealt in woollen stuffs ; his paternal estate in the duchy of Piacenza being too small for the decent maintenance of his family. Christopher cultivated the sciences at a tender age, and made such rapid progress in the Latin language, and the rudiments of 3* 30 SPANISH DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS. the mathematics, as enabled him soon to understand the cosmo- graphic writers, of the reading of which he was particularly fond. Portrait of Columbus. At the age of fourteen, he returned from the university of Pa via to his native country. He learned navigation, and pursued it three and twenty years successively, with such zeal and perse verance, that he remained at sea for a long time, in order to gratify his unbounded and praiseworthy curiosity. He made voyages on the seas frequented by Europeans, full of desire to sail farther than other navigators had ventured. He sailed through the Northern Ocean, a hundred leagues beyond Iceland, the Ultima Thule, or the boundary of what had been thought navigable up to that day. At every place where he landed, he endeavored to open a trade with the natives, in order to obtain information of these countries. He compared the knowledge he acquired in this way with the accounts then in existence relative to those regions, and enriched them with his own observations. In this judicious practice, he was aided by his knowledge of the sciences auxiliary to navigation, the use of sound astronomy, extensive geographic learning, and an able hand in delineating maps, and in making spheres and other instruments. In order to finish this career, and to reach that sublime point to which his towering mind prompted him, he settled him self at Lisbon, about the end of the reign of Alfonso the Fifth, The Portuguese, even at that day, were celebrated as the first navigators in the world, and the ministry, led on by the Infant PROCEEDINGS OF COLUMBUS IN SPAIN. 31 Henry, and taught by experience, opened their arms to every for eigner, possessed of distinguished knowledge in cosmography and nautical science. Columbus was, therefore, received with the utmost cordiality, and he made several voyages to the newly- discovered lands. At this time his brother-in-law, who had been, for some time lieutenant of Porto Santo, informed him that the western winds had driven some wood on that island, which ap peared to be worked without the help of ironj and that canes of uncommon size, like those described by Ptolemy in the remotest Indies, had drifted on shore. Similar signs of the existence of land were perceived upon the island of Madeira and the Azores, and farther to the west, on the ocean. These observations and incidents were confirmed by two dead bodies thrown by the sea on the shores, which differed in fea tures from those already known. Though Columbus was noUweak- ly credulous, yet these remarks and the westerly winds observed from time to time, which only continued for some days, inclined him to believe that there must be countries towards the west, and at an accessible distance. It did not surprise him that they had not yet been discovered, as no one had hitherto ventured into these parts of the ocean beyond a hundred leagues. He conjec tured, besides, on plausible grounds, that those countries might form the utmost bounds of the Indies ; and he concluded very justly that the passage to the eastern ocean would be much shorter and more convenient by the western road, than by that which the Portuguese endeavored to find southward, by sailing round Africa. Full of the belief that he could find the continent of India by sailing to the west, he disclosed his plan to John II., king of Por tugal. That monarch, however, influenced by certain of his counsellors, received the proposal with coolness : but, during the negotiation respecting this subject, Columbus was astounded and mortified to learn that the Portuguese had despatched a vessel on this discovery, under color of a voyage to the Cape Verd Islands. Fired with indignation at this act of meanness, he quitted Portu gal, and made an offer of his services to his native state of Genoa ; but without success. He next despatched his brother Bartholo mew to England, with a proposal of the scheme to Henry VII. Bartholomew was detained and baffled by numerous obstacles, and Columbus proceeded to Spain, establishing himself at the seaport of Palos. In 1486, he obtained an interview with the Spanish sovereigns, Ferdinand and Isabella, at Cordova, when he explained to them his design. They gave it serious attention, and 32 SPANISH DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS. ordered him to assemble a body of the most learned cosmographers, to consult and report upon the subject. The meeting of this learned body was held at Salamanca, where the court resided that winter. No journals of this famous con ference have been preserved : it is known, however, that Colum bus exhibited a written statement of his plan, supported by argu ments, and that he labored hard to remove the difficulties raised against it. Some ridiculous objections have escaped oblivion, worthy of men who were ignorant of the first elements of geography. It was stated that the sea might be found ascending, so that the ships must climb, as it were, up-hill ; that the extent of the ocean was immense, and three years would not be sufficient to reach to the limits of the east. Objections of still greater absurdity were raised against the discovery of the wes.tern countries; it was urged that as they had remained unknown to the greatest philosophers which the world had ever produced, of course it was very unlikely that a new mariner should be better informed on the subject than they were; and, still further, supposing such countries to exist, they would be found desert and uninhabitable, because the human kind were confined to that part of the earth described by Ptolemy ; and, lastly, St. Augustine, a great author ity, had exploded the existence of the antipodes ! Columbus did not find it very difficult to dissipate the prejudices of the unlettered, with arguments at one time, the testimonies of writers at another, and the experience of the voyagers of their own day ; but he was not able to render himself intelligible to men devoid of" practical knowledge and the true principles of science, while they were at the same time puffed up with sophistry and conceit. At last, the king and queen, wearied perhaps by his importunities, sent him word that the cares and expenses attendant on the con quest of Granada would not permit them to embark in anything new, and that a more seasonable opportunity might present itself at a future day, when his proposals would be duly attended- to. Colummas begged to be heard once more ; but, finding the royal pair fixed in their resolves, he concluded that they were founded on the suggestions of the ignorant cosmographers, who deemed the proposed discoveries chimerical and visionary. He therefore interpreted the answer into a complete refusal; and, hopeless of ever coming to a determination with the court, he opened his scheme to two wealthy and opulent nobles, whose maritime dominions contained ships and seamen; but, finding that his proposal would not be listened to by either, he wrote to PROCEEDINGS OF COLUMBUS IN SPAIN. 33 Louis XL of France, with a view to commence a negotiation at Paris, and, in case he should not succeed, to go to London. He now departed from the court and went to Rabida, to see his eldest son, whom he intended to leave at Cordova, and bid adieu to his faithful friend, Fray Juan Perez. This divine, who had taken up his cause from the very beginning with enthusiasm, prevailed on him to defer his departure, promising to win over the mind of the queen, to whom he was confessor, and whose kind ness and attachment to the clergy were remarkable. This eccle siastic set forward immediately to the camp at Santa Fe, where the court was held, with the army then carrying on the siege of Gra nada. He presented the rational motives for adopting the plan the weighty advantages of gain and glory that would flow from it, and the irreparable loss to the Spanish monarchy if any other power should seize upon it. He represented Columbus as an able, well-informed and judicious man, abundantly qualified for the task which he proposed, and that it would be an irremediable mistake to let slip so fair an opportunity of aggrandizing the kingdom, particularly if he were permitted to depart from the Country under any displeasure. Overcome by such a persuasive address, the queen desired Columbus to be sent for, and ordered that a sum of money should be advanced to defray his travelling expenses. Immediately, on his arrival, the negotiation was renewed. Columbus, warmed with ideas of splendor and glory, expressed himself in strong terms, and, among other things, wished to be invested with the titles of admiral and viceroy, with the authority and jurisdiction annexed to both. He was encouraged and favored by cardinal D. Pedro Gonzales de Mendoza, the first minister of the crown, who, at the request of Fray Juan Perez and the minister of finance, Quintanilla, had honored him with an audience, and conceived a very good opinion of his person and address. On the contrary, Prior Prado and several others looked on the under taking as too adventurous, and the projector as a vain, inflated man considering the reward he demanded enormous, even if he should be able to fulfil his engagements. If .he did not succeed, they deemed it an absurdity to confer such distinguished honors on a needy adventurer. It was not possible to accommodate the difficulty, as Columbus steadily adhered to the terms which he first proposed. However, he at length so modified them as to offer to take upon himself one eighth part of the expenses of the equipment, if the same portion of the gain should be allowed him. Notwithstanding this, his terms seemed to be still too high for acceptance ; and Columbus gave up all hopes. Whilst the court E 34 SPANISH DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS. and the whole nation were singing hymns and celebrating festi vals for the conquest of Granada, he saw himself neglected; and oppressed with the thoughts of having lost seven years in Spain, he made preparation to leave a country which he had considered as his home, with an utter uncertainty as to what fate would await him in France or England. Under all these impressions, his con stancy never deserted him; he at last took leave of his friends, and set out for Cordova in January, 1492. He had scarcely departed, when Luis de St. Angel, receiver of the ecclesiastical rents, warmed hy love and fervent zeal for his country, addressed the queen, and energetically represented to her majesty that he " was greatly surprised, as she was ever considered as the protectress and support of great undertakings, that she should seem to want courage to put a plan in execution that would bring in immense wealth, tend to propagate the Christian religion among barbarous nations, redound to the glory of the crown, and add considerable countries to the royal dominion. It was peculiar to sublime and exalted minds to exert the utmost diligence in the discoveries of the wonders and mysteries of nature and the world, to dispel the doubts in which they were involved, and to clear up the truth ; for which reasons it would be glorious to attempt such important discoveries. It would betray something more than pusillanimity to give up such an enterprise for the paltry sum of 2,500 piastres, which was the whole amount of what Columbus demanded. Nor were the rewards and honors demanded by Columbus out of bounds, as he took upon himself a share of the expense, and risked his honor and life ; though it was very likely that he, as a prudent and judi cious man, would come off triumphantly. And if this prize should be gained by any other European power, who could estimate the loss and damage which the kingdom and the crown would sus tain? ^Friends and enemies would blame the pernicious pusil lanimity and ignorance which did not seize on an opportunity so seasonable, and their very descendants would feel the loss and shame of it." Quintanilla, who had entered during this address, seconded and confirmed St. Angel's opinions. The queen col lected courage, thanked them for their advice, and promised to undertake the whole affair herself for the crown of Castile. She added, that it would be necessary to delay the expedition till she had recovered from the war ; but if this delay should not fall in with their wishes, she was ready to mortgage her jewels for the requisite sum to fit out the equipment. St. Angel, filled with transport, offered to advance the whole, and hoped the royal com- CONTRACT WITH COLUMBUS. 35 mand would be immediately given to fit out the fleet without delay. A messenger was instantly despatched in pursuit of Columbus. He was overtaken on the bridge of Pinas, two miles from Gra nada ; and when he returned to the town of Santa Fe, he was received with such kindness and cordiality, that he forgot all the vexations he had undergone. The king took a part in the busi ness with pleasure, not only out of complaisance to the queen, but at the instance of several persons of high rank, at the head of whom was the first lord of the bedchamber, Juan Cabrero. All obstacles and difficulties immediately vanished. An order was issued to Juan de Coloma, secretary of state, to draw out the con tract with Columbus, according to his memorial and demands. The writings were finished on the 17th April, at Santa Fe, in the following terms : 1. If Columbus should discover any islands or continent in the ocean, he was to retain in them, for himself and his heirs, the dignity of admiral, with the same honors and pre rogatives which the high admiral enjoyed in the district. 2. He was to be the governor-general of all the countries which should be discovered by him, or any person under his direction, and invested with the authority of nominating three persons to the special government of every island or province; the appoint ment to be at the choice of the king. 3. He and his lieutenants were to hear and determine all suits in law, arising out of the new commerce, in the same manner as the high admirals of Castile in their departments. 4. He was to have the tenth part of the profits of all wares and fruits that should be acquired, by whatever means, within the circuit of his admiraltyship. 5. He should contribute the eighth part of the expenses of fitting out whatever number of ships should be thought necessary to be employed in the commerce and intercourse of the new world, and at the same time receive the same quota from the profits that should be acquired. Agree ably to these articles, the stipulated privileges were granted to him on the 30th of the same month, at Granada, together with the title of Don, which was then only conferred on persons of high birth. The king and queen took care that everything necessary to fit out the equipment should be carried into immediate eifect. They wrote letters to the princes who might be found to exist at the limits of the eastern and western oceans, requesting that their ambassador and minister might be received, favored and protected in the most honorable manner. An order was directed to the city of Seville to permit arms, provisions, and all other things neces sary for the voyage, to pass free of all duty. The town of Palos was bound to furnish the crown with two caravels, for thre$ 36 SPANISH DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS. months every year, and these two vessels were now appointed for the expedition. The care of finding a third ship to complete the number stipu lated hy Columbus, and the requisite arrangements and prepara tions for the whole, were left to himself; for which purpose, the sum of 17,000 florins, deemed to be sufficient, was paid into his hands, advanced by St. Angel. The king and queen besides, as a testimony to his personal merit, confirmed, at his request, the liberties and privileges of the mariners of Seville ; a favor which was very opportunely conferred, as he attracted their attention by it, and gained the confidence and esteem of the seamen. Under all these favorable omens he took leave of the court on the 12th May, filled with gratitude and satisfaction. Having arranged everything with respect to the maintenance and education of his two sons, Diego and Hernando, he proceeded to Palos, where the ships were to be fitted out. It was a difficult matter to find a sufficient number of seamen to undertake such a dangerous and laborious voyage. But what encouraged the peo ple most was the lively zeal and ingenuity of Fray Juan Perez, of Rabida, seconded by the example and authority of the brothers Pinzon, rich ship-owners, and well skilled in nautical affairs, who assisted, in person and by their fortune, in the advancement of the undertaking. They assumed part of the expenses which fell upon the admiral, persuaded a number of their friends and relations to embark with him, and accelerated by their activity the equipment of the three vessels with provisions for twelve months, and a crew of ninety men. The largest of the vessels was named Santa Maria, on board of which Columbus, as admiral, hoisted his flag. To the command of the second, called the Pinta, he appointed Martin Alonzo Pinzon. The third, which carried latine sails, was named Nina, and was commanded by Pinzon, the third brother' The three crews numbered one hundred and twenty persons. They embarked in the name of God, having previously made confession and taken the sacrament, after the example of their devout admiral. CHAPTER IV. Columbus sets sail Fears of the crew. Artifices of Columbus to dissipate their apprehensions. Discovery of the variation of the compass. Appearances of birds and sea-weed. Alarm of the crew. Murmurs, and resolutions to return.- Firmness and address of Columbus. False appearances of land and disappoint ments of the crew. Discovery of the island of Guanahani. Columbus takes possession. Description of the island and its inhabitants. Discovery of gold among them. More islands explored. Intercourse with the natives. Columbus setting sail. ON Friday, August 31, 1492, Columbus left the harbor of Palos with this little fleet, and steered toward the Canary Islands. On the Monday following, the Pinta broke her rudder. Some of the seamen, who had exhibited marks of fear in the harbor, were suspected as the cause of this serious accident, in hopes that it would induce the admiral to return to port. But the intrepid and dexterous Martin Alonzo endeavored to remedy the disaster by binding the rudder with ropes, which, however, were too feeble to resist a blast of wind, and only lasted four days. With much effort the three ships at last reached the island of Grand Canary. They were obliged to remain at this place about a month. With such vessels as these, Columbus, on the 6th of September, committed himself to an ocean, whose bounds were unknown, and 4 30 SPANISH DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS. steered his course directly to the west. At the last sight of land, many of the crew began to sigh and weep, and gave over all hopes of ever seeing home again. The admiral encouraged them with the flattering prospects of fruitful and extensive countries, and as he foresaw that their fears and despondency would in crease in proportion as they advanced on their voyage, he had the precaution to keep two journals ; a secret one, in which he accurately noted down the ship's way, and a public one, in which he artfully shortened it. He observed, to his great surprise, about two hundred leagues off the Isle of Ferro, that the needle did not point as usual to the north, but declined to the northwest. He marked down this declination, hitherto unknown, and found that it increased in proportion as they advanced to the west. At first, he imagined that the needle was not, as commonly supposed, attracted or ruled by the polar star, but by some other fixed and invisible point ; but when these declinations were more frequently observed, he found that this hypothesis was not sufficient to explain the cause of such variations ; for it was observed that several needles pointed at the beginning of the night to the north west, and at break of day were parallel to the meridian. This phenomenon, as it was then called, filled the captains and pilots with terror, and convinced them that all hopes must vanish when the mariner's compass became useless. But the ingenious Colum bus, whose presence of mind never deserted him, dispelled their fears by accounting for this phenomenon in a plausible manner. He ascribed it to the diurnal motion of the polar star round the pole. Thus the crew were perpetually suspended between hope and fear. On the 9th September, the crew of the Nina perceived a tropic bird, which appeared to have come from some land at no great distance. The next day, they saw a surprising flame of fire "descend at a great distance ; and soon after, they discovered float ing fields of grass and marine plants which resembled beautiful meadows. Some rejoiced very much at these presages of land ; and their hopes were increased, when one of the seamen found a. living crab in the grass. Others feared the vessels might strike on hidden shoals, or that the grass might impede their course, which in fact soon occurred. They saw again a number of tropic birds, and shoals of tunnies. They had now sailed upwaids of four hundred leagues in an unknown sea, when the captain of the Pinta declared that he had descried many birds towards the west, and marks of land, enveloped in thick fogs, towards the north. Columbus was of opinion, that it might be a cluster of small islands ; and as he was firmly persuaded that the Indian countries PROGRESS OF THE VOYAGE OF COLUMBUS. 39 must be farther off, he continued the same course toward the west, in a gentle and favorable breeze. The impatience and timidity of the crew, now burst ^forth into open murmurings. They had proceeded so far into the boundless deep, that the boldest mariner was affrighted. Even the fair and serene weather was regarded as the forerunner of destruction; they considered all countries that might afford any relief, as very remote ; the almost continued easterly winds, with which they had begun their voyage induced them to believe that their return by the same track would be utterly impossible. Some time after, however, they recovered a little courage, when they saw more of those sea fowl, which, from the 19th September, had given them hopes of soon finding land. Even Columbus did not consider this impossible, in consequence of which he began to sound, and though ground could not be discovered two hundred fathoms deep, he continued to heave the lead. As the voyagers proceeded, a whale was now and then seen, as well as meadows floating on the surface of the water, in which small crabs and tortoises were found ; and small singing birds, which seemed to be of the land kind, and which could not have come from any great distance. Notwithstanding all these signs, however, when the shore so impa tiently sought for by every eye did not appear, the crews began to murmur afresh, and louder than ever. Nothing alarmed them so much as the continuance of the easterly wind. Columbus in vain endeavored to persuade them that the smooth sea was caused by the shelter of some neighboring land; he was neither believed nor respected, notwithstanding all his exertions to maintain his ascendency by alternate threats and promises. When his author ity was at last almost entirely gone, and even the sacred name of king was no longer respected, he gave over almost every hope of enforcing obedience and of continuing his voyage ; but happily, on the morning of the 23d, agreeably to the wishes of the crew, a northwesterly wind sprang . up, and the sea became somewhat agitated. This was considered as a distinguished mark of divine favor; and the circumstance, together with the sight of more fish and fowl, once more calmed the turbulence of the mariners. But alas ! this was a short-lived joy. When the men reflected upon the fallibility of all these flattering omens, the great damage the ships had sustained, and the large tract of ocean which lay between them and their native country, a dreadful fear seized upon them all ; they began to plot and conspire, and in the agony of their grief cursed the author of their misfortunes, whom they characterized as an ambitious, fanatical schemer, whose only object was to gratify his wild ambition, at the expense of their lives ; 40 SPANISH DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS. and that to hazard such a daring enterprise against the opinion of so many learned and eminent men, was an imprudent temerity, which de|erved the severest punishment. They had now made a voyage that was never equalled before ; if they advanced farther, their destruction was inevitable. The general determination was to return to Spain ; and some of the crew added that if the admiral did not immediately accede to this, they would throw him secret!} r overboard, and give out that he had fallen into the sea as he vas consulting the stars. But such was the spirit and intrepidity of Columbus, notwith standing the imminent dangers which threatened him, that he determined to run the risk of his life, rather than relinquish his design. He had the address to sooth some with soft words and flattering promises ; others with reproaches of cowardice, threats and menaces, in consequence of the full powers with which he was invested; he endeavored also to encourage some; to fan the sparks of honor in others, and to frighten the rebellious into proper subjection. He continued to steer west, except at one time, when t he deviated to the southwest by the advice of Martin Alonzo Pinzon, who fancied that he saw land in that quarter; but it turned out to be a cloud. Fish, fowl and verdant spots often ap peared on the surface of the main once more. The malcontents were ready to burst forth into mutiny afresh, when, on the evening of the fourth of October, besides the usual marks, a number of little birds appeared, flying in flocks. Similar objects followed in so great a quantity, and in such rapid succes sion, that some, whose imagination was inflamed by their impa tience to see land, imagined that they saw it at every moment, and scarcely could their lips refrain from the annunciation of a prospect so truly desirable. The thirst of gain had its share, however, in this anxiety ; for the king had promised a pension of thirty dollars, or ten thousand maravedis a year, to the one who first discovered land. The sagacious admiral observed that hope often disappointed, depressed the spirits ; and in order to prevent this, he ordered that the first person who should cry out "land!" should be utterly excluded from the royal bounty, if the land should not be discovered in three days after. Nevertheless, on the morning of the 7th October, the crew of the Nina, which was' -a quick sailer and usually ahead of the rest, believed to a certainty that they had discovered land, on which they hoisted a flag and fired a gun. It was soon found to be an illusion, and the disappointment had such an effect upon the minds oi the crews, that the agitation was still greater than before. The tumult and confusion became so general, that, if we may FIRST VOYAGE OF COLUMBUS. 41 give credit to one historian, Columbus and the Pinzons, on the following day, found themselves so embarrassed and pressed on every side, as to be obliged to enter into an agreement with the crews, that if land should not be discovered in three days, he would return. This part of the narrative, however, is uncertain. On the morning of the 9th October, they breathed a fresh and odoriferous air, such as is felt at Seville in April. Every moment exhibited fresh marks of the neighborhood of land; the soundings, the clouds, the varying winds, and other infallible appearances, revived their drooping spirits every moment. On the evening of the 1 1 l;h they were all transported with joy, when they discovered a green rush; a kind of fish that is usually found among the rocks; a small plank; a cane; a stick artificially worked; a grassy turf, which appeared to have been wafted from the shore, and a thornbush, bearing red berries. When the night approached, and Columbus was persuaded that they were near land, he assem bled the crew, and reminded them of the unspeakable obligations they were under to Almighty God, who had granted them such favorable weather, and who, notwithstanding their murmurs, had not deserted them till he had conducted them to the great object of their adventurous voyage. He also recalled to their recollection the first article of instruction which he had given them in the Canaries, that when they had sailed about seven hundred leagues from those isles, it would not be prudent to sail after midnight ; and as he was certain that they would soon be blest with the sight of some shore, it was necessary to warn them to be watchful. He offered a silk waistcoat to the first that discovered land, in addition to the royal pension of thirty dollars. About ten o'clock at night, as he was making observations with his usual attention, on the quarter-deck, he saw a light, somewhat like a torch, carried from one place to another. At first, he called Pedro Gutierrez, a royal page, and afterwards the superintendent, Rodrigo Sanchez, who saw it likewise. It was remarked that this light rose, sunk, vanished, and instantly appeared again; it was concluded, there fore, that it was carried by hand. Near two o'clock in the morning, land was descried by the Pinta; at about two leagues distance. The first who had the good fortune to announce this welcome intelligence was a mariner by the name of Rodrigo, of Triana. The captain of the Pinta com municated the joyful news by the discharge of guns. The ships came together, and as soon as it was broad daylight, a flat and pleasant island appeared in view, full of limpid rivulets, and abundance of green bushes. The crews were filled with the liveliest transports of joy ; the admiral lifted up his heart and 4* F 42 SPANISH DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS. f eyes to heaven, and poured forth ejaculations of thanks and praise to God. The whple crew joined in the psalm, Te Deum Lauda- mus, which he began to sing ; and as soon as they had paid their early vows to the Divine Author of all blessings, they gave themseivres up to sport and pleasantry. Columbus, who had hitherto been considered as a vain, fantastic projector, was now changed by success into a hero in their eyes. The crew of his ship crowded around him as their guardian angel, and every one did him homage. Landing of Columbus. In the mean time, as the vessels approached the shore, the nov elty of the spectacle brought together a number of the astonished natives.^ The admiral and captains went on shore, accompanied by armed men. The royal colors, flying in the air, were carried before the former, and the latter were preceded by the standard of the enterprise, on which a green crucifix with the initial letters of Ferdinand and Isabella were painted. As soon as they had reached the wished-for shore, they fell on the ground, kissed it, bedewed it with tears of joy, and repeated their thanks to the Supreme Being, on 'their knees. Columbus then rose w and pro nounced the word Salvador, with a loud voice, as the name of the island, and as a testimony that he dedicated the first of his dis coveries to our Savior. He then took solemn possession of it, in the name of the Castilian crown. The Spaniards instantly hailed the illustrious discoverer as admiral and viceroy of the island COLUMBUS IN THE NEW WORLD. 43 and took the oath of allegiance to him as such ; many, at the same time, entreated his forgiveness for the sorrow and distress they had caused him. The natives, who were present at all these scenes, were aston ished and perplexed at the novelty of the ships, the men, their color, dress, arms, and ceremonies. The Spaniards were nearly as much surprised. The islanders differed from them in almost every respect. Their features were regular, except the forehead, which was uncommonly broad; their skin was of an olive color, like that of the inhabitants of the Canary islands ; their hair was thick, black, and erect, mostly cut off above the ears, hanging down the shoulders of some, or tied up with a string around their heads. They went quite naked, and were painted, or rather speckled with different colors. They appeared to be very mild-tempered, but extremely stupid ; so ignorant and destitute of any kind of know ledge, that they were incapable of forming any conception of the new objects around them. The first impression seemed to raise in their minds an idea of a superior order of beings, in consequence of which they ran away with the utmost precipitation ; but when they saw that no one pursued them, they returned with marks of the deepest humility. Some threw themselves prostrate on the earth, and others raised their eyes and hands to heaven, endeavor ing to express, by such gesticulations, that they considered the Spaniards as descended from heaven. 5 * Columbus distributed several glass beads, little bells, and other trifles amongst them, which they preferred to gold and diamonds. Those who had not received any of these presents offered what ever they possessed for them. As the Spaniards were on their return to the ships, several of the natives followed them, and those who could not get into canoes, swam, and when they got a few glass beads and broken bits of glass, they returned quite contented. * The belief that the Spaniards were immortal beings continued a long time among the natives of the New World. The Indians of Porto Rico gave a remarkable in stance of this persuasion. Some time after the Spaniards had settled among them they were desirous of making an experiment, in order to determine whether the Span iards were mortal like themselves. One of their caciques prevailed upon a young Spaniard, by many entreaties, to pay him a visit. He was carried over a river, and when at the middle of the stream, the Indians dropped him into the water and held him under till he was drowned. They then carried him to the shore and called upon him to arise. No signs of life appeared, yet they could not be persuaded to believe him dead, and remained three days by him, expecting him every moment to return to life. Finding that the body began to putrefy, they reported the fact to the cacique, who nevertheless still remained distrustful. But after several days more spent in watch ing the body, with no signs but those of further decay, the Indians began to believe the Spaniards were mortal like themselves. The consequence was a general insur rection a short time afterwards. 44 SPANISH DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS. The first and second day passed away in this little commercial intercourse. The rudeness and poverty of the people were visible on every occasion. The only articles of barter which they produced were spun cotton, parrots, sticks like lances, and javelins with points hardened in the fire, and sharp bones joined to them. These were the only arms they exhibited ; there were no un common animals to be seen, nor higher marks of art. Their edge- tools were made of sharp stones. With such instruments, and the aid perhaps of fire, they hollowed trunks of trees into canoes, the largest of which would carry forty-five men. These they rowed with oars or paddles, and if they were overset by accident, they were such expert swimmers, that they would turn their canoes over again, and bale out the water with hollow gourds. But what particularly excited the attention of the Spaniards were little pieces of gold, which some of the natives wore suspended from their noses. Being asked by signs where they obtained this metal, they pointed to the south, where they said it was to be had in abundance. They also represented that savage arid warlike men came to their island from the northwest, to plunder ; and that in the battles which took place they had received many wounds, the scars of which they showed. Thus Columbus became con vinced of the existence of a continent, or rich islands, at no great distance at the south and west. Having passed three days at St. Salvador, which the natives called Guanahani, he took on board seven of the inhabitants and sailed to a smaller island, about seven leagues distant. . Without stopping there, he shaped his course to another, which seemed to be larger than the last, and about ten leagues to the west. He cast anchor here, and took possession of it, by the name of Santa Maria de la Concepcion. The inhabitants approached with the same marks of astonishment and respect as those of St. Salvador, whom they resembled so exactly in their persons, canoes, artificial works, and the fruits of the island, that they seemed to be one nation. From this island, Columbus sailed eight miles farther to the west, and reached a still greater island, level like the rest, beautiful, and encircled with delightful coasts. In all probability it was that which is called Cat Island in the modem charts; Colum bus called it Fernandina, in honor of king Ferdinand. He immedi ately despatched a native of St. Salvador with some trinkets, as presents to the inhabitants, and ordered him to inform them, at the same time, of the pacific intentions of the Spaniards ; in conse quence of which they did not fly ; but they were not less amazed than the other islanders, and evinced the same high opinion of rhe Spaniards. As some of the seamen went ashore to procure COLUMBUS PURSUES HIS DISCOVERIES. 45 water, the natives assisted them in filling and carrying it to the boats. The usual barter immediately commenced, by which it appeared that these islanders were not so limited in their ideas as the first, and that they were somewhat farther advanced in civiliza tion, for they made sharper bargains for their commodities. They wore mantles of cotton, and the young women above eighteen years of age, wore skirts of the same material. Their houses, or huts, resembled tents, but were entirely destitute of ornaments, or any other thing worthy of attention, except swinging beds, which they called hammocks ; these were nets suspended from two posts by cotton ropes. As to other matters, they differed little, or not at all, from the other islanders. The only land animals, were a kind of little dog which did not bark ; there were some reptiles, such as lizards and serpents. They also saw fish of different shapes and very lively colors. What peculiarly attracted their attention were certain trees, with branches and leaves of various forms on each tree, and yet as different from each other as those of the reed and the mastic. When they sailed farther to the southwest, they came to an island, which surpassed all those they had yet discovered, both in size and beauty. This island rose higher above the sea, and the interior was not so fiat and uniform as the rest, but exhibited a variety of hills, beautiful meadows and groves, and was well watered. Allured by such enchanting scenes, Columbus went on shore, took possession, and changed its old name of Samoete into that of Isabella, in honor of the queen. It is the same probably as that afterwards called Long Island. Columbus penetrated into it till he found a village, the inhabitants of which fled, affrighted at the sight of the foreigners. They took courage, however, in a short time, and began to barter like the rest. Aloe plants were found, a vast number of singing birds, and a species of lizards, which are now known under the name of iguanas. CHAPTER V. Discovery of Cuba. Beauty of the country, and improvement in the appearance of the inhabitants. Columbus imagines it the realm of the Great Khan. Sends an exploring expedition into the interior. They discover tobacco. Columbus directed southerly by the natives for gold. Desertion of Martin Alonzo Pinzon. Mis takes of the Spaniards. Discovery of Espanola. Description of the country and people. Native appellations of the island. The Spaniards obtain much gold. They are visited by the cacique Guacanagari. His courtesy towards the Span- tards. The admiral 1 s ship wrecked on the coast of Espanola. Humanity and generosity of the natives. r Columbus builds a fort on the island at Navidad. He leaves a colony there. Discovers the Carib Indians. Sails for Spain Escapes the tempests and the Portuguese. Arrives at Palos. Spaniards discovering tobacco. COLUMBUS discovered Cuba at sunset, on the 27th of October. The next morning presented him a noble view of a most beautiful country, diversified with gently-sloping hills, lofty mountains, and copious streams of water. The fleet anchored at the mouth of a river, in full view of the most enchanting prospect. The shores were covered with green trees, some in vernal bloom, an'd others weighed down with fruit. The richness of the grass seemed to vie with that which clothes the fresh valleys of Andalusia in the month of May. Columbus was so charmed with the view, that he sprang ashore, took possession of the island, and called it Juana, COLUMBUS PURSUES HIS DISCOVERIES. 47 after Prince Don Juan. Two houses were found here, which con tained many fire-places, with nets, and fishing-hooks of bone ; they also saw a little clay, but none of the inhabitants appeared. The natives who had accompanied the Spaniards, pointed to the villages towards the west, in consequence of which Columbus on the next morning crossed the river and proceeded along the coast. In the course of a mile, he discovered another river, and a little far ther on, a large one called Mares, with an indifferent harbor, and a number of habitations along the shores. The fleet entered this haven, and Columbus, anxious to know the country, despatched some men in boats to the villages ; but the inhabitants ran away at their approach with the utmost haste. The cottages were of the same simple structure as the former, like tents covered with palm leaves, but larger, and somewhat more finely decorated. The nets, hooks and fishing utensils were also proportionally better. Several tame fowls were seen, little dogs and heads of figures carved in wood. It was supposed that these cots belonged to fish ermen, whom the Spaniards hoped to find by advancing into the country. Columbus communicating with natives of Cuba. Sailing farther along the coast, they met inhabitants, who inform ed them that by travelling four days' journey into the interior they would reach Cubanacan, and find plenty of gold. This name signifies the centre of Cuba; but Columbus, impressed with the notion that he had arrived at the continent of India, understood it to mean the dominions of the Great Khan, a Tartar chief, famous in the narrative of Marco Polo. In this belief he sent four men on 48 SPANISH DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS. a journey into the interior ; one a Spaniard, another a converted Jew, familiar with the Hebrew, Arabic and Chaldean languages, and the other two, natives. He furnished them with credentials to the Great Khan from the Spanish monarch, and gave them six days to return. These men journeyed about twelve miles into the country, but discovered neither cities nor gold. Villages containing a thou sand inhabitants were seen,' and the strangers were everywhere received as celestial visitants. A certain distinction of rank was observable in the people, and one individual appeared to be the sovereign or magistrate. Large quantities of cotton, both raw and manufactured into cloth, were found in the houses. A single dwell ing contained above twelve thousand pounds. Here the Spaniards first saw potatoes, also yams and cassava. A discovery of no less importance although little regarded at the time, was also made dur ing this journey, that of tobacco. The travellers were struck with a singular custom of these people, who went about with fire in their hands, lighting the leaves of a certain plant rolled up into tubes, and inhaling the smoke at one end. These tubes they called tcibacoSj and the subsequent adoption of this practice of smoking by the Spaniards, caused them to transfer the name of tobacco to the herb, which has since become so important an article of commerce all over the world. The main object of the Spaniards was the discovery of Indian countries abounding in the precious metals, pearls, gums, spices and aromatics. Cuba offered them few traces of these desirable objects. Whenever they made inquiries of the natives for such articles, they pointed to the east, and repeated with animated ges tures the words Babeque and Bohio. It is doubtful whether the natives understood the questions which drew forth these replies ; but as Columbus supposed himself in the East Indies, it was natural enough for him to imagine that those names might be given to -some \slands famous for their treasures, and perhaps Japan itself. Martin Alonzo Pinzon, the commander of the Pinta, had some of the natives of St. Salvador on board, and six others, whom he had taken with him from the port of Mares, and from them he had received particular accounts of the situation and size of Babeque and Bohio. In order to secure this rich discovery for himself, stimulated by self-conceit, and reckoning upon his nautical skill and experience, and the goodness of his vessel, he deserted Columbus on the night of the 22nd, without paying attention to the signals made to him. The ship of Columbus was a dull sailer, which, with the contrary winds, prevented him from following the fugitive ; nor was he much inclined to leave a country which held out so many allurements, till he had examined it still farther. COLUMBUS PURSUES HIS DISCOVERIES. 49 The Spaniards, at every step of their progress, fell into fresh errors, because, without knowing where they were, and without understanding the natives, they drew hasty inferences from uncer tain and vague accounts. The hope of discovering rich countries towards the east was increased by every novelty they saw. Colum bus left Cuba for a country in sight to the east, and steered with the more impatience to it, in proportion as the islanders he had on board, particularly those of Cuba, strove to dissuade him from it, by the repetition of the word " Bohio, Bohio," a name by which they had often signified a marvellous island abounding in gold, and which they now repeated with exaggerated gestures ; but they described the inhabitants as hideous monsters and man-eaters. Columbus understood by this that they might be men of more bodily strength and mental civilization, who perhaps waged war with the inhabitants of the other isles. This opinion, their prodi gious wealth, and the supposition that their country was the eastern coast of the Indies, induced him to conclude that this was the rich Cipango or Japan. The land, which rose very high above the water, exhibited verdant grounds betwixt the high mountains, mostly cultivated like the fields of Cordova in the month of May. The harbor in which he cast anchor seemed to excel all that he had met with in his voyage. Many canoes appeared in view, some of them like galleys or barks, of seventeen benches for rowers. The shore was beautified with trees weighed down with fruits. As they advanced a little into the country, the ground became pictur esque and charming, watered by a gentle rivulet. All these delicious views promised a numerous population, though one house only was seen, and not one inhabitant. The harbor, as well as the cape, was called St. Nicholas, after the natal day of that saint. Columbus now steered eastward along the coast, till he came to a harbor, with an island in the front of it. They named this island, from its shape, Tortuga, (Tortoise ;) doubtless it was the harbor afterwards called Mosquitos. Columbus gave it the name of La Concepcion when he took shelter in it on the eighth of December, from a tempest, which compelled him to remain there for several days. In his course from the harbor of St. Nicholas, he perceived trees like scarlet oaks, arid several fruit trees resem bling those of Europe, and some pines and myrtles. The cul tivated fields at a distance looked like fields of wheat and barley. They heard the notes of several birds, especially one that resembled the nightingale. They caught several groundlings, pollards, and other fish, frequent in Europe. The country bore such a resem blance to Spain that Columbus called this island Espanola, that is, Hispaniola or " Little Spain." Subsequently it was called St. 5 G 50 SPANISH DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS. Domingo, from the city of that name built there by the Spaniards. The natives of the neighboring islands gave it many names : Hayti, or high country, on account of its mountains ; Quisqueza, or the whole, on account of its extent; Bohio, or the house, which perhaps was in allusion to the number, size and architec ture of the habitations. The common dwellings on the island at this day are called bohios, though they scarcely rival the cottages of peasants. They are of light wood- work, covered with branches and shrubs interwoven ; others are called boharques, composed of piles of wood driven into the earth, and joined at the top in a conical form, or the shape of a tent. The former were quite nu merous on the island. It is very natural to suppose that the names of them should be frequently heard in the answers of the islanders ; and also that they sounded, to the ears of an European, like Babeque, and therefore occasioned the Spaniards to take it for the name of a country. In like manner, the words Carib and Caniba, by which the gentle and dismayed inhabitants of the first discovered isles signified certain islands inhabited by a warlike .and cruel race, were mistaken for the name of a country, under the dominion of the Great Khan. Thus Columbus raised the pile of his suppositions higher and higher. The picture which his imagination had drawn of the excellence of this country, was further heightened' by the report of those whom he had sent to explore it. They described it as a happy and fertile region, the season like spring, the trees in the full bloom of summer, and the fruit swelling in all the luxuriance of autumn ; the grass rich and fine, enamelled with flowers of every kind. Some cottages, roads and plantations left no doubt that there were inhabitants enough, but none of them were yet seen. On the 12th of December, after a crucifix had been erected on a prominent point, as usual, three of the crew, in passing over a mountain, unexpectedly espied a group of people, who hurried away at the sight of them. They captured, however, a young, well-shaped woman, who wore a little ring of gold in her nose. Columbus caused her to be dressed, gave her glass beads, and brass rings, and after having treated her kindly, dismissed her, well pleased. He sent with her three of the islanders, and some Spaniards to visit her home, which she pointed out in the south east of the harbor. 'The messengers came back la to -at night, without having reached the place, on account of its distance. On the following morning, nine armed Spaniards, with an isl ander, were despatched on ail expedition. After a journey of nearly four miles, they came to a town of about four thousand inhabi tants, situated in a spacious and fertile valley. At the appearance COLUMBUS PURSUES HIS DISCOVERIES. 51 of the Spaniards, the natives all ran away. The islanders called out to them not to be afraid, as these strangers came from heaven, and instead of hurting any person, they would give those who came to them many fine things. On hearing this, they began to dismiss their fears, and by degrees they approached all together. Their fear was succeeded by admiration, respect, and submission, and each of them freely offered whatever he possessed, fruits, roots, parrots, and fish. A troop of them raised the young woman that had been dressed, on their shoulders, and sounded forth her happiness, as it were, and blessed her for the honor she had re ceived. They were so pleased with their guests, that when they saw them prepare to return, sorrow and dejection were painted in their looks. The Spaniards were highly pleased with the kind ness, simplicity, and open-heartedness of these people. They appeared to be superior to any yet seen ; they were of a fairer color and handsomer shape, particularly two females, who might have been mistaken for Spanish women. The grounds and cul tured fields excelled, in the opinion of the Spaniards, even those of Cordova. They saw a number of mastic trees, aloes, planta tions of cotton shrubs, but very few traces of gold. In Tortuga, they found a greater store of gold, partly in grains, and partly worked in plates. This metal the natives wore in their ears and noses, as ornaments, and yet they freely parted with it for any trifle whatever. Some of them, it is true, were cunning enough to drive good bargains ; they divided a leaf of gold as broad as the hand, into little pieces, and bartered each singly ; but most of them offered their gold without accepting any thing for it, as well as their gourd bottles, filled with water or food. An ambassador of Guacanagari, a considerable cacique, or pet ty king of that country, visited the Spaniards in a large canoe, accompanied with a number of attendants. He requested the admiral to come with his ships to his shore, and he would give him whatever he wanted. He presented Columbus with a girdle, four fingers in breadth, trimmed with white bones, like pearls, interspersed with red beads ; and a mask, with the ears, tongue and nose of gold. Some of the Spaniards, therefore, went to this place, and were received with great joy and cordiality ; men, wo men, and children assembling in crowds to see and admire them. From the humblest individual, to the cacique himself, there was a visible emulation to wait upon and serve their heaven-descended guests, with the best things their houses could afford, in viands as well as cotton cloths, parrots, and pieces of gold. He that re ceived a trifle in return placed an inestimable value upon it. 62 , SPANISH DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS. On the 24th of December, the squadron bent their sails for the east, with a light land breeze; in a short time, they were entirely becalmed, so that they scarcely advanced three leagues the whole day. About seven o'clock at night, as the vessels were veering off a point of land, the sea being perfectly smooth, the admiral, who had not slept for the last two days, threw himself down on his bed ; the crew did the same, as well as the steersman at the helm. This man, contrary to an express order, had committed it to the hands of an inexperienced ship boy. In the course of an hour, the ship, drifted by the tide, struck on a sand bank. The cries of the boy awakened Columbus, who speedily ordered an anchor to be cast astern. The ship's master and a number of mariners, instead of obeying this command, sprang into the long boat, and hastened to the Nina, which was half a league distant. The admiral soon found that the ship was filling with water, and so forced by the current on one side, that all hopes of saving her were given over, notwithstanding her being lighted, and her mast cut away. Fortunately, the calm continued, and Captain Vincent Tanez, acting up to his duty, obliged the disobedient hands to return immediately to the aid of the admiral, and at the same time sent him his own boat, so that Columbus and the whole crew were saved. On the 25th, at the break of day, the crew began to carry every thing on shore out of the ship, which was effected with admirable despatch; a number of the natives, at the command of Guacana- gari, came and assisted with their canoes. The generous cacique, filled with grief and compassion at the recital of this misfortune, omitted no friendly exertion to comfort and assist the Spaniards. Not content with the spontaneous zeal of his subjects, he person ally attended and took care of everything conveyed on shore. As sopn as it was sufficiently light, he ordered all the goods to be put in a projter place near the village, and entrusted them to the care of an armed body of men, who were to watch over them during the night ; after which they were placed in two large cottages, made ready for that purpose. The cacique was so much* affected by Columbus' s disaster, that he shed tears, and sent one of the most distinguished of his vassals, who endeavored, with tears in his eyes, to console the admiral with liberal presents, and the sincer- est demonstrations of friendship. On the following day, he paid Columbus a visit himself, and repeated his promises and friendly offers in the most expressive manner. At the same time, some canoes, filled with inhabitants from other places, came to exchange gold dust for Spanish com modities. A seaman also brought advice that a similar commerce COLUMBUS IN HAYTI. 53 had taken place on the shore, and that the Spaniards had profited considerably by it. This intelligence began to dissipate the gloom which hung over the face of the admiral. Guacanagari perceived ihe sudden transition, and guessing the cause of it, informed him that this metal was found in abundance at Cibao, which lay at no great distance ; and that he would procure him plenty of it, if he would accompany him to his habitation. His complaisant and hospitable reception by the inhabitants soon effaced the impression of all the hardships and dangers which he had experienced at sea, nay, even the loss of his ship itself, which he now began to consider as a favorable accident. The cacique treated him with venison, fish and other food, tarts of cassava, and several roots and delicious fruits. He ate very sparingly and soberly, himself, and after he had finished his repast, washed his hands, which he had pre viously rubbed with certain herbs. After this he conducted the admiral through a series of winding arbors and fragrant groves. On their return from this enchanting promenade, he made Colum bus a present of a mask, with pieces of fine gold suspended from the ears, eyes, nose and other parts. The neck was ornamented with a number of pieces of the same metal ; he also distributed similar precious toys amongst the Spaniards, who had accompanied their leader. Columbus, in grateful return, presented a number of European trinkets, which the islanders valued as something divine, and which they eagerly showed their friends, repeating in a kind of transport the word turey, which in their language signifies heaven. They believed themselves capable of discerning the most pure gold from the inferior kind by the smell ; the base gold they called guanin ; and when they received some pieces of brass, silver, or any white metal, they smelled, and declared thtn to be turey^ of inestimable value, and gave pieces of guanin and fine gold for them. They were chiefly captivated with bells, for which they readily gave all that they possessed. They danced and leaped to the sound of them in a grotesque manner. A small buckle, or the head of a nail, were valued by them as the most precious of gifts. The cacique was not less rejoiced and transported at the present of a shirt and a pair of gloves. Columbus now informed the cacique that he had determined to leave a part of his men on the island, and set sail for Spain, whence he should speedily return with a greater force and abundance of valuable presents. In order more deeply to impress the minds of the natives with an idea of the superiority of their visitors, he caused his men to perform sham-fights, in which the clashing of the swords, the shooting of the cross-bows, the discharge of the musketry, and above all, the thunder of the cannon, produced a 5* 54 SPANISH DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS. mighty eflect. The force of a cannon ball, which pierced the side of the stranded vessel, caused the simple islanders to fall upon the ground with surprise and terror. The Spaniards then erected a wooden tower, surrounded by a ditch, as the beginning of a settle ment, to which Columbus gave the name of Navidad, or Christmas, from the day of the shipwreck. Feasts and entertainments fol lowed ; in one of which the cacique appeared, crowned with a golden diadem and attended by five inferior caciques, each with a golden crown. Much conversation was carried on respecting the country, and a certain province was spoken of, by the name of Cibao, which, of course, Columbus mistook for Cipango, the ancient name of Japan. The Spaniards also discovered a root which they imagined to be rhubarb. The islanders gave them every assistance ia preparing their new settlement, and furnished them liberally with provisions. Columbus left thirty-nine persons at Navidad, under the com mand of Diego de Arana. He gave them directions to prosecute their discoveries along the coast, to cultivate the soil, search for gold, and conciliate the natives. With strong injunctions to preserve discipline and good order, which unfortunately never were heeded, he took leave of the colony January 4th, 1493, and coasted onward to the east. The second day he discovered the Pinta bearing down for him before the wind. The two commanders met, and Martin Alonzo attempted to excuse his desertion by pretending he had been blown off by contrary winds. Columbus stifled his resentment at his treachery and falsehood, and listened to the detail of Pinzon' s adventures. He had made no discovery of impor tance, but he had obtained a considerable quantity of gold, one half of which he had kept to himself, and distributed the rest among his crew. He had seized four men and two women of the natives, whom Columbus afterwards set at liberty. -In the progress of Columbus along this coast, the Spaniards discovered red pepper and pimento. They also saw another nov elty, in the shape of fishes with heads like human beings. Colum bus called them sirens, but they were no other than the misshapen animal now known as the manati, or sea-cow. Toward the eastern extremity of Espanola, they met with inhabitants of a new aspect. Their faces were black, their hair long and tied behind, with plumes of parrot's feathers stuck in their heads. They had bows, arrows and heavy clubs, and made demonstrations of hostility ; but the Spaniards appearing friendly, they were induced to barter. One of them went on board the ship, and was regaled with presents. By the imperfect help of the Lucayan interpreters, they learned that in some parts of these regions the metal called guanin was RETURN OF COLUMBUS TO SPAIN. 55 found in lumps as big as the stern of a ship ; also that one of the islands was inhabited solely by women, who lived like the Amazons of old. An occurrence shortly after took place which confirmed the Spaniards in the belief that the warlike natives whom they now saw, were the Caribs, of whom they had received such terrify ing accounts from the harmless and timid islanders they had pre viously visited, A number of the Spaniards having gone on shore with the Indian they had so kindly treated, they were attacked from an ambush by upwards of fifty men, whom they repelled, receiving however, some wounds. Notwithstanding this, the next morning the natives came down to the shore again and visited the ship with every demonstration of friendship. Their cacique spoke frequently of the neighboring islands of Martinico and Carib ; he also made Columbus a present of a golden crown. During the two following days a brisk trade was carried on for provisions, but the natives always went armed. Four young men having gone on board, who appeared remarkably intelligent, they were secured for trans portation to Spain; and with these and six or seven previously obtained at the other islands, Columbus left the New World and steered for home, on the 16th of January. His voyage was prosperous till the 12th of February, when, be lieving himself not far from the Azores, he was assailed by a furi ous storm, which separated the ships. The sailors put up vows to heaven, but the tempest waxed fiercer every hour, and destruc tion appeared inevitable. Columbus, thinking his consort had foundered, and doubting whether his own ship would survive, was unwilling, nevertheless, that the world should lose the know ledge of the great discovery he had made. He accordingly wrote a short account of his proceedings, which he inclosed in cere-cloth covered with wax and placed in a tight water-proof casket, ac companied with a notice, offering a reward of a thousand ducats to any one who should deliver the package, unopened, to the Spanish sovereigns. This he threw into the sea, in hopes of its being picked up after his own ship had gone to the bottom. But shortly after this, the gale abated, and they came in sight of the Azores. The Portuguese received Columbus roughly, and impris oned some of his men. Another gale drove him from his anchor age, and threatened his ship with destruction; but again his benignant star prevailed. He obtained the release of his men, and soon set sail. A third tempest overtook him as he approach ed the coast of Spain, and, just as the crew had given themselves up for lost, they descried the promontory of Cintra, and made an unexpected escape into the Tagus. The fame of the discovery being quickly spread abroad, Columbus was invited to the court 56 SPANISH DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS. of Lisbon, where he excited the envy and jealousy of the Portu guese, by his narration of the riches and wonders of the new-found countries. Leaving Lisbon, he again put to sea, and arrived, on the 15th of March, at Palos, from whence he had sailed seven months before. CHAPTER VI. Exultation of the Spaniards on the return of Columbus. Honors paid him by the court. His second voyage to the New World. He finds the colony at Navi- daa extirpated. Builds another fortress. Distress of the colonists. The na tives become hostile. Columbus defeats one hundred thousand of them in the battle of Vega Real. Avarice of the Spaniards. They impose tasks upon the natives. Attempts of the islanders to starve their invaders. Terrible cruelty of tJie Spaniards. Discords among the colonists. Civil war. Return of Columbus ' to Spain. Jealousies excited against him. A new plan of government projected for the colony. Third voyage of Columbus. Discovery of Trinidad and the main land of South America. III success of the scheme of settlement. The Indians reduced to slavery. Intrigues against Columbus. He is deposed from his authority and sent to Spain in fetters. Vile ingratitude of the Spanish court. Fourth voyage of Columbus. His treatment by Ovando. Loss of the Spanish homeward-bound fleet. Columbus explores the coast of America. At tempts a settlement there. His disasters. He is shipwrecked at Jamaica. Re turns to Spain and dies. The continent named after Amerigo Vespucci Greediness of the Spaniards. Sufferings and extirpation of the natives. Columbus before the king and queen of Spain. COLUMBUS, on landing, proceeded immediately to Barcelona, where the court resided. His journey was a continued triumph. The nobility and the people crowded to meet him, and followed him in throngs to the presence of Ferdinand and Isabella. He pre- H 58 SPANISH DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS. sented to them the natives of the new-found countries, and exhi bited pieces of gold, birds, cotton, and many curiosities, which were interesting on account of their novelty. Such a variety of uncommon objects, exposed to the view of a people whose vanity, inflamed by imagination, magnified everything, made them fancy that they saw an inexhaustible source of riches forever flowing into their country. The enthusiasm spread, and reached even to the throne. At the public audience the sovereigns gave to Co lumbus, he was permitted to be covered in the royal presence, and to sit as a grandee of Spain. Thus he related his voyages to them. They loaded him with caresses, commendations and honors ; and soon after he re-embarked with seventeen sail, to make new dis coveries, and to establish colonies. He arrived at Hispaniola in 1495, with fifteen hundred men, sol diers, artificers, and missionaries, with provisions for their subsis tence, with the seeds of all the plants that were thought likely to thrive in this hot and damp climate, and with the domestic animals of the old hemisphere, of which there was not one in the new. Golumbus found nothing but ruins and carcasses upon the spot where he had left fortifications and Spaniards. These plunderers had occasioned their own destruction, by their haughty, licentious, and tyrannical behavior. Columbus had the address to persuade his men, who were eager to glut their vengeance upon the natives, that it was good policy to postpone their revenge to another time. A fort, honored with the name of Isabella, was now constructed on the borders of the ocean; and that of St. Thomas was. erected on the mountains of Cibao, where the islanders gathered from the torrents the greatest part of the gold they used for their orna ments, and where the conquerors intended to open mines. While these works were going on, the provisions that had been brought from Europe had been either consumed, or were spoilt. The colony had received nothing to supply the deficien cy ; and soldiers, or sailors, had neither possessed the leisure, knowledge, nor inclination to produce fresh articles of subsistence. It became necessary to have recourse to the natives of the country, who, cultivating but little, were unable to maintain strangers, even though they were the most moderate persons of the old hemi sphere, for they yet consumed, each of them, as much as would have been sufficient for several Indians. These unfortunate people gave up all they had, and still more was required. Such contin ued exactions produced an alteration in their character, which was naturally timid ; and all the caciques, except Guacanagari, who had first received the Spaniards in his dominions, resolved to unite SECOND VISIT OF COLUMBUS, 1495. 59 their forces, in order to break a yoke which was becoming every day more intolerable. Columbus desisted from pursuing his discoveries, in order to prepare against this unexpected danger. Although two thirds of his followers had been hurried to the grave by hardships, by the climate, and by debauchery ; although sickness prevented many of those who had escaped these terrible scourges, from joining him ; and although he could not muster more than two hundred infan try and twenty horse to face the enemy, yet this extraordinary man was not afraid of attacking an army, assembled in the plains of Yega Real, which historians in general have computed at one hundred thousand men. The chief precaution taken was to fall upon the Indians in the night time. The unhappy islanders were, in fact, conquered before the action began. They considered the Spaniards as beings of a superior order ; their admiration, respect, and fear were increased by the European armor ; and the sight of the cavalry, in particular, aston ished them beyond measure. Many of them were simple enough to believe that the man and the horse were but one animal, or a Kind of deity. Had their courage even been proof against these impressions of terror, they could have made but a faint resistance. The cannonading, the pikes, and a discipline to which they were strangers, must have easily dispersed them. They fled on all sides. To punish them for their rebellion, as it was called, every Indian above fourteen years of age, was subjected to a tribute in gold, or in cotton, according to the district in which he lived. This regulation, which required assiduous labor, appeared the greatest of evils to a people who were not used to constant em ployment. The desire of getting rid of their oppressors, therefore, became their ruling passion. As they entertained no further hope of being able to expel them by force, the idea occurred to them, in 1496, of reducing them by famine. In this view, they sowed no more maize, they pulled up the cassava roots that were already planted, and fled for refuge to the mountains. Desperate resolutions are seldom attended with success ; accord ingly, that which the Indians had taken proved fatal to them. The products of rude and uncultivated nature were not sufficient for their support, as they had inconsiderately expected they would be ; and their asylum, however difficult of access, was not a secu rity from the pursuit of their incensed tyrants, who, during this total privation of local resources, accidentally received some pro visions from the mother country. The rage of the Spaniards was excited to such a degree, that they trained up dogs to hunt and devour these unhappy men ; and it has even been said that some 60 SPANISH DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS. of the Castilians had made a vow to massacre twelve Indians every day in honor of the twelve apostles. Before this event, the island was reckoned to contain a million of inhabitants. A third part of this considerable population perished in these cam paigns, by fatigue, hunger, and the sword. Scarcely had the remains of these unfortunate people, who had escaped so many disasters, returned to their habitations, where calamities of another kind were preparing for them, when divisions arose among their persecutors. The removal of the capital of the colony from the north to the south, from Isabella to San Domingo, might possibly furnish a pretence for some complaints ; but the dissensions had their chief origin in indulged passions, raised to an uncommon degree of fermentation beneath a burning sky, and not sufficiently restrained by an authority imperfectly established. When the business was to dethrone a cacique, 'to plunder a district, or exterminate a village, the commands of the brother of Colum bus, or of his representative, were readily obeyed. After shar ing the booty, insubordination followed; and mutual jealousies and animosities became their sole occupation. The Spaniards at length took up arms against each other, and war was openly declared. During the course of these divisions, Columbus was in Spain, whither he had returned, in order to answer the accusations that were incessantly renewed against him. The recital of the great actions he had performed, and the exposition of the use ful plans he meant to carry into execution, easily regained him the confidence of Isabella. Ferdinand himself began to be a little reconciled to the idea of distant voyages. The plan of a regular form of government was traced, which was first to be tried at San Domingo, and afterwards adopted, with such alterations as experience might show to be necessary, in the several settlements, which in process of time might be founded in the other hemi sphere. Men skilled in the working of mines were carefully selected, and the government agreed to pay and maintain them for several years. On the 30th of May, 1498, Columbus sailed on his third voyage, with six ships. He touched at the Canaries, and despatched from thence three of his squadron direct to Hispaniola. With the other three he steered toward the Cape Verd Islands. Takig his de parture from this point he held a southwesterly course till he came within five degrees of the equator, where the heat of the air burst the wine-pipes and water-casks, and caused the crews to fear that the ships would be burned. After eight days of calm weather and intolerable heat, the air became a little cooler, and on the 31st of THIRD VOYAGE OF COLUMBUS, 1498. 61 July they discovered land, which proved to be the island of Trini dad, at the mouth of the Orinoco. Proceeding along the shore, he obtained a sight of some of the natives, who proved very hostile, and discharged showers of arrows at the ships. They had shields, the first defensive armor the Spaniards had seen in the New World, Columbus sailed through the gulf lying between Trinidad and the mouth of the Orinoco, struck with amazement at the mountainous billows which that great stream rolls into the ocean. On the coast of Paria they saw more of the natives, and held friendly inter course with them. They offered the Spaniards provisions and a sort of white and red wine. Considerable gold was discovered, and the natives directed them to a pearl fishery. From this coast they steered to Hispaniola. This was the voyage in which the Spaniards first saw the main land of America. The continent of North America had been discovered in June of the preceding year by the English navigators, John and Sebastian Cabot. The third visit of Columbus succeeded no better than the pre ceding in securing good order and prosperity in the colony. The form of government projected in Spain had not the desired effect that of establishing a peaceable community. The people thought differently from their sovereigns. Time, which brings on reflection when the first transports of enthusiasm are passed, had abated the desire, originally so ardent, of going to the New World. Its gold was no longer an object of irresistible temptation. On the contrary, the livid complexions of the Spaniards who returned home ; the accounts of the insalubrity of the climate ; of the num bers who had lost their lives, and the hardships they had under gone from the scarcity of provisions ; an unwillingness to be under the command of a foreigner, the severity of whose discipline was generally censured ; and perhaps the jealousy that was entertained of his growing reputation ; all these reasons contributed to produce an insuperable prejudice against San Domingo in the subjects of the crown of Castile, the only Spaniards who, till the year 1593, were allowed to embark for that island. The malefactors who accompanied Columbus, in conjunction with the plunderers that infested St. Domingo, formed one of the most unnatural kinds of society that had ever appeared upon the globe. Their mutual coalition enabled them to set all authority at defiance; and the impossibility of subduing them, made it necessary to resort to negotiation. Many attempts were made in vain. At length, in 1499, it was proposed that, to the lands which every Spaniard received, a certain number of islanders should be annexed,' whose time and labor should be devoted to masters desti tute alike of humanity and prudence. This act of weakness on the 6 62 SPANISH DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS. part of the government restored apparent tranquillity to the colony, but without gaining for Columbus the affection of those who profited by it. The complaints made against him grew more loud and violent, and ere long proved effectual. This extraordinary man purchased upon very hard terms the fame which his genius and industry had procured him. His life exhibited a perpetual series of brilliant successes and deep misfor tunes. He was continually exposed to the cabals, calumnies, and ingratitude of individuals ; and obliged at the same time to submit to the caprices of a haughty and turbulent court, which by turns rewarded or punished now mortified him by the most humili ating disgrace, and now restored him to its confidence. The prejudice entertained by the Spanish ministry against the author of the greatest- discovery the world had yet seen, grew to such a pitch, that an arbitrator was sent to the colonies to decide between Columbus and his soldiers. Bovadilla, the most ambi tious, self-interested, unjust, and violent man that had yet visited the New World, arrived at St. Domingo in 1500 ; he deprived the admiral of his property, his honors and his command, and sent him to Spain in irons. Surprise and indignation were everywhere excited by this act of atrocious ingratitude; and Ferdinand and Isabella, overwhelmed with shame by the expression of the pub lic feelings, ordered the fefters of Columbus to be immediately taken off. They also recalled, with real or feigned resentment, the wretch, Bovadilla, who had so infamously abused his author ity. But to their disgrace it must be added that this was all the reparation made to Columbus for so atrocious an insult. To crown the black ingratitude of the Spanish court, they con stantly resisted the petitions and applications of Columbus to be reinstated in his office, which he had so ably filled. The reason alleged for this unkingly breach of faith was the great value and inlportance of the discoveries of Columbus, which would render the reward too magnificent ! After a fruitless attendance at court for two years, he gave up his solicitations, and requested merely to be sent upon a fourth voyage. Ferdinand and Isabella, eager to get rid of a man whose presence was a reproach to them, granted his request with alacrity. Four small vessels were pro vided for him ; and the discoverer of the western world, broken down by age, fatigues and mortification, set sail once more, in May, 1502. His design was to proceed west, beyond the newly- discovered continent, and to circumnavigate the globe. On reaching Hispaniola he found a fleet of eighteen ships ready to depart for Spain. Columbus was refused admission into the har bor of St. Domingo, although his vessel was unseaworthy. His COLUMBUS ON HIS FOURTH VOYAGE. 63 knowledge of these regions enabled him to perceive signs of an approaching hurricane. Although the governor, Ovando, had refused him a shelter in the harbor, Columbus warned him of the approaching danger ; but his warning was disregarded ; the fleet put to sea ; and the ensuing night they were assailed by a furious hurricane, and the whole fleet, except three ships, went to the bot tom. In this wreck perished the malignant Bovadilla, together with the greater part of the men who had been most active in persecuting Columbus and oppressing the Indians. The treasure lost in the ships surpassed the value of two hundred thousand dollars. Columbus, by his prudent precautions, escaped the danger, and departed for the continent. He proceeded along the coast from the eastern point of Honduras to the Isthmus of Darien, searching in vain for a passage to the South Sea. Attracted by the appear ance of gold, he attempted to form a settlement at the river Belem, in Veragua ; but the natives, a more hardy and warlike race than the islanders, killed many of the settlers and drove the remnant away. This unexpected repulse was followed by a long train of disasters. Storms, hurricanes, terrible thunder and lightning, and all the calamities that can befall the explorers of an unknown sea, kept Columbus in a continual state of anxiety and suffering. At last he was shipwrecked on the coast of Jamaica. No settlement had been made here, and Columbus despatched a few of his men in Indian canoes to Hispaniola for relief. The insolent Ovando, from a mean jealousy of the great discoverer, refused to grant him any assistance. Columbus remained in Jamaica, perpetually ha rassed by the mutinous conduct of his men. The natives, tired of the long stay of the Spaniards in their island, intercepted their supplies of provisions. Columbus, however, intimidated them by an artifice. An eclipse was at hand : he assembled the chief In dians, and informed them that the Great Spirit was angry at their behavior toward their visitors, and on that night the moon would be turned blood-red. They listened with incredulity, but when the moon began to change her hue, they were all struck with ter ror. They loaded themselves with provisions, and brought them to Columbus, entreating him to intercede with the Deity in their behalf. From that time their superstitious apprehensions kept them in implicit obedience to the Spaniards. After about a year's detention on the island, three vessels came to their relief, and the crews passed over to Hispaniola, where the once arrogant Ovando received his distinguished visitor with fawn ing sycophancy, and affected to treat him with every mark of honor and esteem. His complaisance, however, went no farther 64 SPANISH DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS. than outward show. Columbus, finding no means of prosecuting his enterprise in this part of the world, returned to Spain in 1504, where his miseries were crowned by the intelligence of the death of Isabella, whose favor and protection he had always consid ered his last resource. This was a blow from which he never recovered. Overwhelmed with calamities, disgusted with the ingratitude of those whom he had faithfully and successfully served, declining in age, and broken in health, he lingered a few years longer in poverty and neglect, making from time to time a fruitless appeal to the honor and justice of those who had given him " chains for a crown, a prison for a world ;" and finally closed his life at Valladolid, May 20th, 1506, in the 59th year of his age. Such was the end of this remarkable man, who, to the aston ishment of Europe, .added a fourth part to the earth, or rather half a world to this globe, which had been so long desolate and so little known. It might reasonably be expected that public gratitude would have given the name of this intrepid seaman to the new hemisphere, the first discovery of which was owing to his enter prising genius. This was the smallest homage of respect that could b'e paid to his memory; but either through envy, inattention, or the caprice of fortune even in the distribution of fame, this honor was reserved for a Florentine adventurer, who did nothing more than follow the footsteps of a man, whose name ought to stand foremost in the list of great characters. Amerigo Yespucci, who had the art or the good fortune to give his name to the western continent, made a voyage to the coast of Paria, with Ojeda, a Spanish commander, in 1499. Some years afterward he entered the Portuguese service, and visited the coast of Brazil. His narratives of these voyages attracted much atten tion in Europe. Either by a fraud of Vespucci or the carelessness of his transcribers, the date of his first voyage was altered from 1499 to 1497, and he passed for the first discoverer of the main land of South 'America, which was seen by Columbus the previous year. The, misfortunes of the wretched natives began with the discov ery of America. Columbus, notwithstanding his humanity and his talents, increased them himself, by fixing the natives upon the lands which he distributed to his soldiers. This plan, which he had adopted merely to remove the embarrassments to which he was ex posed from an almost dncessant spirit of rebellion, was continued and extended by Bovadilla, in the view of gaining the affections of the Spaniards. Ovando, who succeeded him, broke up these con nections, as he had been ordered by the court. Rest was the first enjoyment of these feeble beings, who had been condemned by force to labors which were neither consistent with the nature of OPPRESSION OF THE INDIANS IN THE WEST INDIES. 65 their food, their constitutions, nor with their customs. They then wandered ahout as vagabonds and did nothing. The conse quence of this indolence was a famine, which was fatal both to them and to their oppressors. It might have been possible to bring about some fortunate alteration in their state, with mildness, prudent regulations, and a great share of patience. But these slow and moderate measures were not suited to conquerors, who were eager to acquire and earnest to enjoy. They demanded that all the Indians should be distributed among them, in order to be employed in working the mines, in the cultivation of corn, or in any other kind of labor, of which they might be thought capable. Religion and political views were the two pretences made use of to palliate this dreadful system of oppression. It was urged that so long as these savages were tolerated in their superstitions, they would never embrace Christianity ; and would always remain in a condition to revolt, unless their dispersion should put it out of their power to make any such attempt. The court, after several dis cussions, resolved to adopt an arrangement so contrary to every sound principle of justice and policy. The whole island of His- paniola was divided into a certain number of districts, and granted to the Spanish adventurers, in proportion to their rank, interest, or birth. The Indians attached to these precarious possessions, were slaves, whom, indeed, the law was always bound to protect ; but it never did this effectually either in Hispaniola or in the other parts of the new world, where the same system of slavery was af terwards established. Some commotions were the immediate con sequence of this arrangement, but they were checked by treachery, or by the effusion of blood. When slavery was completely estab lished, the produce of the mines became more certain. At first, one half belonged to the crown. This claim was afterwards reduced to one third, and at length limited to a fifth part. The treasures brought from Hispaniola excited the avarice even of those who would not venture to cross the seas. The grandees, the favorites, and those who had employments in the state, obtained some of this property, which procured them riches without care, without expense, and without anxiety. They committed the care of them to agents, who were to make thei* own fortunes, while the'y increased those of their principals. In less than six years' time, sixty thousand Indian families were reduced to fourteen thousand; and the continent and the adjacent islands were ransacked for other natives to supply their place. These, when taken, were chained together like beasts. Such as sank under their burdens, were compelled to rise by severe blows. No intercourse passed between the sexes except by stealth. 66 SPANISH DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS. The men perished in the mines, and the women in the fields which they cultivated with their feeble hands. Their constitutions, already exhausted with excessive labor, were still farther impaired by an unwholesome and scanty diet. The fathers either swal lowed poison or hanged themselves on the trees under which they had just before seen their wives or their children expire. Thus wasted away, the whole nation became extinct, and in a few short years the unfortunate islanders of the West Indies were swept from the face of the earth, scarcely leaving a trace of their existence behind them. CHAPTER VII. Discovery of Yucatan and Campeachy. Expedition of Grijalva. Discovery of the empire of Mexico. Scheme of Velasquez for the conquest of this country. Fernando Cortez. His expedition to Mexico. Intelligence of his invasion reaches Montezuma. Character and behavior of that monarch. He attempts to dissuade Cortez from his undertaking. Resolute behavior of Cortez. He burns his ships and throws off his dependence on Narvaez. Arrives at Tlascala. Forms an alliance with the Tlascalans and advances upon Mexico. Indecision of Montezuma. The Spaniards reach Mexico. Magnificence of the city. Re ception of Cortez by Montezuma. Pusillanimity and treachery of that monarch. Cortez takes the emperor prisoner. Arrival of Narvaez in Mexico, and peril of Cortez. Triumph of Cortez over his rival. Insurrection of the Mexicans against the Spaniards. Bloody battles in Mexico. Death of Montezuma. The Spaniards burning their ships before their march to Mexico. BEFORE these acts of horror had completed the ruin of the unhappy islanders of Hispaniola, settlements had been made by the Spaniards in Jamaica, Porto Rico and Cuba. Diego Velas quez, who founded the last of these establishments, undertook to prosecute further discoveries. The spirit of adventure, and the bold and insatiable avarice of the adventurers who flocked to his colony, afforded him ample means for carrying his designs into effect. An expedition, consisting of one hundred and ten persons, 68 SPANISH DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS. embarked in three small vessels, at St. Jago de Cuba, on the 8th February, 1517, sailed to the west, and landed successively on the shores of Yucatan and Campeachy. They were received as enemies upon both these coasts ; many of them perished in the contests they were engaged in, and the rest regained, in the utmost conf ision, the port whence they had set out a few months before with such flattering expectations. Their return was marked by the death of Cordova, the commander of the expedition, who ex pired of his wounds. Till this period, the new hemisphere had presented little to the Spaniards but naked and wandering savages, without settled oc cupations or forms of government. They had now for the first time seen a people dwelling in houses, clothed, formed into a na tional body, and sufficiently advanced in the arts to convert pre cious metals into vases. This discovery, while it excited apprehensions of new dangers, presented, at the same time, the alluring prospect of a rich booty ; two hundred and forty Spaniards, therefore, went on board of four ships, fitted "out by the chief of the colony at his own expense. They began by verifying the reports brought by the preceding adventurers ; they then continued their voyage as far as the river Panuco, and thought they perceived in all parts still more evident rriarks of civilization. They often landed. Sometimes they were very warmly attacked, and sometimes they were received with a degree of respect bordering upon adoration. They found one or two opportunities of exchanging some trifles of the old hemisphere for the gold of the new one. The most enterprising of the Span iards were of opinion that a settlement should be formed in these beautiful regions ; but their commander, Grijalva, though active and intrepid, did not think his forces sufficient for so important an undertaking. He returned to Cuba, where he gave an account, somewhat exaggerated, of all he had seen, and of all he had been able to learn, concerning the empire of Mexico. The conquest of this immense and opulent region was imme diately resolved upon by Velasquez ; but lie took some time in deliberating upon the choice of the agent he meant to employ on this occasion. He was apprehensive of entrusting the business to a man destitute off the qualities necessary to ensure its success, or to one possessing too much ambition to bestow the honor of the achievement on him. His advisers, at length, determined his choice in favor of Fernando Cortez, the man among his lieuten ants whom his talents pointed out as the fittest person to execute the project, but at the same time, the most unfit to answer his own personal views. The activity, elevation of mind, and boldness, CORTEZ SETS OUT FOR MEXICO. 69 displayed by the new commander, in preparing for an expedition, the difficulties of which he foresaw and wished to remove, awak ened all the anxiety of a mind naturally suspicious. Yelasquez was observed to be employed, first in private and afterward openly, in suggesting a plan for the withdrawing of the important commis sion, which he reproached himself with having inconsiderately given. But this regret was too late. Before the arrangements, contrived to keep back the fleet, composed of eleven small vessels, could be completed, Cortez had set sail on the 10th of February, 1519, with nine hundred sailors, five hundred and eight jpoldiers, sixteen horse, thirteen muskets, thirty-two cross-bows^ a great number of swords, pikes, four falconets, and ten field-pieces. These preparations for invasion, however insufficient they may seem, had not even been furnished by the crown, which at that time only lent its name to the new discoveries and settle ments. The plans of aggrandizement were formed by private persons, who carried them into execution at their own expense. The thirst of gold and the spirit of chivalry, which still subsisted, were the two chief motives that stimulated such enterprises. These two powerful incentives hurried at once into the New World men of the highest and lowest class in society ; robbers, intent on nothing but plunder ; and men of lofty minds, who im agined they were pursuing the road to glory. This is the reason why the steps of these first conquerors were marked by so many crimes, and by so many extraordinary actions ; why their cupidity was so atrocious, and their bravery so astonishing. Cortez seemed to be animated with the two passions of avarice and glory. In proceeding to the place of his destination, he attacked the Indians of Tobasco, beat their troops several times, compelled them to sue for peace, received homage from them, and obliged them to give him provisions, some pieces of cotton, and twenty women, among whom one, named by the Spaniards Donna Marina, rendered the most important services to Cortez as an interpreter. Montezuma was sovereign of the empire of Mexico when the Spaniards landed there. The monarch was soon informed of the arrival of these strangers. Throughout the vast extent of his kingdom, couriers were placed at different distances, who speedily acquainted the court with everything that happened in the most distant provinces. Their despatches were composed of pieces of cotton, upon which were represented, in pictures, the several cir cumstances of the affairs that required the attention of government. The figures were intermixed with hieroglyphic characters, which supplied what the art of the painter had not been able to express. It was to be expected that a prince, who had been raised to the 70 SPANISH DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS. throne by his valor; who had extended his empire by conquest, who was in possession of numerous and disciplined armies, would have despatched troops immediately to disperse a handful of ad venturers, who dared to infest and plunder his dominions. But this step was neglected ; and the Spaniards, who had always an irresistible turn for the marvellous, endeavored to explain the cir cumstance by miracle ; particularly as the conduct of Montezuma was so opposite to the character of the monarch, and so incompati ble with his situation. The writers of this superstitious nation, have not scrupled to declare to the whole world, that a short time before the discovery of the New World, it had been foretold to the Mexicans, that an invincible people from the east would soon come among them, who would in a terrible manner avenge the gods, irritated by their horrid crimes. Though Montezuma, as well as many other persons, might possibly be affected with superstition, there is no circumstance which can authorize us to impute this prevailing weakness to him. His political conduct, however, was not the wiser on this account. Since this prince had been upon the throne, he had no longer dis played any of. the talents which placed him upon it. Sunk into a state of effeminacy and indolence, he despised his subjects and oppressed his tributaries. His mind was so debased and corrupted, that even the arrival of the Spaniards could not rouse him into action. He wasted in negotiation the time he should have em ployed in combat, and wished to send away, laden with presents, the enemies he ought to have destroyed. Cortez, to whom this supineness was very convenient, omitted nothing that might con tribute to encourage it, and always treated with him on the most friendly terms. He declared that he was sent merely with orders to hold a conference with the powerful emperor of Mexico, on the part of the greatest monarch of the East. Whenever he was pressed to re-embark, he always represented, that no ambassador had ever been dismissed without being admitted to an audience with the sovereign. At length the deputies, finding him inflexible, were obliged, according to their instructions, to resort to menaces. They began to discourse in high terms of the opulence and strength of their country. Cortez then, turning to his followers. declared: This is exactly what we wished to meet with, great danger and great wealth. He had then completed all his prepar ations, and gained every information that was necessary. Re solved, therefore, to conquer or to perish, he set fire to all his ships, that the impossibility of retreat might stimulate his sol diers to greater courage. Then, resolving to throw off his de pendence on Velasquez, he resigned his commission, and caused a CORTEZ IN MEXICO. 71 council of the Spaniards to be convened, who organized the whole expedition into a new hody politic, and elected Cortez for their captain-general and chief magistrate, both civil and military. Armed with this new authority, Cortez laid the foundation of a settlement at Yera Cruz, where he left a small portion of his army, and with the remainder pushed boldly for the capital of the Mexican empire. In the progress of this march, he arrived at the republic of Tlascala, which had ever been at enmity with the Mexicans, the latter having attempted to reduce it under their dominion. Cortez, not doubting but that they would favor his projects, demanded per mission to pass through their country, and proposed an alliance. A people, who had prohibited themselves from holding any kind of intercourse with their neighbors, and whom this unsocial princi ple had accustomed to a general mistrust of other men, could not be favorably inclined to strangers, whose manner was imperious, and who had signalized their arrival by insults offered to the gods of the country. Accordingly, the Tlascalans rejected, without hesita tion, the proposals of Cortez. The surprising accounts given of the Spaniards, astonished the inhabitants of Tlascala, but did not dismay them. They fought four or five battles, in one of which the Spanish troops were defeated. Cortez was obliged to intrench himself; and the Indians, who wanted nothing but the powerful arms of the Spaniards to make them victorious, rushed to death upon his breastworks. But the result of all this was an alliance with the Tlascalans, who furnished the Spaniards with six thou sand troops to conduct their march, and assist them in their enter prise. With this reinforcement, Cortez advanced towards Mexico, through a fertile country, well watered, and covered with woods, cultivated fields, villages, and gardens. The soil produced a va riety of plants unknown in Europe. Birds of the brightest plu mage, and animals of new species, appeared in great abundance. Nature differed from herself only in assuming a more agreeable, and richer dress. The temperature of the air, and the continual, though moderate heat, preserved the earth in a constant verdure and fertility. On the same spot were seen trees covered with blos soms, and others with delicious fruits ; and the same kind of corn that was sown in one field was ready to be reaped in another. The Spaniards seemed to be insensible to tho beauties of so novel and enchanting a scene. They saw that gold was the com mon ornament of the houses and temples ; that the arms, furniture and persons of the Mexicans, were adorned with the same metal. This alone attracted their notice. They resembled Mammon. 72 SPANISH DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS. whom Milton describes as forgetting the Divinity in Heaven itself having his eyes always fixed upon its golden porches. Montezuma's wavering disposition, and, perhaps, the fear of staining his former glory, prevented him from marching against the Spaniards, at their arrival; from joining the Tlascalans, who had behaved with greater courage than he had done ; and lastly, from attacking conquerors who were fatigued with their own victories. He had contented himself with endeavoring to diV jrt Cortez from his design of visiting his capital, but resolved, at .ast, to introduce him into it himself. Thirty kings or princes were subject to his dominion, many of whom were able to bring a numerous army into the field. He possessed considerable riches, and his power was absolute. It appears that his subjects were intelligent and industrious. They were, also, a warlike people, and had high notions of honor. Notwithstanding all this, Cortez and his intrepid band fought their way through all obstacles : army after army of the Mexicans fled before the invaders, who advanced victoriously toward the capital. The wonder and admiration of the Spaniards at the scene which burst upon their view, as they approached the lake of Mexico, is strikingly depicted in the simple and homely narrative of Bernal Diaz, a soldier in the army of Cortez. "When we beheld the number of populous towns upon the water and main land, the broad causeway which ran straight and level over the water to the city, and the great towers and temples of stone, which seemed to rise out of the water, we could compare it to nothing but the enchanted scenes we read of in Amadis de Gaul. To many of us, it appeared doubtful whether we were asleep or awake. Nor is the manner in which I express myself to be wondered at, for it must be considered that never yet did man see, hear, or dream of anything equal to the spectacle which appeared to our eyes that day. I ^thought within myself that this was the garden of the world. When we came near certain towers, close to the city, Montezuma, who was there, quitted his palanquin, and was borne in the arms of the princes, under a canopy of the richest materials, ornamented with green feathers, gold, and precious stones, that hung down in the manner of fringe. He was most richly dressed, and wore buskins of pure gold, studded with jewels. The people spread mantles on the ground, lest his feet should toucH.it, and all who attended him, except the four princes, kept their eyes fixed on the earth, not daring to look him in the face. Who could count the multitudes of men, women and children that thronged the streets, the canals, the terraces, and the house-tops that day ? We were astonished at the number ot canoes passing to and from CORTEZ IN MEXICO. 73 the main land, loaded with provisions and merchandise ; and we could now perceive that in this great city, and all the others of the neighborhood that were built in the water, the houses stood separ ate from each other, communicating by draw-bridges and boats, and that they were built with terraced roofs. We saw, also, the temples and oratories of the adjacent cities, built in the form of towers and castles, and others on the causeway, all painted white, and wonderfully brilliant. The noise and bustle of the market place could be heard almost a league off; and those of us who had been at Rome and Constantinople, said, that for convenience, reg ularity and population, they had never seen the like." Montezuma received the Spaniards with every outward token of friendship and respect; commodious quarters were assigned them in the city. Cortez demanded of him to submit his domin ions to the crown of Castile. Had Montezuma possessed the tal ents or the courage to avail himself of the immense advantage which he possessed over his enemy, he might have annihilated him at a single blow, and the ancient empire of Mexico might perhaps have existed to the present day. But this feeble and pusillanimous monarch shewed neither ability nor resolution. Yet he did not hesitate to resort to perfidy to destroy his visitors. While he was loading Cortez with presents, caresses and honors in his capital, he privately despatched orders to attack the Span iards at Vera Cruz. Cortez, indignant at this treachery, or eagerly grasping at a pretext for violent measures, seized this occasion, and thus addressed his soldiers: "It is absolutely necessary to surprise these barbarians with some extraordinary exploit. I am resolved to seize the emperor, and make myself master of his per son." This design being approved, Cortez instantly marched with his officers to Montezuma' s palace, and told him that he must either follow him or die. The prince, whose pusillanimity could only be equalled by the boldness of his enemies, resigned him self into their hands. He was obliged to consent to the punish ment of his generals, who had acted only in obedience to his orders ; and completed his disgrace by submitting to do homage to the king of Spain. In the midst of these successes, intelligence was received that Pamphilio de Narvaez had just arrived from Cuba, with eight hundred infantry, fourscore cavalry, and twelve pieces of cannon, in order to take the command of the army and to punish the re fractory. These forces had been sent by Velasquez, who was dissatisfied that a few adventurers, sent out under his auspices, should have neglected all intercourse with him, declared them selves independent of his authority, and sent deputies into Europe, 7 j 74 SPANISH DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS. to obtain the confirmation of those powers they had arrogated to themselves. Cortez, with no more than two hundred and fifty men, immediately marched against his rival, engaged and took him prisoner. He obliged the vanquished to lay down their arms, but afterwards restored them, and proposed that they should follow him. He gained their affections by his confidence and magna nimity ; and these soldiers enlisted under his standard. He in stantly marched back with them to Mexico, where he had not been able to leave more than fifty Spaniards, who, with the Tlas- calans, closely guarded the emperor. Commotions were excited among the nobility of Mexico, whose indignation was raised at the captivity of their prince ; and the indiscreet zeal of the Spaniards having prompted them to disturb a public festival, celebrated in honor of the deities of the country, by destroying their altars, and making a massacre of the wor shippers and priests, the people were provoked to take up arms. On his return to Mexico, Cortez found the Spaniards besieged on the spot where he had left them. It was a space of sufficient extent to contain the Spaniards and their allies, and was surrounded by a thick wall, upon which were placed towers at different dis tances. The artillery had been disposed in the best manner pos sible; and the service had been always executed with as much regularity and vigilance as in a besieged place, or in the most exposed camp. The general was not able to make his way into this kind of fortress, until he had encountered many difficul ties; and when he at length entered it, the dangers still continued. Such was the obstinate fury of the Mexicans, that they crowded themselves through the port-holes of the cannon, from which they were repulsed with terrible slaughter. The Spaniards made frequent sallies, which were successful, yet failed to raise the siege. The Mexicans gave proofs of extraordi nary courage. They cheerfully devoted themselves to certain death. leaked and ill armed, they were seen to throw themselves into the ranks of the Spaniards, with a view of making their arms useless, or wresting them out of their hands. They were all pre pared to perisli in order to rescue their country from the yoke of these foreign usurpers. The prisoners taken by the Mexicans were carried off to the great temple, and sacrificed to the god of war. The Spaniards, from the quarters they occupied, could behold the preparations making for the immolation of their companions, and their ears were appalled by the sound of the great drum, which announced their bloody orgies ; a sound which a narrator who witnessed these terrible scenes assures us could be heard for three leagues. CORTEZ IN MEXICO. /5 The most bloody engagement was fought upon an eminence, from which the Mexicans overwhelmed all that approached them with showers of arrows. The party charged with dislodging them, was three times repulsed. Cortez was irritated by their resistance, and though seriously wounded, resolved to take the attack upon himself. Scarce had he got possession of this impor tant post, when two young Mexicans threw down theii arms, and came over to him as deserters. Placing one knee on the ground in a suppliant posture, they sprang upon him with extreme quick ness, and seized him, with a design of dashing him in pieces, by hurling him down the precipice. Cortez, by his strength and dexterity, disengaged himself; and the two Mexicans died the victims of their daring but fruitless enterprise. This and many other exploits, which showed equal courage, made the Spaniards desirous of coming to terms of accommoda tion. At length Montezuma, still a prisoner, consented to become the agent in reducing his people to slavery. In all the pomp of the throne, he made his appearance upon the wall, to persuade his subjects to discontinue hostilities. Their resentment convinced him that his reign was at an end, and he was mortally wounded by the shower of arrows the Mexicans discharged at him. Montezuma. CHAPTER VIII. Effects of the death of Montezuma on the Mexicans. They attempt to reduce the Spaniards by famine. The Spaniards retreat from the city. Errors committed by the Mexicans. Battle of Otumba. Heroism of Cortez. He advances again upon Mexico. Obstacles in his way. He builds ships on the lake. The emperor Guatimozin makes a brave defence. Attack on Mexico. Capture of Guatimozin. He is put to the torture. His fortitude, and calamitous end. Conquest of Mexico. Description of the city. Fate of the Mexicans. Disappointment of the schemes of Cortez. He returns to Spain. His death. Destruction of the Mex ican cities. Their ancient ' splendor \ Bigoted vandalism of the Spaniards.' Conquest of Guatimala by Alvarado. Foundation of the city of Guatimala Cortez building ships in the lake. THE death of Montezuma struck the Mexicans with a momentary surprise and terror, but caused no permanent intimidation or discouragement. They saw that their plans of attack and defence were equally defective. Unable to cope with their enemies, man to man, they changed their mode of warfare, and resolved to do nothing more than inteteept the provisions, and reduce by* famine an enemy whom superiority of discipline and arms rendered other wise invincible. The Spaniards soon had intimation of this design. Troops of Mexicans collected round the palace at a safe distance, so as to keep it in a state of blockade. Fortifications were erected on the canal, and a body of men were despatched to the lake to CORTEZ IN MEXICO. 77 oreak down the bridges of the causeway and cut off the retreat of the Spaniards in that quarter. Cortez now perceived that nothing could save his army but an instant retreat from the city. A council of war was held, and it was resolved to march out of Mexico that very night, before the works of the enemy could be completed, and render their retreat impracticable. This measure required incredible despatch and activity in the preparation. The bridge on the causeway was already broken down. Cortez ordered a portable bridge of planks to be made, which might be borne on the shoulders of forty men, and of a strength sufficient to sustain the artillery and horses. He endeavored to conceal his design, by making new overtures for a negotiation ; and in the meantime improved every moment of the day in arranging the march of his troops. The men loaded them selves with as much gold as they could carry, but were obliged to leave behind them the value of seven hundred thousand dollars, for want of the means of transportation. Cortez endeavored to strengthen the resolution of his troops by addressing them in an energetic speech; and at midnight the whole army abandoned their quarters and marched in perfect order and profound silence along the causeway that led to Tacuba. But the Mexicans had not been ignorant of this proceeding. The design of Cortez had been suspected from the first, and the movements of the Spaniards were ciosely watched. Favored by the darkness of the night, they collected an immense fleet of canoes on both sides of the causeway, completely covering that quarter of the lake, and lay silently in wait for the retreating army. The Spaniards reached the first breach in the causeway without any suspicion of their danger ; but in the moment when the cavalry and artillery entered upon the bridge they had laid over it, they were astounded with the tremendous roar of martial instruments, and the shouts of innumerable multitudes of enemies. Clouds of arrows rained upon them in an instant, and the Mexicans rushed to the onset with the most fearless impetuosity, as if that moment were to offer them a rich revenge for all their wrongs. The Span iards, however, undismayed by this sudden and terrific assault, passed the bridge, but on attempting to remove it, they'found it so firmly wedged among the stones and mud, by the weight of the horses and cannon, that it was impossible again to raise it. Struck into a panic at this disaster, they rushed with precipitation toward the second breach, where they would have been cut off to a man, had the Mexicans continued the attack with the same regularity as at first. The Spaniards were obliged to wade through the mud and water, laden with baggage and encumbered with their arms, 78 SPANISH DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS. in darkness, confusion and terror. But the Mexicans, yielding to their natural impetuosity and fury, pressed to the attack in tumult and disorder; the canoes crowded upon each other, and were dashed in pieces against the causeway. Numbers of them, whose canoes could not get forward to engage, impatient of the delay, had thrown themselves into the water, and scrambling up the causeway where the Spaniards were to pass, formed in a body and obliged Cortez to present a double front and renew the engage ment. Actuated by despair, or animated by the example of their general, the Spaniards now fought with such fearless impetuosity that the Mexicans in front, unable to sustain the shock, instantly gave way, and were pursued with dreadful slaughter to the breach, where thousands threw themselves into the water or were tram pled to death by the cavalry. The carnage was so great that the chasm in the causeway was completely filled up with the dead bodies, over which, by the assistance of a beam left by the Mex icans, Cortez and a part of his army passed and continued their march to the third breach. This, fortunately for the Spaniards, their enemies had neglecjed to occupy, so that the retreating troops, aided by the shallowness of the water, reached the main land. But this which had escaped was only a small portion of the army. Cortez, having saved his advanced guard, returned with several of his officers to the relief of the main body. He found them overwhelmed by enormous multitudes, who pressed on them with irresistible violence. All Mexico was now in arms ; and as fresh warriors every moment supplied the place of those who fell, the Spaniards began to sink under the weight of the torrent that poured in upon them from every side. Nothing but confusion and terror prevailed. Horse and foot, officers and soldiers, enemies and friends were mingled together, and many fell without knowing from what hand the blow came. The Spaniards, laden with gold and treasure, sunk in the waters under the weight of burthens which avarice could not induce them to cast away. Alvarado, (he commander of this division, signalized himself by the most daring and intrepid actions, and exhorted his men to a heroic defence ; but his exertions were of no avail. The number of the Mexicans increased, as did their fury, shouts and rage. Torrents of rain fell, and the darkness of the night was rendered more appalling by the cries f(5r help and exclamations of despair u ttered by the Spaniards, and the words " kill ! kill ! " fiercely shouted by the Mexicans. In this desperate extremity, Cortez made a charge upon the enemy with five horse, and made a path for his troops, while Alvarado, who was at the opposite side of the breach and in the most imminent danger, saved his life by an astonishing THE NIGHT OF BLOOD. 79 feat of agility. Poising himself on the shaft of his spear, he vaulted over and entirely cleared the pass, which to this day is distin guished by the name of Alvaradtfs Leap. Many endeavored to follow him, but not one reached the other side. The greater part of the rearguard were killed, drowned, or taken prisoners. Such is the event known in Mexican history as the Noche trhte, or "doleful night." Between five and six hundred Spaniards were killed, with two thousand Tlascalans. Most of the artillery, ammunition, baggage, and most of the treasure were lost. The survivors, reduced to less than half their number, were covered with wounds, dispirited and overwhelmed with fatigue. Their leader, as he reviewed the shattered remains of his army, was observed to shed tears for the loss of so many brave companions. The Mexicans, fighting in defence of their homes, had shown equal bravery, and lay dead by thousands but who had any tears for them ? The Spaniards were now completely in their power, and a single decisive blow would have utterly crushed the invaders; but the fatality which hung over this unhappy race, withheld their arms from striking at the decisive moment. No sooner had the morning dawned and exposed to the view of the Mexicans the field of battle, of which they were masters, than they perceived, among the slain, a son and two daughters of Montezuma, whom the Spaniards had attempted to carry off among their prisoners. This sight chilled them with horror. The thought of having murdered the children of their sovereign, after sacrificing the father, was too shocking for men whose minds were fettered and enervated by superstition and habits of blind obedience. They were afraid of adding impiety to regicide ; and employed in idle funeral rites, the time they owed to the preserva tion of their country. During this interval, the defeated Spaniards, who had scarce a soldier remaining that had not been wounded, had time to take breath, recover order and pursue their march. The Mexicans soon followed, harassed, and at length surrounded them in the valley of Otumba. The cannonade and musketry, the pikes and swords, did not prevent the Indians, all naked as they were, from advancing and charging their enemies with great fury. Courage was just upon the point of yielding to numbers, when Cortez himself decided the fortune of the day. He had been informed, that with these natives of the New World the fate of the battle depended upon the royal standard. Their colors, the form of whiqh was remarkable, and which were never brought into the field but on the most important occasions, were at no great distance from him. He immediately rushed forward with the bravest of his companions. One of them seized the standards and 80 SPANISH DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS. carried them into the Spanish ranks. The Mexicans immediately lost all courage ; and throwing down their arms, betook them selves to flight. The Spaniards pursued their march, and arrived in the country of Tlascala, without farther opposition. Cortez did not relinquish either the design or the hopes of sub duing the empire of Mexico; but he adopted a new plan, and proposed to make one part of the inhabitants assist him in the reduction of the other. The form of the Mexican government, the disposition of the people, and the situation of the city, favored his project. Among the great numbers of vassals in Mexico, Cortez con cluded there might be some who would be ready to shake off the yoke and join the Spaniards. He had remarked that the Mexi cans were held in great detestation by the petty states that were tributary to the empire, and that the emperors exercised their authority with extreme severity. He had likewise observed that the provinces in general disliked the religion of the metropolis, and that even in Mexico, the nobility and persons of fortune, whose intercourse with society had abated the force of their prejudices and softened their manners, nad lost their attachment to this mode of religion ; and that many of the nobility were disgusted at the services exacted from them by their masters. After Cortez had been silently deliberating upon his projects, and bringing them to maturity, during six months, he marched out of his retreat, attended by five hundred and ninety Spaniards, ten thousand Tlascalans, and some other Indians, with forty cavalry, and eight or nine field-pieces. His march towards the centre of the Mexican dominions was easy and rapid. The petty nations which might have retarded or embarrassed it, were all easily subdued, or voluntarily submitted to the invaders. Cortes hastened to the, attack of Mexico, the grand object of his ambition, and the ultimate end of the hopes of the army. The project was attended with great difficulty. Mountains, which for the most part were a thousand feet high, surrounded a plain of about forty leagues. The greater part of this immense space was occupied by lakes which communicated with each other. At the northern extremity of the greatest of these, in the midst of a few small islands, had been built the largest city in the New World. '. Three causeways of different lengths, but all of them broad and constructed with solidity, led up" to it The inhabitants of the shores, too distant from these great roads, were accustomed to resort to the city in their canoes. Cortez made himself master of the lake, by means of some small vessels, the materials of which had been prepared at Tlas- GUATIMOZIN. 81 cala ; and he ordered the dykes to he attacked hy Sandoval, "by Alvarado, and by Olid, to each of whom he distributed an eqcial number of guns, of Spanish troops, and of Indian auxiliaries. Everything had been disposed for a long time, on the part of the Mexicans, for an ohstinate resistance. The means of defence had been prepared hy Quetlavaca, who had succeeded his brother Montezuma; but who had perished hy the small-pox, a disease first brought into these regions by a slave belonging to Narvaez. The empire was now governed hy Guatimozin. The actions of this young prince were heroic and prudent. The fire of his look, the loftiness of his language, and his brilliant courage, produced every impression he wished upon his people. He disputed the ground with the invaders foot by foot, and never abandoned a single spot till it was strewed with the carcasses of his soldiers, and stained with the blood of his enemies. Fifty thou sand men, who had hastened from all parts of the empire to defend their master and their gods, had perished by the sword or by fire. Famine daily occasioned the most frightful ravages. To these numerous calamities, contagious diseases had been added, and yet all these circumstances had not been capable of shaking the firmness of his soul, even for an instant. The besiegers, after a number of destructive battles, at length reached the centre of the city, which, however, Guatimozin did not yet think of giving up. He was at last prevailed upon to quit these ruins, which could no longer be defended, and repair to the provinces, and carry on the war there. In the view of facilitating this retreat, some overtures of peace were made to Cortez; but this artifice had not the desired suc cess ; and the canoe, in which this gallant and unfortunate mon arch had embarked, was captured on the lake. An officer of the Spanish revenue ordered Guatimozin to be stretched upon red-hot coals, to extort a confession of the spot where he had thrown his treasures into the lake. The favorite of the emperor, who underwent the same torture, complaining to him of his sufferings, the emperor replied, " Am / upon a bed of roses?" an expression equal to any of those famous sayings which history has recorded as worthy the admiration of mankind ! an expression which Mexicans would repeat to their children as household words, if ever the period should arrive when they resume the dominion of the country. These people have, perhaps, pre served the actions of their martyrs and the history of their perse cutions. In these it must be recorded, that Guatimozin was drag ged half dead from the flames ; and that three years after, he was publicly hanged, under pretence of having conspired against his tyrants and executioners ! 82 SPANISH DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS. The Spaniards, in their attacks on the city, were aided by up wards of two hundred thousand Indian allies, without whose assistance the empire would never have been subdued. Thus did the unfortunate Mexicans aid in shedding the blood of their country men and riveting the chains of slavery upon themselves and their posterity. Cortez continued to advance day by day, destroying the city as he proceeded, till, on the 13th day of August, 1521, Mexico surrendered. The siege, like that of Jerusalem, lasted seventy days, and cost the lives of two hundred thousand men. Mexico suffered a worse fate from Cortez, than Moscow from Napoleon. The whole place was a heap of ruins. Before the arrival of the Spaniards, it was a most noble and opulent city. The magnificent descriptions of the Spanish writers are fully confirmed by the ruins of inferior cities, which remain to the present day at Palenque, Uxmal, and other places. Mexico con tained thirty thousand houses, an immense number of inhabitants, and superb edifices within its walls. The emperor's palace, built of marble and jasper, was of prodigious extent. It was orna mented with baths, statues, and fountains ; and was full of pic tures, which, though made only of feathers, were finely colored, brilliant and natural. Most of the nobles, as well as the emperor, had menageries filled with the various animals of the new continent. Their gardens were spread with plants of every species. Every production of the soil and climate that was scarce and brilliant, was an object of luxury to an opulent nation, where nature was beautiful and the arts imperfect. The temples were numerous, and in general magnificent ; but they were stained with blood, and adorned with the heads of the unhappy victims that had been sacrificed in them. One of the greatest beauties of this superb city, was a square, which was usually filled with a hundred thousand persons, over spread with tents and shops, where the merchants displayed all the ricHes of the country, and all the works of industry wrought by the Mexicans. Birds of all colors, brilliant shells, a profusion of flowers, and various pieces of workmanship in gold, and ena mel, gave these markets a more beautiful and splendid appearance to the eye, than it is possible to meet with in the richest fairs of Europe. One hundred thousand canoes were constantly passing and repassing between the city and the borders of tjie lakes; which were ornamented with fifty cities, and with a multitude of towns and villages. The rest of the empire, as far as the respective situations would allow, offered the same spectacle ; but with the difference that is always observable between the capital and the provinces. This DISAPPOINTMENT AND DEATH OF CORTEZ. 83 nation, the antiquity of which was not very remote ; which had no communication with enlightened people; which knew not the use of iron, and possessed only an imperfect species of writing, and which was situated in a climate where the faculties of man, are not called forth by want and rigorous necessity, this nation, we are told, had risen to this degree of eminence by the genius of the people alone. As soon as the Castilians had conquered Mexico, they divided the best lands among themselves ; they reduced to slavery the people who had cleared them, and condemned them to labors in compatible with their constitutions and repugnant to their habits. This system of oppression excited general insurrections. These arose without a concurrence of measures, without a chief to direct them, and without a plan ; they were the effect of despair alone ; and ended to the disadvantage of the unfortunate Mexicans. An irritated conqueror, with fire and sword in hand, passed with ex treme rapidity from one extremity of the empire to the other, and left in all parts memorable traces of vengeance, the details of which would make the firmest heart shudder. There was a bar barous emulation between the officer and the soldier, which should sacrifice most victims ; and even the great leader himself, perhaps, surpassed his troops and lieutenants in ferocity. Cortez, however, did not reap the advantages he expected from so many acts of inhumanity. It became a maxim of policy in the court of Madrid, not to leave such of their subjects as had effected important discoveries, time enough to settle themselves in their authority. They were in perpetual fear that the conquerors might think of rendering themselves independent of the crown. If the conqueror of Mexico did not give an excuse for adopting such a system, he was at least, one of the first victims of it. The unlim ited powers he had at first enjoyed, were daily curtailed; and in process of time they were so exceedingly restrained, that he pre ferred a private situation to the vain appearance of an authority accompanied with the greatest mortification. He was even on the point of being seized and sent to Spain in irons, precisely as Columbus had been served ; but the sudden death of Ponce de Leon, the officer ordered upon this service, saved the conqueror of Mexico from the indignity which had been cast on the discov erer of the New World. Disgusted and indignant at this pre meditated insult, he returned to Spain, where he was received with outward respect and honors, but not allowed to resume his authority in America. He closed his life in chagrin and disap pointment, December 2, 1547. The events described in this his tory, speak his character. Intrepid, enterprising, and prompt at S4 SPANISH DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS. expedients, he was nevertheless, sanguinary and remorseless. He is said to have shown symptoms of compunction for the murder of Guatimozin, but it does not appear that the slaughter of half a million of men, sacrificed to his insatiate ambition, ever gave him an uneasy thought. The city of Mexico was rebuilt by the Spaniards, but hardly a relic of the ancient city is to be seen at the present day. The destruction which fell upon the capital, was also shared by the inferior cities of the empire. The blind and fanatic zeal of the conquerors was directed with especial fury against the monuments of Mexican history and religion. The ravages of war levelled the cities to the ground, and monkish bigotry continued the devas tation by overthrowing the temples, statues and monuments, whieh abounded throughout the country. The researches of modern travellers have discovered tracts of territory strewed with the remains of noble palaces and enormous structures of various descriptions. These gigantic relics, covered with sculpture, paint ings and hieroglyphics, attest the ancient magnificence of the Mexican cities, and exhibit the most interesting testimonials of the progress of the arts among this singular people. They appear not to have known the use of iron, yet their statues and other monuments of sculptured stone, exhibit a surprising degree of delicacy and finish. Destitute of the mechanical helps which give such enormous power to modern machinery, they were able, nev ertheless, to rear colossal structures, the remains of which, at the present day, strike us with wonder. The Mexicans, also, were familiar with astronomical science ; and their hieroglyphical writ ing, so far as we can judge from the imperfect relics within our reach, appears to have made an approach, like that of the Egyp tians, to a phonetic character, and to have become an incipient alphabet. The Spaniards destroyed, with indiscriminate fury, everything that could remind the conquered people of their ancient national existence, or their ancient religion. The hieroglyphical writings, which contained the history and mythology of this peo ple, were committed to the flames, and thus immense piles of manuscripts were irretrievably lost, which were of inestimable value as aifording the means of elucidating the origin; antiquities, institutions and manners, of the most powerful and civilized people of the Western World. GUATEMALA appears never to have formed a part of the empire of Mexico. At the arrival of the Spaniards it contained many distinct kingdoms or principalities. The subjugation of Mexico by Cortez, struck a terror into the people of Guatemala, and some of the chiefs sent embassies to the conqueror, offering to submit to CONQUEST OF GUATEMALA. 85 him, and acknowledge themselves vassals of the king of Spain. Cortez sent Pedio de Alvarado, one of his officers, who had been most active in the conquest of Mexico, to take possession of the country. Alvarado marched from Mexico in November, 1523, with three hundred Spaniards and a large auxiliary force of Mexi cans. He met, however, with much opposition in his pi ogress. The Indians were defeated in Teguantepec, Soconusco and To- nala, and the Spaniards remained masters of those firovinces. They next entered the kingdom of Quiche, where they met with a more serious resistance. The invaders, however, on the 14th of May, 1524, gained the victory in a great battle. Alvarado continued his march to the capital of the king of Kachiquel, who had sent his submission to Cortez. This prince received the Spaniards cordially, and on the 29th of July, 1524, the conquer ors laid the foundation of the ancient city of Guatemala. The conquest of the remaining provinces followed shortly after, al though many wild districts have remained to the present day, very little explored or known by the conquerors. CHAPTER IX. Search of Columbus for the South Sea. Expedition of Ojeda and Nicuessa. Nunez de Balboa penetrates into the country of Darien. Discovers the Pacific Ocean. Expedition of Pedrarias. Foundation of Panama. The invasion of Peru projected by Pizarro and Almagro. Arrival of the Spaniards at Tumbez. State of the empire of Peru on the arrival of the invaders. Interview of the Inca Atahualpa with the Spaniards. Massacre of the Peruvians. Enormous ransom paid by the Inca. Amount of spoil shared by the soldiers. Atahualpa put to death. Capture of Cuzco. Conquest and devastation of the whole empire of Peru. Balboa discovering the Pacific Ocean. , COLUMBUS rightly conjectured that, beyond the continent he had discovered, was another ocean, which terminated at the East Indies, and that these two seas might have a communication with each other. In order to discover this, he sailed, in 1502, as close along the coast of America as possible. He touched at all places that were accessible, and, contrary to the custom of other navigators, who behaved, in the countries they visited, as if they were never to return to them, he. treated the inhabitants with a degree of kindness that gained their good will. The Gulf of Darien partic ularly engaged his attention. He thought that the rivers which ran into it might afford the communication he had sought through so many dangers and fatigues. Disappointed in these expectations, he wished to leave a small colony upon the river Belem, in the EVENTS LEADING TO THE CONQUEST OF PERU. 87 country of Veragua. The avidity, the pride, and the barbarism of his countrymen prevented him from having the satisfaction of forming the first European establishment upon the continent of the new hemisphere. Some years elapsed after this, and still the Spaniards had not fixed themselves upon the spot. As the Spanish adventurers only received from government the permission of making discoveries, it seldom entered their minds to employ themselves in agriculture or commerce. The prospect of distant fortunes, that might have been made by these prudent means, was far beyond the prejudices of these barbarous times. Nothing but the allurement of immediate gain could stimulate men to enterprises so bold as those for which this century was distinguished. Gold, alone, attracted them to the continent of America, and made them brave dangers, diseases and death. By a terrible vengeance, the cruelty of the Europeans, instigated by their lust of mineral treasures, exhausted at once the two hemi spheres of their inhabitants, and destruction fell equally upon the plunderers and the plundered. It was not till the year 1509, that Ojeda and Nicuessa formed, though separately, the design of making solid and lasting conquests. To encourage them in their resolution, Ferdinand gave to the first the government of the countries that begin at Cape de la Yela and terminate at the Gulf of Darien ; and to the second, that of all- the space extending from this gulf to Cape Gracias a Dios. Both these adventurers were instructed to announce to the natives at their landing, the tenets of the Christian religion, and to inform them of the gift which the Roman pontiff had made of their country to the king of Spain. If the savages were unwilling to submit quietly to a double yoke, the Spaniards were authorized to pursue them with fire and sword, and to reduce the nations to bondage. But it was more easy to grant by commission these absurd and atrocious privileges, than to put the barbarous and superstitious adventurers who solicited such rights in actual possession of them. The Indians rejected every kind of intercourse with a set of rapa cious intruders, who threatened equally their life and liberty. Arms were not more favorable to the Spaniards than their perfid ious caresses. The people of the continent, accustomed to carry on war with each other, received them with a boldness unexperi enced in the islands that had been so easily subdued. Poisoned arrows were showered upon them from all quarters, and not one of those who were wounded escaped death. To the arrows of the enemy, other causes of destruction were soon joined ; shipwrecks, unavoidable in these unknown latitudes; an almost continual 88 SPANISH DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS. want of subsistence, in countries wholly uncultivated, and diseases peculiar to the climate, which in many parts was found to be peculiarly unwholesome. The few Spaniards who had escaped so many calamities, and who could not return to San Domingo, collected themselves at St. Mary's, in the province of Darien. Here they lived in a state of anarchy, when Vasco Nunez cle Balboa appeared among them. This man, who was honored by the companions of his crimes with the surname of Hercules, had a robust constitution, intrepid courage and popular eloquence. These qualities induced the soldiers to choose him for their chief, and all his actions proved that he was worthy to command the remorseless crew whose suffrages he had obtained. Judging that more gold would be found in the inland parts than upon the coast, he marched with his band into the mountainous country of the isthmus. He found at first, it is said, a race- of Albinoes, which are described as being covered with a down of glistening white ; having no hair, and with red eyes. They could see well only in the night. They were feeble in body, and their faculties appeared to be more circumscribed than those of other natives. These savages, if it be true they existed, were few in number ; but others were presently found, of a different race, brave and hardy enough to defend their rights. These were distinguished by a very extraordinary custom, which was, that the husbands on the death of their wives, and the wives on the death of their husbands, cut off the end of a finger ; so that merely by looking at their hands, one might see whether they were widowers or widows, and how often they had been so. Notwithstanding the ferocity of these people, Balboa, supported by the obstinacy of his disposition, and spurred on by the insatia ble cupidity of his soldiers ; assisted too by packs of those blood hounds, which had been of such service to the Spaniards in all their conquests ; at length succeeded in destroying most of the inhabitants of Darien, and in dispersing or subduing the remainder. One day, as the conquerors were disputing together about gold, with a degree of warmth that seemed to threaten some act of violence, a young cacique overturned the scales in which they were weighing it. " Why," said he to them, with an air of disdain, K why do you quarrel for such a trifle? If it be for this useless metal that you quit yooir country, and massacre so many* people, I will conduct you into a region where it is so common that it is employed for the meanest purposes." Being urged to explain himself more clearly, he assured them, that at a little distance from the ocean which washed the country of Darien, there was another ocean which led to this rich country. The Spaniards BALBOA'S DISCOVERY OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 89 immediately conjectured that this was the sea which Columbus had so earnestly sought after. An expedition thither was imme diately planned, and on the first of September, 1513, one hundred and ninety Spaniards, attended by a thousand Indians, who were to serve them as guides, and to carry their provisions and baggage, set out with Balboa at their head. From the place whence this troop began their march, to the point they aimed at, the distance was only sixty miles; but it was necessary to climb steep mountains, to pass wide rivers, to trav erse deep morasses, to penetrate thick forests, and to disperse, persuade or destroy so many tribes of fierce natives, that it was not till after a march of twenty-five days, that this band, accus tomed to dangers, fatigues and privations, arrived in sight of the South Sea, which now for the first time lay disclosed to the view of the Europeans. Without a moment's delay, Balboa, armed at all points, in the manner of the ancient chivalry, rushed into the ocean. "Spectators of both hemispheres" exclaimed this haughty leader, u I call you to witness that I take possession of this part of the universe for the crown of Castile. My sword shall defend what my arm hath given to it." The cross was planted upon the shore of the continent, and the name of Ferdinand was inscribed on the bark of some of the trees. Ceremonies like these were understood by the Europeans in those days to confer a lawful claim of dominion ; and accordingly the Spaniards believed they had a right to exact from the neighboring people a tribute in pearls, metals and provisions. Every testi mony united in confirming what had been at first said of the riches of the empire thus discovered, which was called Peru ; and the adventurers who now meditated the conquest of it, returned to Darien, where they were to collect the forces necessary for so difficult an enterprise. Balboa expected that he should be employed to conduct this great design. His companions had placed their confidence in him, and he had thrown into the public treasury more wealth than any other of these adventurers. In the opinion of the Spaniards the discovery he had just made had put him on a level with Colum bus. But, by an instance of that injustice and ingratitude so common in courts, where merit cannot prevail against favor; where a great commander is superseded in the midst of his tri umphs by some upstart or pretender; Balboa was overlooked, and Pedrarias was chosen in his stead. The new commander, as jealous as he was cruel, imprisoned his predecessor, brought him to trial, and caused him to be beheaded. His subalterns, by his orders, or with his consent, pillaged, burnt and massacred on 8* L 90 SPANISH DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS. all sides, without any distinction between allies or enemies ; and it was not till after they had destroyed to the extent of three hundred leagues of the country, that, in 1518, he transferred the colony of St. Mary, on the borders of the Pacific Ocean, to a place that received the name of Panama. Some years passed away, and this establishment had not been able to fulfil the im portant purposes for which it was designed. At length, three men, of obscure birth, undertook at their own expense to subvert the empire of Peru, an empire that had subsisted, with bai barian splendor, for ages. Francisco Pizarro, who is the most celebrated of this triumvirate, was the natural son of a gentleman of Estramadura. His educa tion had been so neglected that he could not read. The tending of flocks, which was his first employment, not being suitable to his character, he embarked for the New World. His avarice and ambition inspired him with inconceivable activity. He joined in every expedition, and signalized himself in most of them. Thus he acquired, in the several situations in which he was employed, that knowledge of men and business which was then necessary to advancement, especially to"* those who, by their obscure birth, had great difficulties to contend with. The use he had hitherto made of his natural and acquired abilities, persuaded him that nothing was above his talents; and he therefore formed the gigantic plan of invading Peru. He took for an associate, Diego de Almagro, whose birth was equivocal, but whose courage was notorious. He had ever been found temperate, patient and inde fatigable in those wars and expeditions in which he had grown old. In this school he had acquired a frankness, which is more frequently learnt amid scenes of danger and daring, than in other situations ; as well as that obduracy and cruelty which were but too common in those days. . The fortune of the two soldiers, though considerable, being found insufficient for the conquest they meditated, they admitted into their partnership Fernando de Luques, a mercenary priest, who had amassed prodigious wealth. As the basis of their association, the confederates agreed that each should engage the whole of his property in this enterprise; that the wealth accruing from it should be equally shared, and that they should reciprocally ob serve an inviolable fidelity. The parts that each of tliem were to take in this great enterprise, were distributed as they 'deemed the good of the common cause to require. Pizarro was to com mand the troops, Almagro to conduct the supplies of provisions and stores, and Luques provided the funds. This plan of ambi tion, avarice and ferocity, was coupled with fanaticism. Luques PIZARRO'S FIRST EXPEDITION TO PERU. 91 publicly consecrated a host, part of which he ate, and divided the rest between his two associates ; all three swearing by the blood of God, that, to enrich themselves, they would not spare the blood of man. Pizarro tracing the route to Peru. The expedition, commenced under these horrible auspices, set forward in November, 1524. It consisted of one vessel containing one hundred and twelve men and four horses. They sailed from Panama and steered southerly along the coast, but it was seldom that they were able to land ; and in the few places where it was possible for the Spaniards to get on shore, they met with nothing but plains deluged with water, impenetrable forests, with occa sional bands of savages little disposed to treat with them. Al- magro, who followed and brought a reinforcement of seventy men, did not meet with more encouraging adventures ; and, in a very sharp engagement with the Indians, had even the misfortune to lose one of his eyes. More than one half of these intrepid Spaniards had perished by hunger, by the sword, or by the climate; when Los Rios, who had succeeded to Pedrarias, sent orders to those who had escaped so many calamities, to return to the colony without delay. They all obeyed except thirteen, who, faithful to their chief, Pizarro, resolved to follow his fortunes to the end. They found it still more unpromising as they proceeded, and were finally obliged to pass six months on the island of Gorgona, one of the most unwholesome and barren spots on the face of the globe. But at length their fortunes changed. With a small vessel, which had been sent them merely from motives of compassion, to remove them from this place of desolation, they continued their 92 SPANISH DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS. voyage, and landed at Tumbez, no inconsiderable village of the empire which they proposed one day to invade. From this place, where everything bore the marks of civilization, Pizarro returned to Panama, where he arrived at the latter end of the year 1527, with some gold dust, several vases of that precious metal, some vicunas, and three Peruvians destined to serve as interpreters. Far from being discouraged by the misfortunes that had been experienced, the three associates were inflamed with a more ardent passion for treasures which were now better known to them. But they were in want of soldiers and provisions, and the colony refused them both these succors. In this emergency, Pizarro made a voyage to Spain, to solicit assistance from the court. They lent a favorable ear to his project, and authorized, without reserve, the levying of troops, and the purchase of provisions ; and added to this indefinite liberty every favor which drew nothing from the treasury. Nevertheless, the associates, by combining all their means, could not equip more than three small vessels, nor collect more than one hundred and forty-four infantry, with thirty-six horse. This was a feeble equipment for the great views that were to be fulfilled ; but in the New World the Spaniards expected every thing from their arms and their courage; and Pizarro did not hesitate to embark again from Panama, in February, 1531. The knowledge he had acquired of these seas, enabled him to escape the calamities that had thwarted his first expedition; and he met with no other rnisfortune than that of being obliged, by contrary winds, to land about a hundred leagues from the harbor of Tum bez, where he had intended to disembark. The Spaniards were in consequence forced to march by land. They followed the coast with great difficulty, compelling the inhabitants on their march to furnish them with provisions, plundering them of the gold they possessed, and giving themselves up to that spirit of rapine and cruelty which distinguished the manners of those barbarous times. The island of Puna, in the bay of Guayaquil, was taken by storm, and the troops entered victorious into Tumbez, where a variety of evils combined to detain them for three whole months. The arrival of two reinforcements, that came from Nicaragua, afforded them some consolation for the anxiety they felt on account of this delay. These reinforcements, indeed, consisted only pf thirty men each ; but they were commanded by Sebastian Benalcazar, and by Fernando de Soto, who had both of them acquired a bril liant reputation. The Spaniards met with little resistance in their first conquests. It is proper to glance at the explanation of so singular a fact, RECENT HISTORY OF THE EMPIRE OF PERU. 93 which is to be found in the history of the country they had inva ded. The empire of Peru, which, like most other kingdoms, was in its origin of small extent, had been successively enlarged. It had in particular received a considerable aggrandizement from the eleventh emperor, Huyana Capac, who had possessed himself by force of the vast territory of Quito, and who, to legalize as much as possible his usurpation, had married the sole heiress of the dethroned monarch. From this union, reprobated equally by the laws and by prejudice, Atahualpa was born, who, after the death of his father, claimed the inheritance of his mother. This suc cession was contested by his elder brother, Huascar, upon whose birth there was no stain. Two such powerful interests induced the competitors to take up arms. One of them had the people in his favor and the long-established custom of the empire ; but the other had previously secured the best troops. Atahualpa, who had the army on his side, was the conqueror, put his rival in chains, and becoming more powerful even than he had expected, was master of all the provinces. These troubles, which for the first time had agitated Peru, were not entirely appeased when the Spaniards appeared there. In the confusion in which the whole kingdom was still involved, no one thought of molesting them on their march, and they arrived with out the least obstruction at Caxamalca. Atahualpa, whom par ticular circumstances had conducted into the neighborhood of the imperial palace, immediately sent them some fruits, corn, emeralds, and several vases of gold or silver. He did not however conceal from their interpreter his desire that they should quit his territories ; and he declared that he would go the next morning to concert with their chiefs the proper measures for this retreat. To put himself in readiness for an engagement, without suffering the least preparation of war to be perceived, was the only arrangement that Pizarro made for the reception of the prince. He planted his cavalry in the gardens of the palace, where they could not be seen ; the infantry was in the court ; and his artillery was pointed towards the gate where the emperor was to enter. Atahualpa came without suspicion to the place appointed, being attended by some fifteen thousand men. He was carried on a throne of gold, and the same brilliant metal glistened in the arms of his troops. He turned to his principal officers, and said to them : " These strangers are the messengers of the gods; be careful of offending them. ' ' The procession was now drawing near the palace, which was occupied by Pizarro, when a Dominican friar, named Vincent de Talverde, with a crucifix in one hand and his breviary in the other, advanced to the emperor, stopped him in his march 94 SPANISH DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS. and made him a long speech, in which he expounded to him the Christian religion, pressed him to embrace that form of worship, and proposed to him to submit to the king of Spain, to whom the pope had given Peru. Valverde addressing the inca. * The emperor, who heard him with a great deal of patience, replied, " I am very willing to be the friend of the king of Spain, but not his vassal ; the pope must surely be a very extraordinary man, to give so liberally what does not belong to him. I shall not change my religion for another, and if the Christians adore a God who died upon a cross, I worship the sun, who never dies." He then asked Vincent where he had learned all that he had said of God and the creation. "In this book" replied the monk, present ing at the same time his breviary to the emperor. Atahualpa took Atahualpa holding the Bible to his ear. the book, examined it on all sides, put it to his ear, burst into a MASSACRE OF PERUVIANS. 95 laugh, and, throwing away the breviary, added, tl This book tells me nothing about the matter." Valverde then turned towards the Spaniards, crying out in a loud voice, " Vengeance! my friends, vengeance ! Christians, do you not see how he despises the gospel ? Kill these dogs who trample under foot the law of God! " The Spaniards, who probably had with difficulty restrained that fury and thirst of blood, with which the sight of the gold and of the unbelieving Peruvians had inspired them, instantly obeyed the sanguinary call. Let the reader judge of the impres sion that must have been made on the Peruvians by the sight of the horses who trampled upon them, and by the noise and effect of the cannon, and musketry which beat them down. They fled with such precipitation, that they fell one upon another. A dread ful massacre ensued. Pizarro himself advanced towards the em peror, ordered his infantry to put to the sword all that surrounded his throne, took the monarch prisoner, and the rest of the day pursued those who had fled. A multitude of princes of the race of the incas, the ministers, the flower of the nobility, all that com posed the court of Atahualpa, were massacred. Even the crowd of women, old men and children, who were assembled from all parts to see their emperor, were not spared. While this carnage continued, Valverde ceased not to animate the murderers, who were tired with slaughter, exhorting them to use not the edge but the point of their swords, in order to inflict deeper wounds. When the Spaniards returned from this horrible massacre, they passed the night in drunkenness, dancing, and all the excesses of debauchery. The emperor, though closely guarded, soon discovered the ex treme passion of his enemies for gold. This circumstance deter mined him to offer them for his ransom as much of this metal as his prison, which was twenty-two feet in length and sixteen in breadth, could contain, heaped up to as great a height as the arm of a man could reach. His proposal was accepted. But while those of his ministers in whom he had most confidence, were employed in collecting gold, he was informed that Huascar had promised three times as much to some Spaniards, who had found an opportunity of conversing with him, if they would consent to reinstate him npon the throne of his ancestors. He was alarmed at this nego tiation ; and his apprehensions made him resolve to put to death a rival who appeared so dangerous. In order to dissipate the suspicions which such an action must necessarily excite in his keepers, Atahualpa urged with fresh zeal the collecting of the metals stipulated for the recovery of his lib erty. They were brought in from all sides, as fast as was possible, 96 SPANISH DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS. amid the confusion which prevailed. These heaps of gold, inces santly exposed to the greedy eyes of the conquerors, so inflamed their cupidity, that it was impossible to delay any longer the distribution of it. The fifth part of the whole, which the govern ment had reserved to itself, was delivered to the agents of the treasury. A hundred thousand dollars were set apart for the body of troops which Almagro had just brought into the country, and which were still upon the coasts. Each of Pizarro's cavalry received eight thousand dollars, and each of his infantry four thou sand. The general and the officers had sums proportioned to their rank in the army. These fortunes, the most extraordinary that have ever been recorded in history, did not mitigate the barbarity of the Spaniards. Atahualpa had given his gold, and his name had served to keep the people in subjection ; it was now time, therefore, to put an end to his life. Yalverde pronounced him a hardened despot, who ought to be treated like Pharaoh. The interpreter, Philippillo, who had a criminal intercourse with one of his women, seconded the design. Almagro was apprehensive, that, while he was suffered to live, the army of his colleague "might be desirous of appropri ating all the booty to itself as a part of the emperor's ransom. Pizarro was instigated to the same bloody purpose by malice ; for the emperor had spoken of him with some contempt for not being able to read which his common soldiers were accustomed to do. These circumstances, more perhaps than political reasons, occa sioned, the emperor's death to be determined upon. The Span iards had the effrontery to bring him to a formal trial, as an usurper. He was condemned and strangled at the stake. Having murdered the inca, the Spaniards set off to plunder his capital, the noble city of Cuzco. The Indians were in great alarm when they found the Spaniards were advancing upon that place ; for it was an anciently received opinion among them that whoever held the city of Cuzco, would become master of the whole empire. They attempted to appease their deities with sacrifices ; and in order to oppose the advance of the Spaniards, they took post at a narrow pass in a valley approaching the city. Pizarro, learning this design, ordered Almagro, with the greater part of the cavalry, to hasten forward and attack the enemy, while he made disposi tions to follow with the rest of the forces. Almagro advanced and engaged in many skirmishes with the Indians, in which the latter suffered great losses. Manco Inca Yupanguy, who had the strongest claims to the crown of Peru, left Cuzco to join his army. Perceiving it impossible to succeed in his design, or to hinder the advance of 'the Spaniards to Cuzco, he joined Pizarro, who received ENTRANCE OF THE SPANIARDS INTO CUZCO. 97 him joyfully, and bestowed marks of great honor upon him. The Indians were astounded at this intelligence, and, in their despera tion, resolved to burn Cuzco and carry away the treasures of the city. Pizarro, being apprized of this intention, despatched Ferdi nand de Soto, and Juan Pizarro to prevent it ; but though these commanders exercised the greatest diligence, they found the Indi ans had plundered the temple of the Sun, which was full of riches. They carried away all this enormous wealth, together with the consecrated virgins, set fire to several parts of the city, and fear ing that the Spaniards were at their heels, they decamped with all the young people, men and women, leaving only the old' and disabled. The Spaniards, however, with great exertions were enabled to extinguish the fire. Pizarro in Cuzco. Pizarro entered the great city of Cuzco in October, 1534, and the soldiers immediately began, without opposition, to plunder the houses, where they found immense quantities of gold and silver, both in. bars and wrought into vessels, ornaments, &c. They also found abundance of clothing and a great quantity of beads, called chaguira, much valued by the Indians; together with a large amount of articles manufactured of feathers. Pizarro gave or ders that all the plunder should be thrown into a common stock, the king's fifth subtracted, and the remainder equally divided. The confederate Indians stole a great variety of articles ; for the Spaniards, finding such abundance of treasure, disregarded almost 9 M yb SPANISH DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS. everything but gold. It is said much more remained hidden than was found ; the cloth alone was valued at two millions of dollars. Pizarro then distributed the treasure, which, after deducting the king's fifth was divided into four hundred and eighty parts, each of which amounted to four thousand dollars. No notice was taken of the precious stones ; every man took what he wished, and few regarded the silver. Cuzco was built on an uneven ground, surrounded by hills. On the north side stood, on an eminence, that mighty fabric of the incas which the Spaniards call a fortress. The streets were long but narrow ; the houses of stone, wonderfully jointed without mortar. There were several royal palaces ; the chief temples of the sun were very magnificent, besides which there were four hundred others. There wert a great number of silversmiths and other artificers always at work here, for the gold and silver brought into Cuzco never went out again. Some of the houses were gilt, and some plated with gold. Having sacked the capital, the Spaniards ravaged the whole country, displaying everywhere the same thirst of blood and plunder which had directed their actions from the beginning. Had they shown any degree of moderation and humanity, they would probably have made themselves masters of the empire with out farther bloodshed. A people naturally mild, accustomed for a long time past to the most blind submission, ever faithful to the masters it had pleased Heaven to give them, and astonished at the terrible spectacle they had just been beholding, such a nation would have submitted to the yoke without much reluctance. The plundering of their houses, the outrages done to their wives and daughters, cruelties of all kinds succeeding each other without interruption, such a variety of calamities stirred up the people to revenge, and they found commanders to guide their resentment. Numerous armies at first obtained some advantages over the "invaders, but even these trifling successes were not durable. Sev eral of the adventurers who had enriched themselves by the ran som of Atahualpa, had quitted their standards and returned to Spain, that they might enjoy, in a more peaceable manner, the wealth so rapidly acquired. Their fortune inflamed the minds of men, in the old and in the new world, and multitudes hastened from all quarters to ,this land of gold. The Spaniards, in conse quence, multiplied faster in Peru than in the other -colonies. They soon amounted to five or six thousand ; and then all resis tance was at an end. Those of the Indians who were the most attached to their liberty, to their government, and to their religion, took refuge at a distance, among inaccessible mountains. Most of them, however, submitted to the conquerors. CHAPTER X. Historica sketch of the Peruvian empire. Manco Capac Conjectures as to his origin. Civilization of the Peruvians. State of manners, arts and govern ment in Peru. Dissensions among the Spanish conquerors. Rupture between Pizarro and Almagro. Defeat and death of Alrnagro. Persecution of his ad herents. Pizarro assassinated. Massacres at Lima. Usurpation and cruelties of young Almagro. Vaca de Castro arrives in Peru. Defeat of Almagro' s party at Chupas. The viceroy, Blasco Nunez. Second insurrection. Gonzalez Pizarro heads the rebels. He enters Lima in triumph. His arrogance and tyranny. Gasca arrives in Peru. Defeat and death of Gonzalez Pizarro. Atrocities of Carvajal. End of the civil wars. Death of the last of the Peru vian incas. Manco Capac and his tcife first appearing to the Peruvians. THE empire of Peru, according to the Spanish historians, had flourished for four centuries immediately previous to the con* quests of Pizarro. According to the tradition of the country, it was founded by Manco Capac, and by his wife, Mama Ocllo, who appeared among the people about the year 1100, and claimed to be children of the sun. It has been conjectured that these two persons might be the descendants of certain navigators of Europe, or the Canaries, who had been shipwrecked on the coasts of Bra zil. To support this conjecture, it has been said, that the Peru vians divided the year, as we do, into three hundred and sixty-five 100 SPANISH DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS. days, and that they had some notions of astronomy, and certain monuments to mark the different movements of the heavenly bodies, which the Spaniards, however, destroyed as being instru ments of Indian idolatry. It has been asserted that the race of the incas, or lords of Peru, as the descendants of Manco Capac were called, were whiter than the natives of the country, and that several of the royal family had beards ; and it is a known fact, that there are certain peculiar features, either ill-formed or regular, that are perpetuated and hereditary in some families of the royal line, though they do not constantly pass from one gen eration to another. Lastly, it has been said, that it was a tradi tion generally diffused throughout Peru, and transmitted from age to age, that there would one day awive, by sea, men with beards, and of such superiority in arms, that nothing could resist them. Manco taught his new subjects to cultivate the earth, to sow corn and pulse, to wear clothes, and to build houses. Mama Ocllo showed the Indian women how to spin, to weave cotton and wool ; and instructed them in all the occupations suitable to their sex, and in all the arts of domestic economy. The sun was the god of the Peruvians : the most natural of all idolatry ; for what inanimate object is more likely to excite the homage of the ignorant, who are dazzled with its splendor, or of the grateful, on whom its benefits are lavished ? The worship of the sun was instituted and sustained with great splendor. Temples were erected to their deity, and a variety of imposing ceremonies were established and observed. The descendants of Manco and his wife, were the only priests of the nation. There was among the people no indulgence for idleness, which was considered, with reason, as the source of all crimes. Those, who, from age and infirmities, were rendered unfit for labor, were maintained at the public charg'e, but on condition that they should defend the cultivated lands from the birds. The citizens were severally obliged to make their own clothes, to erect their own dwellings, and to fabricate their own instruments of agriculture. Every separate family was accustomed to supply its own wants. The Peruvians were enjoined to love one another, and many circumstances were calculated to cultivate this sentiment. They had common labors, always enlivened by agreeable songs, the object of which was 40 assist every one who had occasion for suc cor; and the young women devoted to the worship of "the sun, were required to make clothes, to be distributed by the emperor's officers to the poor, to the aged, and to orphans. They had also a custom of regarding each other as members of one single family, and that family the whole empire. All these circumstances POLITICAL AND CIVIL CONDITION OF THE EMPIRE OF PERU. 101 united, maintained among the Peruvians concord, benevolence, patriotism and public spirit; and contributed to substitute the sublime and amiable virtues, in lieu of personal interest, the spirit of property, and the usual incentives employed by other legisla tors. These virtues were rewarded with marks of distinction, as much as if they had been services rendered to the country. Those who had signalized themselves by any exemplary conduct, or by any distinguished actions of advantage to the public good, wore, as a mark of distinction, clothes made by the family of the incas. It is very probable that those* statues, which the Spaniards pre tended that they found in the temples of the sun, and which they took for idols, were the statues of men, who, by the greatness of their talents, or by a life replete with illustrious actions, had mer ited the homage or love of their fellow-citizens. It appears certain that the great men of the country were usu ally the subjects of poems, composed by the family of the incas for the instruction of the people. There was another species of poetry conducive to morality. At Cuzco, and in all the other towns of Peru, tragedies and comedies were performed. The first were lessons of duty to the priests, warriors, judges, and persons of distinction, and presented to them models of public virtue. Comedies served for instruction to persons of inferior rank, and taught them the exercise of private virtues, and domestic economy. The Peruvians were entirely unacquainted with the art of writ ing, for their quipos, or knotted cords, so much celebrated by certain authors who were fond of the marvellous, appear to have been no more than a device for rendering calculation more expedi tious. These cords were of different colors ; each color represented a different object, and each knot a number. But as these knots, however varied or combined, could represent no moral or abstract idea, nor operation or quality of the mind, they could render no service as an instrument of language. The lands of the kingdom that were susceptible of cultivation were divided into three parts ; one appropriated to the sun, another to the inca, and a third to the people. The first were cultivated in common, as were likewise the lands of orphans, of widows, of old men, of the infirm, and of the soldiers. These were cultivated immediately after the lands appropriated to the sun, and before those of the emperor. The season of this labor was announced by festi vals ; it was begun and continued with the sound of musical instru ments and the chanting of hymns. The emperor levied no tribute and exacted nothing from his subjects, but that they should cultivate his lands ; the whole produce of which, being deposited in public 9* 102 SPANISH DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS. magazines, was sufficient to defray all the expenses of the em pire. The Peruvians, though at the very source of gold and silver, knew not the use of coin. They had not, properly speaking, any kind of commerce ; and numerous arts, which owe their existence to the immediate wants of social life, were in a very imperfect state of advancement among them. All their science consisted in mem ory ; all their industry was propagated by example. The Peruvians had arrived at the art of fusing gold and silver, and of working them. With these metals they made ornaments, most of which were very thin, for the arms, for the neck, for the nose, and for the ears ; and also hollow statues, all of one piece, and carved or cast in moulds. Vases were seldom made of these rich materials. .The ordinary vases were of very fine clay, easily wrought. The art of weighing was not unknown amongst them, and scales are discovered from time to time, the basins of which are of silver, and in the shape of an inverted cone. Two kinds of stone were used for mirrors ; the one was soft, the other hard ; one was entirely opaque, the other had a small degree of transpa rency; one was black, the other of a lead color. Wool, cotton and the bark of trees were woven by these people into a cloth, which was used for wearing apparel. These stuffs were dyed black, blue and red, by the arnotto and other plants. The Peruvian em eralds were of all shapes. Those that have been, in later days, taken out of the tombs, most of which are in lofty situations, where citizens of distinction were buried with their jewels, prove that these precious stones were more perfect here, than they have been found elsewhere. Pieces of workmanship have been some times discovered in red and yellow copper, and others which par take of both colors. It has been conjectured that the Peruvians were acquainted with the art of mixing metals, for their wrought .copper never rusts, and never collects verdigris; which seems to prove that the Indians mingled something with it, as a preser vative from oxidation. It is to be regretted that the useful art of tempering it in this manner has been lost, either from want of, encouraging the natives of the country, or from the contempt with which the conquerors regarded everything that had no con cern with their passion for riches. It was, perhaps, with hatchets of copper or flint, and by inces sant friction, that they contrived to cut stones, to square them, and to join them without cement. Unfortunately, these instruments had not the same effect on wood as upon stone, for the artisans who shaped the granite and drilled the emerald, never knew how to join timber by mortices, tenons and pins, and in the ASSASSINATION OF PIZARRO. 103 buildings it was only fastened to the walls by rushes. The most remarkable edifices had only a covering of thatch, supported by poles, like the tents of armies. They had but one floor, and no light, except by the entrances ; the interior consisted of detached apartments, having no communication with each other. But whatever were the arts which the Spaniards found in the country of Peru, the barbarians were no sooner masters of this vast empire than they disputed over its spoils with all the rage which their first exploits announced. The seeds of these divisions had been sown by Pizarro himself, who, on his return to Europe to prepare for a second expedition into the South Seas, had prevailed upon the ministry to give him a superiority in rank over Almagro. This procedure, however, incensed Almagro to such a degree that Pizarro was compelled to waive it, in order to avoid an immediate rupture with his colleague. They were reconciled for a time, but the division of Atahualpa's ransom irritated again these two haughty and rapacious robbers. A dispute which arose concerning the limits of their respective governments, completed their animos ity; and this extreme hatred led to the most sanguinary proceedings. After some negotiations, dishonest at least on one part, and consequently useless, recourse was had to the sword, in order to determine which of the two competitors should govern the whole of Peru. On the 6th of April, 1538, in the plains of Salinas, not far from Cuzco, in a severe battle between the armies of the two leaders, fate decided against Almagro, who was taken prisoner and beheaded. Those of his partisans who had escaped the car nage would willingly have reconciled themselves with the con quering party. But whether Pizarro did not choose to trust the soldiers of his rival, or whether he could not overcome a resent ment that was too deeply rooted, it is certain that he always showed a remarkable aversion to them. They were not only excluded from all the favors that were profusely lavished upon the others, but they were stripped of the rewards formerly granted for their services, and were also persecuted and exposed to con tinual mortifications. This treatment brought a great number of them to Lima. There, in the house of the son of Almagro, they concerted in secret the destruction of their oppressor. On the 26th of June, 1541 , nineteen of the most intrepid went out, sword in hand, in the mid dle of the day, which, in that hot country, is the time devoted to rest. They penetrated without opposition into the palace of Pizarro, and the conqueror of so many kingdoms was massacred in the centre of the town that he had founded, and the inhabitants of which were composed of his own soldiers and adherents. Thus 104 SPANISH DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS. fell by a violent death both the bloody wretches who led their bands of murderers into this once peaceful and happy country. Assassination of Pizarro. Those of the judges most likely to'revenge the death of Pizarro were also murdered; the fury of the assassins extended itself on every side, and all who ventured to appear in the streets or in the squares, were regarded as enemies and put to the sword. The houses and temples . were filled with slaughter. The spirit of avarice, which induced the revellers to consider the rich merely as partisans of the old government, was still more furious than that of hatred, and rendered them more active and more implacable. The picture of a place taken by assault by a barbarous nation, would convey but an imperfect idea of that spectacle of horror which those ruffians now exhibited, who wrested from their accomplices the booty of which they had been robbed. This terrible massacre was followed by enormities of another kind. The soul of young Almagro seems to have been formed for tyranny. Every one who had been in employment under Pizarro, was inhumanly proscribed. The ancient magistrates were deposed. The troops were put under the command of new officers. The royal treasury, and the wealth of those who perished or were absent, were seized upon by the usurper. His accom plices, attached to his fortune by partaking in his crimes, were forced to give their support to measures which filled them with horror. Those among them who suffered their weariness at these proceedings to become known, were either put to death in private or perished on a scaffold. During the confusion in which a rev olution so unexpected had plunged Peru, several provinces sub- TROUBLES IN PERU. 105 mitted to this monster. Accordingly he caused himself to be pro claimed governor in the capital, and marched into the heart of the empire, to complete the reduction of every place that opposed or hesitated to acknowledge him. A multitude of ruffians joined him on his march. His army breathed nothing but vengeance and plunder; everything gave way before it. If the military talents of Almagro had equalled the ardor of his troops, the war had ended here ; but he had lost his conductor, John de Herrada ; and his own inexperience left him to fall into the snares that were laid for him by Pedro Alvarez, who had put himself at the head of the opposite party. In at tempting to unravel the plots of his rivals, he lost that time which he ought to have employed in fighting. In these circumstances, an event, which no one could have foreseen, changed the whole face of affairs. The licentiate, Yasco de Castro, who had been sent from Eu rope to try the murderers of old Almagro, arrived in Peru. As he was appointed to assume the government in case of Pizarro's death, all who had not sold themselves to the tyrant, hastened to acknowledge him. Uncertainty and jealousy, which had for a long time kept them dispersed, were no longer an obstacle to their reunion. Castro, who was as resolute as if he had grown old in the service, did not suffer their impatience to languish, but in stantly led them against the enemy. The two armies engaged at Chupas, on the 16th of September, 1542, and fought with inex pressible obstinacy. Yictory, after having wavered for a long time, at the close of the day decided in favor of the government party. Those among the rebels who were most guilty, dreading to languish under disgraceful tortures, provoked the conquerors to murder them, crying out like men in despair, "It was I who killed Pizarro." Their chief was taken prisoner and died on the scaffold. These scenes of horror were just concluded, when Blasco Nunez Yela arrived, in 1544, in Peru, with the title and powers of viceroy ; the court had thought fit to invest their representative with a solemn dignity, and with very extensive authority, in order that the decrees he was commissioned to establish should meet with less opposition. These decrees were intended to diminish the oppression under which the Indians were crushed, and more particularly to render these immense conquests useful to the Spanish crown. Among the ordinances now established, it was decreed that a portion of the Peruvians should be free from that moment, and the rest at the death of their oppressors ; that for the future they should not be compelled to labor in the mines ; N 106 SPANISH DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS. and that no kind of work should be exacted from them without payment ; that their public labor and tributes should be subjected to regulation ; that the Spaniards who travelled through the prov inces on foot should no longer demand that three of these wretched people should carry their baggage, nor five when they went on horseback ; and that the caciques should be freed from the obliga tions of providing the traveller and his suite with food. By the same regulations, all the departments or commander ies of the governors, of the officers of justice, of the agents of the treasury, of the bishops, of the monasteries, of the hospitals, and of all persons who had been concerned in the public troubles, were to be annexed to the domains of the state. The few lands that might belong to other proprietors, were to be subject to the same law after the actual possessors had ended their days, and their heirs, their wives, or their children, were to have no claim upon any part of them. Such was the disposition of the Spaniards in Peru, that when Nunez attempted to carry into execution the orders he had receiv ed from the old hemisphere, an insurrection was the immediate consequence. Nunez was deposed^ put in irons, and banished to a desert island, where he was to remain till he was conveyed to the mother country. Gonzalez Pizarro, the brother of Francisco, had then just -returned from a hazardous expedition, which had carried him as far as the river Amazon, and had employed him long enough to prevent him. from taking a part in the revolutions which had so rapidly succeeded each other. The anarchy he found prevailing at his return, inspired him with the idea of seizing the supreme authority. His fame and his forces enabled him to accomplish this design ; but his usurpation was marked with so many enor mities, that even the government of Nunez was regretted. He was consequently recalled from exile, and soon collected a suffi cient number of forces to enable him to take the field against Pizarro. Civil commotions were then renewed with extreme fury by both parties. No quarter was asked or given on either side. The Indians were forced to take part in this, as they had done in the preceding wars ; some ranged themselves under the standard of the viceroy, others under the banners of Gonzalez. They dragged the artillery, levelled the roads, and carried the baggage. After a variety of advantages, for a long time, alternately obtained by the contending parties, fortune at length favored the rebellion. Under the walls of Quito, in the month of January, 1545, Nunez and the greater part of his men were massacred. Pizarro tools: the road to Lima, in which city the inhabitants DEATH OF GONZALEZ PIZARRO. 107 were deliberating on the ceremonies with which they should re ceive him. Some officers wished that a canopy should be carried for him to march under, after the manner of kings. Others, with adulation still more extravagant, pretended that part of the walls of the town and even some houses must be pulled down, as was the custom at Rome when a general obtained the honors of a tri umph. Gonzalez contented himself with making his entrance on horseback, preceded by his lieutenants, who marched on foot. Four bishops accompanied him, and he was followed by the magistrates. The streets were strewn with flowers, and the air resounded with the noise of bells and various musical instruments. This homage completely turned the head of a man naturally haughty, and of a narrow understanding. He began to act the despot, and disgusted the people by the arrogance of his language. Had he possessed judgment and the appearance of moderation, he might have rendered himself permanently independent. The chief men of his party wished it. The majority would have viewed the event with indifference, or at least assent. But the character of the usurper prevented this. His blind cruelties, insatiable avarice, and unbounded pride, altered the dispositions of all who were favorable to his designs. Even the persons whose interests were most connected with those of the tyrant, wished for a deliverer. Such a person arrived from Europe in the person of Pedro de la Gasca. He was a priest, advanced in years, but prudent, dis interested, firm and sagacious. He brought no troops with him ; but he was intrusted by the government with unlimited powers. The first use he made of them was to publish a general amnesty, without distinction of persons or crimes, and a revocation of the severe laws that had rendered the preceding administration odious. This step alone secured to him the fleet and the forces of the mountainous provinces. If Pizarro, to whom the amnesty had been particularly offered, with every testimony of distinction, had accepted it, as he was advised to do by the most enlightened of his partisans, the troubles would have been at an end. His haughty temper and the habit of commanding, however, would not suffer him to descend to a private station ; and he had recourse to arms, in the hope of perpetuating his authority. Without losing a moment, he advanced towards Cuzco, where Gasca was assem bling his forces. On the 9th of April, 1548, a battle was fought four leagues from the city. One of the rebel general's lieutenants, seeing him abandoned at the first charge by his best soldiers, earnestly exhorted him to throw himself into the enemy's bat talions and perish like a Roman ; but Pizarro, dejected by this 108 SPANISH DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS. sudden reverse of fortune, had not the spirit to perform this heroic act He quietly surrendered, and was beheaded on the scaffold. Nine or ten of his officers were hanged around him. A more disgraceful execution awaited Carvajal, the confidant of Pizarro, whose life and character may serve as a specimen of the Spanish conquerors of the New World. This man, in the his tories of that period, is charged with having massacred, with his own hand, four hundred men ; of having sacrificed, by means of his agents, more than a thousand Spaniards, and of having de stroyed more than twenty thousand Indians through excess of labor. At a time when the minds of others around him were depressed or wavering, he displayed a degree of courage which could hardly admit of comparison. He remained always faithful to the cause he had espoused, although the custom of changing standards, according to circumstances, was then universally prev alent. He never forgot the most trifling service that had been rendered him, while those who had once conferred an obligation upon him, might afterwards affront him with impunity. His cruelty became a proverb; and in the most horrid executions ordered by him, he never lost anything of his mirth. Strongly addicted to raillery, he was appeased with a jest, while he insulted the cry of pain, which appeared to him the exclamation of cow ardice or weakness. His iron heart made a sport of every cruelty. He took away or preserved life for a trifle, because life was a trifle in his estimation. His passion for wine did not prevent him from enjoying uncommon strength of body, and the dreadful vigor of his soul maintained itself to old age. At eighty-four years, he was still the first soldier and the first commander in the army. His death was conformable to his life. He was hanged and quar tered, without showing any remorse for his crimes, any depression at his sentence, or any uneasiness for the future. m Another rebellion broke out after the death of Gasca, and was quelled after the usual amount of slaughter. This was the last scene of a tragedy, every act of which had been marked with blood. Civil wars have always been cruel in all countries and in all ages ; but in Peru they were destined to have a peculiar char acter of ferocity. Those who excited them, and those who en gaged in them, were mostly adventurers without education and without character. Avarice, which had brought them Jnto the New World, was joined to other passions which render domestic dissensions at once violent and lasting. All of them, without ex ception, considered the chief whom they had chosen, merely as a partner in their fortunes, whose influence was to extend only to the guidance of their hostilities. None of them accepted any pay. DISCOVERY OF THE MINES OF PERU. 109 As plunder and confiscation were to be the fruits of victory, no quarter was given in action. After the engagement was over, every rich man was exposed to proscription; and there were nearly as many citizens who perished by the hands of the execu tioner, as by those of the soldiers in battle. The gold that had been acquired by such enormities, was soon squandered in de bauchery and the most extravagant luxury, and the people were again exposed to all the excesses of military license that knows no restraint. Fortunately for this opulent part of the new hemisphere, the most seditious of the conquerors, and of those who followed their steps, had perished in these wars. Few of them had survived the troubles, except those who had constantly preferred peace able occupations to the tumult and dangers of revolutions. What still remained of the agitation that had been raised in their minds, insensibly sank into a calm, as does the turmoil of waves after a long and furious tempest. Then, and then only, the Catholic kings might with truth style themselves the sovereigns of the Spaniards fixed in Peru. We have but one event to add to our history of this period. There was an inca, named Tupac Amara, still remaining. This legitimate heir of so many vast dominions, lived in the midst of the mountains, in a state of independence. Some princesses of his family, who had submitted to the conquerors, abused his inexpe rience and youth, and prevailed upon him to visit Lima. The usurpers of his rights carried their insolence so far as to send him letters of grace, and assigned to him only a very moderate domain for his subsistence. He went to hide his shame and his regret in the valley of Yucay, where, at the expiration of three years, death, though still too tardy, put an end to his unfortunate ca reer. An only daughter, who survived him, married Loyola ; and from this union are sprung the houses of Oropesa and Alcaningas. Thus was the conquest of Peru completed about the year 1 560. The best mines of Peru were discovered after the conquest. That of Potosi, the richest in the western world, was not known till 1545. An Indian, named Hualpa, chasing some wild animals on that mountain, laid hold of a shrub or tree, to aid his ascent in a steep place ; it came up by the roots and revealed a mass of the richest silver ore, which lay so near the surface that lumps of the metal clung to the roots of the plant. Hualpa kept the secjet of this discovery for some time, but his rapid increase of wealth having attracted the notice of one of his countrymen, he revealed it to him. The two friends, as was natural in such a case, soon quarrelled, and the secret became divulged. The fame of this 10 110 SPANISH DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS. wealth drew adventurers from all quarters, and the barren moun tain of Potosi quickly beheld a city spring up at its foot, contain ing seventy thousand inhabitants. The quicksilver mines of Guanca Velica were discovered in 1564. Hualpa discovering the mine. CHAPTER XI. undertakes the conquest of Chili. Losses suffered by the invaders in crossing the Andes. Expedition of Valdivia. Resistance of the Chilians. Defeat and death of Valdivia. Manners of the Araucanians. Their obstinate resistance to the Spaniards. Colonization of Chili. Paraguay. Description of the inhabitants. Discovery of the river Paraguay. Expedition of the Spaniards , under Sebastian Cabot, to the Rio de la Plata. Foundation of Buenos Ayres. Assumption. The Spaniards intermarry with the natives. Colonization of the country. Success of the Jesuits in civilizing the Indians. Comparison of the policy of the Peruvian incas with that of the Jesuits. Almagro marching against Chili. THE conquest of Chili was undertaken by the Spaniards as soon as they had subdued the principal provinces of Peru. In the beginning of 1535, Almagro set out from Cuzco for this object, with five hundred and seventy Europeans and fifteen hundred Peruvians. He first traversed the country of Charcas, to which the mines of Potosi have since given so much celebrity. To go from this country to Chili, there were but two ways then known, and they were both considered as almost impassable. The first was along the borders of the sea, and presented nothing but burning sands, without water or other means of subsistence for a traveller. To pursue the second, it was necessary to cross steep 112 SPANISH DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS. mountains of prodigious height, and covered with perpetual snows. These difficulties did not discourage Almagro, and he determined upon the latter route, for no other reason than because it was the shortest. This ambition caused the destruction of one hundred and fifty Spaniards and ten thousand Indians, who per ished by the way : but at length he accomplished his design, and was received with every mark of submission by the nations that had been formerly under the dominion of the Peruvian empire. The terror of his arms would probably have procured him greater advantages, had not some concerns of a private nature called him back to the centre of the empire. His little army re fused to pass the Cordilleras, and he was obliged to return by the way he had first rejected. His march was so favored by fortu nate accidents, that it suffered much less than had been feared. This success enlarged the views of Almagro, and precipitated him, perhaps, into those fatal enterprises which occasioned his death. The Spaniards appeared again in Chili in 1541. Yaldivia, their leader, entered it without the least opposition. The nations, however, that inhabited this country, had no sooner recovered from the astonishment with which they had been seized, on observ ing the European arts and discipline, than they wished to regain their independence. A war soon arose, which continued inces santly for ten years. If some districts, discouraged by repeated losses, resolved at last to submit, many of them obstinately per sisted in the defence of their liberty, though they were generally defeated, There was one Indian captain, whom age and infirmities con fined to his hut. He was continually told of these misfortunes. MANNERS OF THE ARAUCANIANS. 113 The grief of seeing his people always beaten by a handful of strangers, inspired him with courage. He formed thirteen compa nies, of a thousand men each, arranged them in file, and led them against the enemy. If the first company was routed, it was not to fall back upon the rest, but to rally, and be supported by it. This order, which was strictly obeyed, disconcerted the Spaniards, They forced through all the companies, one after another, without gaining any material advantage. As both the men and horses wanted rest, Yaldivia retreated towards a defile, where he judged he could easily defend himself; but the Indians did not allow him sufficient time to secure his retreat. Their rearguard marched through by-ways, and took possession of the defile, while their vanguard followed the Spaniards with so much precaution, that Valdivia was surrounded and massacred, together with his hun dred and fifty men. It is said that the savages poured melted gold down his throat, exclaiming with exultation, " Glut thyself with that metal of which thou art so fond ! " They availed them selves of this victory to burn and destroy many of the Spanish settlements ; and all of them had shared this fate, had they not re ceived timely assistance, by means of considerable reinforcements sent from Peru, which enabled them to defend their remaining posts, and afterwards to recover those they had lost. These fatal hostilities were renewed in proportion as the usur pers wished to extend their empire, and frequently even when they did not entertain this ambitious design. The engagements were bloody, and for a long course of years were only interrupted by short truces. The following sketch of these people is agreea ble to the representations of the early Spanish writers : " The people of Arauco, or the Araucanians, are the most nil* merous, the most intrepid, and the most irreconcilable enemies the Spaniards have had in these regions. They are often joined by the inhabitants, of Tucapel, and of the river Biobio, and by those whose domains extend towards the Cordilleras. As their manners bear a greater resemblance to those of the savages of North America than to those of the Peruvians, their neighbors, the confederacies they formed were always formidable. "When they go to war, they carry nothing with them, and want neither tents nor baggage. The same trees from which they gather their food, supply them with lances and darts. As they are sure of finding, in one place, what they had in another, they willingly resign any country which they are unable to defend ; all places are equally indifferent to them. Their troops, free from all incumbrance of provisions and ammunition, march with surpris ing agility. They expose themselves to danger, like men who 10* o 114 SPANISH DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS. set little value on life ; and if they lose the field of battle, they are not at a loss for magazines and encampments wherever there is ground covered with fruits. l These are the only people of the New World, who ventured to try their strength with the Spaniards in the open field, and who have thought of the use of the sling to lance the stroke of death from afar. They are so bold, that they will attack the best forti fied posts. They sometimes succeed in these violent attacks, because they are continually receiving succors, which prevent them from being sensible of their losses. If these be so considerable as to oblige them to desist, they retire a few leagues, and five or six days after, they direct their attacks to another post. These bar barians never think themselves beaten unless they are surrounded. If they can reach a place of difficult access, they think themselves conquerors. The head of a Spaniard, which they carry off in triumph, comforts them for the loss of a hundred Indians." In 1550, the town of Concepcion was built on an uneven and sandy soil, a little raised, upon the borders of a bay which is nearly four leagues in circumference, ajid has three ports, one of which only is safe. The town was at first the capital of a colo ny ; but the neighboring Indians so frequently made themselves masters of it, that, in 1574, it was thought proper to deprive it of this distinction. In 1603, it was again destroyed by the Arauca- nians, but rebuilt. Since that period it has suffered much from earthquakes. Before the arrival of the Spaniards, Paraguay contained a great number of distinct nations, each consisting, for the most part, of a few families. Their manners must have been the same, and if there had been a difference in their characters, it would hardly have been noticed by the adventurers who first shed the blood of the native Americans. These nations lived by hunting and fishing, and upon wild fruits, and honey, which was commonly found in the forests, and roots that are yielded spontaneously by the soil. They were perpetually wandering from one district to another. As they had nothing to remove but a few earthen vessels, and as branches of trees could be found everywhere of which to build their huts, these emigrations were attended with few incumbian- ces. Though they all lived in a state of absolute independence, yet the necessity of mutual defence had obliged thorn to form associations. Some individuals united under the direction of a leader of their own choice. These associations, which were more or less powerful, in proportion to the reputation and abilities of the chief, were as easily dissolved as formed. The discovery of the river Paraguay was made in 1515, by CABOT DISCOVERS THE LA PLATA. 115 Diaz de Soils, a noted pilot of Castile. He and most of his men were massacred by the natives, who, to avoid being enslaved, some years after, also destroyed the Portuguese who settled in Brazil. The two rival nations, Spain and Portugal, equally alarmed by these calamities, gave up all present thought of Para guay, and turned their avaricious views towards another quarter. The Spaniards accidentally returned to Paraguay in 1526. Sebastian Cabot, who, in 1496, had made the discovery of New foundland for the crown of England, finding that kingdom was too much occupied by domestic affairs to think of making settle ments in a new world, offered his services to Castile, where his reputation caused him to be fixed upon to conduct an important expedition. The Victory, celebrated for being the first ship that ever sailed round the world, and the only one of Magellan's squadron that returned to Europe, had brought back from the East Indies a great quantity of spices. The immense profit arising from the sale of these, occasioned the undertaking of a second expedition, the command of which was given to Cabot. In pursuing the track of the former voyage, he arrived at the mouth of the Rio de la Plata. Being either in want of provisions, or compelled by the mutiny of his men, he put into the river. Sailing up the stream, he gave it the name of La Plata, because, among the spoils of a few Indians, inhumanly put to death, some ornaments of gold and silver had been found. Cabot built a kind of fortress at the entrance of a river, descending from the mountains of Tucuman. The opposition he met with from the inhabitants of the country made him judge, that, in order to form a solid establishment, means were necessary superior to those he possessed. In 1530, he went to Spain, in order to obtain recruits. Those of his companions whom he left in the colony, were most of them massacred, and the few who escaped from the hands of the enemy soon aban doned the country. Some more considerable forces, led by Mendoza, came and set tled on the river in 1535, and laid the foundation of Buenos Ayres. They were soon reduced to the necessity of perishing with hun ger within their palisades, or of devoting themselves to certain death if they ventured out of them in order to procure subsist ence. A return to Europe seemed to be the only way of relief from so desperate a situation ; but the Spaniards had persuaded themselves that the inland countries abounded in mines, and this belief induced them to persevere. They abandoned a place, where they could no longer live, and founded, in 1536, a colony on the island of Assumpcion, three hundred leagues up the coun- 116 SPANISH DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS. try. but still on the banks of the same river. By this change, they evidently removed farther from the assistance of the mother coimtry, but they imagined it brought them nearer the source of riches, and their avidity was still greater than their foresight. They were again, however, reduced to the necessity of perish ing, unless they could succeed in gaining the friendship of the savages. The marriage of the Spaniards with the Indian women appeared calculated to effect this great object; and it was accord ingly resolved upon. From the union of two such different nations sprang the race of Mestizoes, which, in process of time, became so common in South America. Thus it seems to be the fate of the Spaniards in all parts of the world to be a mixed race. The blood of the Moors still flows in their veins in Europe, and that of the savages in the western hemisphere. The thirst of gold perpetuated the cruelty of the Spaniards, even after the connections they had formed. They wished to punish the Indians for their own obstinacy in searching for gold where there was none. Several ships, which were bringing them troops and ammunition, were lost, witfrall they had on board, by venturing too far up the river ; but even this circumstance could not prevent them from obstinately persisting in their avaricious views, though they had so long been disappointed in them, till they were compelled, by repeated orders from the mother coun try, to re-establish themselves at Buenos Ayres. This necessary undertaking had now become easy. The Span iards, who had multiplied in Paraguay, were strong enough to restrain or destroy the nations that might oppose them. Accord ingly, they met with little difficulty. Juan Ortiz de Zarate exe cuted the plan in 1580, and rebuilt Buenos Ayres upon the same spot which had been forsaken for forty years. Some of the petty nations in the neighborhood submitted to the yoke. Those which were* more attached to their liberty, went to a greater distance, with a view of removing still farther, in proportion as their opres- sors should extend their establishments. Most of them at last took refuge in Chaco. This country, two hundred and fifty leagues in length, and one hundred and fifty in breadth, is reckoned one of the finest in Amer ica, and is people^.with many thousands of savages. They form, as in other parts of the New World, a great numbed of nations, many of which even now remain but imperfectly known. Their territory is traversed by several rivers. The Pilcomayo, more considerable than all the rest, issues from the province of Charcas, and divides into two branches, seventy leagues before it empties itself into the Rio de la Plata. The course of this river appeared INFLUENCE OF THE JESUITS. 117 to be the most convenient way of establishing settled connections between Paraguay and Peru. It was not, however, till 1702, that an attempt was made to sail up the river. The people who dwelt upon the banks, understood very well that they should sooner or later be enslaved if the expedition were successful; and they prevented this misfortune by massacring all the Spaniards who were engaged in it. Nineteen years after, the Jesuits resumed this grand project; but when they had advanced three hundred and fifty leagues, they were forced to put back, for want of water. They were blamed for having undertaken it in the months of September, October and November, which, in these countries, constitute the dry season; and there is no doubt that the enterprise must have proved success ful at another period of the year. After incredible fatigues, which were for a long time useless, some missionaries at length succeeded in fixing three thousand of these wandering Indians in fourteen villages, seven of which were situated on the frontiers of Tucuman, four on the side of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, two towards Taixa ; and one in the neighborhood of the island of Assumpcion. America had been laid waste during the course of a century, when the Jesuits brought into this country that indefatigable activity, which, from their origin, had made them so successful in their undertakings. These enterprising men could not recall from the tomb the thousands of victims which had been sacrificed by the blind ferocity of the Spaniards ; they could not drag out of the bowels of the earth the timid Indians, whom the avarice of the conquerors obliged daily to descend into the mines. Their anxiety was turned towards those savages, whom a wandering life had, till then, preserved from tyranny and the sword. The plan was to draw them out of their forests, and to collect them into a national body, but at a distance from the places inhabited by the oppressors of the new hemisphere. These views were crowned with much success in California, among the Moxos, among tho Chiquitos upon the river Amazon, and in some other countries. Nevertheless, none of their institutions acquired so great a degree of splendor as that which was formed at Paraguay, which had for its basis the maxims followed by the incas of Peru in the government of their empire and in their conquests. The descendants of Manco Capac used to march to their fron tiers with armies, which at least knew how to obey, to fight and to intrench themselves, and who, together with better offensive arms than those of the savages, had also shields and defensive weapons, which their enemies had not. They proposed to the 118 SPANISH DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS. nation which they wanted to unite to their government, to embrace their religion, laws and manners. These invitations were most commonly rejected. Fresh deputies were sent, who urged these matters more strenuously. Sometimes they were murdered ; and the savages fell suddenly upon the Peruvians. The troops that were attacked had generally the advantage ; but they suspended the fight the instant they had gained the victory, and treated their prisoners so kindly that these afterwards inspired their companions with an affection for conquerors so humane. A Peruvian army seldom began an attack, and the inca has often been known to forbear hostilities even after he had experienced the perfidy of the barbarians and several of his soldiers had been murdered. The Jesuits, who had no army, confined themselves to the arts of preservation. They penetrated into the forest in search of the savages, and prevailed upon them to renounce their old customs and prejudices, to embrace a religion which, however, they did not comprehend, and to enjoy the sweets of society, to which they had always been strangers. The incas had another advantage orer the Jesuits, which lay in the nature of their religion, and which was calculated to strike the senses. It is more easy to persuade men to worship the sun, which seems to announce its own divinity to mortals, than to adore an invisible God, and to believe doctrines and mysteries which they can hardly understand. Accordingly, the missionaries had the prudence to civilize the savages in some measure, before they attempted to convert them. They did not pretend to make them avowed Christians, till they had made them feel, in some degree, like men. As soon as they had assembled them in communities, they exerted themselves to provide everything for their subsistence and comfort. In this manner, by rendering them contented and tractable, they found it much easier to persuade them, formally, to embrace Christianity. The Jesuits imitated the example of the incas, in the division of land into three shares ; for religious purposes, for the public, and for individuals. They encouraged working for orphans, old people and soldiers; they rewarded great actions; they inspected or censured the morals of the people ; they practised acts of benev olence ; they established festivals, and intermixed them with labo rious employments; they appointed military exercises; kept up a spirit of subordination ; invented preservatives against idleness, and inspired the people with respect for religion and virtue. They educated the young, and taught them to sing hymns, while they moved in long processions. In a word, whatever was valuable POLICY OF THE INC AS AND JESUITS. 119 in the legislation of the incas was adopted, or even improved upon in Paraguay. Singing hymns. The incas and the Jesuits had alike established such a system of regularity and order, as prevented the commission of crimes, and removed the necessity of punishment. There was hardly such a thing as a delinquent in Paraguay. The morals of the people were good, and were maintained in this state of purity by still milder methods than had been practised in Peru. The crim inal laws had been severe in that empire ; they were not so among the Indians of Paraguay. Punishments were not dreaded there, and men feared nothing so much as the reproach of their own conscience. After the example of the incas, the Jesuits had established the theocratical government, with an additional help peculiar to the Catholic religion ; this was the practice of confession, which, in Paraguay, brought the guilty person to the feet of the magistrate. There, far from palliating his crime, remorse made him rather aggravate it ; and instead of endeavoring to elude his punishment, he implored it on his knees. The more public and severe it was, the more did it contribute to quiet his conscience. By these means, punishment, which in all other places is a terror to the guilty, was here considered a source of consolation, as it stifled the pangs of remorse by the expiation of the guilt. The Indians of Paraguay had no civil laws, because they knew of no property; nor had they any criminal statutes, because every one was his own accuser, and voluntarily submitted to punishment. Their only laws were the precepts of religion. There were more arts and domestic conveniences in the repub- 120 SPANISH DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS. lies of the Jesuits, than there had been even in Cuzco itself, with out more luxury. The use of coin was unknown. The watch maker, weaver, locksmith and tailor, all deposited their works in public warehouses. They were supplied with every necessary of life, for the husbandman labored for them. The ministers of re ligion, assisted by magistrates who were chosen by the people, attended to the several wants of the whole community. Thore was no distinction of station ; and it appears to have been the only successful attempt at a political society, on an extended scale, where men have enjoyed that equality which is the second of all blessings ; for liberty is undoubtedly the first. The incas and the Jesuits both inspired mankind with a rever ence for religion, by the dazzling pomp of external ceremonies. The temples of- the sun were as well constructed, and as well ornamented, as the imperfect state of the arts, and the nature of the materials in use, would allow ; and the churches in Paraguay were very beautiful. Sacred music, that awakened human sensi bility, aifecting hymns, lively paintings, the pomp of ceremonies ; everything, in a word, conspired to attract and to detain the In dians in these places of divine worship, where they found enjoy ment blended with the exercises of piety. When the missions of Paraguay were taken out of the hands of the Jesuits, in 1768, they had arrived perhaps to the highest degree of civilization to which it is possible to bring savage nations, and which certainly far surpassed anything to be found in the rest of the new hemisphere. The laws were well observed ; an exact police was established; the manners were pure, and all the inhabitants were united by brotherly love. All the arts of necessity were improved, and some of those of luxury were known. Plenty was universal, and the public stores were filled. In a word, two leading objects of political government, tranquillity and -contentment, seemed to be fully secured to these people. Such is the picture, at least, afforded by the Spanish writers, and it appears to have received the general assent of mankind, with little abatement of the favoring colors in which it is drawn.. CHAPTER XII. Settlement 0f Venezuela and Guiana. Story of El Dorado. Settlement of Darien and Calif 01 nia. General view of the government of Spanish America. Rapacity of the viceroys. Monopoly of commerce by the mother country. Despotism of the government. Description of the several classes of the inhabitants. State of the Indians. Intercourse of the South Americans with Spain. Fair of Porto Bello. Integrity of the Spanish merchants. Effect of the treasures of the Amer ican mines upon Spain. Decline of that kingdom. Effects of the war of the succession. The trade of Peru opened to the French. The Asiento treaty with the English. The Porto Bello trade opened to the English. Factories estab lished by them in Spanish America. Contraband trade. Abolition of the galeons. Entrance to palace of El Dorado. FLORIDA soon attracted the notice of the Spanish adrenturers, and was invaded by them in the same daring spirit as the neigh boring countries. But as that territory now forms a portion of the American republic, we have reserved the account of this in vasion for the history of the United States. We shall now pro ceed to complete the history of the Spanish discoveries and con quests in the southern portion of the western hemisphere. The province of VENEZUELA was first visited by the Spaniards 11 p 122 SPANISH DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS. under Ojeda, in 1499. The voyagers, on landing there, observed a village of Indian huts built upon piles, in order to raise them above the stagnant water which covered the ground. They named the place Venezuela, from their usual propensity to find a resemblance between the objects they saw in America and those that were familiar to them in Europe. They made some attempts to settle here, but with little success. The final reduction of the province was accomplished by means very different from those to which Spain was indebted for her other acquisitions in the New World. The ambition of Charles Y. often engaged him in undertakings of such variety and extent as to exceed the capacity of his reve nue. Among other expedients for supplying the deficiencies of his treasury, he -had borrowed large sums of money from the Vel- sers, of Augsburg, the richest merchants 'then in Europe. By way of payment, or perhaps in hopes of obtaining a new loan, he bestowed upon them the province of Venezuela, to be held as a hereditary fief of the crown of Castile, on condition that within a limited time they should make themselves masters of the country and establish a colony there. Under proper conductors this scheme might have been attended with good success ; but unfortu nately, its execution was intrusted to some of those soldiers of for tune who abounded in Germany in the sixteenth century. These adventurers, impatient to amass riches, instead of planting a colony that might have cultivated and improved the country, wandered from district to district in search of mines, plundering the natives with unfeeling rapacity, and oppressing them by the imposition of intolerable tasks. In a few years their avarice and extortions, in comparison with which those of the Spaniards were moderate, desolated the province so completely that it could hardly afford them subsistence ; and the Velsers relinquished a property from which they had no hope of ever deriving any advantage. When the wretched remainder of the Germans abandoned Venezuela, the Spaniards again took possession of it; but unfortu nately, the scenes of horror which the Germans had exhibited, were renewed by Carvajal, to whom was confided the government of this unhappy country. His barbarities rendered the depopula tion so complete, that, as early as 1550, a great number of negroes were imported from' Africa, on whom the hopes of anMinbounded prosperity were founded. But the habits of tyranny impelled the Spaniards to treat" these slaves with so much severity that they revolted. Their rebellion was assigned as a reason for massa cring all the males, and this province once more became a desert, in which the ashes of negroes, Spaniards, Indians and Germans, GUIANA. 123 the oppressors and the oppressed, were intermingled. In conse quence of these ravages the country for a long time lay waste, and when new settlements w~re begun, they advanced so slowly that this part of the Spanish possessions remained comparatively ob scure and unproductive, while the other American colonies were \n a nourishing condition. GUIANA, or the territory extending from the Orinoco to the Ama zon, was peopled, at the time of its discovery, by a diversity of tribes, similar in their general character to the other natives of South America. The Orinoco was discovered by Columbus in 1498, but the country lay many years neglected. It was not till 1535, that the Spaniards thought of exploring it ; and being then disappointed in their search after mines, they regarded it as of so lit tle value that they founded but one settlement on the Orinoco. This country is remarkable, in the early history of America, as being the quarter in wliich was situated the fabulous region of El Dorado. The belief in the existence of this country cost Spain a greater expenditure of life and treasure than all her other conquests in the New World. There were, along the whole coast of the Spanish Main, rumors of an inland country which abounded with gold. These rumors undoubtedly related to the kingdom of Bogota and Tunja, now the Republic of New Granada. Belalcazar set out in quest of this country from Quito. Federman, who came from Venezuela, and Gonzalo Ximenes de Qaiesada, sought it by way of the river Madalena. Wherever these adventurers came there were rumors of a rich land at a distance. Similar accounts prevailed in Peru. In Peru they related to New Grenada ; there they related to Peru ; and thus adventurers from both sides were allured to continue the pursuit of an object which constantly fled before them. An imaginary kingdom was soon shaped out as the object of their quest, and stories concerning it were easily invented and eagerly believed. It was said that a younger brother of Atahualpa fled from Peru after the destruction of the incas, took with him the main part of their treasures, and founded a greater empire than that of which his family had been deprived. Some times this imaginary emperor was called the Great Paytiti, some times the Great Moxo, sometimes the Emm, or Great Paru. An impostor at Lima affirmed that he had been in his capital, the city of Manoa, where not fewer than three thousand workmen were* employed in the silversmiths' street. He even produced a map of the country, in which he had marked a hill of gold, another of silver, and a third of salt. The columns of the palace were de scribed as of porphyry and alabaster ; the galleries of ebony and cedar ; the throne of ivory, and the ascent to it was by steps of gold. 124 SPANISH DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS. TV hen Don Martin del Barco was writing his poem of the Ar gentina, which was about the time of Sir Walter Raleigh's first expedition to Guiana, a report was current in Paraguay, that the court of the Great Moxo had been discovered. Don Martin com municates it as certain intelligence, and expresses his regret that Cabeza de Vaca, had turned back from the Xarayes ; for had he proceeded in that direction, he would have been the fortunate discoverer. The palace, he says, stood on an island in a lake. It was built of white stone ; at the entrance were two towers, and between them a column five and twenty feet in height ; on its top was a large silver moon, and two living lions were fastened to its base with chains of gold. Having passed by these keepers you came into a quadrangle, planted with trees and watered by a silver fountain which spouted through four golden pipes. The gate of the palace was of copper; it was very small, and its bolt was received into the solid rock. Within, a golden sun was placed upon an altar of silver, and four lamps were kept burning before it day and night. However manifestly these fictions were borrow ed from the romances of Amadis de Gaul and Palmerin of Eng land, they were not too gross for the greedy avarice of those to whom they were addressed. This imaginary kingdom obtained the name of El Dorado, from the fashion of its emperor, who was described as arrayed in the most whimsical and barbarous magnificence. His body was anointed every morning with a certain fragrant gum, of great price, and gold dust was then blown upon him through a tube till he was covered with it; the whole was washed off at night. This the barbarian thought a more magnificent and costly attire than could be afforded by any other potentate in the world, and hence the Spaniards called him El Dorado, or the Gilded One. A history of all the. expeditions which were undertaken for the conquest of this fabu lous kingdom, would form a volume no less entertaining than extraordinary. The belief in the existence of El Dorado was not extinct at the end of the sixteenth century, and Sir Walter Raleigh, though probably discrediting the marvellous part of the story himself, did not scruple to make use of the fable in alluring the English into a scheme of his own for colonizing Guiana. He led an expedition to that country in l&OO, but after making an unsuccessful attempt to penetrate into the interior, he was forced to abandon the under taking and return to England. The deceits which he had practised in order to promote this measure were exposed and his character was ruined. Raleigh's expedition to Guiana brought him to the scaffold. CAYENNE. 125 The French formed a settlement at CAYENNE, in 1635. This colony experienced many disasters. The merchants of Rouen Vien in Cayenne. formed a company for colonization here, and entrusted the man agement of it to Poncet de Bretigny, a man of ferocious disposition. He declared war both against the natives and the colonists, and was soon massacred. This misfortune checked the prosperity of the colony; but, in 1651, a new company was established, on a larger scale than the first. In Paris alone, seven or eight hundred settlers were 'collected. They embarked on the Seine for Havre de Grace, but, unfortunately, the virtuous Abbe de Marivault, who was the chief promoter of the undertaking, and who had been selected for director-general, was drowned as he was stepping into his boat. Roiville, a gentleman of Normandy, was then appointed general, but he was assassinated on the passage. Twelve of the principal adventurers who had committed this deed of violence, assumed the direction of affairs, and administered the government of the colony in a manner worthy of so atrocious a beginning. They hanged one of their number, and banished three to a desert island; two more died, and the rest abandoned themselves to every species of excess. The commandant of the citadel deserted to the Dutch with a part of his garrison, and those of the remainder who escaped hunger, sickness and the fury of the savages, which had been roused by numerous provocations, abandoned the country, after fifteen months' stay, and fled to the leeward islands. They left 126 SPANISH DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS. behind them in the fort a large quantity of arms, ammunition and merchandise, with the dead bodies of six hundred of their wretched companions. In 1663, a new company was formed in France, under the direc tion of La Barre, master of requests, with a capital of about forty thousand dollars. By obtaining some assistance from the ministry, they were able to expel the Dutch, who had taken possession of the country. In 1667, the English became masters of the colony, and the Dutch again in 1676; but it reverted to the French, who still retain it. SURINAM was founded by the French in 1640, but they aban doned it shortly afterwards, and were succeeded by the English, who made some progress in the settlement, when they were driven out by the Dutch. ' The colony was confirmed to them by the peace of Breda, and they remain masters of it at the present day. The Dutch formed a settlement on the Essequibo about the year 1602 ; this and the settlements in its neighborhood were subse quently taken by the French and English. They were recovered by the Dutch, and retained by them till 17&1, when the colonies on the Essequibo and Demerara put themselves under British protec tion. In 1783 the French again took possession of this territory. The British subdued them in 1796, and they were restored to the Dutch at the treaty. of Amiens, in 1802. The British took posses sion of them once more in 1803, and have retained them to the present day. A settlement was made by the Scotch at the ISTHMUS OF DARIEN in 1696. They landed twelve hundred men, furnished with every thing necessary to establish a colony. The country was named Caledonia, and the town which they began to build, New Edin burgh. The design of the settlers was to gain the confidence ol the natives, whom the Spaniards could not subdue, and with whom they were then at war ; to intercept the Spanish galeoris, and, by combining with the British forces at Jamaica, to cut off the trade through Carthagena and Porto Bello, and compete with the Spaniards for the ascendency in this part of the world. This scheme aroused the jealousy of Louis XIV., who offered the court of Madrid a fleet to frustrate the attempt. The Dutch were still more alarmed, in the apprehension that this new company would one day rival them in the smuggling trade, of which tlley enjoyed at that period a monopoly. But, above all, the Spaniards had reason to oppose it, and the government of Madrid threatened in consequence to confiscate the property of British merchants trading in their territories. Yet, had the scheme been encouraged by the English, there can be little doubt that a permanent establishment CALIFORNIA. ' ,,' 127 would have been effected, of great importance to their commerce. Some illiberal prejudices, however, excited the court against this enterprise. Scotland was yet a separate kingdom, and it was feared that the gold of America, by making that country rich, would withdraw it from its dependence on England. The permis sion to make this settlement was therefore revoked by king William; and he prohibited all the other British colonies from furnishing arms and ammunition or provisions to the settlement at Darien. The undertaking was therefore stifled in its infancy. CALIFORNIA was discovered by Cortez in 1536, but he had no leisure to explore it. Several unsuccessful attempts were after wards made to form settlements there, and the losses and expendi tures consequent upon these failures had so far discouraged the Spanish government that the project was entirely given up, till, in 1697, the Jesuits offered to undertake it. Having obtained this permission, they devised a plan of legislation founded upon accu rate notions of the climate, soil and character of the inhabitants. Their proceedings were not guided by fanaticism. They treated the natives with gentleness and conciliation, winning their favor with gifts, instead of exciting their hostility by plundering them oi their property. The hatred which the Californians bore against the Spanish name was overcome, the useful arts were introduced, and a considerable degree of civilization established among the inhabitants. The whole Spanish dominion in America was divided into two great governments ; one subject to the viceroy of New Spain, or Mexico, and the other to the viceroy of Peru. The jurisdiction of the former extended over all the provinces north of the Isthmus of Panama ; that of the latter, over all the South American prov inces. The inconveniences of this arrangement were felt at an early period ; and they became intolerable when the remote prov inces had increased in population. So wide was the extent of these dominions, that many places subject to the jurisdiction of the viceroys, were at such an enormous distance from the capitals in which they resided, that no authority could effectually reach them. Some districts in the viceroy alty of Mexico lay at a dis tance of two thousand miles from the seat of government. Lima, the capital of the viceroyalty of Peru, was at a still greater dis tance from some of its dependencies. The people in these remote quarters, could hardly be said to enjoy the benefits of civil gov ernment. The oppression and insolence of petty magistrates were grievances that were borne in silence, as no redress could be obtained, except by a long and expensive journey to the capital. A partial remedy for these evils was at length applied, at the be- 128 SPANISH DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS. ginning of the last contury, by the establishment of a third vice- royalty at Santa Fe de Bogota, the capital of the new kingdom of Granada, the jurisdiction of which extended over the whole^ kingdom of Tierra Firme and the province of Quito. Subse quently a fourth viceroyalty was erected, comprising the provin ces of Rio de la Plata, Buenos Ayres, Paraguay, Tucuman, Potosi, and a few other districts. The limits of the viceroyalty of New Spain were likewise contracted, and four of its remote provinces, California, Sinaloa, Sonora and New Navarre, formed into a sepa rate government, without, however, the rank of a viceroyalty. The viceroys of these rich and extensive countries, not only rep resented the person of their sovereign, but possessed his royal prerogatives in their utmost strength, within the precincts of their own governments. -Their authority was supreme in every de partment, military, civil and criminal. They presided in every tribunal, and had the sole right of nominating to offices of the highest importance. The external pomp of their government corresponded with its real dignity and power. The court was formed upon the model of that at Madrid, with horse and foot guards. They possessed a household regularly established ; nu merous attendants and insignia of command, and made a display of pompous magnificence which hardly bore the semblance of delegated authority. The government of Madrid, with character istic jealousy, being conscious of all this, and of the innumerable opportunities the viceroys possessed of amassing wealth, permit ted them to remain in office only a few years ; which circumstance only increased their rapacity, and added to the ingenuity with which they labored to improve every moment of power, which they knew was hastening fast to a period. They were then suc ceeded by others, who had the same motives to pursue the same conduct ; and being generally chosen out of families of distinc tion, decayed in fortune, the provinces thus became exhausted by avarice and oppression. The viceroys were aided in their government by officers and tri bunals similar to those in Spain. The administration of justice was. vested in courts known by the name of Audiences. These were eleven in number, dispensing justice to as many districts. Their sentences were final in all cases of property below the value of six thousand dollars"; above this, the case was subjecfcjto review, and might be carried by appeal before the Royal Council of the Indies in Spain. The first object of the Spanish government, after reducing the native Americans to subjection and establishing the colonies in perpetual dependence on the parent state, was to secure a mo- GOVERNMENT OF THE COLONIES. 129 nopoly of their commerce. In order to prevent the colonies from making any efforts in trade or manufacture that might interfere with the business of the mother country, they prohibited, by the severest penalties, the establishment of the staple manufactures of Spain, and the culture of the vine and olive. The inhabitants trusted to old Spain both for articles of luxury and prime neces sity. In exchange for these, the colonies sent to Spain the pro duce of their mines and plantations. All that they produced flowed into the ports of Spain, and nearly all that they consumed issued from them. No foreigner could enter one of the Spanish American settlements without express permission ; foreign vessels were excluded from their ports, and the penalty of death and con fiscation was denounced against all who presumed to trade with them. Nor did the jealousy and narrow maxims cf the Spanish government stop here. All communication was prohibited be tween one province and another along the Pacific Ocean, though each of these yielded peculiar productions, which could have been interchanged, to the great promotion of the wealth, industry and happiness of the people. Hostile nations have enjoyed more inter course with each other than was permitted to the Spaniards of Mexico, Peru, New Granada and Guatemala. Such is the general outline of the ancient government of Spanish America, a system dictated by avarice and ambition, selfish and short-sighted, and rendered still more oppressive by superstition Never, perhaps, was a despotism established with so little regard to the rights of humanity ; the natives enslaved, the colonists subjected to the arbitrary will of a constant succession of hungry and rapacious rulers, who preyed upon their vitals with the re morseless greediness of so many vultures ; prohibited from sup plying their own wants, from intercourse with foreigners or the neighboring colonies of their own countrymen, and obliged to purchase the produce of the mother country at an extravagant price. In order to secure the monopoly at which she aimed, Spain conducted all her trade with America by means of two fleets with strong convoys, one named the galeons, and the other the flotn ; they were equipped annually, and sailed from Seville, touching at Cadiz. In consequence of such a restricted mode of communi cation, the profits on merchandise exported to America, generally amounted to two and three hundred per cent. Population was not likely to make rapid advances in settle ments where men had so few inducements to think of their posterity ; nor was industry likely to flourish under all these dis couragements. As a further check upon both, the Catholic reli gion, under the same form as in Spain, was established here, with Q 130 SPANISH DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS. its full train of archbishops, bishops, deans and other dignita ries, exacting a tenth out of the produce of the planter. This tax on industry, which is no slight oppression to society even in its most improved state, was highly grievous to the infant colonies, as it affected every article of prime necessity. The indu&try of the planter was taxed in every stage of its progress, but so fertile were the regions which the settlers occupied, that population gradually increased, in spite of every hindrance from the govern ment, and the colonies were rilled with citizens of various distinct orders. Among these the natives of Old Spain held the first rank, by the name of chapetones ; and from the jealousy of the Spanish ccurt in securing the dependence of the colonies, every office of importance was filled from this class of persons. Those, who, by their birth or long' residence in America, might be suspected to have any interest separate from that of the mother country, were the objects of distrust to such a degree that it amounted nearly to an exclusion from all offices of trust or authority. The chape- tones, therefore, were raised to such a pre-eminence in Spanish America, that they looked down with disdain on every other order of men. The Creoles, or descendants of Europeans settled in America, formed the second class of subjects in the Spanish colonies. Some of these were the posterity of the original conquerors, and others belonged to the noblest families of Spain, but by the enervating influence of a sultry climate, and other causes, the original vigor of their minds became so entirely broken, that the greater part of them were accustomed to waste life in luxurious indul gence. Commerce ^7 as too laborious an employment for them; and the interior traffic of the colonies, as well as that with Spain, was carried on solely by the chapetones, who acquired immense wealth by this means, at the same time that they engrossed the emoluments of government. The various passions excited by this distinction of rank and character, settled down into the most im placable hatred between these two classes, which, even at an early period, broke out into occasional ferments. From a refinement, in their distrustful policy, the court of Spain cnerished the seeds of discord, and fomented this mutual jealousy, hoping to prevent the two most powerful classes of its subjects in the New World from combining against the parent state. The further effects of these animosities, as exhibited in the revolutions to which Spanish America has been subjected during the present century, will be described in another portion of this work. The third class of colonists was a mixed race, the offspring either of an European and a negro, or of an European and Indian, RACES IN THE SPANISH COLONIES. 131 the former a mulatto, and the latter a mestizo. The several stages of descent in their race, and the gradual variations of shade, until the African black, or the copper-color of America brightened into an European complexion, were accurately marked by the Spaniards, and each distinguished by a peculiar name. The mechanic arts were chiefly carried on by this mixed race, whose form is remarka bly robust and hardy. The negroes held the fourth rank, and were chiefly employed in domestic service. They were much caressed by their masters, whose manners they imitated, and whose passions they imbibed. Their dress and external appear ance were hardly inferior to that of their lords. Elevated by this distinction, they assumed a tone of superiority over the Indians, and treated them with such insolence, that the antipathy between the two races became deep and inveterate. The Indians formed the fifth and the most depressed order of inhabitants in that country which belonged to their ancestors. By the edict of Charles V., which caused such disturbances, the Indians were exempted from involuntary services ; but so much inconvenience was experienced in carrying this edict into literal execution, that, after many fruitless attempts, the project was abandoned ; and measures were taken to secure the labor of the Indians, and make them contribute to the support of government, at the same time regarding them as freemen. A yearly tax was laid upon every male from eighteen years of age to fifty, and the nature and degree of the services required were fixed with preci sion. Every Indian was either an immediate vassal of the crown, or a dependent upon some person to whom the district where he lived had been granted for a limited time, under the name of an encomienda. In the former case about three fourths of the tax were paid into the royal treasury; in the latter, the same proportion went to the holder of the grant. According to the same rule, the benefit arising from the services of the Indians, accrued either to the crown, or to the grantee of the encomienda. The nature of the work was not only defined, but a recompense, seemingly equi table, assigned. On many occasions, however, both from the avarice of individuals and the exactions of the magistrates, un reasonable tasks were imposed, the term of labor prolonged, and they were made to groan under all the insults and wrongs of an enslaved and degraded people. The mines were the great source of their oppression. Their constitutions were exhausted, and their bodies worn down, by extracting ore from the bowels of the earth, and refining it by a process no less laborious than un healthy. How often must they have cursed the fatal wealth of their soil, which not only tempted the Spaniards to conquest, but 132 SPANISH DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS. doomed them to a condition more completely wretched than that of any other vanquished race ! Porto Bello, on the Gulf of Darien, although situated in a most unhealthy spot, became at one period the theatre of the richest commerce that ever was transacted on the face of the earth. The gold, silver and other productions of Peru and Chili, were carried annually thither from Panama, to be exchanged for the manufac tures of Europe, while, on the other hand, the galeons arrived from Spain, laden with every article of necessity and luxury. At this period Porto Bello was filled with people, its harbor crowded with ships, and the neighboring fields covered with droves of mules, laden with the precious metals. Instead of poverty and solitude, its characteristics on ordinary occasions, the town ex hibited, during the season of the fair, the most imposing show of wealth and activity. Bales of goods, chests of treasure, and bustling crowds everywhere met the eye. As soon as the galeons were unloaded, and the merchants of Peru with the president of Panama had arrived, preliminaries of the fair began. The depu ties of the several parties repaired on boarS the admiral's ship, where the prices of the different commodities were settled, in presence of the commander of the galeons and the president of Panama. The estimate was not adjusted according to the intrin sic value of each article, but by its scarcity or plenty ; and the ability of the agents was shown in forming their combinations so judiciously, that the cargo imported from Europe should absorb all the treasures that were sent from Lima. It was regarded as a bad market when goods were left unsold for want of money, or money remained unexpended for want of goods. In the former case, and in that only, the Spanish merchants were permitted to go and traffic in the South Sea ; and in the latter, only, the Peru vian merchants might make remittances to Spain, for the purchase of goods. The prices being settled, the business of the fair began. This was neither tedious nor difficult, but was conducted with that simplicity and confidence which accompany extensive commerce. No bale of goods was ever opened; no chest of treasure was examined; both were received on the credit of the persons to whom they belonged; and the exchanges were made with so much honesty, that this liberal confidence was itever abused. Chests of gold were found more than once mixed among chests of silver ; and articles were contained in the bales not mentioned in the invoice, but all these were accurately accounted for on the return of the galeons. There was known one instance of fraud. In 1654, all the coined silver which was shipped from Porto Bello 133 to Europe, was found to have one fifth of alloy. The Spanish merchants, with their usual integrity, sustained the whole loss, and indemnified the foreigners by whom they were employed. The fraud was detected, and the author of it, who was no other than the treasurer of the mint at Lima, publicly burnt for his vil- lany. The reputation, therefore, of the Peruvian merchants suf* fered no stain. The fair of Porto Bello was limited to forty days, on account of the insalubrity of the place. After this, the galeons returned to Spain by the way of Cuba, often with twenty millions of dol lars in money and goods. The two towns of Porto Bello and Panama, which were the main channels of communication be tween Spain and her most valuable colonies, were reduced almost to nothing after the galeons were abolished. The quantity of gold and silver entered at the Spanish ports from America, exceeded twenty millions of dollars per annum, besides what was smuggled. It might naturally be supposed that such a torrent of treasure must have rendered Spain the richest country in the universe. But the event proved other wise. All the greedy rapacity and oppression of the Spanish conquerors have been unable to prevent Spain from sinking into one of the poorest and feeblest powers in Europe. When the American mines were first opened, and the intercourse be tween the mother country and her colonies became active, the industry and manufactures of Spain were so thriving that she was able to answer the growing demands of the American set tlements. The manufactures in wool, and flax, and silk, were so considerable, as to furnish not only sufficient for her own con sumption, but afforded a surplus for exportation. And when a new market for them was opened, to which she alone had ac cess, this new employment must have augmented her industry. But a sudden and enormous influx of wealth must ever bring pernicious consequences in its train, by overturning all sober plans of industry, and breeding a taste for whatever is wild, extrava gant and daring in business and action. The treasures of Spain were accordingly squandered by Charles V. in attempts to over turn the liberties of Germany, and by the imbecile and arrogant Philip II., who imagined his feeble intellect equal to the task of subjugating all Europe. Spain was thus drained of men and money, The calamities of the country were increased by the bigot, Philip III., who wantonly expelled from his dominions a million of industrious Morescoes, who constituted the life of the Spanish manufactures. The demands of the colonies continued to increase in proportion 12 134 SPANISH DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS. as the parent state declined in population and industry. The Spaniards, finding industry discouraged at home, repaired with eagerness to the New World ; and another drain of her population was opened in Spain by the flow of emigrants to the west. Thinned of people and void of industry, she was unable to sup ply the increasing demands of her colonies, and had recourse to her neighbors. The manufactures of the Low Countries, of Eng land, France and Italy, which her wants called into existence, or animated with new vigor, furnished in abundance whatever she required. In vain did the fundamental law of Ferdinand and Isabella, excluding foreigners from the trade of America, oppose this innovation. Necessity, more powerful than written statutes, defeated its operations, and forced the Spaniards themselves to concur in eluding it. Relying on the fidelity and honor of the Spanish merchants, who lent their names to cover the transaction, the English, the French and the Dutch sent out their manufac tures to the Spanish colonies, and reaped the enormous profits created by the misgovernment of the court of Madrid. That probity, which is the pride and distinction of the Castilians, was the security of foreigners in this traffic. Neither the dread of danger, nor the allurements of profit ever induced a Spanish agent to betray the trust confided in him. Before the middle of the seventeenth century, not more than a twentieth part of the commodities exported to Spanish America was the growth or fabric of the parent state. All the rest was the property of foreign merchants, though entered in the name of Spaniards. The treasures of the New World may be said from this time to have belonged not to Spain, but to foreigners. The court of Madrid were astonished and distressed to behold their American wealth vanish almost as soon as it appeared. In their desperation and perplexity they had recourse to many wild and ineffectual schemes. The exportation of gold and silver was made a capital crime ; but this law, like the former, was eluded, and Philip IV., unable to supply what was requisite in circulation, attempted to raise copper coin to the value nearly of silver. The lord of the mines of Mexico and Peru was driven to the necessity of uttering base money ! Under the feeble monarchs with whom the reign of the Austrian line in Spain terminated, no remedy was applied totlie evils under which the national trade and industry languished. These evils continued to increase, and Spain, with dominions more extensive and opulent than any other European state, possessed neither money, vigor, nor industry. At length the violence of a great national convulsion aroused the slumbering genius of the land in THE AS1ENTO, ETC. 135 the war of the succession, at the beginning of the last century. This war rekindled, in some degree, the ancient spirit and energy of the nation; while the various powers who favored the pre tensions of the Austrian or Bourbon candidate for the throne, France, England and Holland, sent formidable fleets and armies to their support, and remitted immense sums of money to Spain, which were spent there. Part of the American treasure, of which the kingdom had been drained, flowed back ; and as soon as the Bourbons obtained quiet possession of the throne, they discerned this change in the spirit of the -people, and took advantage of it. Accordingly the first object of Philip V. was to suppress an inno vation which had taken place during the war, and which over turned the whole system of the Spanish commerce with America. The English and Dutch, by their superiority in naval power, having acquired such command of the sea as to cut off all com munication between Spain and her colonies, the court of Madrid, in order to furnish the settlements with those necessaries of life, without which they could not subsist, opened the trade of Peru to the French. The privilege of this trade was granted by Louis XIY. to the merchants of St. Malo, who entered into it with vigor and prosecuted it upon principles very different from those of the Spaniards. They supplied Peru with European commodities at a moderate price and in large quantities. Such an abundance of goods flowed into every province of Spanish America, as had never before been seen; and if this intercourse had been con tinued, the commerce with Spain must have ceased and the dependence of the colonies on the mother country speedily come to an end. Peremptory orders were therefore issued, prohibiting the admission of foreign vessels into any part of Peru or Chili, and a Spanish squadron was sent into the South Sea to enforce the new system. But though Spain by this means repelled one encroachment on her commerce, she became exposed to another, hardly less fatal. At the peace of Utrecht, Philip Y. transferred to Great Britain the Asiento, or privilege of supplying the Spanish colonies with slaves, and added to this grant the more extraordinary favor of allowing the English to send annually to the fair of Porto Bello, a ship of five hundred tons, laden with European commodities. By virtue of this contract, which was vested exclusively in the South Sea Company, British factories were established at Carthagena, Pa nama, Vera Cruz, Buenos Ayres, and other Spanish settlements ; and the company was farther permitted to freight, in the ports of the South Sea, vessels of four hundred tons, to convey negroes to all the ports of Peru, and to bring back the produce of their sales in gold and silver, free of duty. 136 SPANISH DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS. Thus the veil with which Spain had hitherto covered the affairs of her colonies was removed. The agents of a rival nation resid ing in the towns of most extensive trade and of chief resort, had the best opportunities of becoming acquainted with the interior condition of the provinces. The merchants of Jamaica , and other English colonies that traded to the Spanish main, were accord ingly enabled to carry on the contraband trade with a facility and success never before equalled. This, however, was not the most fatal effect of the Asiento upon the commerce of Spain. The agents of the British South Sea Company, under cover of the importation which they were authorized to make by the ship sent annually to Porto Bello, poured in their goods without measure or restraint. Instead of a ship of five hundred tons, as stipulated by the treaty, they employed one of more than double that size. She was accompanied by three or four smaller vessels, which, mooring in some neighboring creek, supplied her clandestinely with fresh bales of goods as fast as the first were sold. The inspectors of the fair and the officers of the revenue, corrupted by exorbitant presents, connived at the fraud. In this manner, almost the whole trade of Spanish America fell into the hands of foreigners. The immense commerce of the galeons, formerly the pride of Spain and the envy of other na tions, was ruined by this competition, and the squadron itself, reduced from fifteen thousand to two thousand tons, served hardly any other purpose than to bring home the royal revenue arising from the fifth on silver. The attempts of the Spanish government to check this contra band trade, by the establishment of guarda costas on the coast of the Spanish main, precipitated her into a war with Great Britain, in consequence of which the latter obtained a release from the Asiento, and was left at full liberty, by the treaty of Aix la Cha- pelleV to regulate the trade with her colonies without being re strained by any foreign engagements. Subsequently to this, the Spanish government permitted a considerable part of the Ameri can trade to be carried on by register ships, which were despatch ed by merchants in Seville and Cadiz in the intervals between the voyages of the galeons and the flota. The advantages of this new arrangement, were soon felt; the contraband trade was checked, the number of register ships increased, ancfan 1748, the galeons were finally abolished, after having been employed above two centuries. All the register ships for the Pacific Ocean were obliged to take their departure from Cadiz and return thither, so that the American commerce remained still under the restraint of a species of monopoly. BRAZIL. CHAPTER XIII. Discovery of Brazil. Voyage of Amerigo Vespucci. Attempt of the French, under Villegagnon, to establish a settlement at Rio Janeiro. Expulsion of the French. Convicts transported to Brazil. De Souza appointed governor. Hostility of the natives. Introduction of the Jesuits. They pacify the natives. Contrast of the Spanish and Portuguese policies in the conquest of America. The Cariges. Anecdote of Farnahaca, a Brazilian chief. Slaves brought into Brazil. New attempts of the French. The Brazilian philosopher. Modern hunters of Brazil. BRAZIL was first discovered by Vincent Yanez Pinzon, one of the companions of Columbus in his first voyage. Seven years after this, Pinzon and his nephew Arias obtained a commission to make fcirther discoveries. They sailed from Palos, with four caravels, in 1499, and came in sight of Cape St. Augustine, Jan uary 26, 1500. They gave this headland the name of Cape Con solation, landed, cut inscriptions on the trees, and took possession^ of the country for the crown of Castile. They had some hostile dealings with the natives, and coasted south as far as the mouth of the Amazon. From this point they sailed northwardly as far as the Orinoco, and returned to Spain with specimens of cinnamon, 138 BRAZIL. ginger, Brazil wood and other commodities. The Spaniards, however, made no attempt to colonize this country, as it was found to lie within the limits which had been assigned to the Portuguese. In fact, before the Pinzons returned to Spain, it had been taken possession of by that power, The Portuguese discovered it by accident. In 1500, Pedro Alvarez Cabral sailed from Lisbon, with a fleet, for the East Indies ; the passage thither round the Cape of Good Hope having first been discovered by Vasco da Gama. The fleet, in order to avoid the calms on the coast of Africa, stood a great distance to the west, and, on the 24th of April, saw land in lat. 17 south. They steered along the shore, and, on the 3d of May, landed at a harbor, which they named Porto Seguro. This being the day dedicated to the holy cross, Cabral named the country, Terra Cabral taking possession of Brazil. Nova de Vera Cruz, or New Land of the Holy Cross. The forests abounded with trees producing a beautiful dye-wood as red as lire, to which the Portuguese gave the name of brazil, from braza, a live coal. This name afterwards was applied to the whole coun try. Cabral took possession of it in the name of the crown of Portugal. He sent a vessel back to Lisbon with the news of his discovery, and proceeded on his voyage to India. The king of Portugal immediately fitted out three ships, under Amerigo Vespucci, who sailed to Brazil in 1501. Vespucci ex plored the coast as far south as the 52d degree of latitude, but made no settlement, and returned to Lisbon after a voyage of six teen months. He made a second voyage in 1503, in which he lost all his fleet but his own ship, established a settlement on the coast, RIO JANEIRO. 139 and carried home a cargo of brazil wood, the value of which tempted many private adventurers to that country, and an estab lishment of these volunteer colonists was soon formed at St. Sal vador. The Portuguese government, however, strangely neglected this valuable territory, and the French began to turn their eyes in that direction. In 1558, Nicolas Yillegagnon, a Frenchman, a knight of Malta, and an officer of high rank in the French navy, sailed on an expedition to Rio Janeiro. He formed a settlement on an island in that harbor, which still bears his name. The design was to make this country an asylum for the Huguenots ; and the leaders of that party in France used every effort to pro mote it. Among these was the celebrated Admiral Coligny, and the fortress on the island was called after his name. A colony of Protestants was collected and sent out from France, under his protection. Two clergyman of that persuasion were selected at Geneva, with fourteen students of divinity, to act as pastors ; and there was reason to hope that the Reformation would take root here, and in process of time fill the south as well as the north of the New World with a Protestant people. But Yillegagnon seems to have been unworthy of his trust. He persecuted his follower^?, who had fled from Europe to avoid persecution, till he drove them from this asylum also. The Portuguese settlers, jealous of this encroachment, and alarmed at the progress of the reformed faith in this new country sent a force from San Salvador, who drove the French from the island, and demolished their fortress. The remnant of the Protes tant garrison retired to the continent, and were well received by the Tamoyas Indians, with whom they had formed an alliance. They fixed themselves in a new situation near Rio Janeiro, where they maintained themselves by new accessions of people from Europe for ten years. But, in 1565, the Portuguese despatched another expedition against them. After a struggle of two years, the French were expelled from all their fortresses, and the colony was completely crushed. The court of Lisbon ordered a survey to be taken of the country, and, having ascertained that it afforded neither gold nor silver, held it in such contempt, that they sent to it no other colonists than condemned criminals. India in those days attracted all the attention of the Portuguese. It was the road to fortune, to power, and to fame. The great exploits of the nation in the east, and the wealth brought from that quarter, inflamed the imagination of every one. No person went voluntarily to America ; but, fortunately for Brazil, those unhappy men whom the inquisition had doomed to destruction, were added to the convicts already transported thither. By the 140 BRAZIL. united industry of these exiles, who procured, from the island of Madeira, slips of the sugar-cane, which they cultivated with great care, sugar, which had hitherto been used only in medicine, by reason of its scarcity, was furnished in such plenty as to become an article of luxury. The rich and great were everywhere eager to procure this new species of indulgence j a taste which proved extremely favorable to Brazil. The court of Lisbon, notwith standing its prejudices, began to be sensible that a colony might become beneficial .to the mother country without producing gold or silver. It now looked with less contempt on an immense re gion which chance had thrown in its way, and which it had long considered as a place only fit to receive the refuse of the kingdom. Brazil had hitherto been left to the capricious management of the settlers ; but it was at length thought to deserve some kind of attention from the government. Thomas de Souza, a man of abilities, was accordingly sent thither, in 1549, as governor. He built a city, to which he gave the name of St. Salvador. Souza began with reducing the desperate herd, who composed the greater part of the colony, into a state of proper subordination, and bring ing their scattered settlements nearer together. He next applied himself to acquire some information respecting the natives, with whom he knew he must be continually engaged either in traffic or war. It was no easy matter to accomplish this. Brazil was full of small nations of Indians, some of which inhabited the for ests; others lived in the plains and along the rivers. Some had settled habitations, but the greater number led "a roving life. Most of them had no intercourse with each other. Those who were not divided by hostilities, were kept apart by hereditary hatred and jealousy. Such manners did not dispose the Brazilians to submit tamely to the yoke which the Portuguese wished to. impose upon them. At rrrst they only declined all intercourse with the invaders ; but finding themselves afterwards pursued, in order to be made slaves and employed in the labors of the field, they took the resolution of murdering all the Europeans, wherever they could seize them. The friends and relatives of the natives that were taken also ventured to make attempts to rescue them, and were sometimes successful. This brought an increase of enemies against the Portuguese, who were forced to attend to the double o*ecupation of labor and of war. Souza did not bring forces sufficient materially to change the situation of affairs. By building a city at St. Sal vador, he gave a centre to the colony ; but the honor of settling, extending, and making it really useful to the mother country, was reserved for the Jesuits, whom he brought in his train. MISSION OF THE JEStrlTS. 141 Those intrepid and enterprising men, who have always been prompted by motives of religion or ambition to undertake the greatest designs, dispersed themselves among the Indians. Such of the missionaries as were murdered from hatred of the Portuguese name, were immediately replaced by others, who appeared to be inspired only with sentiments of peace and charity. This mag nanimity confounded the barbarians. By degrees they began to place some confidence in men who seemed to seek them only with a view of making them happy. Their attachment to the mission aries grew up into a passionate fondness. When a Jesuit was expected in one of their nations, the young people nocked to meet him, concealing themselves in the woods along the road. As he drew near they sallied forth, played upon their pipes, beat their drums, danced, and made the air resound with joyful songs. They omitted nothing that could express their satisfaction. At the entrance of the village the old men and chief inhabitants were assembled, who expressed as much joy, but with more sedateness. A little farther on stood the women and young girls, in a respect ful posture suitable to their sex. There all joined and conducted the father in triumph to the place where they were accustomed to hold their assemblies. There he instructed them in the fundamen tal principles of religion ; exhorted them to regularity of manners, to a love of justice, brotherly kindness, charity, and to an abhor rence of human blood. After this he baptized them. As the Jesuits were too few in number to transact all the business themselves, they frequently deputed some of the most intelligent natives in their stead. Proud of so honorable an office, these Indians distributed hatchets, knives and looking-glasses among the savages, and represented the Portuguese as harmless, humane and good people. They never returned from their excur sions without bringing with them some of their countrymen, who followed them from motives of curiosity. When those savages had once seen the Jesuits, it was with difficulty they ever quitted them. If they returned home, it was to invite their families and friends to come and share their happiness, and to display the pres ents they had received. Should any one be inclined to doubt these happy effects of humanity and kindness in dealing with savage nations, let him only compare the progress which the Jesuits made in a short time, in South America, with what the fleets and armies of Spain and Portugal were not able to effect in the course of two centuries. While multitudes of soldiers were employed in changing two populous and civilized empires into deserts, inhabited chiefly by roving savages, a few missionaries have changed little wandering 142 BRAZIL. tribes into great and civilized nations. If these active and cour ageous men had been less infected with the spirit of the church oi Rome ; if when formed into a society in the most intriguing and corrupt court in Europe, they had not insinuated themselves into other courts to influence all political events ; if the chiefs of the society had not made an ill use of the very virtues of its members, the Old and New World would still have reaped the advantage of their unquestionable zeal, talent and industry. The Brazilian Indians had too much cause of hatred against the Europeans, not to mistrust their kindness. But this diffidence was in some measure removed by a signal act of justice. The Portuguese had formed the settlement of St. Vincent on the sea- coast, in the twenty-fourth degree of south latitude. There they traded peaceably with the Cariges, the mildest and most civilized nation in all Brazil. The advantages which they reaped from their intercourse could not restrain the Portuguese from seizing upon seventy of the Cariges, in order to make slaves of them. The persons who had committed the offence were condemned to carry the prisoners back to the place whence they had been taken, and to make the proper excuses for so heinous an insult. Two Jesuits, who were employed to dispose the Indians to accept of this satis faction, which would never have been offered but at their desire, gave notice of their commission to Farnacaha, the most respectable man of his nation. He came out to meet them, and embraced them with tears of joy. " My fathers," said he, "we consent to forgive all that is past, and to enter into a fresh alliance with the Portuguese ; but let them for the future be more moderate, and more observant of the rights of nations. Our attachment entitles us at least to equitable treatment ! We are called barbarians, yet we respect justice and our friends." The missionaries having engaged that for the future their nation should religiously observe the laws of peace and justice, Farnacaha proceeded thus : " If you doubt the faith of the Cariges, I will give you a proof of it. I have a nephew, for whom I have a great affection ; he is the hope of my family, and the comfort of his mother ; she would die of grief, if she should lose her son. Yet I will deliver him to you as a hostage. Take him along with you cultivate his young mind; take care of his education, and instruct him in your religion. Let his manners be gentle and pure. I hope, when you return, you will instruct me also, and enlighten my mind." Many of the Cariges followed the example of Farna caha, and sent their children to St. Vincent's for education. Th Jesuits were too artful not to take advantage of this circumstance but it does not appear that they had any intention to enslave the THE BRAZILIAN PHILOSOPHER. 143 Indians. Avarice had not yet possessed the minds of these mis sionaries, and the interest they had at court secured sufficient respect in the colony, at once to gratify their ambition and to make the situation of their converts a comfortable one. This season of tranquillity was improved to the advantage of the sugar-trade, by means of the slaves procured from Africa No sooner had the Portuguese established settlements on that coast than the) brought away a great number of negroes, who were employed in Portugal in domestic uses. That practice, one of the first which contributed to corrupt the character of the nation, was introduced much later into the American settlements, where it was not established till the year 1530. The prosperity of the Portuguese colony, which was visible in all the markets of Europe, excited the envy of the French. They attempted to make settlements successively at Rio Janeiro, Par- aiba, and the island of Maranham; but their levity would not permit them to wait the usually slow progress of infant estab lishments ; and, merely from inconstancy and impatience, they gave up prospects that were sufficient to have encouraged any other nation to persevere. France, however, derived one advan tage from these fruitless invasions ; the honor of making mankind acquainted with the character of the Brazilians, in regard to which we should otherwise have remained in almost perfect ignorance, as the jealousy of the Portuguese government, like that of Spain, excluded all foreigners from their settlements, and they have thrown no light upon that subject themselves. The following dialogue, in which Lery. to whom we have already been much indebted for information, was an interlocutor, is a valuable mon ument of the natural good sense of those savages, notwithstanding the barbarity of their manners. The native Brazilians being greatly surprised to see the French take so much pains to procure their wood, one of their old men said to Lery, " What reason can induce you Frenchmen to come so far, to get wood for firing ? Is there none in your own coun try ?" " Yes," replied Lery, " and a great deal too, but not such as yours, which we do not burn, but in the same manner as your people employ it, to dye their plumes and bow-strings, we aiso use it in dyeing." " Very well," said the Brazilian, " but do you require so great a quantity?" "Yes," replied Lery, "for in our country there are some merchants who have more red and scarlet cloth than you ever saw here. One of these will buy several cargoes of this wood." "Ha!" said the Brazilian, "thou tellest me wonders." Then pausing a little upon the information he had received, his curiosity operated thus : " But this rich man, 144 BRAZIL. of whom thou talkest, is he never to die?" " Yes, yes," said Lery, "as well as others." On which the Brazilian inquired, to whom all his wealth belonged when he. was dead. "It goes," replied Lery, " to his children, or, if he has none, to his brothers, sisters, or nearest of kin." " Truly," concluded the Brazilian, " I now perceive that you Frenchmen are great fools. Must you work so hard, and cross the seas, to heap up riches for those that come after you, as if the earth, that has fed you, were not suffi cient for them also ! We have children and friends, whom we love, as thou seest ; but as we are sure that after our death, the earth, which has provided for our subsistence, will likewise pro vide for theirs, we give ourselves no concern about the matter." The French were inflamed with that love of riches, which, in those days, made all the maritime powers of Europe attempt es tablishments in the New World. The Dutch, who had become republicans from persecution, and merchants from necessity, were more persevering, and, in consequence of that, more successful than the French, in their attempts upon Brazil. Other causes, however, conspired to favor their designs. / CHAPTER XIV. Conquest of Portugal by the Spaniards. The Dutch trade with Brazil. ~~They invade the country and capture St. Salvador. Policy of the Spanish court. St. Salvador retaken by the Portuguese. Success of the Dutch cruisers. Further attempts of the Dutch on Brazil. Capture of Olinda. Expedition of Maurice of Nassau. Success of the Dutch. Revolution in Portugal. The Dutch gov ernment of Brazil. They neglect the colony. Conspiracy against them. Clavalcante heads an insurrection of the Portuguese. The Dutch expelled from Brazil, and the country secured to the Portuguese by treaty. THE Portuguese, in the very meridian of their prosperity, when in possession of a prodigious commerce, a'nd an -extensive empire on the coast of Africa, in Arabia, India, the isles of Asia, and in one of the most valuable parts of America, were struck down by one of those unexpected blows, which, in a critical moment, de cide the fate of nations. Don Sebastian, one of their greatest princes, in an unfortunate expedition against the Moors of Bar- bary, perished with the flower of his army, in 1581. In conse quence of this disaster, the Portuguese fell under the dominion of Spain. Nor was this their only misfortune. The inhabitants of the low countries, whom the tyranny and cruelty of Philip II. had excited to revolt, and who had thrown off the Spanish yoke with indignation, were not satisfied with erecting themselves into a free state, and supporting their independence by a successful defensive, war; but, flushed with the juvenile ardor of a growing commonwealth, pursued the Spaniards into the utmost recesses of their extensive dominions, and grew rich and powerful by the spoils of their former masters. They fell upon the Portuguese possessions in the East Indies, and made themselves masters of almost all the settlements of that depressed nation in Asia. After this, they began to turn their eyes towards America, and the truce of 1609 gave them time to bring their designs to maturity. This enterprise was committed to Jacob Willekens. Precau tions had been taken to procure the necessary information re specting the country. Some Dutch ships had ventured to visit Brazil, in defiance of the law that prohibited the admittance of strangers. As they greatly undersold, according to the custom of their country, the commodities that came from Spain and Portu gal, they met with a favorable reception. At their return, they 13 s 1 46 BRAZIL. reported that the colony was in a species of anarchy ; that foreign dominion had stifled, in the breasts of the Portuguese, the love of their country; that self-interest had corrupted their minds; that the soldiers were turned merchants; that they had forgotten the art of war ; and that whoever should invade the country with a competent force, would infallibly surmount the trifling obstacles that might be opposed by the Portuguese. Willekens, furnished with this intelligence, steered for Brazil, in 1624. San Salvador, the capital, betrayed by the cowardice of the governor, surrendered on the appearance of the Dutch fleet. Don Miguel de Texeira, the archbishop, alone supported the honor of his nation. Believing that, in such an emergency, the service of his country superseded the common obligations of his function, he took arms, and, at the head of his clergy and a few scattered forces, attempted a resistance. The Dutch, however, found an immense booty in San Salvador, and in a short time made them selves masters of the whole district of Bahia, the largest and richest province in Brazil. The news of this loss threw Portugal into the utmost conster nation; but the Spanish ministry were rather pleased, than dis composed, by it ; they were comforted for the triumph obtained by the most inveterate enemies of their country, by reflecting on the mortification which the Portuguese must experience. Ever since the Spaniards had given a sovereign to this unfortunate people, they had met with an opposition in their tyrannies, which offended the haughty spirit of their despotic government. An event that might reduce the pride of Portugal, and render her more tractable, appeared, therefore, to them a fortunate circum stance. But though Philip IV. had harbored these base senti ments, he thought the majesty of his throne required of him some outward demonstrations of resentment against the Dutch. He accordingly wrote to the Portuguese of the first rank, exhort ing them to make such vigorous efforts as the present exigencies required. This they were already inclined to do, as most of them had possessions in Brazil. Self-interest, patriotism,- the desire of throwing a damper upon the joy of their tyrants, ail concurred to quicken their alacrity. The monied men lavished their treasures; others, who had more influence than wealth, levied troops ; every one was eager to enter into tbe service. In a few months, twenty-six ships were fitted out, and sailed, in the beginning of the year 1626, in company with such ships from Spain as the slow and cautious policy of that court had allowed to assist the expedition. They were commanded by the Marquis de Valduesa, and arrived safe in the bay of All Saints, in Brazil. OPERATIONS OF THE DUTCH WEST INDIA COMPANY. 147 The Dutch, since their conquest of San Salvador, had suffered many hardships. The archbishop, at the head of fifteen hun dred men, had often defeated their parties, and cut off their pro visions ; and he held them closely blocked up, when death put a period to his persevering efforts. This misfortune, however, pro duced no revolution in favor of the Dutch, who continued in the same condition till the arrival of the united fleets of Spain and Portugal. These disembarked four thousand men under the com mand of Don Manuel de Mengis, and found it easy to reduce a place already fatigued with a long siege. The governor would have attempted resistance, but the garrison obliged him to capitu late. The success of the Dutch West India Company by sea made amends for this loss. Their ships never came into port, but when laden with the spoils of the Spaniards and Portuguese. Their prosperity was so great as to give umbrage even to the powers most interested in the welfare of Holland. The ocean was covered with their fleets. Their admirals endeavored, by useful exploits, to preserve their confidence. The inferior officers aspired to promotion, by seconding the valor and skill of their commanders. The soldiers and sailors fought with unparalleled ardor; nothing could discourage these resolute and intrepid men. The fatigues of a seafaring life, sickness, and repeated engage ments, seemed only to harden them for war, arid to increase their emulation. The company encouraged this fervid spirit, by fre quently distributing rewards. Exclusive of their pay, the sailors were allowed to carry on a private trade, which proved a great encouragement, and procured a constant supply of men. As, by this wise regulation, their interest was immediately connected with that of their employers, they wished to be always in action ; they never struck to the enemy, nor ever failed to attack their ships with that degree of skill and persevering courage, which must always insure success. This prosperity emboldened the West India Company to make a second attempt on Brazil. Henry Touk, the Dutch admiral, appeared on the coast of Pernambuco, in the beginning of 1630, with forty-six ships of war. Thierry, of Wardenburg, who com manded the land forces, disembarked with two thousand four hundred men, and made himself master of the city of Olinda, after an obstinate resistance. This invasion spread terror over the whole country, and the Dutch took advantage of it quickly, to reduce the whole neighboring district. The Portuguese made a vigorous but ineffectual effort, the year following, to expel the invaders. The Dutch not only kept possession of Pernambuco, 143 BRAZIL. but subdued the districts of Tamaraca, Paraiba, and Rio Grande, in the years 1633,1634 and 1635. All these furnished annually a large quantity of sugar, dye-wood, and other valuable commodi ties. The Dutch were so elated with the acquisition of this wealth, which now flowed to Amsterdam, instead of Lisbon, that they determined to conquer all Brazil, and entrusted Maurice of Nas sau with the conduct of an enterprise for that object. He reached the place of his destination in the beginning of 1637. He found the soldiers so well disciplined, the officers so experienced, and so much ardor in every one to engage the enemy, that he imme diately took the field. He was successively opposed by Banjola, Rocca de Borgia, and the famous native chief, Cameron, the idol of his people, 'who was passionately fond of the Portuguese. Brave, active and cautious, this savage commander lacked no qualification of a great general, but a scientific knowledge of the art of war. These several chieftains exerted their utmost efforts to defend the places under their protection ; but their endeavors proved ineffectual. The Dutch reduced the districts of Sierra, Seregippe, and the greater part of Bahia. Seven of the fourteen provinces into which Brazil is divided, had already submitted, and the conquerors flattered themselves that one or two cam paigns more would make them masters of all the possessions of their enemies in that part of America, when an unexpected revo lution gave a new turn to affairs. The Portuguese had never borne with patience the yoke of Spain, which everything conspired to render grievous. Philip II., alike cruel, avaricious and despotic, had endeavored to de grade and insult them, that he might obtain pretexts for his oppressions. His son, Philip III., who too closely followed his maxims, and thought it better to reign over a ruined nation, than be indebted to their good will for submission, had suffered them, as we have seen, to be deprived of a multitude of conquests, which were a source of riches, power and glory to them, and which they had acquired by much effusion of blood. Philip IY., the successor of that weak prince, who had still less understand ing than his father, openly and contemptuously attacked their administration, tjheir privileges, their manners, and everything that was most dear to them. These repeated outrages united all the Portuguese, whom Spain had been laboring to divide. A con spiracy, which had been forming for years with incredible secrecy, broke out in December, 1640, when the Spanish ministers were expelled from Lisbon, and the Duke of Braganza placed on the throne of Portugal. The example of the capital was followed OPERATIONS OF THE DUTCH WEST INDIA COMPANY. 149 by that of the whole kingdom, and by all that remained of the settlements formed in happier times, in Asia, Africa and America. John IV., the new king, united his interests and his resent ments with those of the English, the French, and all the enemies of Spain. On the twenty-third day of June, 1641, he concluded an oifensive and defensive alliance with the United Provinces of Holland, for Europe, and ten years' truce for the East and West Indies ; during which period each party was to retain what was then in their possession. Some misunderstanding, however, arose, relative to this article of the treaty. The Dutch, under different pretexts, refused to restore certain places taken after the time mentioned in the truce ; and the king of Portugal, piqued at that conduct, took the resolution of permitting his subjects in Brazil to act for their own and his interests, without seeming to take any part in their proceedings. His officers accordingly af fected to live in perfect harmony with their new allies. Nassau was recalled, together with the greater part of his troops, as an unnecessary charge to the company; and the government of the Dutch possessions in Brazil was committed to Hamel of Amster dam, Bassis, a goldsmith of Haarlem, and Bullistraa a carpenter of Middleburg. In the council founded by this triumvirate resided all authority ; and their administration was such as might have been expected from men of their condition. They readily entered into the par simonious views of the company. Their own inclinations even led them to push these views to a blamable excess. They suf fered the fortifications, already too much neglected, to go to decay ; they sold arms and ammunition to the Portuguese, who paid them such an exorbitant price for these articles, as ought to have awa kened their jealousy; and they granted to all the soldiers who desired it, leave to return to Europe. Their whole ambition, in a word, was to amass wealth by gaining and saving. In this con duct they were confirmed by the. applause of the avaricious and weak men who were entrusted with the direction of the compa ny's affairs. With a view to increase still further the profits of their countrymen, they began to oppress such of the Portuguese as resided under their government. Tyranny made rapid pro gress, and was at last carried to an excess, which at once roused resistance and inspired the most desperate purposes. The victims of these proceedings, who had secret assurances of protection from the Portuguese court, wasted no time in com plaints. In 1645, the boldest of them united to take revenge. Their design was to massacre all the Dutch who had any share in the government, at an entertainment in the city of Maurice, the 150 BRAZIL. new capital of Pernambuco ; and then to attack the people, who, suspecting no danger, would be unable to resist them. The plot was discovered, but the conspirators had time to leave the town, and retire to a place of safety. Their chief, named Antonio Cal- valcante. was a Portuguese of obscure birth. From a common servant, he had risen to the rank of a merchant. His abilities had enabled him to acquire a large fortune; his probity had gained him universal confidence, and his generosity had procured him an infinite number of friends. Calvalcante was not discouraged by the disappointment. Ac quainted with the wishes of his countrymen, as well as with the weakness of the Dutch, he ventured to commence hostilities without consulting the court. His name, his virtues, and his objects, assembled the Brazilians, the Portuguese soldiers, and even the colonists, about him. He inspired them with his own ardor, his activity, and his courage. They determined to conquer or to die with him. He ravaged the territories of the Dutch ; he was frequently victorious in skirmishes ; but he did not allow himself to slumber over success. Some checks which he met with, served only to display the firmness of his spirit, the extent of his capacity, and the elevation of his mind. He assumed a threatening aspect, even after a disaster, and appeared yet more formidable by his perseverance than by his intrepidity. Though never publicly supported by government, he spread such terror among his enemies, that they dared no longer to keep the field. At that period of his glory, the purpose of his generous efforts was in danger of being defeated, and all the blood spilt during a struggle of ten years, might have been shed in vain. The Dutch had frequently complained of the hostilities in Brazil, and the court of Portugal had as often disavowed them, and even declared that they would one day punish the authors of these disturbances. As the republic was then engaged in a war with England, some regard was paid to these evasive answers ; but no sooner did any prospect of peace appear, than effectual measures were taken by the Dutch for humbling the Portuguese in Europe and America. John IV., unwilling to risk the issue of a war with so powerful a nation, exerted himself in earnest to put an end to the hostilities in Brazil. Clavalcante, who had now no resource for the completion of his designs, but in his fortune, bis interest and his abilities, did not even deliberate whether he shou Id obey. "If the king," said he, "were but informed of our zeal and our success, and acquainted with his own interest, far from disarming us, he would encourage us to pursue our undertaking, and would support us with all his power.' 1 In consequence of TREATY OF 1661. 151 this way of thinking, he determined to hasten his operations, lesi the ardor of his companions should abate. Accordingly, he made a last effort, and with the assistance of Baretto, Vidal, and some others, who were able and willing to serve their country, he com pleted the ruin of the Dutch. Such of these republicans as escaped the sword and famine, evacuated Brazil agreeably to a capitula tion signed on the twenty-eighth day of January, 1654. The peace, concluded three months after, between England and the United Provinces, seemed to place the Dutch in a condition to recover a valuable possession, which had been lost by an ill-judged parsimony. But both the republic and the West India Company disappointed the general expectation. No attempt was made for that purpose ; and the treaty which adjusted the claims of the contending powers, in 1661, secured to Portugal the sole possession of Brazil, in consideration of the sum of one million seven hun dred thousand dollars, which that crown engaged to pay to the United Provinces. Thus did the Dutch part with a conquest which might have become the richest of all the European colonies in the New World, and which would have given the republic a degree of consequence which it could never have acquired from its own territory, nor even from its East India possessions. CHAPTER XV. Improvements in the colony. Condition of the natives. Extension of the settlements The river Amazon. Expeditions of Orellana and Orsua. The tyrant Aguirre. Settlement of Para. Expedition of Texeira across the continent to Quito. Scheme for navigating the Amazon. Mission of the Spanish Jesuits in Brazil. Indolence of the natives. Settlements on the Rio de la Plata. Estab lishment at St. Sacrament. Expulsion of the Portuguese from that place. It is restored to them* by treaty. Final adjustment of the boundaries with the Span iards. History of the Paulists. Their lawless and .profligate life. They enslave the Indians. Ravages committed by them. Attempts of the Portuguese to pene trate into the interior. Orellana sailing in search of the nation with temples of gold. As soon as the Portuguese were entirely freed from the Dutch, they employed themselves in placing Brazil in better condition than it had hitherto been, even before the war. -The first step taken for this purpose, ,was to regulate the condition of such of the natives as had already submitted, or might hereafter be reduced to subjection. Upon an attentive examination, it was found that the accounts, which represented these savages impatient of any control, were without foundation. The first impression made upon them by the sight of the Europeans, was a sense of danger mingled with diffidence. The conduct of the Portuguese con- THE JESUITS AMONG THE INDIANS. 153 firmed their suspicions, and rendered them ferocious. The diffi culty of understanding one another gave still more frequent occasion for animosity on both sides. If, on more mature acquaint ance, the Indians sometimes renewed their hostilities, it was commonly because they were roused to vengeance by the rapa- ciousness, cruelty and perfidy of that ambitious power which had come to disturb the peace of this part of America. On other occasions they might perhaps be charged with imprudence, in too hastily taking up arms from false apprehensions of danger; but never with injustice or duplicity. They were always found true to their promises, to the faith of treaties, and to the sacred rights of hospitality. The just idea which was at length enter tained of their character, induced the Portuguese to collect them into villages along the coast, or some little way up the country. By this means a communication was secured between the remote settlements of the Portuguese ; and the savages, who infested the intermediate parts by their depredations, were kept at a distance. Some missionaries, mostly Jesuits, were entrusted with the tem poral and spiritual government of these new communities. These ecclesiastics, according to the best information, were absolute tyrants ; such as retained any sentiments of moderation or human ity, whether from indolence or superstition, kept those little societies in a state of perpetual infancy. They neither improved their understanding nor their industry, beyond a certain degree ; and possibly, had they been ever so willing, they might have found it difficult to have been more serviceable to them ; for the court of Lisbon, while it exempted the Indians from all taxes, subjected them to the labors of vassalage. This fatal law made them depend ent upon the neighboring commandants and magistrates, who, under the usual pretence adopted by men in office, of making them work for the public, too often imposed labors upon them for their own selfish purposes. Those who were not employed for them as their spiritual directors, were generally idle. If they shook off their natural indolence, it was to go hunting or fishing, or to culti vate as much cassava as was necessary for their own subsistence. Their manufactures were confined to some cotton girdles or sashes, to cover their loins, and the arrangement of a few feathers to adorn their heads. Those among them who were most industrious, procured the means of purchasing a few articles of cutlery, and other things of small value. Such was the state of the Brazilian natives, who had submitted to the crown of Portugal, and whose number never exceeded two hundred thousand. The independent natives had little intercourse with the Portuguese, except by the captives which they sold them, T 154 ' BRAZIL. or those of their number that were made such, for the purpose of servitude. A sense of mutual interest made acts of hostility less frequent between the two nations, and a total cessation of them at last took place. The Portuguese have not been in danger from the natives, since 1717, and have not molested them since 1756. While the court of Lisbon was engaged in regulating the inte rior concerns of the colony, some of the subjects of Portugal were devising the means of extending it. They advanced to the south towards Rio de la Plata, and to the north as far as the Amazon. The Spaniards seemed to be in possession of both these rivers ; and the Portuguese were determined to expel them, or to share the navigation with them. The Maragnon or Amazon, no less famous for its length of course than for that vast body of water with which it swells the ocean, derives its common name, the river of Amazons, from the fabulous relation of Orellana, a Spaniard, who sailed down it ; and who, among other marvellous particulars, described a republic of female warriors inhabiting its banks. This absurd fiction the fond credulity of the age believed ; and what more particularly excited the Spaniards, was another circumstance in Orellana's story. He described a nation on the banks of the river, whose temples were covered with gold. In quest of this rich country Orellana himself embarked in 1644, with four hundred men, and the title of governor over all the regions he should conquer ; but a train of disasters ruined his ships; his men perished by diseases, or were cut off by the natives ; and he himself fell a victim to his own vainglorious ambition, in attempting to realize some part of the tale he had invented. The civil war of Peru prevented any second attempt to take possession of the country bordering on the Amazon, till the year 1560, when, tranquillity being restored, Pedro de Orsua, a Spaniard distinguished for his talent and bravery, offered to renew the undertaking. He accordingly set out from Cuzco, with seven hundred men ; but these adventurers proved to be unprincipled and lawless desperadoes. They massacred their commander, and selected for their leader, Lope de Aguirre, a native of Biscay. With their consent he assumed the title of king; and while he was a man of ferocious and bloody disposition, destitute of common humanity, he promised them all the treasures of tfie New World. Inflamed with such flattering hopes, these desperate men sailed down the Amazon into the Atlantic Ocean, and landing at Trini dad, murdered the governor and plundered the island. The coasts of Cumana, Caracas and St. Martha, were still more severely treated, because they were richer. The plunderers next EXPEDITION FROM BRAZIL TO QUITO. 155 penetrated into New Granada, and were advancing towards Quito and the interior part of Peru, when they were unexpectedly attacked and dispersed by a body of troops hastily assembled. Aguirre, their chief, seeing no way to escape, marked his despair by an atrocious action. " My child," said he to his only daughter, who attended him in this expedition, " I thought to have placed thee upon a throne, but the event has not answered my expecta tions. My honor and thine own will not permit thee to live and be a slave to our enemies. Die then by a father's hand ! " Hav ing uttered these words, he plunged a dagger into her heart. His strength soon failed him; he was taken prisoner, and suffered the punishment due to his crimes. The inhabitants of the country believe, to this day, that the soul of "the tyrant" wanders in the savannas, like a flame that flies at the approach of man. After these unfortunate expeditions, the river Amazon was entirely neglected, and seemed to be totally forgotten for half a century. Some attempts were again made to resume the discovery of the countries stretching along its banks, but with no better success than formerly. The honor of surmounting every difficulty, and acquiring a useful knowledge of that great river, was reserved for the Portuguese. They had built a town called Para, near the mouth of the river. At this place Pedro de Texeira embarked in 1638, and with a great number of canoes, full of Indians and Por tuguese, sailed up the river, as far as the confluence of the Napo, and then up the Napo, which brought them almost to Quito, whither he proceeded by land. Notwithstanding the enmity sub sisting between the Spaniards and Portuguese, though at that time subject to the same prince, Texeira was received at Quito with the regard and confidence due to a man who had performed a signal service. He returned in company with Da Cunha and de Astieda, two learned Jesuits, who were appointed to verify his observations and to make others. An accurate account of these two successful voyages was sent to the court of Madrid, where it gave rise to a very extraordinary project. The communication between the Spanish colonies had long been found very difficult. The Buccaneers at that time infested both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and interrupted their navi gation. Even those ships which had reached Havana and joined the fleet, were not perfectly safe. The galeons were fre quently attacked, and taken in whole squadrons by the Dutch ; and they were always pursued by privateers, who seldom failed to carry off the straggling vessels. The river Amazon, it was hoped, would remedy all these inconveniences. It was thought to be even an easy matter, to convey thither the treasures of New 156 BRAZIL. Granada, Popayan, Quito, Peru, and of Chili itself, by navigable rivers, and that, descending the river, they would find the galeons ready in the harbor of Para to receive them. The fleet from Brazil would then have joined and strengthened the fleet from Spain. They would have sailed with great security in latitudes little frequented by cruisers. But the revolution which placed the duke of Braganza on the throne of Portugal, put an end to these important projects. Each of the two nations was then intent only upon securing to itself that part of the great river which best suited its own situation. The Spanish Jesuits undertook to establish a mission in the coun try lying between the Amazon and the Napo, and near the con flux of these two rivers. Every missionary, attended only by one man, took with him hatchets, knives and needles, and all kinds of iron tools, and penetrated into the thickest of the forest. There they spent whole days in climbing up the trees, to see if they could descry any hut, perceive a smoke, or hear the sound of a drum or life. When they were assured by some of these tokens that any savages were in the neighborhood, they advanced towards them. Most of them fled ; but those whom the mission ary could reach, were easily allured by such presents as were offered them. This was all the eloquence the missionary could employ, and all that he had occasion to exert. When he had assembled a few families, he led them to the spot where he had determined to build a village ; but they were not easily persuaded to take up their abode there. As they were accustomed to rove about, they found it an insupportable hardship to remain forever in the same place. The state of savage independence in which they had always lived, they thought preferable to the social life that was recommended to them ; and their unconquerable aversion .to la^or induced them to return constantly to the forests, where they passed their lives in idleness. Even those who were re strained by the authority or paternal kindness of their pious legislators, seldom failed to disperse in their absence, though ever so short, and their death always occasioned a total subversion of the settlement. But the perseverance of the Jesuits at last conquered these ob stacles, apparent!^- invincible. Their mission, whicji began in 1637, gradually acquired some degree of firmness, ancf, before the dissolution of the order, consisted of thirty-six villages, twelve of which were situated along the Napo, and twenty-four on the banks of the Amazon. The number of inhabitants, however, in these villages was very inconsiderable, and the increase must always have been slow. The women of this part of America THE INDIANS ST. SACRAMENT. 157 are not fruitful ; the climate is unhealthy, and contagious distem pers are frequent. These obstructions to population were aug mented by the natural stupidity of the people. Of all the Indians whom the Jesuits had collected, they found none so intractable and incapable of being roused to exertion, as those inhabiting the banks of this river. Every missionary was obliged to put him self at their head, in order to make them pick up the cocoa, the vanilla and the sarsaparilla, which nature spontaneously offers them. Their whole property, usually, consisted of a hut open on all sides, and covered with palm leaves ; some fishing tackle ; a tent, a hammock, and a canoe. It was impossible to inspire them with a desire beyond these articles. They were so well satisfied with what they possessed, that they wished for nothing more. They lived unconcerned, and died without fear : and if happiness consists more in an exemption from the uneasy sensation that attends want, than in the multiplicity of enjoyments that our wants create, these Indians may be said to have been the happiest people upon the face of the earth. The Portuguese paid more attention to their settlement towards the Rio de la Plata. They had established themselves, in 1679, at St. Sacrament, opposite Buenos Ayres, when they were acci dentally discovered by the Spaniards. The Guaranis, under the command of their spiritual leaders, hastened thither to make amends for the neglect of government. They attacked the newly- erected fortifications of the Portuguese with great intrepidity, and demolished them. The court of Lisbon, which had built great hopes upon that settlement, was not discouraged by this misfor tune, and requested that, till such time as their claim could be adjusted, the Portuguese might be allowed a place where they could be sheltered from the storms, if forced by stress of weather to enter the Rio de la Plata. Charles II., of Spain, who dreaded war and hated business, was weak enough to comply with their request, only stipulating that the place so granted should be con sidered his property ; that no more than fourteen Portuguese fam ilies should be sent thither ; that the houses should be built of wood and thatched ; that no fort should be erected ; and that the governor of Buenos Ayres should have a right to inspect both the settlement and the ships which should come into its harbor. If the Jesuits who conducted the war had also been trusted with the negotiation, such a permission would never have been granted. It was impossible that a fixed settlement in such a situ ation, however inconsiderable, should not become a frequent source of altercation with enterprising neighbors, whose claims were very strong ; who were sure of the protection of all the ene- 14 153 BRAZIL. mies of Spain, and whose vicinity to the settlements of their countrymen would enable them to take advantage of every oppor tunity to aggrandize and fortify themselves. The event soon discovered the danger that might have been foreseen. Immedi ately on the elevation of a French prince to the throne of Spain, while all was still in confusion and uncertainty in regard to the consequences of that great revolution, the Portuguese restored the fortifications of St. Sacrament with amazing celerity. The pre caution which they took, at the same time, of threatening the tribe of Guaranis, by ordering some troops to advance towards their frontiers, induced them to hope that they should prevent any dis turbances from that quarter. But they were mistaken. The Jesuits, having .detected the artifice, brought their converts to St. Sacrament, which was already besieged. . Those brave Indians, on their arrival, offered to mount the breach, though they knew it was but just opened. When they began their approach, some batteries were fired upon them from the town, but they stood the cannonade without breaking their ranks, nor could they be re strained by the fire of the small-arms, which killed many of them. The intrepidity with which they continued to advance, raised such astonishment among the Portuguese that they fled to their ships and abandoned the place. The misfortunes which Philip V. experienced in Europe, pre vented this success from being of any advantage. The settle ment of St. Sacrament was firmly re-established by the peace of Utrecht. Queen Anne, who made that peace, and who neither neglected her own interests nor those of her allies, required Spain to give up this contested spot. Being now under no apprehen sion, the Portuguese of St. Sacrament began to carry on an im mense trade with Buenos Ayres. This contraband traffic had long subsisted, though in an inferior degree. Rio Janeiro fur nished Buenos Ayres with sugar, tobacco, wine, brandy, negroes, and woollen goods ; and received flour, biscuit, dried or salt meat, and money. As soon as the two colonies had a safe and commo dious mart of trade, their connexions were unlimited. The court of Madrid, which soon perceived the road the treasures of Peru were taking, showed great marks of discontent; and this in creased as the injury complained of grew to a greater height. A perpetual source of division was thus opened "between the two nations ; and as the conciliatory methods proposed from time to time were found impracticable, an open rupture was expected to be the consequence. At last, however, matters were adjusted. It was agreed at Madrid, on the thirteenth day of January, 1750, that Portugal should give up to Spain the colony of St. Sacra- THE PAULISTS. 159 ment. and the north banks of Rio de la Plata ; together with the village of St. Christopher, and the adjacent lands situated between the rivers Ypara and Issa, which fall into the river Amazon. Spain, on her side, gave up all the lands and habitations border ing on the east side of the river Uruguay, from the river Ibicui, to the north ; the village of Santa Rosa, and all others on the eastern bank of the Guarapey. In the district of St. Vincent, the southernmost in Brazil, and nearest to Rio de la Plata, thirteen leagues from the sea, is a town called St. Paul. It was founded by those convicts who were first sent from Portugal to America. As soon as they perceived that they were to be subjected to the restraints of law, they withdrew from the place they had first inhabited, intermarried with the natives, and in a short time became so profligate that their fellow- citizens broke off all intercourse with them. The situation of their town, which could be defended by a handful of men, against the most powerful armies that could be sent against them, inspired them with the resolution of being subject to no foreign power; and their ambition was successful. Profligate men, of all nations, resorted in great numbers to this establishment. All travellers were shut out from the new republic, under the severest prohibi tions. In order to gain admittance, it was previously necessary to promise to settle there, and candidates were subjected to a severe trial. Those who could not go through that kind of noviciate, or who were suspected of perfidy, were barbarously murdered, as were all who had any inclination to quit the community. A pure air, a serene sky, a temperate climate, though in the twenty-fourth degree of south latitude, and a territory abounding with corn, sugar, and excellent pasture, conspired to induce the Paulists to lead a life of indolence and effeminacy ; but that rest lessness so natural to fierce spirits, that habit of roving, acquired by a lawless banditti, that desire of dominion, which is nearly connected with a love of independence, the progress of freedom, which leads men to wish for glory of some kind or other, and to be emulous of distinguishing themselves, all these causes, combined or separate, prompted the Paulists to forego an easy life, and to engage in toilsome and hazardous excursions. The first object of these excursions was to procure slaves. When they had depopulated the adjacent country, they proceeded to the province of Guayra, where the Spanish Jesuits had collec ted and civilized the Guaranis. These new Christians were ex posed to such violences, and so many of them were carried off, that they suffered themselves to be persuaded to remove to the im wholesome banks of the Parana and the Uruguay, which they 160 BRAZIL. still inhabit. They reaped little advantage, however, from this compliance ; for it was found that they could enjoy no safety, unless they were allowed to defend themselves with the same weapons as those with which they were attacked. To request that they should he furnished with such arms, was a matter of too delicate a nature to be proposed abruptly ; it was necessary, in the first place, to show the propriety of such a measure. Spain had laid it down as a fundamental maxim, never to introduce the use of fire-arms among the Indians, lest these unfortunate victims of her insatiable avarice should one day make use of them to free themselves from a yoke which they found so galling. The lawgivers of the Guaranis applauded this jealous precaution in regard to slaves, who were kept under by compulsion ; but they thought it unnecessary in respect to men who had voluntarily submitted to the king of Spain, and who were too sensible of the benefits they now possessed, ever to think of revolting, so long as they were permitted to enjoy their freedom. In a word, they plead ed the cause of their converts so well, that, in spite of opposition and prejudice, they obtained their request. The Guaranis were indulged with fire-arms in 1639, and soon made such good use of them, that they became the bulwark of Paraguay, and were able to repel the Paulists. These desperate men now resolved to procure by craft, what they could no longer obtain by force. Dressed in the habit of Jesuits, they repaired to the places where the missionaries were accustomed to resort in quest of converts, and there they set up crosses. They made some trifling presents to the Indians they met with, and some of the most intelligent among them made a short discourse in the Indian language, with which they were generally acquainted, on the nature of Christianity, accompanied with the waimest exhortations to induce their auditors to embrace it. When, by these artifices, they had assembled a number of prose lytes, they proposed to conduct them to a certain place, where everything was in readiness to make them happy. The greater part followed them implicitly ; and when they arrived at a par ticular station, the troops that lay concealed, rushed out upon the credulous Indians, loaded them with fetters, and carried them off. Some, who made/ their escape, gave the alarm, which produced a general suspicion, extremely prejudicial to the piouS- purposes of the Jesuits, but which also occasioned a termination of these deceitful practices. The Paulists afterwards carried on their depredations in another quarter, and extended them as far as the river Amazon. They are said to have destroyed no less than a million of Indians. Those THE PAULISTS. 161 who escaped their fury, in an extent of three or four hundred leagues, became more savage than in their original state. They fled for safety to the caves of the mountains, or dispersed them selves among the darkest recesses of the forests. Their persecu tors did not share a better fate ; having all gradually perished in these dangerous excursions. Unhappily, however, for Brazil, their place was supplied by vagabond Brazilians, fugitive ne groes, and Europeans, who were captivated with a roving life. The same spirit continued to prevail at St. Paul's even after some particular circumstances had induced that disorderly society to acknowledge the dominion of Portugal. But their excursions were afterwards carried on in such a manner, that they rather promoted than obstructed the views of the mother country. By following the course of several rivers, they attempted to open a way into Peru by the north of Paraguay. The vicinity of lake Xarayes put them in possession of the gold mines of Guiaba and Montegrosso, which they worked without meeting any opposition from Spain. They would have carried their usurpations further, had they not been prevented by the Chiquitos, a formidable tribe of Indians. 14* CHAPTER XVI. Flourishing condition of Brazil. Productions of the country. Discovery of gold mines. Method of working them. Discovery of diamonds. The diamond com- pany. Submission of the Paulists. General policy of the Portuguese govern ment. Removal of the court to Brazil. Its effects upon the country. Brazil made a kingdom. Becomes independent of Portugal. The emperor Don Pedro. Present government of the country. Slaves washing for gold. WHILE these restless and enterprising men were ravaging the banks of the Amazon and the Plata, and the mountains of Peru, the seacoasts of Brazil were daily improving. This colony sent annually to the mother country thirty-two million pounds of sugar, which was not only enough for its own consumption, but sufficient to supply a great part of Europe ; while it produced a considerable quantity of tobacco, which could be disposed of to advantage either in Africa or the European markets. The other productions were capivi, a balsamic oil, which distils from incisions made in a tree; ipecacuanha, well known as a mild emetic; cocoa, which grew wild in some places, and was cultivated in others; coUon, superior to that of the Levant or the Carribee islands; indigo, which the Portuguese have never sufficiently attended to ; hides, the produce of cattle that run wild as in other parts of South America ; and lastly, brazil wood. BRAZIL WOOD GOLD MINES. 163 The tree producing this wood, which gives its name to the country, is as tall as the oak. But he who judges of the quantity of the timber by the size of the trees will be much deceived, as the bark forms the greater part of the plant. The trunk is commonly crooked and knotty. The leaves are small, roundish and of a bright green ; the blossoms, which resemble lilies of the valley, are of a lively red, and exhale a fragrant smell. The wood takes a fine polish, but its chief use is for the red dye. The tree gener ally grows in dry, barren and rocky grounds. It is found in most parts of Brazil, but chiefly in Pernambuco. The best grows ten leagues from Olinda, the capital of that province. In exchange for these commodities, Portugal supplied Brazil with flour, wine, brandy, salt,. woollen goods, silks, linen, hard ware, and paper ; in a word, with all the articles which Europe exports to America, except gold and silver stuffs, which the mother country excluded from her colonies. The whole trade was carried on by a fleet, which sailed every year from Lisbon and Oporto in the month of March, and consisted of about twenty ships for Rio Janeiro, thirty for Bahia, and as many for Pernambuco. and seven or eight for Para. The ships parted when they came to a certain latitude, and proceeded to their respective destinations. They afterwards met at Bahia, to sail for Portugal, which they reached in September or October, the year following. Notwithstanding the errors in government which generally pre vailed, though not in the same degree, in all parts of Brazil, it had long been in a prosperous way, when, towards the beginning of the eighteenth century, the discovery of the gold mines gave it an additional lustre. The circumstances that produced this discov ery are variously related ; but the most common opinion is, that a caravan of Portuguese, who went from Rio Janeiro in 1695, pen etrated into the continent, and meeting with the Paulists, received from them gold dust, which they understood was procured from the mines of Parana, in exchange for European commodities. A few years after, a company of soldiers from Rio Janeiro, who were sent to quell a rebellion of some Indians in the inland parts, found, on their march, some gold fish-hooks, and were informed that many torrents rushing from the mountains brought gold into the valleys. Upon this information strict search was made ; and though few veins of gold were found so rich as to answer the purpose of working for any time, the gold picked up in such valleys as had been overflowed, and in the sands of rivers, after the waters had subsided, almost exceeded belief. This labor was chiefly per formed by negroes. If the slave procured the quantity of gold required of him, his master could claim nothing more. The over- 164 BRAZIL. plus was his own property. It was some consolation to him to be able to alleviate the burden of slavery, and have a prospect of purchasing his freedom, by the very toils that are attached to that state. If we were to estimate the quantity of gold that Brazil annually furnished, by the fifth which the king of Portugal received, it might be computed at ten millions of dollars ; but we may venture to assert, without exaggeration, that the desire of elud ing the duty, deprived the government of one third of the produce. There are very few diamond mines. Till the last century none were known except in the East Indies ; and some apprehensions were entertained that the continual wars in that country would put a stop to this source of riches ; but these were removed by a discovery at Serro do Frio, in Brazil. Some slaves, who were con demned to look for gold, used to find little bright stones, which they threw away among the sand and gravel. Some curious miners preserved several of these pebbles, which were shown to Pedro de Almeyda, governor-general of the mines. As he had been in the East Indies, he suspected that they were diamonds. In order to ascertain this, the court of Lisbon, in 1730, despatched Da Cunha, the minister to Holland, to make the necessary inqui ries. He put some of them into the hands of able artificers, who, having cut them, declared that they were very fine diamonds. The Portuguese immediately searched for them ; with such success, that the Rio Janeiro fleet, in 1732, brought home eleven hundred and forty-six ounces. This caused them to fall considerably in price ; but the ministry took such measures as made them soon rise to their original value, which they have maintained ever since. They conferred on a company the exclusive right of search ing for, and selling diamonds ; and even to restrain the avidity of the company itself, it was required to employ no more than six hundred slaves in that business. The company, however, were afterwards permitted to employ as many as they pleased, on con dition of paying a certain sum, amounting to about three hundred dollars, for every slave. But in both contracts the court reserved to itself all diamonds that were found above a certain size. The gold and diamond mines, added to a rich culture, ought to have made Brazil the most flourishing colony in the New World. In order to effect this, however, it was necessary that the country should be preserved from intestine commotions and foreign inva sions. Both these objects were therefore taken into consideration. All the mines are situated in the districts of St. Yincent and Rio Janeiro, or in the adjacent lands. Some were in the hands of the Paulists, and the rest lay exposed to their inroads. As those banditti were too numerous and too brave to be brought under REMOVAL OF THE COURT OF PORTUGAL TO BRAZIL. 165 subjection by force, it was thought advisable to treat with them. As they could make no use of their newly-acquired wealth, with out a free communication with those parts where the conveniences and luxuries of life were to be purchased, they were more tracta ble than was expected. They consented to pay, like the rest of the Portuguese, a fifth of their gold to the crown; but they determined the amount of this tribute themselves, and never made it what it should have been. The government prudently winked at the fraud. It was foreseen that these connexions and the new way of life of the Paulists would gradually soften their manners, and that sooner or later they would be brought to submission. This revolution accordingly happened in 1730, when the whole republic of the Paulists acknowledged the authority of the court of Lisbon, and were placed on the same footing with the other Por tuguese in Brazil. During the remaining part of the last century the country offered little to attract the notice of the historian. The policy of the government was narrow and illiberal. Industry was neg lected, and commerce fettered by restrictions and monopolies. The attention of the government was engrossed by the search for gold and diamonds. Foreigners were excluded from the country or jealously watched, and trade was confined to the fortified ports. This state of things continued till the beginning of the present century, when a great change was effected in the political and social condition of the country by the emigration of the court of Portugal to Brazil. The design of removing the court of Portugal to Brazil, as affording an asylum to a weak government against the oppressions of its more powerful neighbors, had been long entertained in the mother country. In 1761, the Marquis de Pombal had determined on the measure, and preparations were made to transport the royal family across the Atlantic ; but as the danger of invasion subsided, the project was abandoned. But in 1808, when the French inva ded Portugal and overran the kingdom, the court abandoned the country and took up their residence at Rio Janeiro. This event resulted in great advantages to the Brazilians. In January, 1808, the king issued a royal charter, abolishing the old exclusive system of trade, and granting to the inhabitants of Brazil the commerce of all foreign nations, and opening all the ports of the country. Shortly after, another decree permitted the free exercise of industry to all classes of people. The press, which for three centuries had been prohibited, was now established in the country, and, in 1808, the first book was printed in Brazil. Nothing can mark more emphatically the deplorable state of darkness and ignorance in 166 BRAZIL. which this fine country had been kept by the government, than this simple fact. Brazil was made a separate state in 1815. A royal decree, of the 16th December, elevated it to the dignity of a kingdom, thence forth, to be called the kingdom of Brazil, which with the European territories should constitute the United Kingdoms of Portugal, Algarves and Brazil. In 1817, an insurrection broke o\ t at Per- nambuco, but although it was speedily quelled, the country continued to be agitated by disturbances which were augmented by the political fluctuations in the mother country. It was plain ly to be perceived that a strong disposition existed in the people of Brazil to detach themselves entirely from Portugal. This inclination manifested itself in a variety of ways, and at length became so decidedly pronounced, that a general legislative and constituent assembly of deputies from every part of the country, was called to take the subject into consideration. On the 12th October, 1822, Don Pedro, son of the king, was proclaimed con stitutional emperor of Brazil; all connexion with Portugal was rent asunder and formally abjured by the people, and Brazil became an independent power. The king of Portugal acknowledged her independence, and was recognised as emperor, with the succession of Don Pedro. Ten millions of dollars were paid by Brazil for this acknowledgement. Don John remained in Portugal, and Don Pedro governed Brazil as regent. Don John died on the 10th March, 1826, and Don Pedro became emperor of Brazil. The country, however, continued in an unset tled state, and the government prospered so little under his sway that he was forced to abdicate the crown on the 6th of April, 1831. His infant son, Pedro II., succeeded, and the government has since been administered by a regency in his name. Since these occur rences, Brazil has been involved in wars with her neighbors, and has suffered from internal embarrassments and convulsions ; but the government of the country has undergone no change, nor have the vicissitudes of its history afforded any events which can interest the general reader. [1842.] THE WEST INDIES. CHAPTER XVII. Settlement of Porto Rico by Ponce de Leon. Insurrection of the natives. The Spaniards settle in Cuba. Behavior of the cacique Hatuey. Extirpation of the Cubans. Havana founded. Jamaica settled by the Spaniards conquered by the English. Barbadoes, Antigua, Nevis, St. Christopher's, the Virgin Islands, Grenada, Tobago, St. Vincent's, Dominica, Trinidad, acquired by the English Martinique, Guadaloupe, Deseada, Marie Galante, by the French other islands by the Dutch, Swedes and Danes. Introduction of slaves from Africa by Las Casas. The slave trade. The Asiento. Abolition of slavery in the British West Indies. THE settlement of Hispaniola by the Spaniards has already been described. Their next important acquisition was the island of PORTO Rico. Although this island had been discovered by 168 THE WEST INDIES. Columbus in 1493, the Spaniards made no attempt to settle it till 1509, when the pursuit after gold carried them thither from Hispaniola, under the command of Ponce de Leon. They met with no resistance from the natives, who had been fully informed of the hard fate which had overtaken their neighbors. They, too, regarded the invaders as superior beings, to whose authority they willingly submitted. A little intercourse, however, with their visitors having convinced them that they were mortal men, they rose in insurrection and massacred a hundred of the Span iards. Ponce de Leon made a vigorous attack upon the insurgents and defeated them with great loss. During the struggle, his forces were recruited by a fresh arrival from St. Domingo, which caused the natives to Relieve that the Spaniards whom they had massa cred were come to life again. Struck with terror by this impres sion, they submitted again to the yoke. They subsequently met with the fate of the natives of Hispaniola, being condemned to the mines, where they all miserably perished. Moro at Havana. CUBA was the next island occupied by the Spaniards. Diego de Velasquez, in 1511, invaded the eastern part with four ships. This district was under the government of a cacique named Hatuey, a native of Hispaniola, who had fled from that island to escape the tyranny of the conquerors. A number of his country men had followed him in his retreat, where he formed a little state and ruled in peace. He saw at a distance the Spanish sails, and dreaded their approach. He called his people around him, and exhorted every man to throw all the gold he possessed into the sea. " Gold," said he, " is the god of the Spaniards, and we THE WEST INDIES. 169 must not expect any happiness as long as the Spaniard's god remains among us. They seek him in every place. Were he hidden in the bowels of the earth, they would discover him. Were we to swallow him, they would plunge their hands into our bowels and drag him out. There is no place but the bottom of the ocean that can elude their search !" Animated by this ha rangue, the Indians threw all their gold into the sea. The Spaniards landed in Cuba, attacked and dispersed the natives. Hatuey was pursued, taken, and condemned to be burnt to death. When he was fastened to the stake, and waited only for the application of the torch, a priest advanced and proposed to baptize him, with a promise of the joys of paradise. "Are there any Spaniards in that happy abode?" asked the cacique. " Yes," replied the ghostly comforter ; " but none except good ones." " The best of them," replied the savage, " are bad enough. I will not go where there is any danger of meeting one. Leave me alone to die!" The cacique was burned, and Velasquez found no more enemies to oppose him ; yet this easy submission did not secure the tranquillity of the unhappy Cubans. Wanton massacres, the labor of the mines and the small-pox, soon swept away the whole population, and nearly reduced the fertile island of Cuba to a desert. Little progress was made in the settlement till 1519, when the pilot Alaminos first sailed through the Bahama channel, carrying to Europe the news of the success of Cortez in Mexico. It was judged that this would be the most convenient route for the ships sailing between Mexico and Europe, and it was desirable to pos sess a seaport on the passage. This led to the foundation of Ha vana, which, originating with the Mexican trade, received subse quently a great augmentation from the Porto Bello and Carthagena traffic. Cuba continues to be a Spanish colony to the present day. JAMAICA, now in possession of the British, was first settled by the Spaniards in 1509. Diego Columbus, the son of the discov erer, sent to that island from St. Domingo a body of seventy men, under Juan de Esquimel. These were soon after joined by other adventurers, the whole constituting a band of blood-thirsty wretches. There was no gold in Jamaica, yet these barbarous invaders never sheathed their swords while one of the inoffensive islanders remained alive. The settlement of the island went on slowly, and it contained a population of no more than three thou sand, half of whom were slaves, when, in 1655, a British force, under Penn and Venables, made themselves masters of it. Since that time it has remained a British colony. 15 v War in the West Indies. Castle in Jamaica. Plantation in Jamaica. THE WEST INDIES. 171 BAREADOES, the most easterly of all the West India islands, appears never to have had any aboriginal inhabitants. In 1627, some English families settled there, but without any authority from the government. Two years after, a regular colony was established in the island by the Earl of Carlisle. The whole sur face was covered with enormous trees, but the industry and perse verance of the British settlers soon cleared the soil to such a degree as to make it one of the most productive territories belong ing to that nation in this quarter. ANTIGUA was found, totally uninhabited, in 1628, by some Frenchmen, who fled from the .Spaniards at St. Christopher's. Hardly any attempt at a settlement was made there till 1666, when Lord Willoughby, to whom Charles II. had granted the island, sent a colony thither. The sugar-cane was first planted here in 1680. NEVIS was occupied by the English in 1628, andMoNTSER- EAT in 1632. ST. CHRISTOPHER'S was the nursery of all the English and French colonies in the West Indies. Both nations arrived in that island on the same day, in 1625. They shared the island between them, signed a treaty of perpetual neutrality and alliance against their common enemy, the Spaniards. Unfortunately for the peace of the settlers, many things, as the woods, the fishing, the harbors, and the salt-pits, were all held in common, which soon led to jealousies, encroachments and hostilities. When war broke out between the mother countries, the islanders fought with a degree of animosity not to be seen elsewhere. They alternately drove each other from the plantations, but, in 1702, the French were totally expelled, and the treaty of Utrecht confirmed the British in the possession of the whole island. The VIRGIN ISLANDS are about sixty in number, but all are small. The Spaniards for many years resorted to them solely for the pur pose of catching turtle. The Dutch made a small settlement at Tortola, one of the group, but, in 1666. they were driven from it by the English, who soon after dispersed themselves over the neigh boring islands and rocks. There they lived, during nearly a cen tury, in a semi-barbarous state, employed solely in raising cotton. After the peace of 1748, they turned their attention to sugar. Before this period there was no form of regular government in the islands. They are now in the possession of the British. GRENADA was first settled by the French, in 1651. On their arrival they gave a few hatchets, some knives, and a barrel of brandy, to the chief of the Caribs they found there ; and imagin ing they had purchased the island with these trifles, assumed the sovereignty, and soon acted as tyrants. The savages, unable to 172 THE WEST INDIES. contend with them by open force, murdered all whom they found alone or defenceless. Troops were sent from France to defend the settlement. All the natives were exterminated by the sword, except a small remnant who escaped to a steep rock. Here they were besieged by the invaders, and, preferring to die rather than fall into the hands of their enemies, they leaped from the preci pice and were dashed to pieces. A subsequent conquest, con firmed by the treaty of 1763, secured this island to Great Britain. TOBAGO received a Dutch settlement in 1632, but the natives joined with the Spaniards of the neighboring island of Trinidad, against them. Most of the settlers were massacred, and the rest abandoned the island. The Dutch neglected the island for twenty years, but, in 1654, sent a new colony thither. The Eng lish and French afterwards disputed the possession of it, and the French prevailing, Louis XIV. restored it to the Dutch. These two lafcer nations afterwards being at war, the French invaded the island, laid it completely waste, and carried away all the inhabitants. They did not, however, replace them with their own people, and Tobago lay neglected and desolate till Great Britain took possession of it, and by the treaty of 1763, it was confirmed to that power. The BAHAMA ISLANDS having been speedily depopulated by the Spaniards who shipped off the natives to work in the mines in other places, were left desert and abandoned for more than a cen tury. In 1629 the English took possession of New Providence and established themselves there till 1641, when they were driven out by the Spaniards, who murdered the governor and committed other acts of cruelty. In 1666, the English again settled in these islands, and remained till 1703, when the French and Spaniards again expelled them and destroyed their plantations. The Baha mas then became a rendezvous for pirates, who were finally sup pressed by the English, under Captain Woodes Rogers, who became governor of New Providence. The other islands were then colo nized by the English, and remained quietly in their possession till the war of the American revolution, when they were attacked, in 1776, by the American squadron under Commodore Hopkins, who captured New Providence and carried off the governor. In 1781 the Spaniard's again took possession of these islands, but they were retaken by the English and confirmed to them by the treaty of 1783. The BERMUDAS were discovered in 1522 by Juan Bermudez, a Spaniard, who found them uninhabited. Sir George Somers was wrecked on them in 1609, on which account they were sometimes called after his name. He built a small vessel of cedar, without THE WEST INDIES. 173 any iron except one bolt in the keel, and sailed to Virginia. The islands were settled shortly after by the English, and have ever since remained in their possession. ST. VINCENT'S was first colonized in 1719 by the French from Martinique. They had much trouble, even at that late period, in subduing the fierce Carib natives. The British acquired the island by the treaty of 1763. DOMINICA was settled about the same time, and in like manner came into the hands of the British. ST. LUCIA received a colony of English in 1639, but they were all massacred by the Caribs. The French next began a settle ment in 1650, but it did not succeed. The island changed hands between the English and French several times, but was finally established under the British dominion. TRINIDAD was first colo nized by the Spaniards in 1535. Great Britain obtained posses sion of it in 1797, and still holds it. MARTINIQUE and GUADALOUPE were settled by the French in 1635. They subsequently obtained possession of DESEADA, MARIE GALANTE and ST. MARTIN'S. These, with the small islands called the SAINTS, now belong to the French. CURAQAO was first pos sessed by the Spaniards in 1527. It was captured by the Dutch in 1634 This nation acquired afterwards ST. EUSTATIA, SABA and half of ST. MARTINS, which still remain in their power. The Danes obtained possession of ST. THOMAS, ST. JOHN, and ST. CROIX; and the Swedes, of ST. BARTHOLOMEW, and now retain them. While we deplore the cruelties which blotted out a whole race of men from the face of the earth, our regrets are augmented by the contemplation of another evil which grew out of this calamity, the introduction of negro slavery into America. The extermina tion of the unfortunate islanders could not fail to excite a certain degree of sympathy even among the Spaniards ; and a philan thropist arose who claimed the name of protector of the Indians. This was Bartholomew de Las Casas, bishop of Chiapa, who, smitten with compassion for the wretched Americans, took up their cause, and used every exertion to check the oppressions of the conquerors. He openly asserted the injustice of reducing them to servitude, and pleaded the cause of humanity with suclj effect at the Spanish court, that Cardinal Ximenes, the regent, despatched him, with four associates ; to America, with full powers to remedy the evil. These commissioners set all the natives at liberty. But the want of hands to till the soil, drove the well- meaning Las Casas to an expedient which drew incalculable woes upon the western world. He proposed to purchase negroes from the Portuguese settlements on the coast of Africa, and trans port them to the West Indies. Negroes had been carried to St. 174 THE WEST INDIES. Domingo as early as 1502 ; but these were few, and the importa tion was soon prohibited, for the alleged reason that they taught the natives insubordination. The scheme of Las Casas, unfortunately, met with favor at the Spanish court. Charles V., in 1517, granted a patent for the Charles V. signing a patent for sending negroes to America. exportation of four thousand negroes annually to Hispaniola. This patent was assigned to some Genoese merchants, and the slave trade became from that time a regular and established traffic. The English engaged in this business in 1562, and the French and Portuguese in 1564. The latter people had carried slaves from Guinea to Lisbon as early as 1442. The project of Las Casas. however, gave this traffic the main impulse, and organized it into a permanent system. The English pursued the slave trade with geat ardor. They made settlements on the African coast, from which they not only furnished their own West India colonies with negroes, but so far monopolized the business as to obtain, in 1689, the Asiento, or contract from the Spanish government for supplying the colonies of that nation, also, with slaves. As late as 1770 the number imported into America by the English exceeded forty-seven thousand in a single year. In this manfier the West India islands became filled with an African population, which still continue in a stale of servitude except in the British colonies and the independent island of Hayti. The slave trade was prohibited by the British government in 1805 ; and by act of parliament, all the slaves in the British West Indies were set free on the 1st of August, 1834. Twenty millions sterling were paid the owners of the slaves as an indemnity. CHAPTER XVIII. THE BUCCANEERS. Origin of the buccaneers. Their enmity towards the Spaniards. Their expedi tion to California. Their mode of life. They become formidable. History of the buccaneer Montbar. Michael de Basco. The buccaneers take Venezuela. Exploits of Morgan. Capture of Porto Bello. Morgan's expedition to Pa nama. His treachery towards his associates. Van Horn, Grammont, Godfrey, Jonque and De Graff e. Capture of Vera Cruz. Expeditions to the South Sea. Terror of the Spaniards. Grammont' s conquest of Campeachy. Ex travagance of the French buccaneers. Expedition of Pointis. Capture of Carthagena. Sack of the city. Immense booty of the captors. Treachery of Pointis. Second capture of Carthagena. Final extinction of the buccaneers. Buccaneers making an attack. BEFORE the English had made any settlement at Jamaica, and the French at St. Domingo, some pirates of both nations, who have since been so distinguished by the name of buccaneers, had driven the Spaniards out of the small island of Tortuga, situated at the distance of two leagues from St. Domingo, and fortifying themselves there, had made incursions with amazing intrepidity against the common enemy. They formed themselves into small companies, consisting of fifty or a hundred each. These bands styled themselves "The Brethren of the Coast;" but they soon became famous to the world by the name of buccaneers ; a word of dubious etymology, but which appears to have been derived 176 . THE WEST INDIES. from the practice, adopted by these adventurers, of drying by smoke the flesh of the cattle they killed in St. Domingo, a prac tice called buccan by the natives. The dress of a buccaneer at first usually consisted of a shirt dipped in the blood of some animal he had killed ; a pair of trowsers ; a leathern girdle, from which hung a sabre and several knives ; a hat without a brim ; shoes of raw hide, and no stockings. Armed with heavy mus kets, and accompanied by dogs, they ranged the woods and sa vannas of St. Domingo, and subsisted upon the cattle they killed, selling their hides to such vessels as touched upon the coast. As their numbers increased, they ventured to make inroads upon the Spanish settlements. The Spaniards, unable to expel these trou blesome neighbors,, adopted the expedient of starving them out, by killing all the cattle in the island. This drove the buccaneers to piracy. Boats were all their naval force. These were scarcely large enough for a person to lie down in, and they had nothing to shelter them from the heats of a burning climate, nor from the rains that fall in these torrid regions. They were often in want of the most necessary supports of life. But all these calamities were forgotten at the sight of a vessel. They never deliberated on an attack, but proceeded immediately to board the ship, of what ever size she might be. As soon as they threw out their grap pling-irons, the vessel was easily taken. In cases of extreme necessity, the buccaneers attacked the people of every nation; but they fell upon the Spaniards at all times. They thought that the cruelties they had exercised on the Ameri cans, justified the implacable hostility they had sworn against them. But this extraordinary kind of humanity was heightened by personal resentment, from the mortification they felt in seeing themselves debarred from the privilege of hunting and fishing, whih they justly considered as natural rights. Such was their infatuation, that, whenever they embarked on any expedition, they used to pray to Heaven for success ; and they never came back from their plundering excursions without constantly thank ing God for the victory. The ships that arrived in America from Europe, seldom tempted their cupidity. They would have found nothing but merchandise in them, the sale''of which would not have been very profitable, and would have required too constant an attention. They always waited for the ships on their return, when they were laden with the gold and silver of Peru. If they met a single ship, they never failed to attack her. They followed the large fleets, and any vessel that straggled or remained behind, was inevitably lost. The Spaniards, who trembled at the sight of these implacable enemies, THE BUCCANEERS. 177 commonly surrendered without resistance. Life was granted to them, if the cargo proved a rich one ; but if the conquerors were disappointed in their expectations, the crew were frequently thrown into the sea. A body of fifty-five buccaneers, who had sailed into the Pacific Ocean, proceeded as far as California. To return into the Atlan tic, they were obliged to sail three thousand leagues against the wind, in a canoe. When they were at the straits of Magellan, they were seized with rage at having made no plunder in so rich a quarter of the world. They steered back for Peru. Here they were informed that in the port of Yauca was a ship, the cargo of which was valued at several millions of dollars. They imme diately attacked and captured her with all this enormous treasure. When the buccaneers had gathered a considerable booty, they held their rendezvous first at the island of Tortuga, in order to divide the spoil. If any one among them was convicted of per jury, which seldom happened, he was left, as soon as an opportu nity offered, upon some desert island, as an infamous person. The first shares of the booty were always given to those who had been maimed in battle. If any one had lost a hand, an arm, or a leg, he received two hundred crowns. An eye or a finger, lost in fight, was valued at half that sum. The wounded were allowed half a dollar a day for two months, to enable them to have their wounds cured. If the company had not money enough to enable them to fulfil these sacred obligations, the whole company were bound to engage in some fresh expedition, and to continue it till they had acquired a sufficient stock to enable them to satisfy such honorable duties. After this act of justice and humanity, the remainder of the booty was divided. The commander, in strictness, could only lay claim to a single share like the rest ; but they complimented him with two or three, in proportion as they were satisfied with his skill and conduct. When the vessel in which they cruised, was not the property of the company, the person who had fitted it out, and furnished it with necessary arms and provisions, was entitled to a third of the prize-money. Favor had never any in fluence in the division of the booty, for every share was rigidly determined by lot. This probity was extended even to the dead. Their share was given to their families. If there were no friends or relatives, it was distributed to the poor and to churches, which were to say masses for the person in whose name these benefac tions were given* They afterwards indulged themselves in profusion of all kinds. Unbounded licentiousness and every kind of debauchery were 178 THE WEST INDIES. carried to the utmost pitch of excess, and were checked only When their money was gone. The possessors of millions were often ruined in an instant, and, destitute of clothes and provisions, they returned to sea, and the new supplies they acquired were soon lavished in the same manner. The Spanish colonists were reduced almost to despair at finding themselves a perpetual prey to these ruffians, and at length grew weary of venturing to sea. They gave up all the benefits of commerce and mutual intercourse, and kept themselves apart in their separate states. They were sensible of the inconve niences arising from such conduct; but the dread of falling into the hands of savage and rapacious pirates had greater influence over them than the dictates of honor, interest and policy. Such was the commencement of that spirit of inactivity, which con tinued in Spanish America down to the present century. This despondency but served to increase the boldness of the freebooters. As yet, they had only appeared in the Spanish settlements, in order to carry off provisions ; and even this they had done very seldom. They no sooner began to find their cap tures diminish, than they determined to recover by land what they were losing at sea. The richest and most populous commu nities of the continent were plundered and laid waste. The culture of lands was now neglected as well as navigation, and the Spaniards dared no more appear in their public roads, than sail in the latitudes frequented by their enemies. Among the buccaneers who signalized themselves in this new species of excursions, Montbar, a gentleman of Languedoc, par ticularly distinguished himself. Having by chance in his infancy met with a circumstantial account of the cruelty of the Spaniards in the New World, he conceived an aversion for them, which he Qarried to a degree of frenzy against that nation. Upon this point, a story is told of him, that when he was at college, and acting in a play the part of a Frenchman, who quarrelled with a Spaniard, he fell upon the person who personated the Spaniard with such fury that he would have strangled him, had he not been rescued out of his hands. His heated imagination continually represented to him innumerable multitudes of people massacred by savage monsters wha-came out of Spain. He became animated with an irresistible desire to avenge so much innocent bltf&d. The enthu siasm to which this spirit of humanity worked him up was turned into a rage more cruel than the thirst for gold, or the fanaticism of religion, to which so many victims had been sacri ficed. The ghosts of these unhappy sufferers seemed to rouse him and call upon him for vengeance. He had heard some account THE BUCCANEERS. 179 of the Brethren of the Coast, as the buccaneers were then called They were represented as the most inveterate enemies of the Spanish name ; he therefore embarked for America to join them. On the passage he met with a Spanish vessel, attacked her, and as was usual in those times, immediately boarded her. Montbar, with a sabre in his hand, fell upon the enemy, broke through them, and, hurrying twice from one end of the ship to the other, levelled everything that opposed him. When he had compelled the enemy to surrender, leaving to his companions the task of dividing so rich a booty, he contented himself with the savage pleasure of contemplating the dead bodies of the Spaniards lying in heaps upon the deck. His savage disposition, as well as that of the other buccaneers who attended him, having obliged the Spaniards to confine them selves within their settlements, these freebooters resolved to attack them there. This new method of carrying on war, required superior forces, and their associations in consequence became more numerous. The first considerable body of troops was formed by Lolonois, a Frenchman, who derived his name from Sables d'- Olonne, the place of his birth. From the abject state of a bonds man, he had gradually raised himself to the command of two canoes and twenty-two men. With these, he was so successful as to take a Spanish frigate on the coast of Cuba. A slave, hav ing observed that all the men who were wounded were put to death, and fearing lest he should share the same fate, attempted to save himself by a perfidious declaration, but very consistent with the part he had been destined to take. He assured the buc caneers that the governor of Havana had put him on board to serve as executioner to all the buccaneers he had sentenced to be hung, not doubting in the least that they would all be taken prisoners. The savage Lolonois, fired with rage at this declaration, ordered all the Spaniards to be brought before him, and cut off their heads, one after another. He then repaired to Port au Prince, at which place were four ships, fitted out purposely to sail in pursuit of him. He took them, and threw all the crews overboard except one man, whom he saved. This person he sent with a letter to the governor of Havana, acquainting him with what he had done, and assuring him that he would treat in the same manner all the Spaniards that should fall into his hands. After this expedition, he ran his canoes and prize ships aground, and sailed with his frigate to the island of Tortuga. Here he met with Micfrael de Basco, who had so highly distin guished himself in capturing, under the cannon of Porto Bello, a Spanish ship, with a cargo valued at above a million of dollars 180 THE WEST INDIES. and by other actions equally daring. These two adventurers gave out that they were going together upon an important expe dition, and they were joined by four hundred and forty men. This corps, the most numerous which the buccaneers had yet been able to muster, sailed to the Bay of Venezuela, which runs up into the country for the space of fifty leagues. The fort at the entrance was taken, the cannon spiked, and the whole garrison, consisting of two hundred and fifty men, put to the sword. They then re-em barked, and proceeded to Maracaibo, on the western coast of the lake of the same name, at the distance of ten leagues from its mouth. The city, which had become rich and flourishing by its trade in skins, tobacco and cocoa, was deserted. The inhabitants had retired with. their effects to the other side of the bay. If the buccaneers had not lost a fortnight in riot and debauch, they would have found at Gibraltar, near the extremity of the lake, everything that the inhabitants had secreted, to secure it from being plun dered. On the contrary, they met with fortifications lately erected, which they had the useless satisfaction of capturing, at the ex pense of a great deal of blood. The inhabitants had already removed to a distance the most valuable part of their property. Exasperated at this disappointment, they set fire to Gibraltar ; and Maracaibo would have shared the same fate, had it not been ransomed. Beside the sum they received for its ransom, they also carried off all the crosses, pictures, and bells of the churches, intending, as they said, to build a chapel in the island of Tortuga, and to consecrate this part of their spoils to sacred purposes. Such was the religion of these barbarous people, who could make no other offering to Heaven than that which arose from their robber- . ies and plunder ! While they were idly dissipating the spoils they had captured on the coast of Venezuela, Henry Morgan, the most renowned of the English freebooters, sailed from Jamaica to attack Porto Bello. His plan of operations was so well contrived, that he surprised the city, and took it without opposition. In order to secure the fort with the same facility, he compelled the women and the priests to fix the scaling ladders to the walls, from a full conviction that the gallantry and superstition of the Spaniards would never suffer them to fire at the persons they considered as the objects of their love and reverence. But the garrison were not te be deceived by this artifice, and yielded only to the force of arms ; the treasures that were carried away from this famous port were acquired by the buccaneers at the expense of much Bloodshed. The conquest of Panama was an object of much greater impor tance. To secure this, Morgan thought it necessary to sail in the THE BUCCANEERS. 181 latitudes of Costa-Rica, and to procure guides in the island of St. Catharine, to which the Spaniards transported their malefactors. This place was so strongly fortified that it might have stopped the progress of the most intrepid commander. Notwithstanding this, the governor, on the first appearance of the buccaneers, sent privately to concert measures how he might surrender without incurring the imputation of cowardice. The result of this consul tation was that Morgan in the night time should attack a fort at some distance, and that the governor should sally out of the cita del to defend this important post ; that the besiegers should then attack him in the rear, and take him prisoner, which would occa sion a surrender of the place. It was agreed that a brisk firing should be kept up on both sides, without doing mischief to either. This farce was admirably carried on. The Spaniards, without being exposed to any danger, appeared to have done their duty ; and the freebooters, after having totally demolished the fortifica tions, and put on board their vessels a prodigious quantity of war like stores, which they found at St. Catharine's, steered towards the river Chagres, the only channel by which they could proceed towards Panama. At the entrance of this river stood a fort, built upon a steep rock, against which the waves of the sea constantly beat. This bul wark, very difficult of access, was defended by an officer, whose extraordinary abilities were equal to his courage, and by a garri son that deserved such a commander. The buccaneers for the first time met with a resistance that could only be equalled by their perseverance. It was a doubtful point whether they would suc ceed, or be obliged to raise the siege, when an accident happened, that proved favorable to their wishes and fortune. The comman der was killed, and the fort accidentally took fire. The besieg ers, taking advantage of this double calamity, made themselves masters of the place. Morgan left his vessels at anchor, with a sufficient number of men to guard tiiem, and sailed up the river in his boats for thirty- three miles, till he came to Cruces, where the stream ceased to be navigable. He then proceeded by land to Panama, which was only five leagues distant. Upon a wide plain that lies before the city, he met a considerable body of troops, whom he put to flight with the greatest ease, and entered into the place, which was no w abandoned. Here were found prodigious treasures, concealed in the wells and caves. Some valuable commodities were taken from the boats that were left aground at low water. In the neighboring forests were also rich deposites. But the party of buccaneers who 16 182 THE WEST INDIES. were making excursions into the country, little satisfied with their booty, exercised the most shocking tortures on the Spaniards, negroes and Indians, to oblige them to confess where they had secreted their riches. A beggar, accidentally going into a castle which had been deserted through fear, found some fine clothes which he put on. He had scarcely dressed himself, when he was perceived by the invaders, who demanded where his gold was. The unfortunate man showed them the ragged clothes he had just thrown off. He was instantly put to the torture, but, as he mado no discovery, he was given up to some slaves, who put an end to his life. Thus the treasures the Spaniards had acquired in the New World by massacres and tortures, were extorted from them in the same manner. Panama was burnt, and the buccaneers set sail with a great number of prisoners, who were ransomed a few days after. The expedition proceeded to the mouth of the Cha- gres with a prodigious booty. Before the dawn of the day that had been fixed upon for the division of the plunder, Morgan, with most of the Englishmen of the band, while the rest of the pirates were in a deep sleep, stole away silently from the rendezvous and sailed to Jamaica in a vessel which they had laden with all the spoils of the enterprise. This instance of treachery, the first of its kind that had happened, excited a rage and resentment not to be described. The remaining English pursued the robber, in hopes of wresting from him the booty, but without success. The French, the sharers in the loss, retired to the island of Tortuga, from whence they made several expeditions. But they were all trifling, till, in the year 1683. they attempted one of greater importance. The plan of this expedition was formed by Yan Horn, a native of Ostend, though he had served all his life among the French. His intrepidity would never let him suffer the least signs of cow ardice among those who were associated with him. In the heat of an engagement he went about his ship, and immediately killed those who shrunk at the sudden report of a gun or pistol. This extraordinary discipline had made him the terror of the coward, and the idol of the brave. In other respects, he readily shared with the men of spirit and bravery the immense riches that were acquired by so fierce and warlike a disposition. When he ventur ed upon his expeditions, he generally sailed in a ship which was his own property. But these new designs requiring greater means to carry them into execution, he took to his assistance Grammont, Godfrey and Jonque, three Frenchmen, distinguished by their exploits, and Lawrence de Graff, a Dutchman, who had signalized THE BUCCANEERS. 183 himself still more. Twelve hundred buccaneers joined these famous commanders, and sailed in six vessels for Vera Cruz. The darkness of the night favored their landing, which was effected at three leagues from the place, at which they arrived with out being discovered. The governor, the fort, the barracks, and the posts of the greatest consequence, everything, in a word, that could occasion any resistance, was taken by break of day. All the citizens, men, women and children, were shut up in the churches, whither they fled for shelter. At the door of each church were placed barrels of gunpowder to blow up the building. A freebooter with a lighted match was to set fire to it upon the least appearance of an insurrection. While the city was kept in such terror it was easily pillaged ; and after the buccaneers had carried off what was most valuable, they made a proposal to the citizens, who were kept prisoners in the churches, to ransom their lives, by a contribution of two millions of dollars. These unfortunate people, who had neither eaten nor drank for three days, cheerfully accepted the terms. Half the money was paid the same day; the other part was expected f 'om the inland part of the country ; when there ap peared, on an eminence, a considerable body of troops advanc ing, and near the port, a fleet of seventeen ships from Europe. At the sight of this armament, the buccaneers, without any marks of surprise, retreated quietly with fifteen hundred slaves they had carried off as a trifling indemnification for the money they ex pected. The final settlement of the account they deferred to a more favorable opportunity. These ruffians sincerely believed that whatever they pillaged or exacted by force of arms upon the coasts where they made a descent, was their lawful property ; and that religion, as well as custom, sanctioned the right not only to what they had ^ already received, but even the interest of that part of the sum that was not yet paid. Their retreat was equally daring and successful. They boldly sailed through the midst of the Spanish fleet, which allowed them to pass without firing a gun ! The Spaniards, in fact, were rather afraid of being attacked and beaten. They would not probably have escaped so easily, if the vessels of the pirates had not been laden with riches, or if the Spanish fleet had been freighted with any other effects than such merchandise as was little valued by the buccaneers. A year had scarcely elapsed, when, on a sudden, they were seized with the desire to invade Peru. They expected, undoubt edly, to find greater treasures upon a sea hitherto little frequented by them. Four thousand men directed their course to this part 184 THE WEST INDIES. of the new hemisphere. Some of them came by the continent, others by the Straits of Magellan. If the intrepidity of these bar barians had been directed by a, skilful and respectable com mander, to one single uniform end, this important colony would have been lost to Spain. But their natural character was an invincible obstacle to such a result. They always formed them selves into several distinct bodies, sometimes so smal. as ten or twelve in number, who acted together or separately, as the most trifling caprice directed. Grognier, L'Ecuyer, Picard and Le Sage, were the most distinguished officers among the French; David, Samms, Peter, Wilner and Townley, among the English. Such of these adventurers as arrived in the South Sea by the Isthmus of Darienj seized upon the first vessels they found along the coast. Their associates, who had sailed in their own vessels, were but poorly provided. Weak, however, as they were, the ad venturers defeated, sunk, or took all the ships that were fitted out against them. The Spaniards then suspended their navigation. The buccaneers were forced to make descents upon the coasts to get provisions, or to go by land and plunder those cities where the booty was secured. Universal terror prevailed throughout Spanish America; the approach of the freebooters, and even the fear of their arrival dis persed the people. The Spaniards, grown effeminate by the most extravagant luxury, enervated by the peaceful exercise of their tyranny, and reduced to the state of their slaves, never waited for the enemy, unless they surpassed them in numbers at least twenty to one ; and even then they commonly suffered defeat. They retained nothing of the pride and nobility of their origin. They were so much degenerated, that they had lost all notions of the art of war, and were even scarcely acquainted with the use of firerarms. They were little better than the native Americans whom they trampled upon. This extraordinary cowardice was increased by the idea they had conceived of the ferocious men who attacked them. Their monks had depicted them in the same hideous colors with which they portrayed evil spirits ; and they themselves had overcharged the picture. Such representations, the offspring of a wild and terrified imagination, imprinted on every mind the utmost aversion and terror. Notwithstanding the excess of their resentment, the Spaniards only wreaked their revenge upon their foes when they were no longer able to inspire terror. As soon as the buccaneers had quitted the place they had plundered, if any one of them had been killed in the attack, his body was dug up, mutilated, or made to pass through the various kinds of torture, that would have been THE BUCCANEERS. 185 practised upon the man had he been alive. This abhorrence of the freebooters was extended even to the places on which they had exercised their cruelties. The cities they had taken were excommunicated ; the very walls and soil of the cities which had been laid waste, were anathematized, and the inhabitants aban doned them forever. While such piracies were committed on the Southern Ocean, the northern seas were threatened with the same outrages by Gram- mont. He was a native of Paris, by birth a gentleman, and had distinguished himself in a military capacity in Europe ; but his passion for wine, gaming and debauchery, had induced him to join the buccaneers. His virtues were almost sufficient to have atoned, in some measure, for his vices. He was affable, polite, generous and eloquent; he was endued with a sound judgment, i and was a person of approved valor, which soon made him the chief of the French buccaneers. As soon as it was known that he had taken up arms, he was immediately joined by a number of brave associates. Grammont's design was to attack Campeachy. The governor of St. Domingo, who had at length prevailed upon the king of France to approve of a project for fixing the bucca neers in some place, and inducing them to become cultivators of the soil, was desirous to prevent the concerted expedition, and therefore forbade it in the king's name. Grammont, who had a greater share of sense than his associates, was not on that ac count inclined to comply, and sternly refused obedience to this order. His answer greatly pleased all the freebooters, who im mediately embarked for Campeachy. This occurred in 1685. They landed without opposition. At some distance from the coast they were attacked by eight hundred Spaniards. These they defeated and pursued to the town, where both parties entered at the same time. The cannon they found were immediately levelled by the invaders against the citadel. As these had little effect, they were contriving some stratagem to enable them to become masters of the place, when intelligence was brought that it was abandoned. There remained in it only a gunner, an Eng lishman, and an officer of such signal courage that he chose rather to expose himself to the greatest danger than basely fly with the rest. The commander of the buccaneers received him with marks of distinction, generously released him, gave him all his effects, and besides, complimented him with some valuable presents. Such influence have courage and fidelity, even on the minds of those who seem to violate all the laws of society. The conquerors of Campeachy spent two months in searching the environs of the city for twelve or fifteen leagues round, carry- 186 THE WEST INDIES. ing off everything of value that the inhabitants had secreted, When all the treasure collected from every quarter was deposited in the ships, a proposal was made to the governor of the province, who still kept the field, with nine hundred men, to ransom his capital. His refusal determined the buccaneers to burn it, and demolish the citadel. The French portion of them, on the fes tival of St. Louis, were celebrating the anniversary of their king ; and, in the transports of their patriotism and intoxication, they burnt stores of logwood to the value of two hundred thousand dol lars. After this extravagant instance of folly, which Frenchmen alone could practise, the buccaneers returned to St. Domingo. A few enterprising men had fitted out, in 1697, in the ports of France, and under the sanction of government, seven ships of the line and a proportional number of smaller vessels. This fleet, commanded by Commodore Pointis, conveyed troops for the land service; their destination being against Carthagena, one of the richest and best fortified towns of the New World. The French expected that this expedition would be attended with great diffi culties ; but they hoped these would be surmounted, if the bucca neers would assist them, which in fact they engaged to do ; out of complaisance to Ducasse, governor of St. Domingo, a man highly esteemed by them. Carthagena was accordingly attacked by the united forces, and the buccaneers, whose boldness could not be restrained, did even more than was expected from them. No sooner had they per ceived a small breach in the walls of the lower town, than they stormed the place, and planted their standards upon the ramparts. They carried the other works with the same intrepidity. The town surrendered, its capture being attributable to the buccaneers. All kinds of enormities followed the surrender. The French general, who was an unprincipled, greedy and cruel man, broke every article of the capitulation. Although the apprehensions of an army, that was collecting in the inland country, had made him consent that the inhabitants should keep half their movable effects, yet everything was given up to indiscriminate plunder. The officers were the first thieves; and it was not till they had gorged themsejyes with the spoils, that the soldiers were suffered to ransack the houses. As for the buccaneers, they were kept in employment out of the town while the treasures were seized. Pointis pretended that the spoils did not exceed a million and a half or two millions of dollars. Ducasse valued them at six mil lions, and othe-rs at eight millions. The buccaneers, according to agreement, were to receive one quarter of the whole. They were, however, given to understand that their profit would amount to but foi ty thousand crowns. THE BUCCANEERS. 187 The ships had set sail when this statement was made to these intrepid men, who had decided the victory. Exasperated at this treatment, they resolved immediately to hoard the general's ship, which, at that time, was too far distant from the rest of the fleet to receive assistance. This infamous commander was upon the point of being massacred, when one of the maleconteuts cried out, "Brethren, why should we attack this rascal? He hath carried off nothing that belonged to us. He hath left our share at Car- thagena, and there we must go to recover it." This proposal was received with general applause. A savage joy at once suc ceeded that gloomy melancholy which had seized them, and without furiner deliberation, all the ships of the buccaneers sailed back to Carthagena, again took possession of the city, and having imprisoned all the men in the cathedral, demanded a million of dollars as their ransom. One of the priests mounted the pulpit, and made use of all the influence that his character, his authority and his eloquence gave him, to persuade his hearers to give up all their gold, silver and jewels. The collection made after this ser mon not furnishing the sum required, the buccaneers again fell to plundering the city. From the houses they proceeded to pillage the churches and even the tombs, but with no great success ; and the instruments of torture were at length produced. Four citi zens, of the greatest distinction, were seized, to extort a confession where the money was concealed. They all protested their igno rance with so much sincerity and firmness, that avarice itself was disarmed. Some muskets were, however, fired off, to induce a belief that these unfortunate men had been shot. Every one ap prehended the same fate; and that very evening two hundred thousand dollars were produced. The following days produced also something more. Despairing, at length, to add anything to what they had already amassed, the buccaneers set sail. On their voyage homeward, they fell in with a fleet of Dutch and English ships, both those nations being then in alliance with Spain. Sev eral of their smaller vessels were either taken or sunk; the rest escaped to St. Domingo. Such was the last memorable event in the history of the bucca neers. They subsequently dispersed and settled in various parts of the West Indies. History will preserve their memory as a most remarkable race of men. Without any regular and fixed system of government, without revenues, without any degree of subordination, they ravaged extensive countries, and became the terror of Spanish America and the astonishment of the age in which they lived. Had they been animated with the spirit of conquest, as they were with that of rapine, they would have sub dued the whole of the Western World. CHAPTER XIX. Depopulation of St. Domingo. Settlement of Tortuga. Establishment of the French in St. Domingo. Effect of the French revolution on the island. The mulattoes petition for political privileges. Enfranchisement of the colored popu lation. Vincent Oge attempts a revolt. General insurrection of the slaves.^ Massacre of the inhabitants. Landing of the British. Arrival of a French army. Toussaint Z/' Ouverture. Expedition of Le Clerc. Destruction of his army. Independence of Hayti. Reign of Dessalines . Christophe. Petion. Civil war. Christophe crowned king. His reign and overthrow. Union of aUpaits of the island under President Boyer. Christophe crowned king of Hayti. THE Spaniards having, in about half a century, exterminated the whole native population of St. Domingo, estimated at more than two millions, remained the sole masters of this beautiful island. The gold mines being exhausted, the whole territory became little better than an abandoned waste, and they remained the undisputed and useless possessors of this fertile soil, till 1630, when some English and French, who had been driven out of St. Christopher's, took refuge there and established themselves on the northern coast. The little island of Tortuga, two leagues from the shore, offered them a secure retreat. From this spot they issued to hunt wild animals in St. Domingo, and sold their hides ST. DOMINGO. 189 to the Dutch. The culture of tobacco increased their means of subsistence, and the colony received great augmentations from various quarters. Out of this establishment grew the celebrated band of freebooters, whose history we have just related. This settlement alarmed the court of Madrid, and they gave orders for its destruction. The commander entrusted with this commission, took the opportunity when the Tortugans were mostly abroad, hunting and fishing, and hanged or put to the sword all he found in the island. The others stood upon their defence, and, placing at their head an Englishman named Willis, retook the island in 1638, and fortified it strongly. Willis collected recruits of his own nation, and soon found himself strong enough to give law to the whole band. He began to act the tyrant, which dis gusted particularly the French portion of his subjects, and they called in their countrymen from St. Christopher's. The English were expelled, and the Tortugans continued to be engaged in hostilities with the Spaniards, who drove them from the island three times successively, but the French as often recovered it. The court of Versailles at length acknowledged this colony, and sent Bertrand D'Ogeron to establish laws and superintend the government. D'Ogeron carried women to Hispaniola, who were sold for. wives to the planters. The settlement began to flourish, and was increased by the acquisition of a great number of slaves which the French captured from the Spaniards and English. The Spanish government, after many ineffectual attempts to expel the French, at length consented to their stay, and at the treaty of Ryswick, in 1691, Spain formally ceded to France the western half of the island. In 1776, a new boundary line was agreed upon, and a liberal commerce opened between the two na tions. The French portion of the island far surpassed the Spanish in productiveness and wealth. The former increased rapidly in population and culture, while the latter declined in both ; and it was not till the year 1765, that it began to show any symptoms of prosperity. The political convulsions of Europe, however, were destined to exercise a most important influence upon this island. When the French revolution broke out, the colony of St. Do mingo had attained the summit of prosperity. It was the boast of the French that their half of this fertile island was worth all the remainder of the West Indies. The political enthusiasm of the mother country spread to the colonies, and the revolutionary frenzy seized upon the minds of the more wealthy part of the colonists. In the midst of a population of slaves, who outnum bered the rest of the inhabitants in the proportion of seven to one, 190 THE WEST INDIES. they planted the tree of liberty, deposed the existing authorities, and preached the doctrine of equality and the rights of man. The conduct of the white colonists, however, seemed to create but little sensation among the negroes ; but the mulattoes, who were already free, and at least equal in number to the white population, soon set up their claim to an equality of rights for their whole class. A mulatto, by the name of Lacombe, presented a petition to the proper authorities, in which he demanded " all the rights and privileges of man." The petition was voted to be treasonable, and the author sentenced to the gallows. At Petit Goave, a planter was torn in pieces, without trial, for having pre sented a petition in favor of the people of color, and all who had signed it were banished from the colony. These violent measures against the mulattoes, who were in general a wealthy and respectable body of men, were followed by a declaration, on the part of a self-constituted general assembly of the whites, " that they would rather die than share their politi cal rights with a spurious and degenerate race." This race, how ever, had powerful advocates of their own class in France, who, through the means of Brissot, La Fayette and Robespierre, the leading members of the society called " Friends of the Blacks," ultimately procured the decree of the 15th of May, 1791, by which all people of color, resident in the French colonies, born of free parents, were entitled to the full enjoyment of the privileges of French citizens. It was on this occasion that Robespierre uttered that memorable exclamation, which at once put an end to all the hopes and intrigues of the colonial planters resident in Paris, " Perish the colonies rather than sacrifice one iota of our principles ! " There had been in Paris, the preceding year, a young mulatto, named Vincent Oge, whose widowed mother held a coffee plantation in St. Domingo. This youth determined by force of arms to cause the rights of his class to be respected. He landed secretly at Cape Francois, reached his mother's dwelling, ancl was joined by about three hundred of his own color ; but they were soon dispersed or made prisoners. Oge escaped into the Spanish part of the island, but having been betrayed, was tried, condemned and executed. More than twenty others shared the same fate. f These judicial massacres created the utmost hor*or among the mulattoes, and. by changing the guilty into martyrs of liberty, separated forever the class of mulattoes from that of the Creoles, The revolutionary spirit continued to increase among the whites : the constituted authorities were insulted or overthrown ; and at length the slaves began to display symptoms of disorder. In ST. DOMINGO. 191 August, 1791, on the occasion of a fire at a plantation in the north, and an attempt made by a slave, at another place, on the life of the bailiff, all the negroes on these two plantations were seized as criminals and made the victims of Creole justice. In a few days, a general insurrection of the slaves broke out; the negroes set fire to the plantations ; the whole northern part of the island was in flames and all the whites that fell into the hands of the insur^ gents were put to death without distinction of sex or age. Those who escaped, fled into the town of Cape Frangois, where a gene ral consternation prevailed. The domestic blacks were locked up ; a great fury was excited against the mulattoes, as the sup posed instigators of the insuriection, and numbers of innocent men of this class were put to death. The population flew to arms, and all hands were employed in fortifying the town, which the negroes approached in detached parties, carrying fire, pillage and massacre all over the surrounding country. In four days, the whole French part of the island lay in ashes. The fire which they set to the plantations of canes, the sugar-mills, the dwelling-houses and stores, covered the face of heaven during the day with volumes of smoke. In the night the horizon was in a blaze like that of volcanoes, which communicated to every object the glowing tint of blood. The whites, on the other hand, tortured and massacred all the negroes, whether guilty or innocent, that fell into their hands. After a while they attempted conciliation, but the negroes had become organized under leaders, and refused submission. In this terrible war, blood was poured forth in torrents. Within two months after the revolt began, upwards of two thousand whites, of all ages and conditions, were massacred. One hundred and eighty sugar plantations, and nine hundred coffee, cotton and indigo settlements were destroyed, and twelve hundred Christian families reduced from opulence to such a state of misery as to depend for food and clothing on charity. Of the insurgents up wards of two thousand perished by the sword or famine, and some hundreds by the hand of the executioner. An insurrection followed in the west ; all the country for thirty miles round Port au Prince was burnt and laid waste. Meantime the decree of the 15th of May was repealed by the National Assembly at Paris. When this intelligence reached St. Domingo, the mulattoes, believing themselves betrayed by the whites, flew to arms ; the most bloody conflicts ensued. Three commissioners had been sent from France with an armed force to regulate the affairs of the colony and carry into effect the decree of the National Assembly. Their arrival caused the utmost terror 192 THE WEST INDIES. among the whites, from the suspicion of a design to declare a gen eral emancipation of the negro slaves. The commissioners acted in a most arbitrary manner, cashiered three governors, and finally quarrelled among themselves. All was confusion and uproar. Terrified at these scenes, and apprehensive of still more dreadful ones, thousands of persons, of all descriptions, embarked with the wrecks of their fortunes for the United States. Some of the planters repaired to England, and made such representations to the government that an expedition under General Whitelocke was sent from Jamaica to occupy such parts of the island as might be wil ling to put themselves under British protection. On the 19th Sep tember he took possession of Jeremie, and a few days afterward of the port and harbor of St. Nicholas ; but the town refused to sub mit and joined the republican army raised by the throe jacobin commissioners. This army consisted of the troops brought from France, the national guards and the militia, amounting to fourteen thousand whites ; to which were added a motley band of slaves who had deserted their masters, and negroes from the jails ; making altogether a force of twenty-five thousand men. The commis sioners, not thinking this army sufficient to repel the attack of the British, proclaimed the total abolition of negro slavery. In conse quence of this, upwards of one hundred thousand blacks fled to the mountains and possessed themselves of the natural fortresses of the interior. A desperate band of thirty or forty thousand armed negroes and mulattoes ravaged the whole of the northern districts, more intent on plunder than on opposing the progress of the English, who, after several skirmishes, became masters of the western coast of the island. On the capture of Port au Prince by the English, the republican commissioners retired towards the mountains, but finding the mulattoes and blacks in possession of the heights, under the mulatto general, Rigaud, and a negro by the name of Toussaint L/Ouver- ture, they deemed it necessary to abandon a country which their own rash precipitation had plunged into ruin. Toussaint L'Ouverture soon became the leader. This man was born a slave, and continued so for nearly fifty years. When the insurrection broke out he refused to join in it, and assisted in procuring his master a passage to the United States. After this, he joined the French forces, and rose by successive steps to the rank of brigadier general. He obtained such influence that all the proceedings of the French commissioners were directed by him. The Directory at Paris became jealous of him, and sent out General Hedouville to observe his conduct and restrain his ambi tion. Toussaint, however, refused to submit to his management ST. DOMINGO. 193 Bonaparte, on becoming first consul, confirmed him as comman- der-in-chief, and Toussaint succeeded in freeing the island from the English. He introduced order and discipline into the gov ernment, and under his sway the colony advanced, as if by enchantment, towards its ancient splendor. The lands were again put under cultivation ; all the people appeared to be happy, and considered Toussaint as their guardian angel; both blacks and whites regarded him with esteem and confidence. The general enthusiasm which he had excited was sufficient to instil vanity into the strongest mind, and he had some excuse for saying he was the Bonaparte of St. Domingo ! He had in early life stored his memory with an incoherent jumble of Latin phrases from the psalter, of which he made a whimsical use after his ele vation. Sometimes a negro or mulatto would apply to be made a magistrate or judge : " Certainly," he would reply; " you un derstand Latin, of course? " " No, General." " How ! wish to be a magistrate, and not know Latin !" and then he would pour forth a torrent of Latin jargon, which sent the sable candidate away with the opinion that the general was a most portentous scholar. The prosperity of the colony was unfortunately of short con tinuance. After the peace of Amiens, Bonaparte, urged on by the expelled planters and mercantile speculators, determined to recover the colony, reinstate the former proprietors and subjugate the emancipated slaves. For this purpose he despatched his bro ther-in-law, General Le Clerc, with a force of twenty-five thousand men. On the appearance of the fleet in the bay of Samana, Toussaint exclaimed, "We shall all perish; all France is come to St. Domingo." The army landed, and several desperate battles were fought. Le Clerc at last found himself under the necessity of proclaiming liberty and equality to all the inhabitants, with the reservation, however, of the approval of the French govern ment. The negroes, tired of the war, deserted their leaders, and a treaty of peace was concluded, by which the sovereignty of France over the island was acknowledged and a general amnesty granted. In direct violation of this agreement, Toussaint was seized by Le Clerc and carried to France, where he died in prison. This outrage on the person of their favorite chief exasperated the blacks to a high degree. They flew to arms, and organized themselves under leaders, among whom Dessalines and Christophe soon became conspicuous. They spread slaughter and devasta tion among the French, who could offer little resistance against them on account of the excessive heat of the summer 1802. Le Clerc and most of his officers were attacked by sickness, and all the reinforcements sent from France suffered successively from 17 y 194 THE WEST INDIES. the pestilence. Yet they continued to practise great barbai- ities towards the unfortunate blacks. In the midst of these scenes of horror, Le Clerc died, and the command devolved on General Rochambeau, who fought several battles with varied success ; but the losses sustained in these actions, added to disease, reduced the French to the necessity of shutting themselves up in their strong holds, while the blacks were daily increasing in number and confidence. By the end of the year 1802, no less than forty thousand Frenchmen had perished. Dessalines, now commander-in-chief of the negro army, advanc ed to the plain of Cape Francois, to besiege the French in cheir head-quarters. A bloody battle followed, in which neither could claim the victory. The French were said to have tortured their prisoners, and then put to death five hundred of them. Dessalines, hearing of this, caused five hundred gibbets to be erected, and after selecting all the French officers, made up the number out of the other prisoners, and hung them up at break of day in sight of the French army. The misery of the French was completed by the breaking out of the war with England, in 1803. A British squadron blockaded Cape Francois; the town was reduced by famine, and Rochambeau surrendered at the end of the year. On the first of January, 1804, the independence of the island was formally proclaimed, and it resumed its aboriginal name of Hayti. Jean Jacques Dessalines was appointed governor-general for life. His first act was to encourage the return of those blacks who had taken refuge in the United States. He next excited the people to a horrible massacre of the whites, which took place on the 28th of April. By a series of cruelties and perfidies he got rid of all whom he conceived to be his enemies, and on the 8th October, 1804, procured a Capuchin missionary to crown him em peror, by the name of Jacques I. On this occasion he signed a constitution declaring the empire of Hayti to be a free, sovereign and independent state. It proclaimed the abolition of slavery, the equality of rank, the equal operation of the laws, the inviolability of property, &c. Under this government the island rapidly ad vanced to prosperity. Dessalines, though a cruel and sanguinary tyrant, was not without skill in the art of government. When emperor, he appointed his ancient master to the office of butler to his household, which he said was precisely what- the old man wished for, as his love for wine made up for the abstemiousness of Dessalines, who drank only water. Dessalines closed his bloody career on the 17th October, 1806, being assassinated by the mulatto soldiers of Petion. At his death Christophe was called to the head of the government, and a con- ST. DOMINGO. 195 projected which should guarantee the safety of persons and property. A proclamation was issued, denouncing the crimes of which Dessalines had been guilty, and, among other things, accused him of having robbed the public treasury of twenty thousand dollars for each of his twenty mistresses. Christophe, however, deplored the fate of Dessalines, and affirmed that he had been put to death by the mulattoes without inquiry into his conduct. The blacks, always jealous of the mulattoes, attacked Petion, who with his adherents escaped into the southern and western districts, where a new constitution was prepared, and on the 27th Decem ber, 1806, Petion was proclaimed president of the republic of Hayti. A civil war now sprang up between the partisans of the two chiefs, till at length, by a sort of tacit agreement, the mulatto president fixed himself in the south and west, while Christophe established himself in the north, where, on the 2d of June, 1811 the royal crown was placed on his head and he was proclaimed Henry I., king of Hayti. King Henry established his court and government in all the pomp of an European monarchy. He maintained an army of twenty-five thousand men. He created orders of nobility, with princes, dukes, earls, barons and chevaliers, knights of the grand cross, &c. He set up a sort of feudal system, partitioning out the vacant lands among his retainers. He founded a royal college, established schools, endowed an academy for music and painting, built a theatre, patronised the arts, and encouraged magnificence in dress. He was born a slave in the island of St. Christopher's, from whence he took his original name ; yet his literary acquire ments were respectable, and he spoke French and English well. The country prospered under his administration, and for a time he ruled in tranquillity. Petion, the president of the republic, was a native mulatto of the island, and received an education at the military academy of Paris. His manners were shy, but his disposition was gentle and conciliatory. He appears to have governed with equity and mod eration, and enjoyed the full confidence of his people. He was evidently much superior to the men by whom he was surrounded ; and it is believed that he died of chagrin, on finding his schemes of philanthropy and political improvements impracticable among the barbarous population of Hayti. His death took place in 1818. He was succeeded by Jean Pierre Boyer, who is still at the head of the government. Christophe reigned nine years ; but, in the midst of apparent peace and prosperity, he lived in continual suspicion of plots against his life. He distrusted his officers and the persons about 196 THE WEST INDIES. him. His palace was defended with all possible care, and he never journeyed without strict precautions for his safety, carrying loaded pistols, and surrounding himself with his body-guard. His fears were not entirely groundless ; numerous circumstances had diminished his popularity, and prepared the way for his downfall. He became severe, arbitrary and tyrannical; he no longer consulted his nobles and principal officers on public affairs ; he displaced and degraded them, from ill-humor and caprice, and at length losing all the affections and confidence of his people, he became as much the object of their dread as he had formerly been of their admiration. At length, a burst of passion impelled him to order a barbarous massacre of a number of mulatto women. This extinguished the last spark of attachment that lingered in the breast of the people. A mutiny of the soldiers broke out shortly afterwards. Christophe gave orders to put the ringlead ers to death. The soldiery, instead of executing this order, took sides with the mutineers, and Christophe, in despair, shot himself through the head with a pistol, in October, 1820. This was the end of the Haytian monarchy. An attempt in deed was made by the conspirators to maintain the old govern ment, and one of Christophe' s nobles, Romaine, the prince of Limbe, endeavored to get himself proclaimed king. He was foiled in his attempt, and the people invited Boyer into their territory. Boyer marched to Cape Francois, at the head of twenty thousand men, and was proclaimed the sole authorized chief of Hayti. The Spanish portion of the island voluntarily placed itself under his government in 1821. Since this event the three governments have remained united. In 1825, a treaty was concluded with France, by which the independence of Hayti was acknowledged on condition of the payment of one hundred and fifty millions of francs, in five annual instalments. This treaty has been censured as imprudent and highly prejudicial to the Haytians, by draining their country of an enormous sum of money, which they could not pay without the most ruinous sacrifices, and for which they received no equivalent. Hayti, at present, has little commerce, but being free from intestine commotions, the island may in time recover a portion of its former prosperity. A fatality, however, seems to hang constantly over this fair territory. On the 7th day of May, 1842, the whole island was shaken by an. earthquake, which destroyed the town of Cape Haytien, formerly Cape Fran- c,ois, with ten thousand inhabitants, leaving scarcely a third of the population remaining. SPANISH SETTLEMENTS. CHAPTER XX. PERU. Insurrection of Tupac Amaru. Character of this leader. His attempts in favor of the Peruvians. Becomes the patron of the Indians. Apprehensions of the Spaniards. Commencement of the insurrection. Trial and execution of Arriaga. Policy of Tupac Amaru. Conquest of Quispicancha by the Indians. They advance upon Cuzco. Battle of Sangarara. Slaughter of the Spaniards. Triumphs of Tupac. He assumes the crown of Peru. Expedition against Puno. Defeat of the Indians. Siege of Puno. Invasion of Chucuito. Ad ventures of Tomas Catari. Rebellion in Chayanta. Arrival of a Spanish army from Buenos Ayres. Defeat of the Indians. Cruelties of the Spaniards. Oruro taken and plundered by the Indians. Furious excesses of the insurgents. War of extermination. The whole of Peru raised in arms. Tupac marches upon Cuzco. Defence of the city by the cacique Pomacagua. The siege of Cuzco raised. Retreat of Tupac. THE native Peruvians, after their subjugation, quietly submit ted, for more than two centuries, to the yoke of their conquerors. To a casual observer, all memory of their ancient independence and the glories of the empire of Manco Capac appeared to be lost. But toward the close of the eighteenth century, events occurred, which proved, in the most striking manner, that the national spirit was not extinct among the Peruvians, nor the remembrance of their better days entirely out of their thoughts. Groaning under the severest bondage, their minds still dwelt upon the days of their independence, and they wanted only a leader to encourage them to burst their fetters, and rise in rebellion against their tyrannical masters. Such a leader they found in Jose Gabriel Condorcanqui, com monly known by the name of Tupac Amaru, which he took upon himself by right of his maternal descent from the Inca of that name, the last of the sovereigns of Peru, put to death by the Spaniards. This celebrated individual first attracted attention in Peru, by assuming the Peruvian name, proving his descent from Manco Capac, and urging his pretensions, before the court of Lima, to the vacant marquisate of Oropesa, which had been granted to Sayri Tupac, his ancestor. Of a noble physiognomy and a robust frame, vast designs, vehement passions, firmness of enterprise, and intrepidity amid dangers, but with only the imper fect education which he could acquire by a few years' study at the colleges of Cuzco and Lima, he conceived the bold design of IT* Overseer of a royal Peruvian mine. Fighter at a butt feast. Servants Natives of Peru. Festive costumes of Indians. INSURRECTION OF TUPAC AMARU. 199 delivering his countrymen from the tyranny under which they groaned. Tupac Amaru, in the first place, endeavored to procure some mitigation of these unparalleled burdens, by gaining the coopera tion of several eminent dignitaries in the church, led by the Bishop of Cuzco, a noble Peruvian, and using their influence with the government in behalf of the oppressed Indians. Yet, foresee ing that persuasion would avail but little with their avaricious and cruel masters, he resorted to other means of redress, by assiduously courting popularity among his countrymen, exhibit ing himself as the protector of the injured, alleviating the suffer ings of the distressed by pecuniary aid, and thus gradually leading the whole nation to regard him as the descendant and rightful representative of their ancient sovereigns. In the meantime, the Peruvians, who sympathized in the miseries of the Indians, urged upon the advisers of the crown the necessity of a reform in the internal administration of the country, in such strong terms, and expressed so decided a belief that some fearful political crisis was impending, that the Spanish court began to listen to their representations. Accordingly, two noble Peru vians, Don Ventura Santelices and Don Bias Tupac Amaru, were called to Spain, to aid the council of the Indies in devising means to improve the condition of the Indians. Probably they would have succeeded, had they not prematurely perished by chance or by assassination, the one at Madrid, the other on his passage back to Peru. Tupac Amaru now came forward in person, and made new exertions. But his zeal only seemed to draw upon him the animosity of the petty despots of the provinces, who lorded it over his subject race. These men, seeing that the failure of San telices and of Don Bias Tupac Amaru had not cooled the Inca's ardor, now doubled the burdens of his countrymen, and think ing thereby to crush the rising spirit of resistance, pushed their tyranny beyond the verge of human endurance. Their madness hastened the crisis which they strove to avert. The Indians grew desperate, and now first breaking forth into a determined insur rection, rallied round the Inca. The commencement of the revo lution was signalized by an act of vengeance, performed with all the solemnity of the law, and therefore the better calculated to strike terror into the hearts of the Spaniards, and to arouse the courage of the Peruvians. Don Antonio Arriaga, corregidor of Tinta, was infamous for the cruelty and rapacity which he exer cised on the Indians of his province. Tupac Amaru brought him to Tunja Tuca, under pretext of a sedition, and then instituting his trial with his own official registers, caused him to be con- 200 PERU. demned as a public robber, and executed on the gallows, in the name of the king of Spain, on the 10th of November, 1780. All the odious forms of taxation and bondage were abolished from this instant, and the flames of civil war burst out in Peru. Tupac Amaru was cautious and wary in the introductory scenes of the revolution, because he wished to conciliate the timid among his nation, and lull his enemies into security, by making them regard his proceedings in the light of a mere local tumult. Hence, all his proclamations, decrees and other formalities atten dant on the opening of his insurrection, appeared in the name of the king. Adhering to this plan, and pretending to be in the exe cution of the king's mandates, he passed rapidly into the province of Quispicancha, with the intention of causing the corregidor Cabrera to undergo the fate of Arriaga; but Cabrera, anticipa ting his purpose, escaped by a hasty flight, leaving his rich maga zines and the treasures of the government to be distributed among the Indians^ By these movements, the neighboring provinces were now thrown into general consternation, and Tupac Amaru, actively extended the flame, disseminating his edicts, wherein, calling on the names of thQ Incas and of liberty, he sought to awaken the national enthusiasm of the Peruvians. The consternation soon spread to the city of Cuzco, and meas ures were taken to oppose the Inca's progress. A body of troops, amounting to about six hundred Spaniards, Creoles and Indians, marched out and encamped at Sangarara, not far from Cuzco. They were immediately attacked by a much superior body of Indians, and compelled to take refuge in the church. Tupac Amaru proposed to them to submit on honorable terms, which were disdainfully rejected. The situation of the besieged was rendered hopeless by an unexpected accident. Their powder- magazine exploded, blew off a part of the roof of the church, and opened a breach in the walls. Still these determined men main tained their resolution with all the heroism to which their nation owes its wonderful conquests. Discharging a cannon through the breach, they killed seven of the Indians near the person of Tupac. After which, they threw open the doors of the church, and trusted their fate to the desperate attempt of forcing a way through the surrounding multitude of enemies. In this they failed. Of six hundred and four combatants, who had occupied the church, all died heroically, sword in hand, except about sixty Creoles and Indians. The result of this victory was of the utmost consequence to the Inca. Success had now crowned his arms, and he dexter ously took advantage of the respect and terror which it inspired. INSURRECTION OF TUPAC AMARU. 201 In most places where the intelligence reached, nothing was now heard among the Indians but acclamations in favor of the deliverer of Peru. He, therefore, assumed the symbols of the ancient gran deur of his progenitors, and bound around his temples the imperial borla of the Incas. Elated by his recent triumphs, after an inef fectual attempt on Cuzco, he directed the principal division of his forces towards Puno. He himself, having received letters from his wife informing him that his exploits had excited attention in Lima, and it was therefore necessary to collect all his strength, retraced his steps towards Tinta. The expedition against Puno, was unsuccessful. The Indians displayed the greatest resolution and obstinacy in their attack on the place, as, if they succeeded in the capture of Puno, there would have been nothing to inter rupt their march toward the important city of La Paz. In one engagement, the Indians, to the number of five thousand, were beaten by about eight hundred Spaniards. They penetrated, however, to Puno, and besieged the city, eighteen thousand Indians occupying the eminences which commanded the district ; but they were finally repulsed ; on which, exasperated rather than disheartened by defeat, they suddenly turned away from Puno, and poured themselves, like a torrent, over the unprotected province of Chucuito. No province adhered to Tupac Amaru more devotedly than Chayanta. This arose from the commotion in which it was already involved, from the following causes: There lived in Chayanta, an Indian named Tomas Catari, who felt the liveliest sensibility to the wrongs of his countrymen, and before the rising of Tupac Amaru, had protested against some extraordinary acts of oppression perpetrated by the corregidor Don Joaquin De Aloz. Placing no confidence in the court of Charcas, which was noto riously corrupt, Catari carried his complaints directly to the viceroy. Buenos Ayres was at this time governed by Don Juan De Vertiz, a man of unimpeachable integrity, and of mild, pacific and amiable virtues. He saw with disgust the abuses which custom authorized, but he could afford no other relief than to order the royal audience to examine the matter judicially. Catari returned to his province, concealing his dissatisfaction, and giving out, in mysterious language, that redress was about to be afforded by a superior power. His real object was to prepare his nation to shake off the yoke of servitude. Shortly after his return, Catari was thrown into prison by Aloz, under the false pretext of his having killed a partisan of the gov ernment. The Indians immediately released him by force. From that time forward, he experienced the greatest vicissitudes of for- 202 PERU. tune : at one moment persecuted by Aloz ; at another, protected by the Indians. While his exertions were suspended by imprison ment, his brothers, Damaso and Nicolas, zealously promoted his designs. The Indians were to assemble in the village of Pocoata. to prepare the subscription list for the mita of Potosi. Aloz, apprehending the meeting might end in some popular tumult, hastily collected a guard of two hundred men for his defence, but Damaso, nevertheless, demanded the release of his brother, who was then confined in the jail of Chuquisaca. This demand brought on an altercation, in the course of which, Aloz shot an Indian with his pistol. The incensed natives instantly marched from all quarters to the public square, where Aloz awaited them with his troops drawn up in order of battle. They attacked him with an enthusiasm which supplied every defect of arms and dis cipline, and after a sanguinary contest, killed or routed the whole Spanish force, and made Aloz himself prisoner. The audience of Charcas were filled with dismay. They gladly released Tomas Catari, trusting to his influence for the preservation of Aloz, whom the Indians compelled as the price of his life, to send an order for the seizure of a cacique, named Lupa, odious on account of his subserviency to the government. The cacique was put to death by them, and his head was affixed on the gates of Chuquisaca. But the misfortunes of Tomas Catari were not yet finished. At the moment when his reputation and seeming security were the greatest, he was made prisoner. The whole population of the country flew to his rescue, but too late ; for he was immediately put to death. The rage of the Indians now passed all bounds ; and the manifestoes of Tupac Amaru, proclaiming independence, and the empire of their ancient monarchs, reaching them at the very height of this popular resentment, they seized upon the occasion with inconceivable ardor, to signify, by acclamation, their unanimous adhesion to the Inca. The disturbances in Chayanta had before this obliged the vice roy of Buenos Ayres to send a force to quell them, commanded by Don Ignacio Flores, who, for that purpose, was invested with very ample powers. Stimulated by the presumption of the Indians, who were now proclaiming the new Inca, and still more by the complaints of the audience of Charcas, who censured the slowness of his operations, Flores waited not for the veteran troops speedily expected from Buenos Ayres, but attacked the Indians without delay, and gained a complete victory. He took sixty prisoners, and with the view of inspiring the vanquished with greater terror, put them all to torture and death. This pre cipitate act inflamed the Indians with such furious hatred of the INSURRECTION OF TUPAC AMARU. 203 Spaniards, that all were now ready to throw away their lives, as martyrs in the cause of liberty, and the insurrection raged more violently than ever. In the meantime, a succession of the most tragical events was taking place in the rich town of Oruro, the capital of a district of that name. In Carabaya and Paria, too, the Indians were all in arms, and had killed some of the principal Spaniards, and sent their heads to Tupac Amaru. The corregidor, fearing a hostile irruption into the town, enlisted a corps of four hundred men, com posed chiefly of Cholos, the offspring of whites and mestizoes, esteemed the hardiest and most active class of the population. Everything was then apparently tranquil ; but never was repose more fallacious. The new recruits, practising the most profound dissimulation, determined to take advantage of their situation to enrich themselves out of the pillage of the town. To obtain arms, which were not yet delivered to them, they first spread a rumor that the European Spaniards designed to assassinate them in their quarters. The next night, they raised a cry that the insurgent Indians were approaching. On their arms being given them, their true object was developed. A part remained in their quarters; the rest took post on a hill, and sounding their trumpets, gave the signal for the Indians of the mines to rush into the town and begin the plunder. The European Spaniards were the first objects of their fury. They had taken refuge in the house of one of the wealthiest of their number, and there collected their silver for safe keeping. The Indians and Cholos, finding the house fortified, set fire to it, and thus compelling the unfortunate Spaniards to come forth, put them all to the sword. They found in the house upwards of seven hundred thousand dollars. But this rich plunder served only to sharpen their avarice the more. To crown the miseries of this devoted town, the Indians of other provinces, amounting to twenty thousand in number, now flocked into it, and for ten days Oruro wore the aspect of a city taken by storm. Not a commercial house in the place but was pillaged. The churches were profaned, the female population driven into the convents; dead bodies scattered over the public squares. Such was the dis astrous spectacle which the rich city of Oruro exhibited. In toxicated with their success, the insurgents would have reduced it entirely to ashes, but for the interposition of a noble Indian, Don Lope Glmngara, who united with the inhabitants to rescue it from complete destruction, and thus diverted the fury of the Indians into a different channel. Similar excesses were committed elsewhere, particularly in 204 PERU. Sicasica and Cochabamba. The Indians of this latter district conspired to cut off every Spaniard, whether European or American. They pursued this war of extermination for some time, unresisted, sparing neither age, sex, nor condition. The proclamation of Tupac Amaru had here fallen among men whose native ferocity, hardened by oppression and confirmed by igno rance, displayed itself in acts of savage violence, at which humanity shudders. But their courage was not equal to their cruelty. They were repeatedly routed by a small Spanish force and compelled to fly to the fastnesses of the mountains. The rapid progress of the insurrection soon made it necessary for the viceroy of Peru to put in motion the troops of Lima. The theatre of the war was now so far extended, as to require the exertion of the whole military force of the country. Tupac Amaru used the greatest diligence in raising recruits, and then marched for Cuzco, causing himself to be received on the way, under a pavilion, with all the ostentation of sovereignty. He halted on the heights of Yauriquez, a few leagues from Cuzco, and summoned the city to surrender. His enterprise had been encouraged by several of its noblest citizens ; and it was in reliance upon their cooperation, that he hoped to gain possession of Cuzco. But his faithless friends hesitated for a few days, and all was lost. Pomacagua, the celebrated cacique of Chincheros, and other caciques, who adhered to the Spaniards, led their followers to the defence of the city. The threatened danger inspired even the clergy with war like ardor. While the dean of the church was proceeding to cele brate the publication of the bull, he was forced to assume the military garb, and place himself in front of his squadron. The friendly Indians sallied out alone to attack the besiegers, but suf fered great slaughter. The Spaniards, however, wilh the cholos, speedily joined in the engagement, changed the fortune of the day, and compelled Tupac Amaru to raise his camp, and fall back upon Tinta. Virgin of the sun. Female Indian, as the Minerva of Peru. Persons of the middle class of Peru. CHAPTER XXI. PERU CONTINUED. Progress of the insurrection of Tupac Amaru. Adventures of Juan Apasa. His extravagant conduct. He attempts the total extirpation of the Spaniards. His authority over the Indians. Atrocities perpetrated by his command. The Indians assault La Paz. Desperate battles. Siege of La Paz. Defeat of the Indians by Voile. Capture of Tupac Amaru. His brother Diego, assumes the command of the Peruvians. Siege ofPuno. Expedition of Vallefor its relief. Desperation of the Indians. The Spaniards abandon Puno. Pillage of that town by the Indians. Cruelties of Tupa Catari. Siege of La Paz. Arrival of a Spanish force under Flores. The siege raised and recommenced. Trial and execution of Tupac Amaru. Barbarous cruelty of the Spaniards. Vindictive spirit of the Indians. Exploits of Miguel Bastidas. Siege of Sorata. The Indians inundate the place. Sorata taken and sacked. The Indians press the siege of La Paz. Desperate condition of the place. Arri val of Reseguin, and relief of the city. Defeat of the Indians by Reseguin. Consternation of the Indians. Submission of their leaders. Trial and execution of Tupa Catari. Narrow escape of the Spaniards. Obstinate warfare of the Indians of Los Yungos. Battle of Hucumarimi. Defeat of the Indians, and termination of the insurrection. A NEW personage now began to make a figure in these impor tant scenes, who soon rendered himself no less terrible to the Spaniards of La Paz, than Tupac Amaru and the Cataris were in other provinces. This was an Indian called Juan Apasa, who, having intercepted a courier sent by Tupac Amaru to Tomas. Catari, when the latter no longer lived, deceived the Indians with the belief that it was directed to himself, assumed the name of Tupa Catari, and the state and pretensions of the inca's viceroy. He was a baker by trade, and as ignorant as presumptuous. He succeeded in attaining the authority of a Peruvian Masaniello. Extravagance, madness, effrontery, vanity, sagacity and fertility of expedients and ideas adapted to his situation, went to make up the character of this adventurer. The great city of La Paz was the centre of his operations. He began by sending orders in every direction, ha-ving for their object the revival of the usages of the ancient Peruvians. He commanded the Indfans to hold assemblies on the mountain tops ; to eat no bread ; to drink no water from the springs; to burn the churches, and abjure the Christian faith. Every Spaniard indiscriminately, or in the com prehensive language of the proclamation, every one who wore a irt) was doomed to death. Charged with these instructions, an INSURRECTION OF TUPAC AMARU. 207 Indian mode his appearance at Tiguina, whose exterior was well calculated to inspire alarm. His neck was bound with a rope, and he bore a knotted cord in his hand. Calling thrice with a loud voice, he summoned the Indians together, and explained the meaning of these symbols. The cord around his neck denoted that he would be hung if he departed from truth. The knot on the cord intimated that as he was forbidden to unloose this on the way, so was it unlawful to open the message of his Inca, king Tupa Catari. After these preliminaries he untied the mysterious knot, and published in the name of the king, a peremptory decree, imposing the rights of his new legislation, and commanding the instant execution of the proscribed Spaniards. The tumultuary voices of the concourse signified prompt obedi ence. They ran to the church, where the Spaniards had sought refuge ; forced them out by setting it on fire, and killed them all without mercy. From thence they proceeded to the sanctuary of Cobacabana, and repeated the same act, killing all but the priests. These atrocities portended the storm which was speedily to break upon La Paz. The protection of this important pass had been committed to Don Sebastian de Segurola, an officer of great military talents. He attempted to dislodge a small party of eighty Indians, who annoyed him with their slings, from a neigh boring height. Thrice did the Spaniards gain the summit, each succeeding time with fresh assailants; and thrice were they driven back with loss, before they could overpower this handful of brave men. Discomfiture under such circumstances was more useful to the Indians than victory. It taught them their strength. Accordingly, in his next enterprise, Segurola sustained a signal defeat. Ascertaining that some auxiliaries sent from Sorata, had fallen into the hands of the Indians, who were masters of the heights of La Paz, he resolved to attack them on three sides. But the incessant flights of stones from the slings of the Indians, and the huge masses of rock, which they rolled down the sides of the mountain, drove the Spaniards from the field. Segurola made another attempt, with four field-pieces and a larger force than before. The Spaniards succeeded in ascending about half way up the eminence, but were again repulsed by the Indians, who fought with enthusiastic energy, routed the Spaniards, pre cipitated themselves down the mountain with the rapidity of a torrent, pursued their flying enemies to the gates of La Paz, and laid close siege to the city. Meantime, Valle, at the head of sixteen thousand men, had marched in quest of Tupac Amaru, and although meeting with constant resistance, at last penetrated to Tungasuca. Sound 808 PERU. policy would have dictated to Tupac Amaru the plan of avoiding pitched battles in the open plain. In this mode of warfare the Spaniards had every advantage, by the superiority of their arms, their discipline, and the skill of their leaders. If the Indians had confined themselves chiefly to the highlands, of which they had the entire command, they might, by repeated short incursions into the plains, have prolonged the war at pleasure. Instead of this, they risked all their strength in a general engagement, and were de feated, leaving the field of battle covered with their dead. Tupac Amaru himself narrowly escaped by flight, and was not long afterwards taken prisoner, with his wife and sons. It was imag ined that the capture of the Inca would put an end to the insur rection; but the Indians rallied again under his half brother, Diego Cristobal Tupac Amaru, who prosecuted the war with unabated vigor. They were extremely anxious to reduce the town of Puno, from which they had been once repulsed. Diego Cristobal renewed the attempt with greater obstinacy, and with talents which, under more propitious circumstances, must have ensured success. He invested the town on all sides, and after several skirmishes at the outposts, made a simultaneous assault at several different points. The divisions of his troops, all acting in concert, drove the besieged up the streets, into the heart of the town ; but here the Spaniards made a desperate stand, and at the close of the day forced the Indians to retire. Four days in suc cession were these animated assaults repeated with the most obstinate courage, before Diego abandoned the enterprise in de spair, and retreated into Carabaya. While these events were passing, Valle was endeavoring to relieve Puno. In his progress thither, he was repeatedly attacked by the Indians, who resolutely disputed every inch of the way, and who, although repeatedly vanquished, yet yielded most dear- bought victories to the Spaniards. On one occasion, a small body of eighty Indians, when attacked, chose a voluntary death, by throwing themselves over a high precipice, rather than surrender to the Spaniards. In consequence of these delays, before Yalte reached Puno, it was again invested by Tnpa Catari, with a host of ten thousand Indians. They prepared for battle, and Yalle had the fairest prospect, of success ; but, fearful of losing the fruit of his late victories, he imprudently ordered Puno to be- evacuated, and fell back upon Cuzco. Nothing could have been more ill- judged than this movement. The Indians were enriched by the pillage of Puno, and its dependent villages, w^ere they found a hundred thousand head of cattle, together with other valuable spoil. Shortly afterwards, they completely routed a large body INSURRECTION OF TUPAC AMARU. 209 of Spaniards in Sicasica. Elated by success, Tupa Catari now concentrated all his forces, and bent his whole strength to the reduction of La Paz. Here it was that this extraordinary adventurer held his court His actions were indicative of mad caprice, which sudden eleva tion from the lowest condition to the exercise of unlimited power, usually engenders in the human breast. Surrounded with all the pomp of an Asiatic despot, he ruled the submissive Indians with an Asiatic despot's prodigality of life. To secure obedience to his mandates by the influence of terror, he established twenty- four places of execution in the circumference of the blockading lines. Never was the gallows unemployed. Indians, who de serted from the city ; those of his own soldiers and captains, who betrayed the least sign of cowardice or of despondence ; all who in any way thwarted his humor, were condemned to death, and their execution was precipitated to take away the chance of repentance. No ties of religion or decency controlled his will, and the Indians were at length shocked by his sacrilege and impiety. Their murmurs induced him, therefore, to assume a devout exterior. He caused a temporary chapel to be erected, in which, sitting beneath a canopy at the side of his queen, sur rounded by ambassadors, and by his principal officers, he cele brated mass with the most imposing ceremonials. Nevertheless, the Indians still yielded him implicit obedience, and prosecuted the siege of La Paz, under his orders, with a con tempt of death, an assiduity, and a patience of fatigue, never sur passed. Segurola had contracted his entrenchments within the narrowest limits, leaving out all the suburbs of the city, on account of the smallness of the garrison. His only hope was in holding out until Don Ignacio Flores, who was collecting troops for that purpose in the province of Tucuman, should come to his relief. The Indians kept La Paz closely besieged for one hundred and nine days, and scarcely a day passed without a vigorous assault on their part, or a desperate sally of the Spaniards. The besiegers had six pieces of artillery, which caused the city great damage; but, impatient of delay, and enraged at the determined resistance they met with, they attempted to set fire to the place, When this and all other expedients failed, and they savr that the assaults and sallies only produced mutual carnage, without bring ing the siege any nearer to a close, they promised themselves final success from the all-conquering power of famine. The besieged were now reduced to the utmost extremity of distress, and must speedily have surrendered the smoking ruins of the city, had not 18* A 2 210 PERU. Flores arrived at this very conjuncture, and saved La Paz from total destruction. We will not stop to describe the march of Flores and his troops from Tucuman. The name and influence of Tupac Amaru had extended to the ridges of Salta and Jujui, and the whole Indian population was in arms for the Inca. The route to La Paz was a continued succession of battles. Even after passing the city of Chuquisaca, five sanguinary engagements took place, in one of which Tupa Catari himself commanded, and was routed with great slaughter. Finally, Flores reached La Paz, and forced the Indians to raise the siege, but the relief which he afforded was of short duration. A considerable body of Indians encamped on a hill near the city.; Flores and Segurola attempted to dislodge them. The Spaniards marched to the assault in three columns, commanded by their best officers, but were repulsed in such con fusion, that scarcely a single man escaped uninjured. Flores, therefore, retreated to a post about four leagues from the city, and the vigilant Indians instantly resumed their old stations on the heights of La Paz. A portion of the Spanish forces, contending that their term of service had expired, deserted and separated to their respective homes. All these circumstances compelled Flores to go in quest of new auxiliaries, and in the meanwhile to aban don La Paz to its fate. During the progress of the first siege of La Paz, the trial and execution of Tupac Amaru and his family had taken place. When tortured, to compel him to disclose his accomplices, he nobly replied, "Two, only, are my accomplices ; myself and you who interrogate me; you, in continuing your robberies on the people, and I, in endeavoring to prevent you :" a short sentence, which defines the nature of the Spanish government. The sen tence of death was executed on him with a studied cruelty dis graceful to the Spaniards. His judges seem to have indulged in a spirit of personal vengeance, while pronouncing the doom of the law. He was forced to look on and behold the death of his wife, his children and his kindred ; his tongue was next plucked out' by the hands of the hangman, and he was then torn asunder limb from limb, by four wild horses. Such was the fate of a patriot and hero, who was only goaded into his attempt to vindicate the rights of his nation by arms, after the failure of reiterated efforts to procure an improvement of their condition by peaceable means. He did not fall unavenged. The savage vindictiveness displayed in the manner of his execution, produced an effect directly con trary to that which the Spaniards anticipated. The Indians fought, after this event, as if each individual had the death of his INSURRECTION OF TUPAC AMARU. 211 dearest kinsman to revenge ; and the survivors of the family of Tupac Amaru imbibed new hatred toward their oppressor. His brother, Diego Cristobal, united and sustained the interest of the Indians no less effectually than he had done, and a new ad\ en- turer arose, Miguel Bastidas, otherwise named Andres Tupac Amaru, claiming to be the son, but being in fact the nephew of Jose Gabriel. The superior talents and sanguinary character of this individual made him still more terrible to the Spaniards. He was at this time only seventeen years of age, but he dis tinguished himself above all the Indian chiefs, by the siege and destruction of Sorata. The Spaniards of the province of Larecaja had collected all their treasures in Sorata, where they entrenched themselves, and, being well supplied with provisions and ammunition, courage ously awaited the Indians. Andres Tupac Amaru, by the influ ence of the name he bore, gathered an army of fourteen thousand men, and beleagured the town. The Spaniards, unintimidated by his threats, made a brave defence, but were subdued at last by the laborious ingenuity of the Indians. A ridge of lofty moun tains, called Tipuani, overlooked Sorata. Availing himself of the great number of men at his command, Andres dug a spacious dam on the side of the town, and conducted into it all the numer ous mountain torrents of Tipuani, now swelled by the melting of the snows. When his artificial lake was filled, he poured out upon Sorata the whole immense body of water, which tore up the entrenchments, washed away the houses, and submerged the whole town beneath an irresistible deluge. There was no longer any barrier to oppose the impetuosity of the Indians. They rushed into the place as the water subsided, and in a sack of six days' duration, gained possession of an immense booty, and glut ted their rage in the indiscriminate slaughter of the Spaniards. After gathering the fruits of this important victory, Andres marched his forces to assist in the protracted siege of that ill- starred city. Tupa Catari was much dissatisfied with the move ments of Andres, who, he foresaw, would thus divide with him the glory of success, without having participated in half the labors of the siege. But after some altercation, they agreed to bury their jealousy in the common zeal for assuring the triumph of their nation. The new siege presents a repetition of the same scenes which marked the former, except that the ardor and obstinacy of the parties seem to have been augmented by the greater hope of success entertained by the one, and the increased peril of the other. Flores, in the meantime, was diligently engaged in assembling 212 PERU. forces at Oruro, where an army of five thousand men was at length formed, and placed under the command of Don Jose de Resegnin. This officer was brave, prudent, and indefatiga ble. He set forth on his march to La Paz without delay, and, fortunately for the city, his march was not much impeded; for La Paz was on the very point of yielding to the Indians. In structed by the advantage they had obtained from the inundation of Sorata, they threw a strong dam across the river Chuquiaco, one of the sources of the main branch of the Amazon, which flows through the middle of La Paz. This huge mole was fifty yards high, a hundred and twenty long, and twelve thick at the founda tion. Only two days before the arrival of Reseguin, the water burst the embankment, and rose so high as to inundate the three bridges of the city. The terror which this artificial flood inspired, and the probability of its being repeated with still worse effects, presented to the inhabitants the alternative of abandoning the city, or remaining exposed to the horrible catastrophe of Sorata. Such was the perilous condition of La Paz, when the waving of the Spanish banners on the distant heights, and the murmur of martial sounds announced to the joyful inhabitants the approach of Reseguin. The Indians, conscious of their inability to cope with these new enemies, precipitately fled before them. Reseguin halted at La Paz three days to refresh his troops, and then marched in pursuit. He overtook them, drawn up as usual on the. upper side of a sloping ground, and joined battle without hesitation. He com pelled them, after an obstinate struggle, to retreat and save them selves among the ravines of the mountains. After Reseguin's victory, universal consternation and despon dency took possession of the Indians, in the place of their former energy and patriotism. Persuaded that all was lost, if they contended further, since every combat afforded fresh triumph to their enemies, they still distrusted the proffered clemency of the Spanish government. But, finally, allured by the promises of Reseguin, Tupa Catari and Andres Amaru wrote letters to him from the place of their retreat, embracing the proposed conditions. Diego Cristobal sent, at the same time, to claim the benefit of the amnesty published at Lima. Reseguin, fearing gome treachery, dexterously required these chiefs to make their* submission in person. Tupa Catari was unwilling to do this without a sate conduct, but Andres came in with his principal adherents, and being very cordially received by Reseguin, made a formal capitu lation, and swore allegiance anew to the king, as the condition of his own and his companion's pardon. INSURRECTION OF TUPAC AMARU. 213 Although Reseguin possessed a robust constitution, his health had sunk beneath the hardships of the active service, and he now labored under severe illness ; nevertheless, having set out for the districts which still maintained a show of war, he persisted in marching thither, and entered the villages on the shoulders of the Indians, who, as basely humble in adversity as they were fiercely proud in prosperity, greeted his entry with their acclamations. While these Indians were prostrating themselves at the feet of Reseguin, Tupa Catari was exciting others to continue the war. Reseguin, considering the machinations of this chief the only obstacle to peace, resorted to artifice to obtain possession of his person. He corrupted Tupa Catari' s most intimate friend, and by this means succeeded in making him prisoner, He was tried, condemned, and sentenced to the same punishment which Tupac Amaru had suffered. After being torn asunder by horses, his head was sent to La Paz, and his limbs were distributed in various places as a terror to the Indians. The auditor of Chili, Don Francisco de Medina, was attached to Reseguin, in quality of judicial adviser. He began by the premature imprisonment of Andres and his chiefs, who had sur rendered under a solemn pledge of free pardon. This act was regarded by Diego Cristobal as a violation of the public faith, and he lost no time in stirring up the Indians anew. Had he improved this opportunity for attacking Reseguin, the attack must have been fatal to the Spanish general, for he was extremely sick, and his army, reduced to three hundred and ninety-four men by the desertion of the militia, was in no condition to withstand the Indians. But Diego let slip the propitious moment, and it never again recurred. The Indians were grown weary of the contest, and in almost all the provinces about La Paz, claimed the benefit of the indulgence and delivered up their chiefs. Diego soon followed their example. Persuaded that the cause of his nation was hopeless, he sent a memorial to Don Jose del Valle, in the beginning of the year 1782, praying for the royal pardon. The flame of the revolution was nearly extinct, but it still sent forth a few broken flashes in the remote provinces. The Indians of Los Yungas, especially, and those of a valley called the Que- brada of the river Abaxo, in Sicasica and Chulumani, held out with great obstinacy. Arrogant with their many victories over the small detachments sent against them, they maintained a fierce and savage independence. At length, Flores assembled a powerful force and commissioned Reseguin to finish the war. This expe dition was memorable for the many bloody victories gained over the Indians, who were entirely ignorant of military discipline, had 214 PERU. but few fire-arms, and were principally armed with slings. The royal army from Tucuman, Buenos Ayres and Cochabamba, con sisted of regular troops. The Buenos Ayreans were armed and equipped like European soldiers; the Tucumans composed the cavalry, and were armed with butcher-knives, and ropes twenty- five or thirty yards long, which they used in catching wild cattle. The arms of the Cochabambians were short clubs, loaded with lead, to which a rope of two or three yards in length was fastened, and which were used like slings, and were very deadly weapons. The Indians were scattered all over the plains, in no regular order or rank, and were nothing more than an undisciplined rabble. The Tucuman horsemen first rode among the Indians, and threw them down with their ropes, and the Cochabambians followed and despatched them with their clubs. The battle of Hucumarimi, being the most obstinately disputed of all that were fought during the revolution, and the most suc cessful for the Spaniards, acquired the name of the decisive. The country here was broken into precipices and irregular acclivities, among -which, on the side of a mountain, the Indians had encamped. The impediments which they threw in the way of an attack, were enough to appal the stoutest hearts. Scarcely had the Spaniards begun the ascent, when showers of stones, mingled with great masses of rock broken off by levers, and rolled down the sides of the mountain, filled the assailants with consternation. In spite of all this, by great exertion, climbing from cliff to cliff, they succeeded in driving the Indians from their seemingly impregnable post, The Indians were struck with superstitious dread. They thought the Spaniards fought by en chantment. No longer making any systematic resistance, they were hunted like wild beasts from mountain to mountain. Every thing now conspired to put an end to the insurrection. Leaders were no more, except Diego Cristobal, who, although he submitted under the formal guarantee of an amnesty, and continued to live tranquilly in his family, was afterwards arrested, under the pretext of a new conspiracy, and executed in the same cruel way with his brother and Tupa Catari. The great body of the Indian population quietjy returned to vassalage, and resumed the yoke of slavery. Such was the issue of an insurrection, which filled Peru with bloodshed and misery for the space of two years, and of a war in which, if we may believe the authority of Don Vincente Pazos, himself a native of La Paz, one third of the population of Peru perished by the hand of violence. Twenty years after these events, this writer saw the plains of Sicasica and Calamaca, for INSURRECTION OF TUPAC AMARU. 215 an extent of fourteen leagues, covered with heaps of unburied human bones, lying in the places where, the wretched Indians fell, to bleach in the tropical sun. Their unfortunate attempt produced no permanent or important change in their condition ; none of their grievances were abolished except the repartos. They were rigidly prohibited the use of arms. The tribute pressed more heavily afterwards, and was more strictly levied; and the unfor tunate Peruvians were treated more contemptuously, in revenge of their unsuccessful and disastrous rebellion. CHAPTER XXII. PERU CONTINUED. Conspiracy of Ubalde. State of public feeling in Peru.- Neglect of the government of Madrid. Invasion of Spain by Napoleon. /n- triguesofthe French emissaries. Character of the South American viceroys. Temper of the people. Revolutionary movements in 1809. Interference of the neighboring provinces. Chilian affairs. Blockade of the Peruvian ports by Lord Cochrane. Invasion of Peru by San Martin. Pusillanimous behavior of the viceroy . Capture of a Spanish frigate at Callao. San Martin advances upon Lima. Flight of the viceroy. The liberating army enters Lima. Independence of Peru proclaimed. -^-Movements of the royalists. Surrender of Callao. Arrival of the Colombian troops. Departure of San Martin from Peru. Disasters oj the country. The congress dissolved. Lima retaken by the Spaniards. Arrival of Bolivar in Peru. He is appointed dictator. Imbe cility of the Peruvians. Lima revisited by the royalists. Second campaign of Bolivar in Peru. Battles of Junin and Ayacucho. Final defeat of the Span iards, and liberation of Peru. Factions and disturbances in the country. Es tablishment of the republic of BOLIVIA. The Bolivian constitution introduced into Peru.-r-Discontent of the people. Insurrection of 1827. Distracted state ' of the country. Conspiracies and revolutions. Transactions of Gamarra and Salaverry. General character of this portion of South American history. THE suppression of Tupac Amaru's insurrection completed the subjugation of the Peruvian Indians, who, from that period to the present day, have remained quiet Ideas of national indepen dence, however, appear to have taken root in the country, and it was not long before they began to manifest themselves openly. As early as 1805, Ubalde, an eminent jurist of Cuzco, excited the * alarm, of the government by his revolutionary designs. He gained a large party of adherents, but before their schemes could be put in operation, they were betrayed. Ubalde and eight others were put to death at Cuzco, and more than a hundred of his party were exiled. The particulars of this plot are not dis tinctly known, but independence was the main object. Ubalde, on the scaffold, predicted that the Spanish dominion in South America would so6n be overthrown,. It was impossible that he could, at this early period, have foreseen the occurrence's in Spain, which shortly after paved the way for the emancipation of the Spanish American colonies ; and his dying declaration affords us reason to believe that the project of throwing off the yoke of the mother country had been cherished in Peru to a greater extent than has generally been imagined. INTRIGUES OF FRENCH EMISSARIES. 217 The revolt of Peru took place at a later period than that of most of the other Spanish American states. Yet in order not to inter rupt the continuity of our narrative, we shall pursue the thread of Peruvian history unbroken to the end. The dominion of Spain was maintained in America by a very small number of Spanish troops. From the year 1805, nothing material happened to lead the way to a revolution for some years. Not that the people were well satisfied with their condition; on the contrary they were highly discontented, and every year petitions and details of their grievances were sent to Spain. These the court of Madrid knew perfectly well how to evade, and no redress ever was granted. How long this state of things would have continued without pro ducing a new Tupac or Ubalde, more fortunate than the first, we can only conjecture. But the desire for a new state of things was quickened in a wonderful manner by unforeseen events in Europe. The seizure of the Spanish crown by Napoleon, in 1808, loosened at once those ties which united the Spanish Americans to the mother country, roused them from the apathy in which they ha.d languished for three centuries, and produced a revolution which utterly overthrew the empire of Spain in the west. Napoleon, having placed his brother Joseph on the throne of Spain, designed to transfer the American colonies in the same manner. Such was his contempt for the sluggish temper and want of national spirit which appeared in all the Spanish race, that no serious obstacle seemed to present itself in the way of this design. He despatched emissaries to all parts of Spanish America. These were men of powerful talents, and well skilled in the business of intrigue. Under assumed characters, and by all sorts of artful practices, they used their influence to widen the breach between Spain and the colonies, in the expectation that by dividing the Spanish empire into fragments, it would be more easily transferred piecemeal to a new master. The Spanish Americans, instigated by such advisers, and finding themselves cut off from all communication with Spain, as that kingdom was now solely intent on its own preservation, were in great doubt how to act. At first the mass of the population appeared to reject all idea of throwing off their allegiance, and would not listen to any proposal for transferring their country to French control. The Spanish American rulers, however, showed a different spirit ; all of them, with the exception of the viceroy of Mexico, were willing to acknowledge Napoleon and declare their allegiance to him. But they were borne down by the popular will. The colonies never acknowledged the French authority. Napoleon, for several years, waged a sanguinary war with the Spanish people, in vain attempts 19 B 2 213 PERU. to establish his dominion over them. The colonies, of necessity, were led by gradual steps to assume their own government. When the intelligence of Napoleon's invasion of Spain reached Peru, in the summer of 1809, a popular movement took place, and provincial juntas were established at Quito and La Paz. This revolutionary design, however, was at once defeated by the vice roys of Peru, Buenos Ayres, and New Granada, who sent armies and dissolved the juntas. Peru remained tranquil for ten years, while the neighboring provinces were engaged in the war of their independence. At length the Chilians, having defeated the Span ish army in the decisive battle of Maypu, in 1818, conceived the design of securing their independence by expelling the Spanish from Peru. A naval armament was fitted out in 1819, and com menced hostilities by blockading the Peruvian ports and captur ing their ships. This fleet consisted of three heavy frigates and four smaller vessels. It was commanded by Lord Cochrane, an English adventurer; and a great portion of the crew were English and Americans. In August, 1820, an army of about five thousand men, called the "liberating army," under General San Martin, embarked at Val paraiso for the invasion of Peru. They landed at Pisco, about a . hundred miles south of Lima, on the 1 1 th of September. A Span ish army had taken post near this place, with the design of oppos ing the landing of the Chilians, but they fell back to Lima with out risking a battle. The viceroy of Peru attempted to gain time by negotiation, and an armistice of eight days was agreed upon, during which a conference was held by commissioners appointed by both parties. Nothing, however, resulted from the negotiations, and the Chilian army moved forward in the direction of Lima. A detachment of a thousand men, under Colonel Arenales, defeated a Spanish force sent to oppose him, and many districts declared in favor of the invaders. On the 3d of December, the disaffection among the Spanish troops had proceeded so far that a whole regiment, with its officers, went over to the liberating army. Callao, the seaport of Lima, was at that time defended by strong batteries and a Spanish squadron, comprising a frigate, two sloops of war, and 'fourteen gunboats. On the night of the 5th of November, Cochrane, with the boats of his fleet, cut the frigate out of the harbor. He was unable, however, to capture the place, but continued to hold it blockaded. In the mean time, San Mar tin, finding his army too weak for assaulting or besieging Lima, took post near the port of Huacho, about seventy-five miles north of that capital. For six months he occupied this post, recruiting REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENTS. 219 his forces and cutting off the supplies of the enemy. Further attempts were made to accommodate affairs by negotiations ; but after another unavailing truce, the Chilian army, early in July, 1821, advanced upon Lima. The viceroy, more alarmed for his own safety than mindful for the preservation of his capital, imme diately fled from the city at the head of his troops. The inhabi tants were thrown into the greatest consternation; part escaped to Callao ; the women and children took refuge in the convents, or scattered themselves over the neighboring country. Those of the inhabitants who remained, held a meeting, and resolved to make terms with the invaders. A deputation was sent, inviting San Martin to enter the city. He accepted the invitation, and an nounced that he came, not as a conqueror, but as a liberator. By these means the apprehensions of the people were dissipated, and those who had deserted the city returned to their homes. On the 12th of July, 1821, San Martin made his entry into Lima, where he was received with acclamations; and on the 28th, the independence of Peru was formally proclaimed. San Martin took the title of Protector of Peru. A provisional govern ment was organized, and measures were taken to establish the affairs of the country on a permanent basis. The whole course of this portion of our history will show, however, that the govern ments of Spanish America seem destined to know nothing of per manency. Early in September, the royalist army, which had fled to the interior, made its appearance again near Lima. A battle was expected, but the Spaniards marched to Callao, possessed them selves of the treasure lodged in the castle, and then retreated. Shortly after, Callao surrendered to the patriots. Nothing more of consequence took place for nearly a year ; but in July, 1822, San Martin proceeded to Guayaquil, where he had an interview with Bolivar, who then commanded the Colombian armies. Bolivar detached a portion of his troops to reinforce the liberating army, but no military operations followed for several months. On the 20th of September, the first Peruvian congress convened, and appointed an executive junta of three persons to administer the government. San Martin declined the office of commander-in- chief of the Peruvian armies, and left that country for Chili. The departure of this general wa's the commencement of a long train of disasters for the new republic of Peru. In January, 1823, an army, despatched on an expedition to the south, was defeated and dispersed. General discontent among the people followed, and everything was thrown into confusion by the illegal dissolu tion of the congress in February. The royalists took advantage of these troubles, and in June a strong Spanish force, under Gen- 220 PERU. eral Canterac, appeared before Lima. The patriots abandoned the place and took refuge in Callao. The royalists took posses sion of Lima, and levied contributions upon the inhabitants. The patriots were unable to raise an army sufficient to oppose the enemy, and the rising spirit of independence appeared to be effectually crushed. Such was the state of things when Bolivar, who had brought the war of independence in the northern provinces nearly to a close, received an invitation from the Peruvians to interfere in their behalf. He acceded to the proposal, and having a strong force under his command, quickly made his way to Lima. The Spanish army fled before him ; he entered the city in triumph, and was appointed dictator until the Spaniards should be ex pelled. The Peruvians, however, were utterly incapable of acting in concert, or devising means for the defence of the country. Factions and dissensions distracted all their counsels. Insurrec tions arose against the government of Bolivar and the congress, and in February, 1824, Canterac, with a royal army, again took possession of Lima, while Bolivar was absent in Colombia, rais ing reinforcements. In June, Bolivar again crossed the Andes, at the head of an army of three thousand five hundred men, defeated a Spanish force sent to check his approach, and on the 6th of August encountered the main body of the royalist cavalry on the plains of Junin. A severe battle was fought at this place, in which Bolivar's troops were victorious. Nearly all the Spanish cavalry were destroyed, and the liberating army -pursued the fugitives towards the valley of Jauja. The united forces of Colombia and Peru, amounting to six thousand men, were now placed under the command of General Sucre. In December, 1824, he took post at Ayacucho, near the encampment of the enemy. The royal force under Canterac, amounted to nine thousand men. On the 9th of December, the two armies joined battle, and after great slaughter, the royalists were defeated so thoroughly, that those of them who survived the battle, capitulated on the spot. A treaty was signed by Canterac and Sucre, by which all the royal troops in Peru, all the military posts, artillery, magazines, and territory occupied by the Spaniards in the country, we,re surrendered to the victors of Ayacucho. This overthrow completely prostrated the Spanish poWter in Peru. On the 10th of December, the Peruvian congress was again in stalled. Bolivar was declared anew the political and military head of the republic, and a gift of a million of dollars tendered him for his services, which he declined accepting. Lower Peru being thus liberated, Sucre marched into Upper Peru, where INSTABILITY OF THE SOUTH AMERICAN GOVERNMENTS. 22 J General Olaneta still held out against the patriots, in defiance of the treaty of Ayacucho. His force was soon dispersed, and the revolutionary government established. The royalist general, Rodil, who had thrown himself into the castle of Callao, surren dered in January, 1826, after a siege of thirteen months, and not a Spanish soldier remained in Peru. The country was now entirely free from foreign rule ; but the Spanish Americans have never understood the art of self-govern ment, and the whole history of their independent communities is little else than a narrative of factions, dissensions and constantly recurring political changes, presenting a never-ending scene of confusion, out of which it is seldom possible to extract anything worthy of the reader's attention. A comprehensive outline of the remaining history of Peru, is all that will be necessary. Boli var exercised much influence at the head of the government. Through his exertions, the district of Upper Peru was erected into an independent state, and named BOLIVIA. A constitution was formed under his auspices, and he was appointed president of Bolivia for life. In 1826, Bolivar managed to procure the adop tion of this constitution in Peru, where it added greatly to his power, as it not only confirmed him in the government of the country for life, but likewise allowed him to appoint his successor, and released him from all responsibility for his actions. This arbitrary government proved highly distasteful to the Peruvians, and they seized the occasion, when Bolivar was absent in Colom bia, to rise in insurrection. Accordingly, in January, 1827, a com plete revolution was effected in Peru. The Bolivian constitution was annulled, and a new government organized, combining the properties of a federal and a central system, with a president cho sen for four years, a national congress and separate provincial governments. The republic of Peru, however, has never yet possessed a gov ernment adapted to the taste and capacities of the people. The country has, ever since the commencement of the revolution, been constantly distracted by parties struggling for power, and by civil wars and revolutions, caused by the conflicts of these parties. Scarcely has there been a temporary lull of peace for this ill-fated country during the whole of this period. In 1835, four chiefs in arms were striving for the supremacy. When one of them suc ceeded in making himself powerful, the others united against him ; but as soon as they were victorious, they fell again to hos tilities with each other. During the four years' administration of General Gamarra, there were no less than fourteen conspiracies against his person and government, all which he had the good 19* 222 PERU. fortune to detect and crush. But Gamarra, who had obtained his office by his intrigues and the ruin of his predecessor, had no sooner closed his administration, in January, 1834, than he was Seen to raise the standard of rebellion, and hasten the ruin of his country, by authorizing insurrections against the government with his example. Although frustrated in this treasonable pro ceeding, in the course of the year following he was again at the head of an armed faction, in open and sanguinary rebellion. But his partisans were totally dispersed at the battle of Yanacocha, by the President Orbegoso, and Gamarra was sent into banish ment. Rapacious upstarts, struggling for ascendency, continued to fill the country with tumult, confusion and bloodshed. Lima suffered from the 'depredations of a formidable band of freebooters, led by a negro, named Escobar, who kept the city in terror. The foreign property owed its protection to the English, French and American marines, from the ships of war in the port. General Vidal delivered Lima from the plunderers, and Escobar was shot in the public square. A spurious president, General Salaverry, comes next upon the scene, and on the 7th of February, 1836, the battle of Socabaya witnessed his downfall. He was condemned to death by a court martial, and shot with his adherents at Arequipa, on the 18th of February, 1836. General Santa Cruz, the president of Bolivia, interposed his influence for the regulation of the affairs of Peru. Insurrections and revolutions in the Spanish American states now excite so little attention in other parts of the world, that no one has been found to record the more recent convulsions and changes in Peru. The reader will judge, from the picture of that country which has already been offered him in these pages, whether a more detailed ^history of these events would repay him for the perusal. CHAPTER XXIII. BUENOS AYRES, OR THE UNITED PROVINCES OF Rio DE LA PLATA. Invaswn of South America by the British. Expedition of Beresford and Popham against Buenos Ayres. Capture of the city. Exultation in England. Oppo sition of the Spanish Americans. Exertions of Liniers. Insurrection at Buenos Ayres. Liniers attacks the city. Defeat and capture of the British army. Capture of Maldonado and Monte Video, by the fleet. Expedition of General Whitelocke against Buenos Ayres. Obstinate defence of the city by the inhabitants. Slaughter and repulse of the British. Proposal for a capitu lation. Anecdote of the Spanish sailors. The British forces evacuate the country. Liniers appointed viceroy. Parties at Buenos Ayres. A French envoy from Napoleon arrives in the country. Proclamation of Liniers in favor of Napoleon. Proceedings of Elio at Monte Video. Liniers displaced and restored. Arrival of Goyeneche from Spain. Ferdinand VII. acknowledged at Buenos Ayres. Arrival of Cisneros, the new viceroy. Banishment of Liniers. Spirit and feeling of the people. Ideas of independence circulated. Embar rassments of Cisneros. He convenes a congress. Cisneros deposed. A pro vincial junta established. Affairs in Monte Video and the interior. Civil war. Liniers defeated and put to death. Independence. An army despatched to revolutionize Chili. Affairs in Peru and Paraguay. BANDA ORIENTAL. Elio, Captain General. War between Banda Oriental and Buenos Ayres. Proceedings of Artigas and Rondeau. Siege of Monte Video. Interference of the Portuguese of Brazil. Dangers of the Buenos Ayrean government. Treaty with the Portuguese. Troubles and conspiracies. The constituent congress. San Martin. Surrender of Monte Video. Artigas chief of Banda Oriental. Capture of Santa Fe. Formal declaration of independence. Conquest of Banda Oriental by the Portuguese. Constitution of the United Provinces. Intrigues of the French. General character of the recent transac tions in this country. THE Spanish Americans who made the earliest demonstrations of a wish to throw off the government of the mother country, were those of Buenos Ayres. In 1806, war existed between Spain arid Great Britain, and the neglected state of the province of La Plata offered strong temptations for an invasion on the part of the Eng lish. The Spanish government maintained only a few wretched troops at Buenos Ayres and Monte Video, and a feeble naval force at the latter place. The viceroy, Sobremonte, was a person des titute of energy and capacity ; Spain was absorbed in European politics ; her marine had been annihilated by the fatal defeat of Trafalgar, and everything invited the cupidity of the English yet the invasion was undertaken without orders from the govern- 224 PROVINCES OF RIO DE LA PLATA. ment. A fleet and army, under Commodore Popham and General Beresford, which had been despatched against the Cape of Good Hope, after effecting the conquest of that colony, proceeded to Buenos Ayres, in 1806, and on the 8th of June, arrived in the mouth of the river La Plata. A general consternation seized the inhabitants of Buenos Ayres when the squadron appeared in sight of that city. Not more than three hundred muskets could be found for the defence of the place, and these the inhabitants had not the skill to use. A show of defence was attempted by the viceroy, but the only military movement was made by a single troop of cavalry who undertook to harass the British army of two thousand men, on their march to Buenos Ayres. The viceroy, panic-struck, fled for safety to Cordova, and the British took pos session of Bueno's Ayres on the 28th of June. When the news of this conquest reached England, it excited the greatest exultation both in the government and the people. It was believed that Great Britain had made a permanent acqui sition of a most valuable colony, and councils were immediately held to devise means to turn it to immediate profit. The popu lation of the country was represented as deeply disaffected towards the Spanish rule, and moreover too effeminate and slothful to offer any resistance to the arms of the invaders. The British govern ment immediately took measures for the regulation of the colony, as if their authority had been completely established and the peo ple had become quiet British subjects. The most extravagant expectations were indulged of commercial profits in the introduc tion of British manufactures into the market of this rich and thriving country. Never were sanguine hopes more severely contradicted. Instead of conquering the whole province, the British forces had, in fact, only made themselves masters of the city of Buenos Ayres. The neighboring villages submitted only from the fear of military execution, and the invaders dared not penetrate into the interior. The Spaniards, too, when the first moments of panic were over, appeared to rouse as from a dream or lethargy, and exhibited .a degree of energy and resolution which astonished their enemies. Inflamed with indignation at the unmanly conduct of their leader, and chagrined at seeing foreigners in possession of their capital, they began to meditate upon the means of driving Ihem out of the country. An active and resolute leader was found in Liniers,. a French officer in the Spanish service. He exerted himself with great industry, in the districts north of the river, in collecting and arming the people. A secret correspondence was set on foot between him and certain persons within the city. Arms were CAPITULATION OF THE BRITISH AT BUENOS AYRES. 225 distributed and secreted in Buenos Ayres, and a regular insurrec tion organized under the guidance of Puyrredon, a magistrate, and a person of great talent and address. Liniers having collected a considerable force at Colonia, oppo site the city, the British attempted to drive him from this post, but without success, and, on the 1st of August, Liniers crossed the river with his whole army, and marched to the attack of the city. Buenos Ayres was a large open place, difficult to defend with the force commanded by Beresford. He, therefore, judged it more advisable to meet his enemy at a distance ; and a smart action took place the next day, in which the British had the advantage ; but this was only a temporary check to the Spaniards, for torrents of rain, which continued to fall for three days afterward, disabled the English troops, which were all infantry, from active operations. The Spaniards, on the contrary, being abundantly supplied with horses, found the bad roads no great impediment, and approached the city in various directions. On the evening of the 10th they had occupied all the avenues to the place. The townsmen then took up arms, rose in insurrection, and the house-tops were covered with people ready to cooperate in the attack upon the British troops. Surrounded with enemies, the British commander saw at once that his post was untenable, and would have escaped across the stream of the Chello, but a violent storm rendered this impossible. On the morning of the 12th the combined attack began. The British occupied the castle and great square, and planted their cannon towards the principal streets which led to those points. The Spaniards advanced with their artillery along the avenues, while the roofs of the houses were covered with musketeers, who could pour their fire upon all below without any hazard to them selves. The attacking columns in the streets were repeatedly checked in their advance, but the fire from the house-tops made dreadful havoc and threatened the British with utter destruction. The British commander had now no choice, but to surrender or see his army slaughtered to the last man. A capitulation was therefore proposed, and immediately accepted; the whole army surrendered prisoners. The Spaniards engaged in this action were computed at above twenty thousand, seven hundred of whom were killed and wounded. The British loss was stated at one hundred and sixty-five. Thus, after a turbulent and preca rious possession of Buenos Ayres for fifteen days, the city proved only a trap for the British army; and their ministry at home were occupied in framing regulations for its government, and despatch ing valuable cargoes to supply the demands of its commerce, c2 226 PROVINCES OF RIO DE LA PLATA. several months after the Spaniards were established in quiet re possession of the place. The squadron, however, continued in the river, and being shortly after reinforced, made an attempt on Monte Video. This proving unsuccessful, they took possession of Maldonado, near the mouth of the river, where they found a secure port for their shipping. Being strengthened by additional reinforcements, the attack on Monte Yideo was repeated a year afterwards, arid on the 3d of February, 1807, after a close siege and great slaughter, Monte Video fell into the hands of the British. The hostile temper of the Spaniards prevented them, for some time, from attempting to regain their lost footing at Buenos Ayres; but early in the summer, they received large reinforcements of troops, and on the 25th of June, an army of twelve thousand men, under General Whitelocke, proceeded from Monte Video up the river, and disembarked about thirty miles from Buenos Ayres. They drove a body of Spanish troops before them, and on the 30th, arrived before the city. There were no walls or fortifications to repel the assault of the British, and the Spanish troops were few and undis ciplined. The inhabitants, nevertheless, determined to make an obstinate defence, and the manner in which the city is built ena bled them to do this with remarkable success. Buenos Ayres is divided pretty equally into squares of four or five hundred feet each. The walls of the houses are built up in a solid manner, with flat roofs, so that the whole city may be considered an assemblage of fortresses. The inhabitants were animated with intense animosity against the British. The master of each house, surrounded with his children and slaves, was posted on its roof and amply supplied with arms and ammunition. The doors were strongly barricaded, and the main avenues of the city obstructed by ditches cut across them. The whole male population, and a great portion of the females of Buenos Ayres, were engaged in the defence. The British army moved to the attack on the 5th of July. The troops marched in separate columns, each having its distinct point to assail. As the columns entered the city, they were greeted with a furious and overwhelming fire from the roofs and windows. At every step they encountered a fresh storm of shot and missiles. Qrape-shot were poured upon them from every corner; musketry, hand-grenades, bricks and stones rained from the house-tops. Every dwelling was a fortress, and all its tenants were indefatigable in its defence. For ten hours the battle raged without diminishing the ardor and obstinacy of the combatants on either side. Some of the detachments were totally destroyed by the fire of the citizens. Others had their retreat cut off, and REPULSE OF THE BRITISH AT BUENOS AYRES, 227 were forced to surrender in the streets. Others took shelter in convents and churches, and after terrible slaughter, yielded to overwhelming numbers. Only two of the posts assailed by the British remained in their hands at the end of the conflict, and after a loss of twenty-five hundred men in killed, wounded and prisoners. Notwithstanding the disastrous issue of the attempt, the British commander determined to repeat the attack on the following day; but he was deterred by a communication from the Spanish com mander, Liniers, who proposed to deliver up his prisoners on condition that the British should immediately evacuate the country. Extraordinary as this proposal may seem, General Whitelocke found himself compelled to listen to it by the follow ing singular circumstances. When the British fleet arrived in the river, the commodore, Sir Home Popham, with equal inhumanity and impolicy, turned ashore, on the desolate island of Lobos, two hundred Spaniards, the crews of some vessels which had fallen into his hands. These men were exposed to the danger of star vation on a barren rock, that the British might not be encumbered with their prisoners. They lived for some time on the flesh of seals and shell-fish; and at length some of them contrived to form a sort of raft with bags of seal-skins inflated with air, and by the help of this, floated themselves to the main land. A vessel was despatched to Lobos, which brought away the remainder. Some of these men were carried to Buenos Ayres, where the relation of their story inspired the inhabitants with horror and indignation against the British, and these feelings were by no means dimin ished at the period of the attack on the city. Liniers represented to General Whitelocke that the prisoners were in danger of a general massacre, as, from the exasperated state of the populace, he could not answer for their safety, should the British persist in their attack. These representations had so much effect with Whitelocke, who appears not to have possessed an uncommon degree of firmness, that, after a slight hesitation, he agreed to the terms, and signed a treaty agreeing to withdraw all the British forces from Buenos Ayres in ten days, and from South America in two months, leaving at Monte Video the artillery and stores uncon- sumed, which were found there. Thus a wanton act of cruelty on the part of the invaders, led the way to their overthrow and disgrace in the end. It is remarkable that the repulse ot the British at Buenos Ayres, resembles, in many circumstances, the defence of New Orleans. Both cities were attacked by regular troops, and defended by irregulars. Both attacking armies com prised about the same number of men, and the loss of the as- 228 PROVINCES OF RIO DE LA PLATA. sailants was of similar amount on both occasions. General Whitelocke, at his return to England, was tried by a court- martial, and cashiered. Thus, at the end of the year, the British were completely ex pelled from a territory over which they imagined they had estab lished a firm dominion. Liniers became the popular idol, and was appointed Viceroy of the province. He appears to have behaved, at first, with prudence and moderation, and at the same time with inflexible fidelity to the king of Spain. But the most embarrassing troubles soon arose.. Napoleon seized the throne of Spain, and attempted to possess himself of her colonies. Two parties soon sprung up at Buenos Ayres. The more enlightened among the native population, some of whom had long secretly cherished the desire of independence, felt a wish to seize this opportunity to throw off the Spanish yoke forever. But those of European birth, comprising almost all in authority, were inter ested, in the continuation of the ancient government, and opposed all revolutionary ideas. With the mass of the inhabitants, any notion of change was too bold. Liniers, in his embarrassment, was obliged to temporize, and incurred the suspicion of both parties. In July, 1808, a French vessel, with an envoy from Napoleon, arrived at Buenos Ayres, with despatches to Liniers, informing him of the transfer of the crown of Spain, and calling upon the authorities in South America to give their allegiance to the new government. Liniers, a Frenchman by birth, was not disinclined to this step ; but convened the municipality and the court of audience for consultation. This meeting were of opinion that the extraordinary occurrences in Spain should be officially announced to the people ; but they appear to have been undeci ded on any step beyond this. Liniers, aware of the hostility of the people toward the French, gave, in his proclamation, but an obscure account of the recent occurrences, and exhorted the inhabitants, in the name of Napoleon, to remain quiet, and use their endeavors to preserve the tranquillity of the country. But factions and dissensions soon began to throw the country into confusion. Elio, the governor of Monte Video, formed a party in opposition to Liniers, whom he accused of disloyalty. The European Spaniards were more numerous at Monte Video than at Buenos Ayres. They united with the officers of -the army and navy, and created a junta, which acknowledged the dependence of the country on the crown of Spain. A serious attempt was made by the same class of persons in the capital, to remove Liniers from the station of viceroy. They succeeded so far as to place him under the necessity of resigning; but this was no POPULAR COMMOTIONS. 229 sooner known, than the native militia took up arms in his sup port, restored him to authority, and banished his enemies to Patagonia. Liniers now sent an expedition against Monte Video, where Elio had assumed the title of Viceroy ; but while this was in progress, Don Josef de Goyeneche arrived from Spain, for the purpose of mediating between the two parties. He had sufficient influence to cause the inhabitants of Buenos Ayres to acknow ledge the supremacy of Spain, and proclaim Ferdinand VII. Through his exertions the people were induced to rise in all parts of the city, in January, 1809, and demand the establishment of a provincial junta. Liniers, however, maintained his influence with the army, and by their help was enabled to defeat this movement. Liniers did not long enjoy this triumph. In August, 1809, Cisneros, a newly appointed viceroy, arrived from Spain, and Liniers was deposed from his office by the junta which he had overthrown a few months previous. He was exiled to Cordova ; but the new viceroy found it more easy to remove his predecessor than to establish himself in his place. The ebullition of loyalty that had proclaimed Ferdinand, was of short duration. The Spanish Americans began to feel that they had power in their hands ; and their successes in defeating two British armies, en couraged them to think they possessed valor also. Notwithstand ing the exertions that had been made by the court of Spain to prevent the introduction of books and newspapers into the coun try, many had been clandestinely imported and eagerly read, and some intelligence was gained of the events in progress in other parts of the world. The natives had been forbidden to visit Europe or send their children thither for instruction; yet some had evaded this prohibition, and returned with a keen sense of the wrongs which their country was suffering under the leaden yoke of Spain. Reform, innovation and independence began to be spoken of in confidential whispers, and speedily became the topics at political meetings. Commotion followed commotion, and in May, 1810, the viceroy, Cisneros, finding his embarrassments and perplexities alarmingly increased by the disasters of the Spaniards in Europe, was compelled to announce his inability to manage the government. The municipality of the city requested him to call a congress, which he proceeded to do. The congress established a provisional junta for the government of the country, and one of its first acts was to depose the viceroy and send him to Spain. The 25th of May, when this government went into action, has ever since been observed as the anniversary of Buenos Ayrean independence. 20 230 PROVINCES OF RIO DE LA PLATA. Monte Video and the interior provinces disapproved of these proceedings. Liniers raised an army of two thousand men, and began a civil war, by laying waste the country around Cordova, to check the approach of the troops from the capital. General Nieto collected another force in Potosi. The junta of Buenos Ayres gave the command of their army to Colonel Ocampo, who straight way took the field. On his approach to Cordova, the troops of Liniers abandoned him, and he was taken prisoner, with many of his adherents. Liniers, Concha, the bishop of Cordova, with several other persons of distinction, were condemned and executed. Thus fell the first leader in this revolution by the hands of the people whom he had assisted to tread the first steps in the career of their emancipation. The leaders at Buenos Ayres feared his great popularity, and saw in him a formidable obstacle to their designs. The country was now, in fact, entirely separated from Spain. The die was cast, and the leaders of the revolution had no choice but to advance or be crushed by a counter-revolution. They boldly asserted that the sovereignty of Spain over the colonies had temporarily ceased with the captivity of the king, and that each colony had a right to take care of itself. The spirit of indepen dence made such rapid progress, that, in the course of the year 1810, the whole viceroyalty, excepting the province of Paraguay and the town of Monte Video, threw off the authority of the crown and acknowledged that of the provincial junta. They professed, at the same time, an intention to return to their alle giance to Ferdinand on his restoration to the throne ; but this was an event which few expected, and fewer still desired. The junta, shortly after the commencement of their administra tion, despatched a force, under Don A. Jonte, to Chili, to revolu tionize that country. This expedition was crowned with full success ; the royal government was overthrown, a provincial junta established, and Jonte was continued in Chili, as charge d'affaires from the government of Buenos Ayres. About the same time Ocampo was ordered to march against the royalists, who had collected in considerable strength in Upper Peru. Ocampo defeated this force, and ^subjugated a great part of the district. In the meantime, Velasco, the governor of Paraguay, had .raised an army and menaced Buenos Ayres. Belgrano, at the head of a small body of Buenos Ayrean troops, marched against him, and a battle was fought on the banks of the Tacuari, where Belgrano was defeated. Subsequently, however, Velasco was 'deposed, and a junta was established in Paraguay, which formed an alliance with Buenos Ayres. FACTIONS AND ANARCHY. 231 Eho had been appointed, by the regency of Spain, Captain General of the province of Rio de la Plata, and in that capacity he governed the province of Monte Video, or the Banda Oriental, and was now the most dangerous and powerful enemy with which the government of Buenos Ayres were at war. Artigas, a native of Monte Video, and a captain in the royal service, having deserted and joined the Buenos Ayreans, that government em ployed him, in conjunction with General Rondeau, to conduct an expedition against Banda Oriental. They obtained a signal vic tory over the royalists at Las Piedras, in May, 1811, and laid siege to Monte Video. Elio, finding himself unable to hold out long without assistance, applied to the Portuguese of Brazil, and through the influence of the Princess Charlotte, who was sister to Ferdinand of Spain, obtained an army of four thousand men and a subsidy of money. Before these allies, however, could render any important service, a treaty was concluded between Monte Video and Buenos Ayres, in November, 1811, by virtue of which the siege of Monte Video was to be raised, and the Portuguese troops were to be sent home. The siege was accordingly raised, but the Portuguese, instead of returning to Brazil, began to commit acts of hostility in the territory of Rio de la Plata. The councils of the patriots, in the meantime, were distracted by violent factions, and the whole country was filled with disor der and violence. The royalists were advancing from Peru at the same moment that the country was threatened by the Portu guese army. Fortunately, at this critical moment, the government of Buenos Ayres had the address to conclude an armistice with the Portuguese, by which their troops were withdrawn and a treaty of peace- followed. Nothing, however, appeared able to restore tranquillity to the country, or place its government upon anything like a firm foundation. A bold and bloody conspiracy was shortly after detected, having for its object to put to death all the members of the junta and all the partisans of the revolution. Numerous executions followed. The royalist army of Peru was defeated in Tucuman, and the fears of an invasion from this quarter were dissipated. But dissensions multiplied in Buenos Ayres, and in 1812, two separate assemblies claimed the sovereign power and both 'were dissolved by military force. Hostilities were resumed with Monte Video, and various military operations took place, which produced no general results. On the 31st of January, 1813, a body called the "constituent congress," assembled at Buenos Ayres, and made some alterations in the executive government. The campaign in Peru proved disastrous , great alarm was felt at Buenos Ayres, and a supreme PROVINCES OF RIO DE LA PLATA. director was created as executive magistrate. General San Martin, afterwards conspicuous in the history of Chili, now began to attract notice. He obtained some important successes over the royalists, and in April, 1814, a small fleet was equipped, under Commodore Brown, an English merchant of Buenos Ayres. This fleet captured some of the enemy's vessels and blockaded Monte Video. Shortly after the town surrendered. Difficulties immediately arose between Artigas and the govern ment of Buenos Ayres. Artigas demanded that Monte Video should be given up to him as chief of Banda Oriental. The gov ernment refused this, and hostilities followed. Artigas became master of the country and defeated the Buenos Ayrean troops. Meantime, anarchy reigned in that city, where two rival factions were struggling for power. Artigas invaded their territory, and captured the town of Santa Fe. Revolutions took place at Buenos Ayres, and the rival factions persecuted and proscribed each other. But at length, under the government of the supreme director, Puyrredon, something approaching to tranquillity began to prevail, and the congress, on the 9th of July, 1816, formally announced the independence of the United Provinces of Rio de la Plata. In December, 1816, the Portuguese from Brazil again invaded the Banda Oriental with an army of ten thousand men. They captured Monte Video on the 20th of January following, and succeeded in retaining possession of the country till 1825, when they were expelled by a revolution. During all this period the country was filled with tumults, factions and bloodshed, a detail of which would be tedious to the last degree. In February, 1818, three commissioners from the government of the United States visited the South American provinces for the purpose of inquiring into the condition and prospects of the revolutionary governments. A constitution was published in May, 1819, by which a govern ment was established similar to the federal government of the United States. The French government, in 1819, set on foot an intrigue to convert this province into a monarchy, under a prince of the house of Bourbon. A proposal to this effect was made to the Buenos Ayrean government, and the Duke of Lucca ""suggested as the new monarch. The French were to furnish an army and fleet to carry this plan into effect, and to use their influence with the Spanish court in procuring the acknowledgement of the indepen dence of the country. The congress held a secret session on this proposal, and, strange as it may seem, gave it their approval PARTY STRUGGLES. f 233 The popular feeling, however, was so strongly manifested against it, that no attempt was made to carry the scheme into execution. It would only tire the reader's patience to give a longer history of the factions, conspiracies, revolutions and civil wars, which, down to the present moment, have continued to distract and deso late this unfortunate country. On the 10th of July, 1823, a con vention, or preliminary treaty of peace, was concluded between the commissioners appointed by the king of Spain and the gov ernment of the United Provinces ; this convention, however, was not ratified by the Spanish government. The independence of the United Provinces of La Plata was acknowledged by the congress of the United States in 1822, and a treaty of commerce was concluded with Great Britain in 1825. Domestic troubles were renewed shortly after ; the union of the provinces was dis solved, and separate governments were established. Nothing permanent, however, was effected, and the country has been ever since kept in a state of turbulence by the struggles of the two parties called the Unitarians and the Federalists ; the one attempt ing to create a central, and the other a federal government. w 1 CHAPTER XXIV. PARAGUAY. Rebellion of Anlequera in 1722. He defeats the king's troops, and takes possession of Assumption. His design of making himself king of Para guay. Intrigues of the bishop. Arrival of Zabala. Flight of Antequera Restoration of the royal authority. Capture and execution of Antequera. Revolutionary doctrines of Ferrand Mompo. Second insurrection. Death of Ruiloba. A defender of Paraguay created. Battle of Tabati. End of the insurrection. Separation of Paraguay from Buenos Ayres. Independent gov ernment. Rise of Dr. Frantia. His influence in the state. Becomes Dictator of Paraguay for life. His extraordinary government. Despotism of his politi cal system. Complete seclusion of Paraguay from the rest of the world. Fran- cia'5 treatment of travellers. Character of his army. His private life and eccentricities. His death. Present state of the country. CHILI. Commence" ment of the revolution. Intrigues of the Carreras. Civil dissensions. Inva sion of the country by Pareja. Expulsion of the Spaniards. Carrera displaced from the command of the army. O'Higgins his successor. Second invasion of the Spaniards under Gainza. Revolution. Treachery of Gainza. Troubles at Santiago. Expedition of the Spaniards under Osorio. Re-establishment of the royal authority in Chili. Persecutions of the Spaniards. Arrival of the libera ting army, under San Martin, from Buenos Ayres. Battle of Chacabuco. San Martin enters Santiago. Movements of Osorio. Battle of Talca. Defeat of the Chilians. Firmness of San Martin. Resolute conduct of the Chilians. Battle of Maypu. Total defeat of the Spaniards. Establishment of the inde pendence of Chili. Civil dissensions. War of Benavides. Present state of the country. THE republic of Paraguay is rendered remarkable by a very early attempt at revolution in that country in the early part of the last -century. The chief personage engaged in this undertaking, was Don Josef de Antequera, a knight of Alcantara, and a man of high family, genius and learning. He was appointed governor of Paraguay by the provincial council, in a manner somewhat illegal, in consequence of (he disaffection of the inhabitants toward his predecessor, who was obliged to flee the country. The viceroy of Peru issued an order, in 1722, deposing Antequera, which took no effect. The new governor disregarded all tho orders of the viceroy, and avowed his determination to maintain himse.f in his office by force. It soon became evident that he aimed at the sovereignty of Paraguay. Negotiations were at tempted by the Spanish authorities, but all pacific measures proved useless, and Antequera was pronounced a rebel. The king's lieutenant at Buenos Ayres, marched against him, with an REBELLION OF ANTEQTJERA. 235 army of several thousand men. A battle took place, and the king's troops were defeated with great slaughter. Antequera en tered Assumpcion, the capital of Paraguay, with triumphal pomp. The royal standards taken in battle were trailed before him on the ground, and he displayed his own banners in the cathedral, where a Te Deum was chanted for his victory. He still, how ever, nominally maintained his allegiance, but, in the meantime, exerted himself in amassing a great treasure, and making other preparations for a design, which he is said to have entertained, to proclaim himself Don Josef I., king of Paraguay. It is the opinion of the Spanish writers, that, had Antequera taken this bold and decisive step immediately upon his victory over the royal army, the tide of fortune would have turned com pletely in his favor. But his over-cautious and temporizing policy checked the popular feeling which had burst out in his support. While he hesitated, influences were at work to under mine his popularity. The bishop of Paraguay, by secret ma noeuvres, detached the populace from the revolutionary cause, and before the aspirant for the crown of Paraguay had summoned the courage to proclaim himself king, the number of his adherents had diminished to such a degree as to render this attempt too hazardous. In this emergency, Don Bruno de Zabala arrived from Peru, at the head of an army of six thousand Indians and eight hundred Spaniards, with orders from the viceroy to send Antequera prisoner to Lima. The usurper of Paraguay saved himself by flight. Zabala entered Assumpcion, without opposi tion, on the 24th of April, 1725, and made himself master of a vast amount of treasure abandoned by the fugitives. The royal government was restored, and tranquillity speedily reestablished. Antequera fled to Cordova, where he took refuge in a convent. A sentence of outlawry was passed upon him, and a price set on his head. He abandoned his asylum, and fled through by-roads to La Plata, where he hoped the royal audience would espouse his quarrel. But the privileges of this court having been cur tailed by the viceroy of Lima, this resource failed him, and he was arrested and thrown into prison at Lima. After a confine ment of five years, he was declared guilty of high treason, and sentenced to be beheaded on the 5th of July, 1731. So great, however, was the popular ferment on this occasion, ar.d so deep was the interest which Antequera had excited by his able writings, that the viceroy was obliged to mount his horse, and put himself at the head of his cavalry, to prevent the rescue of Antequera by the populace. The rescue would probably have taken place but for the precaution of the viceroy, who ordered 236 PARAGUAY. him to be shot on his way to the scaffold, where his body was afterwards beheaded. New commotions took place at Assumpcion, where revolutionary doctrines were promulgated by Ferrand Mompo, an associate of Antequera. This man, with a degree of boldness and eloquence which raised him to great popularity, openly asserted that the authority of the people was greater than that of the king himself; and it strikes us with no little surprise, that the modern liberal doctrine of the sovereignty of the people should have been fear lessly and openly preached in the capital of a colony of the most bigoted and despotic court of Europe more than a century ago. The consequence of this was the formation of a popular govern ment in Paraguay, in 1730, established solely by the people. But as might be expected, factions soon arose, and Mompo was seized by a loyalist partisan and sent to Buenos Ayres ; he contrived, however, to escape on the road, and fled to Brazil. When the intelligence reached Assumpcion, of the execution of Antequera and his associate Mena, who perished with him, great excitement and indignation were produced among the people, who regarded them as martyrs to liberty. The Jesuits were expelled from their college, and an army was raised to defend the popular cause. The royal governor, appointed for Paraguay, Don Manuel de Ruiloba, advanced against them, at the head of an army of seven thousand men. No opposition could be made to this strong force, and Ruiloba entered Assumpcion in July, 1733. The royal authority was reestablished, and all officers of the revolutionary party were displaced. This soon produced another insurrection, and Don Manuel was killed by the populace two months after wards. Paraguay had again an independent government, with a chief magistrate, bearing the title of Defender. In 1735, Zabala collected an army, and marched against Paraguay. A battle was fought at Tabati, in which the insurgent forces were utterly defeated. This blow completely crushed the insurrection in Paraguay. The revolutionary leaders were put to death or ban ished, and the authority of the king of Spain was reestablished, and continued for the greater part of a century. We have, in the preceding chapter, given an account of the revolutionary movements by which Paraguay became separated from Buenos Ayres early in the present century. The destiny of. Paraguay from that time has been singular. The inhabitants, like those of all the other revolted Spanish colonies, began their career of independence by various puerile attempts to establish republican forms and appellations in their government. They created consuls and legislative bodies, but in the course of three FRANCIA THE DICTATOR. 237 or four years, the whole state sunk under the absolute control of one man, who may be pronounced the most remarkable personage that has figured in the modern history of South America. This was Gaspar Rodrigo de Francia, commonly known as Doctor Francia. He was a native of Paraguay, and never was out of South America. He was educated by the monks of Assumpcion and subsequently at the University of Cordova, in Tucuman, where he received the degree of Doctor of Theology. This man became dictator of Paraguay, and for nearly thirty years reigned over that country with a despotic tyranny surpassing that of any European monarch. On the breaking out of the revolution, Francia was in the prac tice of the law at Assumpcion. He was elected to a popular office, behaved independently, flattered no party, and professed his sole political object to be the entire separation of Paraguay from Spain, and its erection into an independent republic. On the establish ment of the provincial junta, he was appointed secretary of that body, with a deliberative voice; but all was confusion. The army, as usual on such occasions, seemed inclined to take the lead, and, for a time, terror and dissension alone prevailed. Francia, however, at this critical moment, obtained an ascen dancy which he never afterwards lost. His superior talents, address and information, placed him above all others in the despatch of business, and nothing of importance could be done without him. Tranquillity was restored, and it was settled that the government should be consular. Francia and a colleague were appointed consuls for one year, each in supreme command four months at a time. Francia took care to secure for his share the first and last portions of the year. Two curule chairs were prepared on this occasion ; one bearing the name of Caesar, and the other that of Pompey. Francia eagerly took possession of the former. His ambitious views no one could mistake; but the grand blow yet remained to be struck. By the most consummate art and management, and by the influence which he possessed over the troops, he succeeded in getting himself appointed dictator, in 1814; and once dictator, every instrument was within his reach for the prolongation of his office. Three years afterwards he was made dictator for life. Now commenced one of the most extraordinary events m all history, the reign of the autocrat of Paraguay. From the moment when he found his footing firm, and his authority quietly submit ted to, his whole character appeared to undergo a sudden change. Without faltering or hesitation, without a pause of human weak- necs, or a thrill of human feeling, he proceeded to frame the most 238 PARAGUAY. extraordinary despotism that the world has ever seen. He reduced all the population of Paraguay to two classes, of which the dictator constituted one, and his subjects the other. In the dictator was lodged the whole power, legislative and executive : the people had no power, no privileges, no rights, and only one duty to obey. All was performed rapidly, boldly and decisively. He knew the character of the weak and ignorant people at whose head he had placed himself, and who had the temerity to presume that they possessed energy and virtue sufficient to found a repub lic. The middling classes were annihilated, and there was no gradation between the ruler and the populace. By what precise means he was enabled to obtain so extraordi nary a power, and to preserve it, undisturbed by revolution or popular disaffection, during a long period, in which every other state of Spanish America has been constantly shaken with intestine convulsions, can be understood perhaps only by those who are familiar with the character of the South Americans. But the fact is no less authentic than extraordinary, that the inhabitants of Paraguay delivered themselves up, bound hand and foot into the power of an unrelenting and ferocious despot, who reduced them to absolute slavery, ruined their commerce and agriculture, shut them up from the rest of the world, and dragged to the prison or the scaffold every man in the country whose talents, wealth or knowledge, opposed any obstacle in the way of his tyranny. One of his first measures was to cut off all intercourse with every place beyond the boundaries of Paraguay. No human being was allowed to leave the country or despatch a letter abroad. In enforcing this prohibition, the dictator was assisted by the peculiar geographical features of the country. In the midst of an immense and thinly peopled continent, it stands alone and impenetrable, surrounded by large rivers and extensive forests and morasses, frequented only by ferocious savages, wild beasts and venomous serpents. The vigilant guard maintained by the troops of the dictator, at all accessible points of his empire, ena bled him to isolate it completely from the rest of the world. The only possibility of escape was by seizing the occasion when the river Paraguay overflowed the surrounding plains, by which means a small number of individuals have succeeded in eloping from the tyrant's dominion, and acquainting the world with the internal policy of this extraordinary empire. Foreign travellers, who were visiting that region for scientific purposes, have been imprisoned with the dictator's subjects, and escaped by good for tune after long and tedious detention. When the independence REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENTS IN CHILI. 239 of the South American republics was acknowledged by Great Britain, a notification of this event was sent to Franc ia, with a request that all British subjects in his realms might be set at liberty. This fortunately procured the release of all the English in Paraguay. Several conspiracies were formed against him, but none with any success. The sanguinary punishments which followed their detection served to strike a deeper terror into the people and ren der their submission more abject. His regular army consisted of five thousand men, from whom he always took care to exclude all persons of education or belonging to wealthy families. Very strict discipline was enforced in all that related to their conduct as soldiers ; but when off duty, they were at perfect liberty, led licentious lives, and were seldom reprimanded for any misconduct toward the citizens. It is easy to understand why an army like this should feel unbounded attachment to its master. The dicta tor, however, lived in constant fear of assassination ; his guards were sometimes ordered to shoot any man who should dare to look at his house in passing through the street. He cooked his own victuals, in apprehension of poison, and never smoked a cigar without previously unrolling it, for the same reason. His conduct on many occasions exhibited eccentricities similar to those of Charles XII. of Sweden. He was subject to periodical fits of hypochondria, which often produced acts that indicated a disor dered intellect. After ruling Paraguay in this despotic manner for twenty-eight years, Francia died in 1842, aged about eighty. The government of the country, according to the last accounts, was administered by five consuls, but as this region has been avoided by all travellers for a long time, very little is known of the recent transactions there. In CHILI, a revolutionary movement took place as early as 1810, in consequence of the intelligence of the transactions in Spain. The captain general was compelled to resign, and the popular voice elevated to his situation, the Count de la Conquista, who immediately convened a meeting of the persons of most influence in the country to take measures for instituting a new order of things. A general congress was determined on, and the election fixed for the llth of April, 1811. On that day a counter-revolu tionary attempt was made by Figueroa, a royalist; but this was suppressed by the popular party, and the conspirators were pun ished by death or banishment. The congress, as soon as they were organized, passed a decree permitting all persons who were dissatisfied with the changes in the government, to leave the country with their effects, within six months. The children of 240 CHILI. slaves, born in future, were declared free, and many other regula tions made to reform the abuses of the ancient government. The new government, however, was soon beset with difficulties. Three brothers, of the name of Carrera, sons of a wealthy land holder of Santiago, put themselves at the head of the disaffected, and having obtained great influence with the troops, they com pelled the congress, in November, 1811, to depose the junta, and appoint three new members. This junta, in which one of the Carreras had procured a place, attempted to render themselves absolute. On the 2d of December, they dissolved the congress, and reigned without control, relying for their support solely on the army. These usurpers, however, fared no better than the government which they overthrew ; conspiracy after conspiracy troubled their administration, and at length they fell to quarreling among themselves. The viceroy of Peru took occasion of these disorders to make an attempt to crush the revolution ; and, early in 1813, despatched General Pareja with an army to Chili. Pareja took Talcahuana and Concepcion, but on the night of the 12th of April, he was surprised by the Chilian troops, under Carrera, who gave him a signal defeat. Pareja and his officers escaped to Peru, but most of the invading troops were made prisoners. Carrera, after the victory, conducted in so lawless a manner, and his troops committed such devastations in the district of Concepcion, that the inhabitants declared for the royalists. The junta accordingly removed him from the command, and replaced him by O'Higgins, who subsequently rose to great notoriety. The invasion from Peru was renewed in the spring of 1814, by the arrival of an army, under General Gainza. Several actions were fought, in which the royalists were defeated. Another rev olution took place, the junta was deposed, and Don F. Lastra was placed at the head of the government, with the title of supreme director. The viceroy of Peru offered proposals for an accommodation, in consequence of which, the director proposed terms of capitulation to Gainza. These terms were accepted, and Gainza agreed to evacuate Chili in two months, and that the viceroy should acknowledge the revolutionary government of Chili. Hostages were delivered on each side, and a short suspen sion of arms followed. But Gainza' s conduct was only a piece of treachery, to gain time till his army could be reinforced from Lima. By the intrigues of the Carreras, the director, Lastra, was deposed in August, 1814, and the junta reestablished. Great indignation was excited in Santiago, the capital, by this violent and corrupt proceeding. O'Higgins marched upon the city; a BATTLE OF CHACABUCO. 241 skirmishing began between his army and Carrera's troops, and a bloody battle and civil war were about to commence, when intel ligence arrived that the capitulation was broken ; this put an end to the dissensions for the moment, and O'Higgins submitted to the authority of the junta. The Spanish General, Osorio, who had succeeded Gainza, approached, at the head of four thousand men. The Chilians fled before him; he took possession of Santiago, Valparaiso and all the principal places, and at the end of October, 1814, the Spanish authority was completely reestablished in Chili. The inhabitants became the victims of royal vengeance, and arrests, imprisonments, banishments and executions, rilled the country with grief, suffering and terror. For upwards of two years the royal sway was exercised in Chili with the utmost rigor. At length the government of Buenos Ayres, as we have already related, despatched an army under San Martin, for the liberation of Chili. The army began its march in January, 1817, and by incredible exertions and perse verance, crossed the lofty chain of the Andes, and arrived in Chili with very little loss. The royalist forces met them at Chacabuco, on the 12th of February, and were defeated and put to the rout. San Martin pursued his victorious march to Santiago, where he was received by the inhabitants with acclamations, and made supreme director; he declined the office and bestowed it on O'Higgins, who had commanded a division of his army. The Spaniards were expelled from almost all parts of Chili, but the strong fortress of Talcahuana still held out, and this enabled the Spaniards to send a reinforcement of five thousand men to Chili. Osorio now found himself at the head of an army of eight thou sand men, with which he advanced upon the capital. On the 19th of March, 1818, O'Higgins, with a division of the Chilian army, attacked him at Taica, and gave him a severe check, but Osorio retrieved his fortune, by suddenly falling upon his enemy the same night, before the remainder of the Chilian army could arrive. The Spaniards obtained a complete victory ; one half the Chilian army was dispersed and all their baggage and artillery were taken. San Martin, however, did not despair of the fortunes of the republic in consequence of this disaster. He circulated proclama tions throughout the country, calling upon the inhabitants to rise in their defence, and made the most untiring exertions in every quarter to raise a force sufficient to oppose the enemy. The zeal of the people seconded his labors, and in a short time a new army was gathered, and took post on the river Maypu, towards which Osorio was now advancing. On the 5th of April the Spanish 21 E 2 242 CHILI. army reached the Maypu, and discovered the Chilians drawn up to oppose them. San Martin, perceiving that his enemy wished to delay the attack, took advantage of the ardor and enthusiasm with which his troops were inspired at the sight of the Spaniards, and led them instantly to the attack. The battle continued from noon till six in the evening, and was fought with an obstinacy and courage which render it one of the most memorable as well as most bloody and decisive combats recorded in the history of the South American revolutions. The whole Spanish army was destroyed ; the general with a few horsemen alone escaped when he saw the day was lost. Everything belonging to the army fell into the hands of the victors ; two thousand Spaniards were killed, and above three thousand made prisoners ; the Chilians lost one thousand killed and wounded. The victory of Maypu set the seal on the independence of Chili, and the patriots were soon enabled to carry the war into the enemy's country, by invading and revolutionizing Peru, as we have already related. But although Chili was, by these events completely released from the dominion of Spain, she has enjoyed little tranquillity in any portion of her subsequent career. The outward forms of a republic have been preserved in her govern ment, while parties have struggled for the ascendency and filled the country with turbulence. For several years the southern frontiers were disturbed by the depredations of an outlaw named Benavides, a Spaniard, who put himself at the head of the Arau- canian Indians, and desolated the country with fire and sword, and the commission of bloody atrocities unsurpassed in the history of savage warfare. His success, and the authority he had acquired over the Indians, induced him to think himself a power ful monarch, and he attempted to establish a navy. He captured several American and English vessels which touched on the coast of Chili for refreshments, and made himself master of a large amount of property, arms and military stores. The Spaniards encouraged him in his piracies and murders, and furnished him with troops and artillery. But his bloody career was cut short by the Chilians, who despatched an expedition against him in October, 1821. Arauco, his capital, was taken, his forces defeated, and Benavides'- compelled to flee. He was taken prisoner in February, 1822, tried and executed. O'Higgins was compelled to resign the office of supreme director, in 1823, and was succeeded by General Ramon Freire. In Janu ary, 1826, the archipelago of Chiloe, which till that time had remained in the hands of the Spaniards, submitted to the govern ment of Chili. In May, 1827, the form of government underwent JUAN FERNANDEZ. 243 another change, but the result did not secure the tranquillity of the country, which has for many years been agitated like Buenos Ayres, by the dissensions of two parties, the one endeavoring to establish a central and the other a federal government. The island of Juan Fernandez, in the Pacific Ocean, fell into the hands of the Chilian government, and has been retained by them to the present day. This island is known to most readers as the residence of Alexander Selkirk, a Scotchman, who lived alone upon it from 1705 to 1709, when he was discovered, and taken off by Captain Woodes Rogers. Selkirk's adventures are generally considered as having suggested to De Foe the subject of his story of Robinson Crusoe ; though of this fact there is much doubt. During the vicissitudes of the revolution in Chili, many persons were banished to this island for their politics ; and it is occupied at the present day as a place of confinement for con demned criminals. Alexander Selkirk discovered on Juan Fernandez. CHAPTER XXV. COLOMBIA. Conspiracy of Espana in Caracas. Expedition and failure of Miranda. Breaking out of the revolution in Venezuela and New Grenada. General character of the Spanish American revolutions. Rise of Bolivar. His mission to London. He enters the army. Arrival of Miranda in Venezuela. He is appointed commander-in-chief. Earthquake in Caracas. Conduct of the priests. Arrest and death of Miranda. Reestablishment of the Spanish author ity. Cruelties of the royalists. Successes of Bolivar. Bloody excesses of the armies. Bolivar's entry into Caracas. He assumes the title of liberator and dictator. Atrocities of Boves and Rosette. Retaliation of the insurgents. Defeat of Bolivar at La Puei'ta and San Mateo. He captures Bogota. The congress of Angostura. Bolivar crosses the Cordilleras. Victories of Tunja and Bojaca. The royalists expelled from New Grenada. Bolivar appointed president and captain- general. He returns to Venezuela. Armistice. Battle of Carabobo. Defeat and expulsion of the Spanish army. Formation of the repub lic of Colombia. Bolivar appointed president. Final expulsion of the Spaniards from Colombia. Civil dissensions. Insurrection of Paez. Convention of Ocana. Bolivar assumes absolute power. Attempt to assassinate him. General disaffection of the people. Distracted state of the country. Resignation of Bol ivar. Dismemberment of Colombia and formation of the republics of VENEZUELA, NEW GRANADA and ECUADOR. Death of Bolivar. His character. Formation of the republic of BOLIVIA. THE rapacity, despotism and oppression of the Spanish gov ernment gave rise to conspiracies and insurrectionary movements in the districts which afterwards formed the republic of Colombia, for many years previous to the general revolt occasioned by the French invasion of Spain. As early as 1797, an attempt to raise the standard of independence was made in Venezuela, by two natives of Caracas, Don Josef de Espana, corregidor of Macuto, and Don Manuel Gual, an officer in the army. The plot com prised a large number of persons, the most distinguished in 'the colony for their talents, virtues and wealth. Their object was to possess themselves of the heads of the government, and to keep them as hostages till a treaty could be made with the court of . Spain for a redress of grievances and a general *Change in tho government. The insurrection was fixed for the 14th of July, 1797, but, on the evening previous, the design was betrayed by one of the conspirators, who, struck with fear, went to the Cathe dral, and rang the bell. The alarm being raised, the magistrates were brought together, and the plot was revealed. Most of the EXPEDITION OF MIRANDA. 246 conspirators were arrested, but the two leaders made their escape. The king, when the whole affair was known, became convinced that the people had been driven to rebellion by the intolerable oppressions of his officers, and ordered that the prisoners should be treated with clemency. Espana, on this intelligence, gave himself up. But the authorities of Venezuela disregarded this order, and Espana, with five of his companions, was put to death. The discontents of the people were not quieted ; and in the year 1805, General Miranda received a great number of letters from Venezuela, entreating him to put himself at the head of an expe dition for revolutionizing the country. Miranda agreed to the proposal, and proceeded to the United States, where he collected a body of a few hundred adventurers. The expedition sailed frt/m New York, in 1806, and reached the coast near Puerto Cabello, in May. Here Miranda made an attack, but was repulsed by the Spanish gun-boats. He proceeded to Trinidad, recruited his forces, and returned under the convoy of a British sloop of war. On the 7th of August, he landed at Coro, where he remained unmolested for twelve days, though a considerable Spanish force was posted only four leagues distant. Miranda, however, found the people of the neighborhood lukewarm in the cause of revolt; and shortly after, he was deserted by his British auxiliaries, who had promised him powerful aid. He was there fore obliged to abandon the expedition, with the loss of many of his men, who were taken and hanged. The Spanish dominion continued but a few years longer. The great revolution burst out in 1810. The captain-general of Car acas was deposed on the 19th of April, and a popular congress convened to organize a new government for Venezuela. The same was 'done at Bogota, the capital of New Granada, which erected itself, at first, into a separate republic. The congress of Venezuela published a declaration of independence on the 5th of July, 1811, and this example was followed by the other provinces, which were afterwards united in the republic of Colombia. The history of this revolution, like that of most others of the Spanish American states, is filled with a perplexing and most wearisome detail of political changes, party maoeuvres, factions, intrigues, negotiations, plots and counter-plots, and marches and counter-marches of political and military leaders. Of these scenes the reader has had already a sufficient specimen in the preceding chapters, to give him a general picture of the South American revolutionary troubles. It will not be expected of us to repeat these details in the remainder of this history ; their sameness exhibits the operation of the identical causes which we have 21* 246 COLOMBIA. before specified, while the confusion in which they are involved, and their lack of general and permanent results, cause them to leave but a vague and transitory impression on the mind of the reader. Those things alone which are intelligible and significant, form the proper topics for history, and to these we shall confine our narrative. The whole control of the revolution soon became engrossed in the hands of one individual, who, for many years, became the most prominent and powerful man in South America. This man was Simon Bolivar, a native of Caracas, who, as early as 1810, was sent to London as agent from the revolutionary government, to solicit aid from the British. That government, however, deter mined to remain neutral. Bolivar returned to Venezuela, where he was made colonel in the independent army, and governor of Puerto Cabello. General Miranda had returned to this coun try, and was appointed commander-in-chief of the forces. The Spaniards sent armies into the country, and many actions were fought. The patriots were generally successful till 1812, when they experienced a terrible calamity. On the 26th of March, an earthquake destroyed, either entirely or in part, the city of Cara cas, and ten or twelve others, killing twenty thousand persons. < Earthquake at Caracas. This dreadful catastrophe, happening on the very May and hour in wnich the revolution broke out two years before, the clergy seized upon the occasion to alarm the superstitions fears of the people, and excite them in favor of the royal cause, by represent ing it as a judgment from heaven upon the revolutionists. Priests, monks and friars, were stationed in the streets, vociferating in the BOLIVAR. 247 midst of credulous multitudes trembling with fear, while the royalist troops were getting possession of the whole country. Miranda, in despair, capitulated, and was preparing to leave the country, when he was arrested by the patriots as a traitor. He was delivered up to the royalist general, Monteverde, and sent to Spain, where he died in a dungeon. Venezuela was now entirely in the hands of the royalists, and deeds of revolting ferocity and plunder reduced the whole country to a frightful state of misery; old men, women and children were seized and massacred as rebels. One of Monteverde' s officers cut off the ears of the patriots, and had them stuck in the caps of his soldiers for cockades. In this state of things, Bolivar began to show the firmness and energy of his character. He raised a small force, and in December, 1812, entered upon a campaign against the royalists. He defeated them at Teneriffe, Ocana and Cucuta, and by an expedition to Bogota, increased his army to two thousand men. Marching back, along the Andes, he invaded Venezuela, and defeated the royalists in several other battles. The war now assumed the most bloody character ; the terrible cruelties of Monteverde obliged the patriots to commence repri sals, and the most horrible butcheries were the consequence. The cause of independence was now more prosperous. Bolivar de feated Monteverde at Lostaguanes, and on the 4th of August, 1814, he entered the city of Caracas in triumph. The joy of the people exceeded all bounds, and this was undoubtedly the most brilliant day in Bolivar's whole career. The whole population crowded to meet him with acclamations, and he was drawn into the city in a triumphal car by twelve beautiful young ladies, of the first families in Caracas, while others crowned him with laurels and strewed his way with flowers. Bolivar was now in the possession of unlimited power in this part of the country, and assumed the title of Liberator and Dictator of the western provinces of Venezuela. This gave great offence to the democratic party, and charges were uttered against him of studying his own aggrandizement; yet the enthusiasm in his favor confirmed the dictatorial power in his hands. In the mean time, the royalists at a distance were still deluging the country with blood. Boves and Rosette, two of their generals, in a march of four hundred miles from the Orinoco to the Ocumare, with an army of slaves and vagabonds, murdered every individual who refused to join them. General Puy, a negro assassin and a robber in the royal interest, having murdered hundreds of the patriot inhabitants of Varinas, Bolivar, to deter him from the repetition of such atrocities, ordered eight hundred Spaniards in 248 COLOMBIA. La Guayra and Caracas, to be arrested and shot, in February, 1814. This was retaliated by the royalists, who massacred their prisoners in Puerto Cabello. The patriots, however, did not repeat these dreadful reprisals, and Bolivar, in July, 1816, formally pro claimed, "no Spaniards shall be put to death except in battle; the war of death shall cease." Success continued to fluctuate between the patriots and royal ists. On the 14th of June, 1814, a battle was fought at La Puerta, in which Bolivar was defeated, with the loss of fifteen hundred men. Another action occurred on the 17th of August, at San Marco, the estate of Bolivar. Here the Liberator's army was surprised by the "infernal division" of Boves, a legion of negro cavalry, with black crape on their lances, who rushed with hideous shouts from an ambush, and scattered Bolivar's whole force by the suddenness and impetuosity of their assault; the general escaped only by the fleetness of his horse. Bolivar's family mansion was burnt to the ground, and he was ultimately compelled, in September, to leave the royalists in possession of all Yenezuela, when thousands of the patriots deserted to their ranks. He repaired to New Grenada, where the government employed him in their army to subjugate the revolted province of Cundi- namarca. Bolivar captured the city of Bogota, which afterwards became the capital of Colombia. He returned to Venezuela in 1816, but was again defeated. Notwithstanding, he persevered in his exertions, and in December of the same year, he convened a general congress. In March, 1817, he was enabled to give the royalists a severe check. Numerous transactions took place between the patriot and royalist forces during this and the following year, but our limits will not admit of a detailed account of them ; victory remained nearly balanced between the two parties, but the cause of inde pendence was gaining strength. In 1819, the congress of Vene zuela assembled at Angostura, and Bolivar surrendered all his authority into their hands. The congress required him to resume the supreme power, and exercise it until the independence of the country should be fully established. Bolivar re-organized his forces, and set out on his march across the Cordilleras, to effect a junction with General Santander, who commanded the republican army in New Grenada, that their united arms might act with greater efficiency. In July, 1819, he reached Tunja, where he defeated the royalist troops and captured the city. On the 7th of August, the Spanish army, under the viceroy, Samano, advanced to meet him at Bojaca, where a severe battle was fought, which resulted in the complete triumph of the patriots. The viceroy BATTLE OF CAROBOBO. fled from the field of battle, and the whole province of New Grenada was conquered by this victory. Bolivar entered the capital in triumph, and was appointed president and captain- general of the republic. Having amply recruited his army, he returned to Venezuela, where, on the 17th of December, 1819, a union between the two republics was decreed by the congress through his influence. He then took the field, at the head of the strongest army that had yet been collected by the patriots. The Spaniards, after many de feats, agreed to an armistice of six months, in November, 1820. Morillo, their general, returned to Spain, leaving his army under the command of La Torre. At the termination of the armistice the two armies resumed active operations ; and, on the 23d of June, was fought the decisive battle of Carobobo ; the Spaniards, under La Torre, were entirely defeated, and their broken and scattered forces saved themselves by fleeing to Puerto Cabello. This victory was the finishing stroke to the war in Yenezuela ; by the end of the year, the Spaniards were driven from every part of Venezuela and New Granada, except Puerto Cabello and Quito. The two provinces were now united into one state, called the Republic of Colombia. The installation of the first general con gress took place on the 6th of May, 1821, at Rosario de Cucuta. A constitution was adopted on the 30th of August. Bolivar was appointed president, and Santander vice-president. Puerto Ca bello surrendered in December, 1823, and all the Spanish forces had been expelled from the southern part of the republic before this period; so that, at the beginning of 1824, the republic of Colombia was totally freed from foreign enemies. But at the moment when affairs seemed most prosperous, the republic began to be disturbed with civil discords. General Paez a mulatto, and one of the most distinguished officers of the revo lution, had received the command of the department of Venezuela. In the execution of a law for enrolling the militia of Caracas, he gave so much offence to the inhabitants by his arbitrary conduct, that they obtained an impeachment against him before the senate. Being notified of this in April, 1826, and summoned to appear and take his trial, he refused to obey, but placed himself at the head of his troops, and called around him all the disaffected per sons in Venezuela, who formed a very strong party. These persons objected to the central government ; some of thorn wish ing for a federal system like that of the United States, and others desiring a total separation from New Granada. Various disorders broke out in other parts of the republic, and a great portion of the F2 250 COLOMBIA. country refused obedience to the Colombian constitution. An attempt was made to accommodate matters by a convention at Ocana, for amending the constitution, in March, 1828, but the violence of parties and the disturbed state of the country pre vented the convention from doing anything, and they soon sep arated. Affairs now came to a crisis ; the country was threatened with anarchy, and Bolivar took a bold and decisive step, by dissolving the Colombian congress, on the 27th of August, 1828, and assum ing absolute authority. This act was preceded by addresses from various municipal bodies, calling upon Bolivar to put an end to the public disorders, by assuming the supreme command. Whether these addresses' were procured by his intrigues, in order to give a plausible color to his usurpation, we have.no means of knowing. He organized a new government to suit his own views, and soon began to feel the consequences of the bold step he had taken, in the conspiracies that were plotted against him. On the 15th of September, 1828, an attempt was made to assassinate him. His aid-de-camp was killed, but Bolivar's life was saved by the cour age of his officers. Generals Padilla and Santander were charged with this plot, and condemned to death by a special tribunal. Padilla was executed, but the punishment of Santander was com muted for banishment. Various others suffered death. The country was more and more agitated by violent factions ; many military leaders aspired to the supreme command, and the efforts of Bolivar to prevent dissension excited insurrections. Bolivar was denounced as a usurper and a tyrant. Venezuela claimed her independence; and Bolivar, finding it impossible to unite the factions and create a spirit of harmony under his rule, resigned all his authority to the congress at Bogota, in 1830. He retired to Carthagena, dispirited and broken down by the calamities of his country. Bolivar's retirement from public life removed every obstacle to the division of the republic of Colombia. In 1831, it was formed into three independent states, VENEZUELA, NEW GRE NADA and ECUADOR, which have continued to the present day. On the 17th of December, 1831, Bolivar died at San Pedro, near Carthagena, at the age of forty-eight. He was by far the most celebrated of all the South American revolutionary leaders ; and during many years was considered the " Washington of the south." Yet, notwithstanding his brilliant successes, he outlived both his power and his reputation. At the period of his death he had lost all influence over his countrymen, and he died tainted with the suspicion of having engaged in an intrigue for introduc ing foreign aid to restore monarchy in Colombia. As a warrior, COLOMBIAN GENERALS. 251 he deserved all his fame ; but as a legislator, he has been, perhaps, over-rated. Few of his political institutions were permanent; though this was partly owing to the semi-barbarous and intracta ble temper of the people with whom he had to deal. His merits as a military leader are much enhanced by the character of the troops whom he led to victory. His armies often consisted chiefly of destitute adventurers, eager only for pay and plunder ; ragged Creoles, Indians, naked negroes, and cavalry of half savage Llaneros and mountaineers riding wild horses. The desertion of whole regiments, first to one side and then to the other, according to the momentary chance of success, sufficiently shows their degraded moral condition. The generals with whom his command was divided, were principally of the most uncivilized description. Arismendi could neither write nor read ; Paez was a brutal mulatto bull-hunter, just out of the deserts ; and General Bermudez always took the field in a dirty blanket, with a hole in the middle for his head ; yet envy, jealousy, and fierce, reckless ambition were common to them all. The character and habits of such a people greatly increase our opinion of the talents of the individual who conducts them from an abject state of oppression to independence and social improvement. The republic of Colom bia is no more, yet as long as it continues to be remembered, it will owe that circumstance to the name of Bolivar. The republic of BOLIVIA was formed out of the provinces of Upper Peru, which under the Spanish dominion were governed as a dependency of Buenos Ayres. These provinces were wrested from the Spaniards by the victory of Ayacucho, in December, 1828. General Sucre, who, at the head of the Colombian forces, gained this victory, soon cleared the country of the royalist forces, and no obstacle existed to the formation of an independent gov ernment. A congress assembled at Chuquisaca, in August, 1825, and lodged the supreme authority provisionally in the hands of Sucre, while, as a testimonial of their gratitude to Bolivar, they requested him to frame a constitution for them. Bolivar accord ingly drew up a plan of government, founded on a representative basis, but of a very complicated and inconvenient character. The chief magistrate is a president who appoints his own suc cessor, nominates to all offices, exercises the whole patronage of the government, and is irresponsible for his actions. This consti tution was adopted by the congress, and went into operation in December, 1826. CHAPTER XXVI. REPUBLIC or MEXICO. Origin of the revolution. Deposition of the viceroy. Insurrection of Hidalgo. Capture of Guanaxuato and Valladolid. Hidalgo pro claimed generalissimo. He advances to Mexico. His unaccountable retreat. He is attacked by the royalists and defeated. Capture and death of Hidalgo. Progress of the revolution. Proceedings of Morelos and Calleja. The national assembly. Declaration of Mexican independence. Disasters of the revolutionists- Capture and execution of Morelos. Discords among the revolutionary leaders. Arrival of General Mina. His march into the country. His capture and exe cution. Successes of the Spaniards. The revolution suppressed. Affairs of Spain. Revival of troubles in Mexico. The viceroy Apodaca. State of parties. Renewal of the insurrection. Rise of Iturbide. He marches against the inde pendents. His dissimulation and intrigues. Plan of Iguala. Embarrassment of the viceroy. He is deposed. Iturbide establishes his authority. Arrival of O'Donoju in Mexico. Treaty of Cordova. Iturbide in supreme power. He summons a cortes. State of parties. Intrigues of Iturbide. He is proclaimed emperor. He dissolves the cortes. His embarrassments. Insurrection against him. Defection of Santa Ana and Guadalupe Victoria. Abdication of Iturbide. He is banished to Italy. His return to Mexico and death. Distracted state of the country. Santa Ana becomes the head of the government. REPUBLIC OF TEXAS. Dissatisfaction of the Texans with the Mexican government. State convention. Commencement of hostilities. Capture of Goliad and San Antonio de Bexar. The Mexicans expelled from Texas. Invasion of Texas by Santa Ana. Attack of San Antonio. Obstinate defence of the garrison. Declaration of Independence. Capture of Goliad by the Mexicans. Massacre of Colonel Fanning's company. Alarm of the inhabitants. Battle of San Jacinto and defeat of the Mexicans. Capture of Santa Ana. Establishment of the independence of Texas. REPUBLIC OF CENTRAL AMERICA. Connexions of Guatimala with Mexico. Civil war. Constitution established. Anarchy and wretched condition of the country. Government of Carrnra. THE movements toward a revolution in Mexico began with the French invasion of Spain in 1808. The Mexicans were unani mous in their dislike of the French ; and the viceroy, whatever his private inclinations might have been, received such contradic tory orders from the king of Spain, from Murat, who then com manded at Madrid, and from the council of the Indies, that he proposed calling a junta, composed of representatives from each province, as the only means of preserving the country from the horrors of anarchy. The European Spaniards in the capital viewed this scheme with jealousy, as calculated to place the Creoles on an equal footing with themselves. They entered into a conspiracy against the viceroy, took him prisoner in his palace, INSURRECTION OF HIDALGO. 253 sent him to Spain, and assumed the reins of government. A new viceroy was despatched to Mexico, who encountered new plots and troubles ; and in 1810, an insurrection, consisting principally of the natives and mestizoes, rose openly against the government. Cathedral of Mexico. These men were led by Hidalgo, a priest of some talents, and an enthusiast in the cause of independence. From Dolores, where they first assembled, they marched upon the wealthy city of Guanaxuato, which they took and pillaged. The viceroy de spatched his forces to suppress the rebellion, but the whole coun try through which Hidalgo passed, took up arms and joined him. Acting with great policy, he abolished the tribute paid by the aborigines, which brought all the Indians to his standard. Valla- dolid fell into his hands, and on the 24th of October, the priest Hidalgo was proclaimed generalissimo of the Mexican armies. On this occasion he threw aside his sacerdotal robes and appeared in uniform. He advanced upon the capital, and in three days entered Toluco, not more than twelve miles from Mexico. The royal forces were scattered throughout the country, and Mexico was in imminent danger. After some skirmishes the independent army approached to the heights of Santa Fe, where the royalists, with a much inferior force, were drawn up to defend the city. Mexico was on the point of seeing a conquering army enter her gates, when, to the astonishment of every spectator, Hidalgo sud- 22 254 MEXICO. ienly wheeled to the right-about, and marched away. This extraordinary proceeding was never explained. Hidalgo retreated to the neighborhood of Guadalaxara. The royalists now had leisure to collect a strong force, and pursued him. A sanguinary battle was fought on the 17th of January, 1811, which ended in the total defeat and dispersion of the inde pendent army. Hidalgo made his escape, but was closely pursued from post to post till at length his retreat was cut off; when, by the treachery of ^ of his own men, he was betrayed and made prisoner with all hi& staff, on the 21st of March. Fifty of his officers were executed on the spot. Hidalgo was tried and shot, at Chihuahua, on the 20th of June, 1811. The death of -Hidalgo did not stop the progress of the revolu tion in other quarters. In the meantime, the whole country had risen in insurrection, and many leaders began to act separately. The most remarkable among them was Morelos, another priest, who, with great activity, talents and success, maintained the rebellion in the southern provinces, and organized a junta or cen tral government, which, in September, 1811, assembled at Zaca- turo, in Mechoacan. This town was soon after captured by Calleja, a royalist general, and the junta dispersed. Morelos penetrated into the highlands of Tenochtitlan, where he fought many battles with Calleja during a period of three months. He took Acapulco, Oaxaca, and many other towns, and convened a congress at Apatzinjan, in the province of Valladolid. This con gress took the name of the National Assembly, and declared the independence of Mexico on the 13th of November, 1813. A con stitution was framed, and proposals for a suspension of hostilities were made to the royalists, but without effect. Calleja, who was now appointed viceroy, with the title of Conde de Calderon, prosecuted the war againt the insurgents with vigor and the most barbarous cruelty. Morelos involved himself in difficulties by surrendering his authority to the congress at this critical period. All his military plans were defeated by the inter ference and delays of that body. In consequence of this, he ho longer met with any success in his daring enterprises, and in November, 1815, he was taken prisoner, carried to Mexico and shot. Many of {he insurgent chiefs maintained the conflict for some time, but they did not act in concert with t>ne another. Teran, one of these leaders, dissolved the congress by force, which contributed still more to promote dissension among them. The war was feebly carried on until the arrival of a new parti san from Europe. This was General Mina, nephew of the guer rilla chief, so celebrated in the war in Spain. He sailed from RISE OF ITURBIDE. 255 England with a small force, in May, 1816, and after visiting the United States, where he received some reinforcements, landed at Galvezton, in November. From this place, after organizing his forces, he proceeded to Soto la Marina, in April, 1817, and took up his march for Mexico. He penetrated six hundred miles into the interior, defeating the enemy at various points. At one time his troops were reduced to less than three hundred men; at other times they were increased to fourteen hundred. He displayed great courage and talent, but on the 27th of September, he was surprised and taken prisoner at Venadito, and a few weeks after, tried and shot. This was a heavy disaster to the Mexicans ; but the forms of the revolutionary government continued to be kept up, though the congress were driven from place to place by the royal armies. The war languished in every quarter, and all the strong places were at length taken by the Spaniards. In 1820, the revo lution was considered at an end, and the country grew tranquil. The establishment of a constitution in Spain, in 1820, suddenly changed the course of affairs in Mexico. The European Span iards, and the Creoles, who had before made common cause in the royal interest, now divided into two parties, royalists and constitutionalists. The viceroy, Apodaca, was a royalist, and wished to suppress all attempts to establish a constitution in Mex ico. The cause of the insurgents received new strength from the Spanish and Mexican constitutionalists, and the insurrection again looked threatening. Apodaca raised a small army and despatched it to crush the remnant of the insurgent forces. He gave the command to Don Augustin Iturbide, a Creole, but a royalist, and an officer who had distinguished himself in the war against the independents. It is supposed that at this moment Iturbide began to entertain those designs of self-aggrandizement which afterwards led him to the throne of Mexico. His very first steps exhibited art and dissimulation. The priests and Europeans furnished him with some money, and on his march, he seized on a convoy of specie belonging to the Manilla merchants. He formed a junction with Guerrero, one of the patriot chiefs, and had the address to persuade Apodaca that it was only an act of pardon, by which the adherents of the revolution would be brought over to the royal cause. Emissaries, in the meantime, were despatched to every part of the country, and they executed their mission so ably that the inhabitants were everywhere ready to declare in favor of independence. On the 24th of February, 1821, at the little town of Iguala, on the road from Mexico to Acapulco, Iturbide issued a proclamation, which has since been known by the name of the ''Plan of Iguala." 256 MEXICO. Its professed object was to conciliate all parties ; to establish the independence of Mexico, and still to preserve its relationship to Spain. To accomplish this, the crown of Mexico was to be offered to the king of Spain, and in case of his refusal, to one of his brothers, on condition of his residing in the country. Though Iturbide had manifestly exceeded the powers which he had received from his superior, yet the viceroy, thunderstruck at this unexpected event, and seeing that the proposal met the wishes of a great majority of the people, took no decisive steps against him. The royalists, who were numerous in the capital, alarmed at this indecision and delay of Apodaca, instantly deposed him, and placed Don Francisco Novello, an artillery officer, at the head of affairs. But the disorders inseparable from such violent changes, gave Iturbide time to augment his forces, strengthen his party, and gain all the northern and western provinces. Before the month of July, the whole country acknowledged his authority, with the exception of the capital, in which Novello had shut him self up with all the European troops. In this state of things, General O'Donoju arrived at Vera Cruz, from Spain, with the office of constitutional viceroy. Iturbide hastened to the coast, held an interview with the new functionary, and persuaded him to accept the plan of Iguala, as an armistice and final settlement, with the proviso that it should be approved by Spain. This agreement was called the treaty of Cordova, from the town where it was made. It provided that commission ers should be sent to Spain with the offer of the crown, and that in the interim a governing junta and a regency should be ap pointed; and that a cortes should be immediately convened to form a constitution. The royalists were deeply chagrined at this proceeding, and the garrison of Mexico refused to obey O'Donoju, when he ordered them to evacuate the city. Iturbide obtained possession of Mexico by capitulation, and established a junta and regency, but in such a form that all the power remained in his hands. A cortes was summoned, which met on the 24th of Feb ruary, 1822, and soon found themselves divided into three parties , the Bourbonists, or friends of the plan of Iguala; the republicans; and the partisans of Iturbide, who wished to elevate him to the supreme power.'. Amidst all this dissension, Iturbide had little difficulty in playing off one party against another irr such a man ner that no effectual opposition could be thrown in the way of his ambitious schemes. An accident helped him onward. The royalist garrison of Mexico, which had capitulated and were now encamped at Toluca, entered into a conspiracy to effect a counter revolution. Iturbide detected the conspiracy, and seized this ABDICATION OF ITURBIDE. 257 occasion to withdraw from the capital all the troops disaffected to his cause. Meantime, his emissaries were at work, intriguing iu the army, and on the evening of the 18th of May, they assembled the soldiers, harangued them, and distributed money among them. The soldiers marched out of their quarters, drew up in front of Iturbide's house, where they were joined by a mob of the lowest class of people. At ten o'clock in the evening this multitude began their shouts of " Long live Iturbide, Augustin the First, Emperor of Mexico ! " These cries, with salvos of fire-arms, con tinued till morning, and the members of the cortes unfriendly to Iturbide's ambitious views, were advised, from a pretended regard for their safety, not to attend the meeting that day, for fear of the soldiery. Forty members absented themselves in consequence, and the cortes having assembled, amidst the shouts of the soldiery and the mob, Iturbide was proclaimed emperor. Most of the provinces submitted to this usurpation without delay or complaint. Thus, in a short career of little more than two years, an obscure individual was enabled to seat himself on a throne. But his downfall was as rapid as his rise. Dissensions soon broke out between him and the cortes, to which he put an end by dissolving that body on the 30th of October, 1822, precisely as Cromwell dismissed the Long Parliament, and Bonaparte the Chamber of Deputies. Iturbide, however, possessed very little of the genius of these great leaders. He was unable to reconcile the officers of the army, or the men of influence in the country, to these daring measures. He formed a new legislative assembly, composed of persons favorable to his views, but they had not the skill to make his cause popular. Several of the chief officers of the army declared against- him, and prepared for resistance. Iturbide began to be terrified at the storm which he saw gathering against him on all sides. General Santa Ana, who had assisted in elevat ing him to the throne, took up arms against him. Guadalupe Victoria joined his forces to those of Santa Ana ; the provinces fell off from the emperor, and at length Iturbide, utterly despairing of his fortunes, convoked the old cortes, on the 8th of March, 1823, and on the 19th of that month, abdicated his crown. Thus, after a troubled and disastrous reign of ten months, his Imperial Majesty of Mexico and Anahuac reluctantly threw down his sceptre. He was permitted to leave the country and reside in Italy, with a pension of twenty-five thousand dollars. His exile, however, did not restore tranquillity to the country. The struggles of opposing factions kept everything in confusion, and Iturbide, before the end of a year, miscalculating his influence over his countrymen, had the presumption to imagine that he 22* G% 258 TEXAS. could reenact the drama of Napoleon's return from Elba, and regain his throne by merely showing himself in Mexico. Accord ingly, embarking with his family and two or three attendants, he landed in Mexico on the 12th of July, 1824. On attempting to proceed into the interior in disguise, he was discovered and arrested. The government had previously outlawed him, and he was shot by order of the local authorities at Padilla, in Tamau- lipas, on the 19th of July. Since the death of Iturbide, hardly anything has taken place in Mexico, which it is possible to make either interesting or intelli gible to the reader. The country has been perpetually distracted by factions, conspiracies and revolutions. General Santa Ana placed himself at the head of the government in 1832, and with some vicissitudes of fortune, has continued to be the leading man down to the present day. The constitution of Mexico was formed in 1824, on the model of that of the United States. The state of Yucatan revolted a year or two since, and is now waging a war for independence, against the central government. The REPUBLIC OF TEXAS has been formed out of that portion of Mexico adjoining Louisiana. This province, having been peopled by emigrants from the United States, did not readily submit to the arbitrary proceedings by which Santa Ana elevated himself to the supreme authority. Under the Mexican federal government, Texas and the adjoining province of Coahuila, formed a single state. The first symptom of disaffection was shown in an endeavor to procure a separation from Coahuila. An agent was despatched to Mexico for this purpose, in 1833, who was arrested and imprisoned on a charge of treason. This only increased the discontent of the people of Texas, and a revolutionary spirit soon manifested itself in popular meetings all over the country. Com mittees of safety were appointed, and a general convention of the states was convened in 1834. Both sides now prepared for war, and great numbers of volunteers flocked to Texas from the United States. Hostilities began in September, 1835, and on the 2d of October an action took place at Gonzales, in which the Mexipans were defeated and put to the rout. On the 9th, the fort and town of Goliad were captured by the Texan forces. General Austin was appointed commander-in-chief. The Texan army, amounting to one thousand me*!, next besieged the town of San Antonio de Bexar, which was defended by. an equally strong Mexican force. After a close siege of a month, intelligence was received that a large body of Mexican troops was approaching for the relief of the garrison. This determined the besiegers to storm the place immediately. On the 6th of Decem- MASSACRE OF TEXAN PRISONERS. 259 bei*j they advanced to the assault, and after a severe action, made prisoners of the whole garrison. Hardly had they taken posses sion of the town, when the Mexican reinforcement arrived, and another action was fought, which resulted in the capture of the whole detachment. These successes completed the triumph of the Texan cause ; not a Mexican soldier remained upon the terri tory. But this triumph was only temporary. In the meantime, Santa Ana was making vigorous preparations for crushing the insurrec tion. On the 23d of February, 1836, he appeared before the town of San Antonio, at the head of a body of one thousand men, the advanced guard of the Mexican army. The town was immediately taken, but the fort held out, although garrisoned by only one hundred and fifty men. A constant bombardment was kept up by the besiegers, yet, on the 1st of March, a detachment of thirty- two men from Gonzales, succeeded in forcing their way through the Mexican lines and throwing themselves into the fort. The Mexicans were soon reinforced to the number of four thousand five hundred men, and at midnight of the 6th of March made a desperate assault upon the place. The garrison fought des perately till daylight, when only seven of them were found alive. These were all put to the sword. The Mexicans, it is said, lost a thousand men in this affair. The Texans, however, were not dispirited by this disaster. On the 2d of March, a general convention, held at the town of Wash ington, declared Texas a sovereign and independent state. The Mexican army, immediately after the capture of San Antonio, advanced upon Goliad, which was garrisoned by a body of three hundred and fifty men under Colonel Fanning. That officer, in obedience to orders from his commander, blew up the fort and retreated, but after marching a few miles he was surrounded in a prairie, by a body of two thousand Mexicans. Fanning's party defended themselves with great courage, and the Mexican com mander proposed a capitulation. Fanning agreed to the proposal, and surrendered on a stipulation that his men should be shipped to New Orleans within eight days. The Mexicans marched their prisoners off to Goliad, and, on the 26th of March, shot them all in cold blood, with the exception of four, who made their escape. General alarm and dismay now pervaded the country, and a great many inhabitants sought shelter in the American territory. The Indians were rising in the north, and the invading army continued to massacre all that opposed them. It was found neces sary to order a strong force of United States troops to the Texan frontier to keep the savages in check. The Texan army, which 260 GUATEMALA. was now commanded by General Houston, retreated before Santa Ana, till they reached the river San Jacinto, where they made a stand. The Mexicans came up, and, on the 21st of April, a most sanguinary and decisive battle was fought at this place. The Mexicans were double in strength to their opponents, yet the attack of the Texans was made with such courage and fury, that in fifteen minutes the Mexicans were completely routed ; six hun dred of them were killed on the spot, and as many more taken prisoners. Of the Texans, twenty-six were killed and wounded. Santa Ana fled from the field, and was pursued fifteen miles by the Texan mounted riflemen, when his horse foundered and he took shelter in the woods. Here, after a long search, he was found hidden in the top of a tree, and made prisoner. Santa Ana was compelled to sign a treaty, by which the Mexi can troops were withdrawn from Texas, and agreed not to serve against that country during the war of independence. Santa Ana, after some detention occasioned by the exasperated feelings of the people against him, was set at liberty, and proceeded to Washington. President Jackson furnished him with a passage to Vera Cruz, in a ship of war of the United States. The indepen dence of Texas seems to have been permanently established by the victory of San Jacinto. The United States formally recognised it on the 3d of March, 1837, and Great Britain on the 16th of November, 1840. These examples have been imitated by most of the other maritime powers of Europe. Hostilities have contin ued between Texas and Mexico to the present day, but no serious attempts at invasion have been made by the Mexicans. The government of Texas is modelled on that of the United States. GUATEMALA, or the REPUBLIC OF CENTRAL AMERICA, proclaimed its independence on the 15th of September, 1821. When Iturbide became emperor of Mexico, three of the provinces of Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica and Chiapa, declared for a union with that empire. A civil war was the immediate consequence, but some little quiet being restored in 1823, the congress took measures for the regulation of affairs ; and, on the 22d of November, the Consti tuent Assembly promulgated a constitution, establishing the gov ernment on a federal system. The republic of Central America has been the most unfortunate of all the Spanish American states. Its history, from the first moment, down to the holar at which this page is written, has been literally nothing but the history of an anarchy. The constitution has been a dead letter from the begin ning ; the union of the provinces has been discord and civil war ; the government has been military force ; and authority and law have existed only in the will and caprice of partisan leader?. CONDITION OF THE COUNTRY. 261 Civilization has retrograded, and the country labors under such a combination of evils continually augmenting, that it is difficult to imagine any conjuncture of circumstances which can, within any short period, restore order and regular government in this misera ble territory. The chief personage who figures in the anarchy of Guatemala, at present, is Carrera, a military leader of the lowest extraction. This personage, illiterate, narrow-minded, vindictive, ferocious, arbitrary, and devoured by ambition, controls all the proceedings of the nominal government, by being at the head of the army. He is the idol of the priests, the banditti and the soldiery; and is a strange compound of the Jacobin and the Inquisitor. His sway is absolute at the capital. The other provinces take care of themselves as well as they can. g upon Guatemala,' BRITISH AMERICA. CHAPTER XXVII. CANADA. Discovery of Canada by Cartier. Second expedition. Discovery <if Me St. Lawrence. RobervaVs expedition. Pont grave and Champlain. Quebec founded. Discoveries of Champlain. Establishment of the company of New France. Indian wars. Jesuits in Canada. Slow progress of the colony. Ecclesiastical government of Canada. Hostilities. of the Iroquois. Earthquakes. Quebec. CANADA was discovered by Jacques Cartier, of St. Malo, in France. He was entrusted, at the recommendation of Chabot, admiral of France, with a commission of discovery, as the French had begun to catch the general spirit of maritime enterprise. Cartier sailed from St. Malo with two ships, on the 20th of April, 1534 Though 'these were called ships in the narrations of that day, they were neither above twenty tons burthen, which shows that naval architecture had made but small progress among the French. On the 10th of May, they saw the shores of Newfoundland, near Cape Bonavista, and steering to the south, along the coast, landed at a harbor, which Cartier named St. Catherine's. Thence, proceeding westward and northward, he entered the Gulf of St DISCOVERY OF THE ST. LAWRENCE. 263 Lawrence, and passed in sight of Bird's Island, which he called Isles Aux Oiseaux, from the multitudes of sea-fowls that covered them. After some days spent in sailing along the western coast of Newfoundland, he crossed the gulf and entered a wide and deep inlet, which he named Baie de Chaleur, on account of the intense summer heat which the voyagers experienced while exploring its shores. This bay appears to have been already known to the Spaniards, and in very old charts it is termed Bay des Espagnols. After exploring the greater part of the gulf, he returned towards France, on the 15th of August, and arrived at St. Malo in twenty-one days. During the following year, in consequence of the favorable report he gave of his voyage, he was invested with the command of three ships, of superior size, and well equipped with all sorts of necessaries. On board the largest of these, "La Grande Hermi- one," he embarked on the 19th of May, and on the 26th of July he was joined by the other vessels, which had been separated from him during a storm, at an appointed place of rendezvous within the Gulf of St. Lawrence, They then proceeded together on their course up the great river St. Lawrence, so named, accord ing to some, from Cartier having either returned to the gulf on the 10th of August, the festival of St. Laurente, or his having called a cape on the coast of Cape Breton, at the entrance of the gulf, by the name of the Cape St. Laurente, which was afterwards given to the gulf and river of Canada. There appears, however, some uncertainty in the account transmitted us on this subject. He named the island of Anticosti, Assumption, an appellation which it did not long retain. On the 1st of August, he was driven into a harbor on the north coast, which still retains the name of St. Nicholas, which he gave it. He then proceeded up the river St. Lawrence, until he entered the Saghunny, from which he continued his course, passing the islands, which he named Isle aux Coudres and Isle de Bacchus, now Orleans. He then proceeded in the Hermione until his ship grounded on the shoals of Lake St. Peter, from whence in two boats he explored the river to the island where Montreal now stands, and which was at that time inhabited by a tribe of the Huron nation, who lived in a village called Hochelaga. The river was then designated the Great Hochelaga, and afterwards, before it acquired that of St. Law rence, the River of Canada. Cartier was received by the natives with great kindness and hospitality. He returned from the village of Hochelaga on the 5th of October, and on the llth he arrived at a river which still bears his name, but which he named the St. Croix. Here he wintered, and dur- 264 BRITISH AMERICA. ing the inclemency of that season, Carrier and his crew were subjected to a violent attack of scurvy, which the natives taught them to cure by means of a decoction prepared of the bark of the species of fir which yields the Canada balsam of our pharmaco peia. He returned next summer to France ; but, notwithstanding the favorable and unexaggerated account of the countries he explored, four years elapsed before any farther attempt was made to prosecute his discoveries. In January, 1540, Francois de la Roque, Seigneur de Roberval, received a patent from Francis I., declaring him Seigneur de Norembegue, (the name by which nearly all North America was then designated,) with all the power and authority possessed by the king in this quarter. Early in the summer of 1540, Roberval, with a squadron of five vessels, sailed for America, Jacques Car- tier having the supreme naval command. This voyage was suc cessful, and a fort was erected on some part of those coasts, but whether in Cape Breton or in Canada appears quite uncertain. It was, however, injudiciously selected; the spot was much exposed both to the cold and to the incursions of the natives, Cartier was left at this station as commandant; but he was so harassed by the Indians, who were offended at strangers taking , unceremonious possession of a hold in their country, and having despaired of the return of M. Roberval, that he embarked with all his people in order to return to France. On the banks of Newfoundland he met M. de Roberval, with some vessels carrying men, arms and provisions, and, returning with him, reassumed the command of the garrison. M. de Rober val then sailed up the St. Lawrence, and landed at Tadousac, at the mouth of the Saghunny. He made also some attempts, of which we have no very authentic accounts, to explore Labrador ; but for some time after this period, Newfoundland was not known to be an island. We have no information, on which we can rely, as to what occured for some years afterwards, when we find Cartier embarking again for America, under the viceroy, Roberval, and with the brother of the latter, a personage whose martial reputa tion was so brilliant, that the chivalrous king, Francis I., always designated him the " Gen d'arme d' Annibal." Fate decreed that this voyage should'be sealed by calamity. After lea\dng France the slightest information respecting this spirited expedition has. never been traced ; and for more than sixty years, American colo nization and the glory of discovery seem to have been forgotten or disregarded by the French government. The disastrous attempt of the Marquis de la Roche, in 1598, has been described elsewhere ; and also, in the history of Nova Scotia, the departure of M. Font- CANADA. 265 grave, the associate of M. de Monts, from Acadia, to trade at Tadousac. M. de Charwin had previously made two voyages, in 1600 and 1601, to Tadousac, and returned to France with val uable cargoes of furs. He died soon after. M. Pontgrave, who was at first an intelligent merchant in a house a t St. Malo, and afterwards an expert navigator, .who made several voyages to Acadia and Canada, succeeded, along with M. Chatte, governor of Dieppe, who had procured a charter with all the privileges of that formerly granted to M. la Roche, in form ing a company of merchants at Rouen, for prosecuting discoveries under the king's commission, and establishing settlements on the River of Canada. The celebrated navigator, Samuel Champlain, being associated with them, accompanied Pontgrave, in 1603, to Tadousac, from whence he sailed up the river as far as Hochelaga, which he found nearly deserted, and to the Falls of St. Louis, now called the Rapids of Lachine. He then returned to Acadia, and afterwards, on an exploring expedition in the Gulf of St. Law rence, was nearly lost on Cape Breton, at Cape Mabon, a name corrupted from what he termed it, " Mai-ban." He wintered at Justau Corps, now named Port Hood. The spirit that actuated the company of which Champlain was an associate, was exclusively governed by the gains attendant on the peltry trade, to which all other considerations were made sub servient. Champlain, however, inherited from nature a mind, the scope of which extended far beyond the mere collection of peltry ; and to his enterprising spirit and superior judgment, does Canada owe the founding of Quebec on a spot, the choice of which, for the capital of a great transatlantic empire, does him immortal honor. On the 13th of July, 1608, Champlain fixed on a most commanding promontory, on the north side of the River St. Law rence, for the site of his settlement, the name of which is said to have originated from its very peculiar and striking appearance, when it first burst into view on sailing up the St. Lawrence. This caused a mariner, who was stationed on the foretop of the Hermione, to shout loudly to those on deck, the words " Quel- bec." # Here he left a few settlers ; and on returning next year with Pontgrave to Canada, he found his young colony in quiet possession of their establishment, and clearing and cultivating the soil with tolerable success. At this period the Algonquins, who inhabited the adjacent coun try, and the Montagues or Mountaineers, who occupied the hilly *Noie. A more probable origin of the name of Quebec may be found in the Algonquin word Quilibec, which means a bold and lofty promontory 23 H 2 266 BRITISH AMERICA. grounds, and the banks of the Saghunny, together with the Hurons of the upper country, were in alliance, as the common enemy of the powerful Iroquois nation. Champlain, by joining these tribes in their wars against the Iroquois, committed a fatal error, which exposed the French settlements in Canada to all the calamities of savage warfare for nearly a hundred years ; and the introduction of fire-arms, first among the Algonquins and after wards among the other Indian nations, was turned to the most terrible account, for more than a century, against the European settlements. Champlain explored the Ottawa, and many other parts of the country, before he returned to France, where he succeeded in forming, under the patronage of the Prince of Conde, who assumed the title of viceroy of New France, a new association at Rouen. He returned to Canada in 1612, taking with him four Recollet friars for the purpose of converting the savages. The war with the Iroquois seems principally to have occupied the next eight years; and, in 1620, Champlain brought his family to Canada. The Prince of Conde surrendered his viceroyalty this year to the Marshal de Montmorency, who continued Champlain as his lieu tenant. Two years after, the Duke de Ventadour, having entered into holy orders, took charge, as viceroy, of the affairs of New France, solely with the view of converting the savages ; and for this purpose he sent some Jesuits to Canada, to the great mortifi cation of the Recollets. A number of Calvinists, associated with their leader, the Sieur de Caen, were at this period actively engaged in the fur trade; and the jealousies and bickerings maintained between them and the Catholics, arising in reality from the spirit of trade, but attrib uted, as usual, to religious scruples, greatly retarded the prosperity of the French settlements. Cardinal Richelieu endeavored to put an end to these causes of dissension by establishing the Company of New France. This company, consisting of one hundred associ ates, engaged to send three hundred tradesmen to New France, and to supply all those whom they settled in the country with lodging, food, clothing and implements, for three years, after which period they would allow each man sufficient land to sup port him, with the' grain necessary for seed. The qpmpany also engaged to have six thousand French inhabitants settled in the countries included in their charter, before the year 1643, and to establish three priests in each settlement, whom they were bound to provide with every article necessary for their personal comfort, as well as the expenses attending their ministerial labors, for fif teen years; after which, cleared lands were to be granted by the CANADA. 267 \ company to the clergy for maintaining the Catholic church in New France. The prerogatives which the king reserved to him self, were, the supremacy in matters of faith ; homage, as sover eign of New France, with the acknowledgement of a 'crown of gold, weighing eight marks, on each succession to the throne of France ; the nomination of all commanders and officers of forts ; and the appointment of the officers of justice, whenever it became necessary to establish courts of law. The royal charter then granted to the company of New France and their successors forever, in consideration of their engagements to the crown, the fort and settlement of Quebec, all the territory of New France, including Florida, with all the countries along the course of the great River of Canada, and all the other rivers which discharge themselves therein, or which throughout those vast regions empty themselves into the sea, both on the eastern and western coasts of the continent with all the harbors, islands, mines and rights of fishery. The company were further empow ered to confer titles of distinction, which, however, required, in the creation of marquisates, earldoms, baronies and counties, the confirmation of the sovereign, on the recommendation of the Cardinal de Richelieu, superintendant-in-chief of the navigation and commerce of New France. The exclusive right of traffic in peltries and all other commerce, for fifteen years, with the excep tion of the right to fish for cod and whales, was also granted to the company. This celebrated charter was signed in April, 1627, and created the greatest and most flattering expectations. The administra tion under a viceroy being omitted, the company continued M. Champlain as governor of Canada; but untoward circumstances, particularly the capture by the English, under Sir David Kirk, of the first ships sent from France with stores, reduced the colony to great distress. He even appeared with his squadron before Quebec, and might easily, had he known the famished condition of the garrison, have compelled it to surrender. The prosperity of New France was not only retarded, but even the powerful mind of Champlain, so fertile in expedients on occasions ol diffi culty, was subjected to the most vexatious mortifications by various unfortunate circumstances. The hostilities of the savages were not the least of the evils that perplexed him ; and the Iroquois soon perceived the advantages which the continued jeal ousies and quarrels between the Catholics and Protestants enabled them to obtain over men whom they considered the usurping occupiers of their country. In 1629, a period when Champlain was reduced to the utmost 268 BRITISH AMERICA. extremity, by the want of every article of food, clothing, imple ments and ammunition, and exposed to the incessant attacks of the Iroquois, Sir David Kirk, commanding an English squadron, appeared again before Quebec. The deplorable situation of the colony, and the very honorable terms of capitulation proposed by him, induced Champlain to surrender the fortress of Quebec, with all Canada, to the crown of England. Kirk's generosity to the Colonists induced most of them to remain; but, in 1632, three years afterwards, Canada, with Acadia, was restored, by the treaty of St. Germains, to France. The following year, Cham- plain, who .was most justly appointed governor, sailed with a squadron, carrying all necessary supplies, to Canada, where he found, on his arrival, most of his former colonists. The affairs of New France now assumed a more prosperous aspect ; and means were adapted for maintaining all possible harmony among the inhabitants, and preventing, as far as practicable, those religious disturbances which had previously convulsed the colony. The company was taught, by former experience, that their indiscrimi nate acceptance of all who presented themselves as adventurers ready to embark for New France, constituted the leading cause of disorderly conduct and unsteady habits among the colonists ; and it was therefore determined that in future none but men and women of unexceptionable character should be sent to New France. In 1635, the Marquis de Gamoche, who had, some years before, joined the society of the Jesuits, commanded the establishment of that order at Quebec ; and we must acknowledge that this insti tution was, for the time, very useful in maintaining order, and preserving or inculcating morality, among the colonists. The death of Champlain, who was drowned this year in the lake which bears his name, was a grievous misfortune to Canada. In establishing and maintaining the colony, he surmounted difficul ties that few men would have had courage to encounter, and under which thousands of men, with minds even above the com mon standard, would have succumbed. The soundness of his judgment, which led him to conclude that a region possessing such advantages as Canada, must, in the common course of events, become a great empire, stimulated and supported him in prose cuting, with undaunted perseverance, the vast undertaking in which he engaged. During the greater part of his active life, the sole object of his heart was to become the founder of a colony, which, he felt confident, would eventually attain to a summit of extraordinary power and grandeur. His anticipations have, since that period, been realized beyond those of most men who CANADA. 269 have spent their lives, like him, in great undertakings. After his death, however, although the governor, M. de Montmagny, entered into the views of his predecessor, yet, as he lacked the experience, the scientific and professional abilities, and probably the confi dence of the inhabitants, which his predecessor had enjoyed, the improvements of the society slackened, and the fur trade alone seems to have been followed with any spirit. The ardent spirit of enthusiasm which went forth during that age, to accomplish the conversion of the aborigines of America, led to the establishment of religious institutions in Canada ; and although these establishments did little for the immediate improve ment of the colony, yet, as points of possession, occupied by per sons whose avocations were professedly holy and useful, they formed the foundation on which arose the superstructure of those morals and habits that still, and will long, characterize the Gallo- Canadians. The conduct of the nuns was, however, highly rep robated in the following century. The company of New France, who fulfilled none of the stipu lations of their charter, and who also found means to prevent the complaints of the inhabitants being heard, by the ministers of the crown, did nothing towards settling or cultivating the country; and the forts which they erected at Richelieu and other places, were merely posts of defence, or store-houses for carrying on the fur trade. The habits of those employed in the service of the company, were also described as generally licentious, with char acters stamped with infamy. From among those men arose the race of vagabonds, known since that period by the name of Coureurs du Bois. Under such management, Canada languished for several years, while the Iroquois, with more experience in war, continued to harass the colony with unabated ferocity. The settlement at Montreal, which was very much exposed to the ravages of the Iroquois, suffered severely, and its extinction was only prevented by the arrival of M. D'Aillebout, in 1647. from France, with a reinforcement of one hundred men. In 1658, the Marquis d'Argenson arrived in Canada with the commission of governor- general ; and in the following summer Laval, Abbe de Montigny, and titular Bishop of Petrie, landed at Quebec, with a brief from the pope constituting him apostolic vicar. Curacies were at the same time established in Canada. The condition of the colony, at this period, appears to have been truly wretched. Its defence and support were completely neglected by the company of New France, the associates of which, reduced to forty in number, at last gave up even the fur trade, for the seigneurial acknowledgement of one thousand beaver skins. 23* 270 BRITISH AMERICA. The Iroquois, who had spread terrible destruction among their old enemies, the Hurons and Algonquins, seemed also determined at this time to exterminate the French, and several hundreds of their warriors kept Quebec in a state little short of actual blockade, while another band massacred a great number of the settlers at Montreal. The governor, who complained of ill health, requested his recall, and, in 1661, he was relieved by the Baron D'Avargour, an officer of great integrity and resolution, but considered too inflexible for the situation he held. His decisive measures appear, however, to have saved Canada ; the defenceless state of which, and the natural beauty and importance of the country, he stated in such forcible language to the king, who was previously ignorant of its value or condition, that he immediately ordered four hun dred troops, with all necessary supplies, to Canada, accompanied by a special commission. Their arrival gave life and confidence to the colonists, who were then, for the first time, enabled to cultivate the soil with any security. A tremendous earthquake, which seems to have agitated the whole of Canada and a vast extent of the adjacent countries in 1663, is described by the French writers of that time, as accom panied by the most alarming phenomena, rendered more than usually terrific by the continuation of the shocks for nearly six montlis. About the same time, on the 5th of February, a loud rumbling noise, seemingly occasioned by the detonation of the atmosphere, was heard throughout the whole of these regions. The terrified inhabitants, having never heard of an earthquake in the country, at first conceived their houses to be on fire, and immediately flew out of doors, when their astonishment was increased by the violent agitation of the earth and everything on its surface. The walls shook, the bells of the churches rang, and the doors flew open and closed again of themselves. The forest trees* were seen all in violent motion, some thrown up by the roots, then with their tops bending nearly to the ground, first to one side, then to the other, or laid prostrate on the surface, from which again they were thrown up into the air. The ice, which covered the lakes and rivers, in many places some feet thick, was broken open, and frequently thrown, with rocks and mud from the bottom, up into the air. Clouds of dust obscured the sky. The waters were impregnated with sulphur, exhibiting yellow, or reddish colors. From Tadousac to Quebec, about one hundred and thirty miles, the St. Lawrence appeared white and thickly impregnated with sulphureous matter. The convulsion of elements produced the most awful and incessant sounds, roaring at one time like the sea, then reverber- CANADA. 271 aling like the rolling of thunder, and again as if mountains were bursting, and the rocks which composed them cracking and rolling over each other. The darkness was rendered still more awful by the frequent flashes of lightning, or by the lamenta tions of the women, the cries of the children, and the howling of dogs and other animals. Walrusses and porpoises were said to have been seen as far up the St. Lawrence as Three Rivers, where they never appeared before, as if equally terrified with the inhabitants of the land ; the former howling in the piteous man ner peculiar to them. The first shock continued without inter mission, for about half an hour ; this was followed by a second, equally violent. Thirty shocks were numbered during the night, and the whole country continued to be violently agitated at inter vals until the end of July. The company of New France, who had all along mismanaged the affairs of Canada, and who even lost the vast profits of its trade by neglecting, from ill-timed avarice, to provide for the exi gencies of the colony, at length surrendered their charter to the king, the powers and immunities of which were transferred, in 1664, to the company of the West Indies. Discovery of the great IcJtcs, CHAPTER XXVIII. Tranquillity of the colony. Mortality among the savages. Voyages of Johet and Marquette. Discovery of the Ohio, the Mississippi and the Great Lakes Voyages of La Salla, Tonti and Hennipen. English expedition against Quebec- Ravages of the Iroquois. Administration of De Vandreuil. An English army poisoned by the savages. General state of Canada. Indian massacres. Wolfe's .expedition. Capture of Quebec. Submission of the whole province to the British. Death of Wolfe. FROM the year 1668, we find the affairs of Canada so far pros perous, that little apprehension was entertained as to the colony being established on a permanent foundation, although the ferocity of the savages left no grounds for expecting a cessation of hostili ties for any definite period. The fur trade, however, was in a great measure intercepted by a fatal calamity, previously unknown to the inhabitants of the western world. The small pox, more terrible to the savages than all the fire-arms of Europe, made its appearance this year among the tribes north of the St. Lawrence ; and its ravages carried off more than half their number. This contagion and the use of ardent spirits have probably since that time destroyed a greater portion of the aborigines of North Amer- CANADA. 273 ica, than war and all the diseases to which they were previously subjected. Fort Frontenac was built in 1672, where Kingston now stands, for the purpose of awing the Indians, by Louis de Baude, Count de Frontenac, for whom, however, the right of ground was ob tained with great adroitness by his predecessor, M. de Courcelles, a man of great personal worth and practical abilities, but neither gifted with the splendid talents, nor blemished with the preju dices or defects of M. de Frontenac. During the administration of M. de Frontenac and his predecessor, M. de Courcelles, the French explored the greater part of Canada, and the savages were taught to regard the colonists with some degree of awe. M. Perrot, an indefatigable traveller, visited all the nations in the vicinity of the great lakes, who shortly afterwards sent deputies to meet the sub- delegates of the Intendant of New France, at the Falls of St. Mary, where they finally agreed that he should possess and occupy the place in the name of his sovereign, and a cross was then erected, on which were placed the arms of France. A tribe of the Hurons, who were converted and guided by Father Mar- quette, were soon after established at Michilimakinak ; and the Iroquois, who were converted and separated from the rest of their nation, were settled about the same time on the south side of the St. Lawrence, at the Falls of St. Louis, near Montreal. In 1672, M. Talon, who, during the period when he held the office of Intendant General, in which he was succeeded by M. de Chezneau, had extended the authority of France into the most distant part of Canada, concluded, from the reports of the Indians, that there existed, west of the great lakes, a vast river, which some of the savages called Mississippi, and others Meshashepi; and the course of which flowed towards the south. He, there fore, determined not to leave America until he should ascertain the truth of this important information. For this purpose he employed Father Marquette, who had previously travelled over the greater part of Canada, and who was besides peculiarly qualified to gain the confidence and esteem of the savages. M. Joliet, a merchant of Quebec, and a man of well known abilities and experience, was associated with Father Marquette, in order to examine more fully the commercial resources of the countries they should discover. They proceeded to Lake Michigan, ascended the river, which falls into an arm of the lake called Green Bay, nearly up to its source; from whence they crossed the coun try to the River Esconsin, or Wisconsin, which they descended until it unites with the Mississippi. The magnitude and depth of the Mississippi, even at this point, so many thousand miles from i2 274 BRITISH AMERICA. its mouth, exceeded the most exaggerated accounts they had received from the Indians. They floated down the stream, which was deep, smooth and seldom rapid, in a bark canoe, until they arrived at some villages of the Illinois, a few miles below the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri. The Illinois, who had heard of, but never before seen the French, seemed anxious to form an alliance with them, and they treated Marquette and Joliet with great hospitality. Leaving the Illinois, they descended the river to Arkansas, or about thirty degrees north, when the exhausted state of their stock, and the belief that the river dis embogued in the Gulf of Mexico, induced them to return. They ascended the Mississippi to the point where it receives the Illinois, up which they proceeded, and then crossed the country to Michi gan, where they separated, Marquette remaining among the Miami s, while Joliet proceeded to Quebec. Although the Mississippi was thus discovered by way of Can ada, yet the advantages which the discovery held out were neg lected for some time, in consequence of the death of Father Marquette and the return of M. Joliet to France. In 1678, the Sieur de la Salle, accompanied by the Chevalier Tonti, an Italian, arrived from France. He had previously spent some years in Canada, where he maintained a favorable understanding with M. de Frontenac. The king having granted him the seigniory of Cataracony, he proceeded thither and rebuilt the fort with stone. He then constructed a vessel and sailed to Niagara, accompanied by Tonti and Father Hennepin, a Flemish Recollet. Here they remained during the winter, attending to the fur trade ; and on the following summer, they built a vessel for navigating Lake Erie. They sailed up that lake, and proceeded afterwards by different routes to Michilimakinak. Hennepin then proceeded to the Illinois, and La Salle returned to Cataraqui. Hennepin was afterwards despatched to the Mississippi, which he ascended to the Falls of St. Anthony. Three years were spent by La Salle, Tonti and Father Hennepin, in exploring these extensive regions and endeavoring to secure the alliance of the savages and the gains of the fur trade. Their sufferings on many occasions were exceedingly severe, and the difficult situations in which they frequently found themselves among the Indian tribes, required, extraordinary address and resolution. On the 2*d of February, 1682, La Salle, having reached the Mississippi, determined' on sailing down to the ocean. On the 4th of March, be reached Arkansas, of which he took formal possession; and on the 9th of April, he arrived at the Gulf of Mexico, by one of the mouths by which the Mississippi passes through its delta to the sea. He CANADA. 275 returned by the same route to Canada; but, suffering severely from fatigue and sickness, he first sent Tonti before him, with the news of his discovery. The vast regions explored by these bold, adventuious men, watered by such immense rivers as the Mississippi and its magnif icent tributaries, although for some years closely connected with the affairs of New France, do not claim further notice in this portion of our history. Their great importance, as a part of the vast empire which now forms the American Republic, we shall notice when treating of the United States. The peace of Canada stilt continued to be disturbed by various causes, which readily excited the ferocious spirit of the Iroquois, and which involved the Hurons, Algonquins and Abenaquis, in the wars occasioned by their suspicions, or by the jealousies of the French and English colonists. During the war which ensued between England and France, an expedition, fitted out under the command of Sir W. Phipps, sailed from Boston for the conquest of Quebec, and appeared in October, 1690, as far up the river as Tadousac, before its destination for Quebec was known. The defence of the town required all the vigilance of M. de Frontenac, and he lost no time in placing it in a fit condition to stand a siege. The squadron, consisting of thirty- four vessels of different descriptions, with seven thousand men on board, advanced as far as Beaufort, when Phipps sent a flag of truce to summon the town to surrender, which summons was gallantly rejected by M. de Frontenac. On the 18th, the English troops disembarked near the river St. Charles, but not without great loss by the sharp fire from the French musketry. Four of the largest ships, which anchored opposite the town, commenced a bombardment ; but the fire from the batteries was directed with such effect, as to compel these vessels to remove up the river, beyond the range of the fortifications. A sharp skirmish took place between the troops next day, in which neither side appears to have obtained much advantage ; and, on the 20th, an action was fought, in which the English at first had the advantage, and pursued the French to the palisades of a large house, but here the French made a gallant stand, and compelled the English to retreat towards Beaufort, from which place they reembarked two days after, when Sir W. Phipps raised the siege, and sailed with his squadron down the river on the 23d. Seven or eight of his vessels were lost in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Before Phipps left Boston, it was arranged that a strong body of troops should march against Montreal, in order to create a division in the French forces. This was prevented by the defec- 276 BRITISH AMERICA. tion of the Iroquois; and M. de Frontenac was consequently enabled to concentrate all his strength to defend Quebec. This circumstance, the failure of ammunition, and the approaching winter, rendered it expedient for Phipps to abandon the enter prise. In the following year the Iroquois renewed their depredations. About one thousand warriors appeared at the mouth of the Ottawa, landed on the Island of Montreal, at Point au Trembles, pillaged and burned thirty houses and barns, and carried off sev eral prisoners, whom they put to the most cruel tortures. Depre dations and cruelties were also extended to many of the other French settlements ; and various skirmishes took place between the French troops and the Iroquois, in which great numbers on both sides, and several French officers- of rank and distinction, were sacrificed. The French, at last, treated their prisoners with nearly as much cruelty as was practised by the savages ; and M. de Frontenac, at length, by the unremitting vigor of his measures, secured the defence of the colony so far that, in 1692, the inhabi tants were enabled to cultivate their lands. The commerce in furs, although frequently interrupted, was also renewed and car ried on with considerable advantage. In 1695, the fort at Frontenac was rebuilt, and additional se curity extended to the outposts at Michilimakinak and St. Joseph. In the following year M. de Frontenac made an expedition to the country of the Iroquois, and without proceeding to such extremity as his force empowered him, he burnt some of their villages, and liberated a number of French prisoners. Peace was concluded by England and France in 1698, and the English and French governors entered mutually into arrangements for maintaining harmony with the Indians. Although either the English or French, could now have crushed forever the power of the Iroquois, yet the anxieties manifested by each government to conciliate the regard of those savages, were carried to an extent which must have greatly flattered those people. This gave them an opinion of themselves that nothing but the jealousies of the English and French could warrant, and which the savages well knew how to turn to their own advantage. Soon after the conclusion of a treaty of friendship with the Iro quois, Louis Count de Frontenac died, in the seventy-eighth year of his life, twenty of which he had spent in Canada, where his vigorous administration and his great personal abilities preserved the colony, with little assistance from France, and always secured to him the confidence of the king, the respect of his officers, even :>f those who were hostile to many of his measures, and the CANADA. 277 esteem of the Indians. He was succeeded by the Chevalier de Callieres, who had been for some years governor of Montreal, which office was supplied in the person of the Chevalier de Vau- dreuil. Some difficulties arose soon after in maintaining a good understanding with the savages, which were principally occa sioned by the English governor ; but the address of the French missionaries gave M. de Callieres an ascendant, which he held with great tact and able management, until his death, in 1703. His loss was great to Canada ; and although his powers of mind wanted the splendid points that cast such brilliant lustre on the government of M. de Frontenac, yet, from his great excellence of character, he was beloved and respected by all ; and having never violated his word to the Indians, he always retained their implicit confidence. The Marquis de Vaudreuil was then appointed to the chief command, on account of his great services in Canada, and agreeably also to the unanimous petition of the inhabitants to the king. The Indian tribes, among whom jealousies were fo mented by the English, and by numerous murders among them selves, occasioned much embarrassment in the affairs of Canada, during the administration of M. de Vaudreuil. He, however, managed to prevent the colonists from being molested, and the trade and cultivation of the country continued to improve and prosper. England and France being again at war, an expedition was sent, in 1709, from New York, which was joined by a great body of Iroquois and Mahingans. M. de Ramsey, with one thousand regular troops, together with a body of militia and savages, were sent to intercept them ; but the want of confidence in this com mander, or some jealous feelings entertained by the other officers, rendered the expedition fruitless, and it returned to Montreal with a few prisoners only. M. de Vaudreuil, however, lost no time in putting Quebec in a proper state of defence, and took every pre caution, by strengthening the outposts, to prevent the English entering Canada. The English were at this time fully confident of success ; but the policy of an Iroquois chief not only blasted the hopes they had reasonably entertained, but subjected the army to the most severe distress. While the Iroquois warriors were exulting in the pros pect of entirely destroying the French, this crafty leader, to whom they had always listened with respect and deference, said to his people, " Ah ! but I have been considering what will become of us, if we destroy the French, who keep the English in check. The latter will then assuredly crush us in, order to possess our 24 278 BRITISH AMERICA. country. Let us not, therefore, foolishly bring certain ruin upon ourselves, merely to indulge our passions or to please the English. Let us rather leave the French and English in a position which will make either of them set a high value on our friendship." This was their former and favorite system ; but as they considered it shameful to desert the English openly, they concluded on effect ing their purpose by enveloping their treachery under the most profound secrecy and diabolical cruelty. "The lawless savages," says Raynal, "the religious Hebrews, the wise and warlike Greeks and Romans, in a word, all people, whether civilized or not, have always made what is called the rights of nations to consist in craft or violence." The English army halted on the banks of a small river, where they encamped and waited for the artillery and ammunition, which were following at a slower rate than the. march of the main body of the troops. The Iroquois, who, in the meantime, spent their leisure hours in hunting, flayed all the animals they killed, and sunk their skins in the river, a little above the English camp. The English, who had no suspicion of the fatal treachery, continued to drink of the poisoned water, and such numbers were carried off in consequence, that it soon became necessary to sus pend all military operations. They were, therefore, compelled to return to New York, where they learned that the destination of the fleet, which was to proceed with troops to besiege Quebec, was changed, and that they were ordered to Lisbon, to protect Portugal from the Spaniards. Soon after the peace of Utrecht, the English built a fort on the banks of Lake Ontario, which secured them a great share of the fur trade. The French, also, rebuilt the fort at Niagara, and strengthened their garrison at Detroit, which commanded the great line of intercourse in their dealings with the Indians of the west, as well as the track of communication with Louisiana, the Illinois and the Mississippi, which was frequently interrupted by the warlike Antigamis, and their allies the Sioux and Chickasaws. M. de Vaudreuil, at length, brought these savages to pacific 1 over tures; and as a means of increasing the population of the French settlements and strengthening the garrison, he proposed that one hundred and' -fifty of the convicts which were condemned in France to the galleys, should be annually senfXo Canada. At this period, (1714,) there were no more than four thousand five hundred men, from fourteen to sixty years of age, able to bear arms, in all Canada, while the English colonies could raise about sixty thousand. CHAPTER XXIX. General state oj Canada. Indian massacres. Wolfe 1 s expedition. Capture of Quebec by the British. Submission of the whole province to the British. Government adopted for Canada. The British constitution introduced into Canada. Mai-administration. Disaffection of the Canadians. Demand for reforms. Insurrection of 1837. The American " sympathizers." Affair of the steamboat Caroline. Lord Durham appointed governor. Battle of Qdell- town. Declaration of independence. Battle of Prescott. Incursion of thd sympathizers at Sandwich. The insurrection suppressed. Affair o Farm in Canada. CANADA enjoyed a long period of tranquillity under the adminis trations of DeVaudreuil, and Beauharnois, Galissoniere, Jonquiere, Longueil and Du Quesne, his successors. In 1755, the Sieur de Yaudreuil Cavagnal assumed the government. The origin of the war, which broke out at this period between England and France, will be related in the history of the United States. Canada was soon menaced with hostilities. The defeat of Braddock took place in 1755, and the following year the Marquis de Montcalm, who had arrived in Canada from France, with a strong force, destroyed the English fort of Oswego, the outworks of Fort George, and a flotilla, designed to attack Crown Point. Fort George was cap tured by the French and Indians the year after, and two thou sand people were massacred by the savages, under the command of Montcalm. This outrage, instead of striking a terror into the British and Americans, aroused them to resistance, and led the way to a series of vigorous military operations, which, in a short space of time, resulted in the total overthrow of the French 280 BRITISH AMERICA. power ill North America. A grand scheme was projected for the conquest of Canada, by attacking Quebec, Fort Niagara, Ticon- deroga and Crown Point. The army despatched against Quebec was placed under the command of General Wolfe; the fleet designed for the same service was commanded by Admiral Saunders. General Amherst marched against Ticonderoga and Crown Point, and Sir William Johnson, who succeeded General Prideaux, against Niagara. In the month of June, 1759, the English fleet reached the island of Orleans, where Wolfe landed with an army of eight thousand. The French disposable forces, exclusive of the garri son of Quebec, consisted of about ten thousand men, with a reserve of two' thousand. Wolfe first attempted the entrench ments of Montmorenci, landing his troops 'under cover of the fire from the ships of war ; but he was gallantly repulsed by the French. After some delay, it was determined to effect a landing so as to carry the Heights of Abraham, above Quebec. This daring resolution was effected on the 12th of September, with surprising secrecy and intrepidity. The ships of war sailed nine miles up the river, above Quebec, to Cape Rouge. This feint deceived M. Bourgainville, who, with his division of the French army, proceeded still farther up along the banks of the river, to prevent the British debarking. During the night the English ships dropped down silently with the current to Wolfe's Cove, and at four o'clock in the morning the troops began to land. At eight, the British army ascended the precipitous heights, with two field -pieces in front ; the forty-eighth regiment and the light infantry forming a reserve, and the royal Americans covering the landing. The Marquis de Montcalm, who was then at Beauport, marched across the St. Charles on the 13th, and imprudently formed in front of the British army, with only one field-piece, and before he could concentrate all his disposable forces. He then advanced most gallantly ; but the scattered, quick firing of the troops, which commenced when within about two hundred and fifty yards of the English line, was far from being so effective as that of the British. The latter moved forward regularly, firing steadily, until within twenty or thirty yards of the enemy, when they gave a general volley, and the French were soon after routed. Bour gainville had just then appeared in sight, but the fate of Canada was decreed, the critical moment was gone, and he retired to Point au Trembles, where he encamped, and from thence he retreated to Three Rivers and Montreal. There was also a body of French troops near Beauport, which were not engaged. Had CANADA. 281 all the forces been concentrated under Montcalm, it is doubtful if the heroism of the British troops could have secured the victory. The most extraordinary bravery was displayed both by the Eng lish and the French. Both armies lost their commanders. Wolfe expired with victory accompanying the close of his splen did career. At the age of thirty-five, when but few men begin even to appear on the theatre of great deeds, inheriting no family pretensions, and unassisted by faction or intrigue, he held a com mand of the highest responsibility, and with a truly unblemished character, fulfilled the most sanguine expectations of his country. The Marquis de Montcalm, an officer of equal bravery, died of his wounds a few days after. Quebec capitulated on the 18th, to General Murray, who succeeded to the command. He, however, committed a most egregious error sometime afterwards, by leaving Quebec to attack M. Levi, who was encamped with the French army at Sillery, and who completely defeated General Murray, and compelled him to retire within the walls of Quebec, with the loss of his artillery and nearly one third of his army. The fort at Niagara was in the meantime reduced by Sir Wil liam Johnston, and the forts at Ticonderoga and Crown Point by General Amherst. They were consequently enabled to concen trate their forces and form a junction with General Murray. Previously to this, on learning that the English fleet was in the St. Lawrence, and that the armament sent from France to relieve Quebec was captured in the Bay de Chaleur, by a squadron from Louisburg under Captain Byron, the French forces retreated to Montreal, where the governor-general, M. de Vaudreuil, deter mined to make a desperate stand. Being, however, invested by the united forces of the three British generals, he found further resistance useless, and capitulated on the 8th of September, 1760. when Montreal and all the French fortresses in Canada were surrendered to Great Britain. The peace of 1762 secured the permanent possession of Canada to that nation. An attempt was made at first to give an English form of gov ernment to Canada, but this policy was changed at the period of the American revolution, and care was then taken to separate Canada as much as possible from the other British colonies, by a close observance of French usages. In 1791, however, through the exertions of Mr. Pitt, a constitution was established, similar in general spirit to that of Great Britain, with legislative bodies con sisting partly of hereditary and partly of representative members. There appears to have been considerable mal-admimstration from the beginning, and the Canadians were uttering constant com plaints. Nothing particularly worthy of attention occurred for a 24* .2 282 BRITISH AMERICA. long period, except the events connected with the war of the rev olution and that of 1812, which are reserved for the history of the United States. Great uneasiness began to manifest itself among the Canadians in 1834. Complaints against the authority of the council which was appointed by the crown, and the oppressive action of the law of tenures, showed the deep dissatisfaction of the people with the government. These grievances increased from year to year ; the legislature became involved in altercations with the governor ; the English cry of " Reform" was raised in Canada, and, in 1837, the Canadian House of Assembly boldly protested against the arbi trary conduct of the British government, and declared that they should suspend - their deliberations till the proposed reforms were effected. The French population, particularly, were enthusiastic in their opposition to the British government, and one of their class, Papineau, .distinguished himself above all others of the reform party in the legislature. Towards the end of 1837, the disaffection had risen to an alarming height. The troops were put in preparation for a popular outbreak, and reinforcements ordered from Halifax. A great popular meeting of the French patriots was held at St. Charles, in the county of Richelieu, and many attended with arms. They set up a pole, surmounted by a cap of liberty; Papineau and other popular orators addressed them ; patriotic hymns were sung, and the whole assembly took an oath to devote themselves to their country. This was the signal for open insurrection. Acts of violence soon followed, and many arrests were made. A troop of cavalry, escorting a number of prisoners, was attacked and put to the rout by the insurgents. The disturbances extended from the city of Montreal to the Niagara frontier. The revolutionary forces were much augmented by bands of adventurers, or "sympathizers/' from the United States. This caused much ill blood between the two nations, and led to an affair which threatened to involve the United States and Great Britain in war. A body of the revolutionists had encamped on Navy Island, in the River Niagara, just above the falls. 'A steamboat called the Caroline, belonging to an American, had been employed in making trips between the American shore and this island. On 'the night of the 29th of December, 1837, while the Caroline was lying at Schlosser, within the limits of the state of New York, she was boarded by an armed party of British, set on fire, and sent over the cataract. One of her crew was killed. This occurrence became the subject of a long correspondence between the American and British governments, which we shal) advert to more particularly in its place. CANADA. 283 The British had a strong military force in Canada y and the attempts at insurrection, in 1837, were quickly suppressed. Papi- neau and other leaders fled the country ; others were ai rested. In 1838, Loid Durham was appointed governor-general of Canada, but before he could reach his government, the insurrectionary movements had recommenced. On the 30th of May, a body of persons, principally from the American border, captured and burnt the British steamboat Sir Robert Peel, in the St. Lawrence. Acts of hostility against the government now began to multiply, not withstanding the most strenuous exertions made by the troops to suppress them. An insurrection at Montreal was projected, but the plot was discovered in season ; the leaders were arrested, and guards placed all over the city. The country, however, was now rising. On the 6th of November, four thousand of the insurgents collected at Napierville, but withdrew on the approach of a strong British force. A body of sympathizers, on their march to join them, were attacked and defeated by the British, with the loss of several killed, three hundred stand of arms, and a field-piece taken. On the 9th, a battle was fought at Odelltown, where a body of nine hundred insurgents attacked the royalists, who were posted in a church ; the former were repulsed, with the loss of one hundred killed and wounded. Early in November, a meeting of fourteen thousand persons, principally of the French population, was held near Montreal. A declaration of independence was issued, and various reforms proclaimed ; among others, the abolition of feudal tenures and the confiscation of the crown lands. On the 12th, a force of five hun dred sympathizers crossed the St. Lawrence from the American shores, and landed at Prescott, in Upper Canada. The British had three armed steamboats and a strong force of regulars, marines and militia, at that place. The invaders took possession of a stone building and a windmill. The British attacked them, but were repulsed with great slaughter, and drew off to a place of safety. Four days afterwards, the British received a strong rein forcement of troops, with heavy artillery. The attack was now repeated, and after repeated assaults, which continued till near night, the sympathizers were defeated, and two hundred and forty of them taken prisoners. In the meantime, the sympath izers extended their incursions as far as the Detroit frontier. On the 4th of December, a body of four hundred landed at Sandwich and burnt a steamboat and the military barracks. The president of the United States issued his proclamation, calling upon the mili tary and civil authorities and all good citizens to use their utmost endeavors to suppress these lawless irruptions j but from the great 284 BRITISH AMERICA. extent of the Canadian frontier, and the small force maintained al the military posts, such proceedings could not be wholly prevented. All the attempts of the insurgents, however, proved unavailing: the rebellion was crushed by the vigilance and activity of the Canadian government, and the prisoners were put upon their trial. Many were executed, but the greater part were transported to Van Diemen's Land, where they remain to the present day. Lord Durham resigned his office, and soon after, the British parliament united the two provinces of Canada into one. The new govern ment went into operation in February, 1841. During this year the amicable relations between the United States and Great Britain were seriously threatened, by an occur rence which grew out of the affair of the steamboat Caroline. In January, 1841, a British resident in Canada, named M'Leod, while on a visit to the state of New York, was arrested and im prisoned at Lockport, on a charge of having been concerned in that affair. The British cabinet now, for the first time, avowed the act of the destruction of the Caroline, and their minister at Washington called upon the American government for the imme diate liberation of M'Leod, on the ground that he was not respon sible for his conduct when acting under orders from his superior. The American secretary of state replied that M'Leod' s offence was one committed against the laws of the state of New York, and that the federal authority could not interfere. Much more cor respondence ensued, and the subject caused great excitement both in the United States and England. M'Leod was indicted for murder at Utica in New York, and the announcement of this proceeding caused great indignation and threats of war in Eng land. The borders of Canada were again menaced with distur bances, and during the progress of the trial, a party of royal dragoons crossed the Vermont line, made prisoner of an American citizen, and carried him off into Canada. The governor, however, instantly disavowed this act, and set the prisoner at liberty. The trial of M'Leod took place at Utica, and after the examination of a great number of witnesses, it was fully proved that he had no share in the destruction of the Caroline. On this ground, he was acquitted, and allowed to return to Canada unmolested. Since this period nothing' has happened to disturb the tranquillity of the province. CHAPTER XXX. NOVA ScoriA discovered by Cabot. Expedition of De Monts. Settlement on the St. Johns. Port Royal. Labors of Potnncourt. Settlement of the French at Mount Desert. The English attack the Acadian settlements, and expel the French. Attempt of Sir William Alexander to colonize tie country with English. The Baronets of Nova Scotia. The country restored to France. La Tour's colony. Heroism and tragical fate of Madame La Tour. Nova Scotia subjected by the arms of Cromwell. Expedition of Phipps against Port Royal. The country again ceded to the French. Expedition of Colonel Church against Nova Scotia. Final acquisition of the country by Great Britain. Discovery of Nova Scotia. THE discovery of Nova Scotia by Cabot, in 1497, and the pos session taken of Newfoundland by Sir Humphrey Gilbert, and afterwards of the continent by his brother, Sir John, form the foundation of right by which England claimed Nova Scotia and the adjacent countries. The spirit of colonizing it, however, seems to have languished on the part of the English. It was otherwise with France. De Monts, a French Protestant, and a gentleman of enterprising, resolute spirit, obtained a commission, in 1.603, from Henry IV., of France, constituting him governor of all the countries of America, from forty to forty-six degrees north, under the name of New France, which included Nova Scotia, then and long after called Acadia. Several French adventurers having previously visited Acadia and Canada, the vast profits they real- 286 BRITISH AMERICA. ized by bartering European commodities for furs, created at that time an extraordinary spirit of enterprise among the French merchants ; and, as De Monts had, by his charter, secured a monopoly of the fur trade, a great number of the wealthy men readily associated themselves with him. They soon equipped and fitted out four ships, loaded with all necessary stores and suitable goods; and in March, 1604, they sailed from Havre. De Monts having the chief command, accompanied by Samuel Champlain, the celebrated navigator of the St. Lawrence, as pilot, and Potrincourt and Champdore, with numerous volunteer adventurers. De Monts arrived, on the 15th of May, at the har bor in Nova Scotia, which now bears the name of Liverpool, where he found -a French adventurer, named Rossignol, trading without commission for furs with the Indians. He confiscated this man's property, naming the harbor Port Rossignol, as if to console him, for the loss of his wealth, by this mark of honor. From this place De Monrs coasted westward to Port Morton, where he landed and formed an encampment. De Monts soon after despatched a ship to Tadousac, a spacious harbor on the north side of the St. Lawrence, at the mouth of the river Saghunny. The other two vessels were ordered to cruise , along the shores of Cape Breton and the island of St. John, and oif the coast of Acadia, within the Gulf of St. Lawrence, in order to prevent unauthorized adventurers from trading with the natives. De Monts, in the ship immediately under his command, then proceeded westerly and sailed into St. Mary's Bay, where he discovered iron ore. He traversed the coasts of the Bay of Fundy, which he called La Baie Franchise ; and, by the narrow strait now called Digby Gut, on the east side, entered a beautiful and extensive basin, with which, and the surrounding prairies and -luxuriant woods, Potrincourt was so much charmed as to select it for his place of settlement. He, accordingly, received a grant of it from De Monts, named it Port Royal, and soon after returned to France, for the purpose of carrying out his family and the means of establishing himself in Acadia. De Monts, meantime, discovered, on the festival of St. John, a large river, which he named after that saint. He afterward sailed southward till he 'came to the river now called St. Croix. On a small island at the entrance of this river, they commenced form ing a settlement, by clearing some acres of land, building a maga zine, a place of worship, several houses, and erecting a fort and battery. This place had, however, scarcely any advantage to recommend it, except its being easily defended. It was most im- providently chosen, as it afforded neither fresh water nor proper NOVA SCOTIA. 287 fuel for winter, nor was it the haunt of game. Out of the whole number of seventy-six, which formed De Monts' colony, thirty-seven were carried of* by scurvy, produced by living on salt meat and having no water but what was procured by melting snow. When the winter broke up, De Monts, after examining the coast as far as Cape Cod, in search of a more fit place for settlement, resolved on abandoning St. Croix, and removing altogether, along with Pontgrave, who had then arrived with supplies from Europe, to Port Royal. In this place they soon established themselves, and, with the usual success of the French in negotiating with the savages, secured the friendship of the Indians. De Monts sailed for France in autumn, leaving Pontgrave, Champdore and Cham- plain, in command of the colony. In May following, De Monts and Potrincourt sailed from France, and after a tedious passage, reached Canseau, from whence he de spatched a party of Indians to communicate his arrival to the settlers at Port Royal. Pontgrave had previously attempted to explore the coast south of Cape Cod, agreeably to the instructions of De Monts, but was driven back and shipwrecked near the entrance of Port Royal. In consequence of this disaster, he built two small vessels, and putting all he could on board of them, and leaving two volunteers in charge of the remaining stores, he then proceeded to Canseau, before the arrival of the messengers from De Monts, but returned on meeting with a boat's crew which De Monts had left at that place. It was considered that, notwithstanding the energy of De Monts, the settlements of Port Royal would have been unsuccessful, were it not for measures pointed out by Lescarbot, a gentleman bred to the law, but who, from personal attachment, accompanied Potrin court. He showed the urgent necessity of importing and breed ing domestic cattle, and of cultivating the soil, in order to become independent of the Indians for food, or of receiving supplies of provisions from Europe. The settlers would then, he contended, be more secure in trading with the natives, by living more com pactly, and not subjected to chance for the means *f procuring food. De Monts left Acadia for France, in August, A o06. Still anxious to establish a colony further south, he despatched Potrincourt, in another vessel, to explore the country to the southward of Cape Cod; but this, like his former voyage, was quite unsuccessful, and he returned to Port Royal in November, where he was received with great joy, friendship and respect, by Pontgrave, Lescarbot and Champlain. The winter being remarkably mild and the spring early, these respectable adventurers appear, from 283 BRITISH AMERICA. Lescarbot's account, to have passed their time most agreeably and socially. At their principal mess-table, Pontgrave, Champlain, Lescarbot, and twelve others, dined^ taking upon them the offices of president and caterer, in daily rotation. They diverted them- selves in making short hunting excursions, and in employing their people in building two small shallops, and in erecting a mill. After waiting, however, a long time for the arrival of De Monts with supplies from France, a vessel at last appeared from Can- seau, bringing only a few provisions and stores, and the mortify ing information that the charter of De Monts was revoked, in consequence of the remonstrances made against it by the French merchants, and that he was therefore under the necessity of re linquishing all connexion with Acadia. The highminded Potrincourt, distressed, but not disheartened, at this intelligence, received at a time when the colony was so far established, that nothing but a substantial right to the soil and some further assistance in the way of supplies, were necessary to ensure its prosperity and permanency, resolved to return to France, for the purpose, if possible, of obtaining both. He did not leave Acadia, however, until he was enabled to carry with him samples of wheat and other agricultural produce, some native animals and several specimens of minerals, which, on his arrival in France, he presented to the king. He succeeded in obtaining a grant of Port Royal, encumbered, however, with a stipulation to provide for two Jesuits, who were to accompany him for the con version of the savages. This condition was exceedingly disa greeable to such a spirit as that of Potrincourt; and soon after his arrival at Port Royal, he did not scruple to let them know his determination to exclude them from all interference with his affairs. He justly told them "that their duty was limited to teaching men the way to heaven, and that it remained for him to govern and direct those under him on earth." Potrincourt, who, unwisely, though honestly, despised them, made their situation far from agreeable; and their repeated complaints against him and his son, Biencourt, were apparently terminated by the arrival of a vessel, despatched in 1613, by their patroness, a pious lady, of the name of De Gaucherville. This ship, having on board two priests and some emigrants, carried away the two Jesuits from Port Royal ; and, sailing out of the Bay of Fundy, they fixed on the island of Mount Desert, lying a few miles north of Penobscot Bay, as a proper situation for a settlement. Here they commenced by erecting a cross, setting up the arms of their lady patroness, and naming the place St. Saviour's. While proceeding rapidly with their buildings and improve- NOVA SCOTIA. ments. they were surprised by an English ship-of-war from Vir ginia, commanded by Captain Argall, who pillaged the place and compelled them to surrender as prisoners of war, for having en croached upon and settled within the English limits. One of the Jesuits was shot through the head, while urging the sett! ?rs to defend themselves; two ships that lay at anchor were seized, in one of which most of the prisoners were sent to France; the others were carried to Virginia. This affair led to the fitting out of an armament from Virginia, commanded by Argall, for the purpose of dislodging the French settled in Acadia. Argall, piloted by the Jesuit, Beart, who thirsted for revenge against his persecutor, Potrincourt, proceeded to Port Royal, now commanded by Bien- court, the son of Potrincourt, and destroyed the fort, but spared the mills and cornfields. Biencourt attempted to treat with him, offering Argall an equal share in the trade, if he could obtain the protection of England, and the person of the hated Jesuit ; but the conference ended by some of the French associating themselves with the savages, others leaving the place for Quebec, to join Champlain, and by those who surrendered being sent to England. This outrageous proceeding of Argall, during a time of pro found peace between England and France, cannot be defended on the slightest ground of justice ; and it may be safely assigned principally to the thirst for plunder, and partly to religious bigotry. By this unwarrantable waste, robbery and violation of private property, to which force alone gave authority, the first settlement made in Acadia was destroyed in 1613 or 1615, after prospering for eight or ten years, and without experiencing a share of that ferocious opposition from the savages, which proved so dreadfully fatal to the early attempts of the English at colonization. Although the French settlements in Acadia were destroyed, the country was neglected by England until 1621, when Sir William Alexander obtained a grant of the whole territory called Acadia, from James I., and the name of the country was changed to that of Nova Scotia. Sir William was an accomplished gentleman, of high literary attainments, the author of several tragedies, and well known at the court of James I., who afterwards appointed nim a secretary of state, and created him a baron, with the title of Viscount Stirling. During the summer which followed the date of his patent, Sir William Alexander despatched a vessel, with a small colony, for Nova Scotia, which, owing to delay and a long passage, was forced to winter at Newfoundland. This ship proceeded on her voyage in the spring, visited a few harbors in Nova Scotia, and then returned to England, without any attempt being made to establish a settlement. A most Utopian * 290 BRITISH AMERICA. account of the country and climate was published from the de- criptions of those who performed this voyage. From the time Port Royal was destroyed, to 1623, great num bers of French and several Dutch adventurers resorted to the province, and occupied different parts of the country, where they carried on a profitable fur trade, as well as a fishing at Canseau and in some other harbors. The war with France, however, which commenced in the early part of the reign of Charles L, completely crushed the French plantations in Acadia; and thai: monarch not only confirmed the grant to Sir William Alexander, but completed what James had intended, namely, the establish ment of the order of baronets of Nova Scotia. The institution of this order was -ratified by parliament, and the number limited to one hundred and fifty. Certain stipulations contained in the grants of land attached to these titles, were at first required to be fulfilled before they were confirmed by the king. At present the title of baronet of Nova Scotia is conferred without regard to number, according to the sovereign's pleasure, and with all the privileges and rank of baronets of Scotland. In 1627, Sir William Alexander, assisted by a French Calvin- ist, by the name of Kirckt, who fled to England from Dieppe, in France, on the score of religious persecution, fitted out a few ves sels, well armed, for Nova Scotia. This squadron, commanded by Kircht, who was also made a baronet, under the title of Sir David Kirk, proceeded on the voyage, and fell in with a fleet of French transports, laden with stores and one hundred and thirty- five pieces of ordnance, intended for Quebec and Port Royal. These vessels they captured, and in the following year reduced Port Royal. No settlement, however, was made at this period ; and two years after, Sir William Alexander, discouraged at the failure of his attempts to colonize Nova Scotia, transferred the whole, except Port Royal, to Claude de la Tour, a French Protes tant, who was on board the transports captured by Sir David Kirk. La Tour possessed wealth, spirit and an enterprising mind ; and while residing, after his capture, in England, he married a lady of the queen's household, and was knighted. He proceeded to Nova Scotia, where he had a son, Etienne de la Tour, still al Cape Sable, an& commanding a fort on the part of France. Nc entreaty which his father could use, would induce'him to submit to the power of England, and in consequence Sir Claude was unsuccessful in forming a settlement. The treaty of St. Germain, in 1632, gave Nova Scotia, with Cape Breton and Canada, again to France ; and a long train of unfor tunate and vexatious circumstances attended the American colo- NOVA. SCOTIA. 291 nies in consequence. Canada, Acadia, Cape Breton and St. John's Island, were then placed under the government of a company of merchants. These were embodied by royal charter, and styled, " The Company of New France," under whose vassalage Acadia was now governed by M. Razillais. The lands of the colony were divided principally between the governor, whose share fell to his successors, Daubre Charnise Mon. Denys and Etienne de la Tour. The jealousies of Charnise and La Tour, arising prin cipally from rivalship in the fur trade, partook for many years of a similar spirit to that which directed the predatory warfare of feudal chieftains; and Mon. Denys, who occupied the country from Cape Canseau to Gaspe, and who built a fort and resided at Chedebucto, where he carried on a profitable fur trade, was finally ruined by the intrigues of his countrymen, and driven from this country. La Tour's principal establishment was on the river St. John. His wife appears, from the records of that period, to have been a most extraordinary woman, possessing fortitude and courage sel dom surpassed even by the heroines of romance. Madame de la Tour, having had occasion to visit England, on the affairs of her husband, engaged, on her return, with the master of a vessel, to land her at the river St. John. This person, instead of doing so, proceeded to Cape Breton and the countries within the Gulf of St. Lawrence, where he continued during the summer, trading with the savages, and afterwards sailed for Boston. Madame de la Tour was detained during this period on board the ship of this European savage, suffering all the miseries of a protracted voyage and the most painful uneasiness of mind. On landing at Boston, she commenced an action against the villanous captain, and recovered about two thousand pounds damages. She then pro ceeded to the fort at the river St. John, where, during the absence of her husband, she was besieged by Charnise, whom she beat off with extraordinary heroism, by disabling his ship, and killing and wounding several of his men. Some time after, the brutal Charnise, taking again the advantage of La Tour's absence, attacked his fort, and Madame de la Tour, with astonishing bravery, undertook its defence ; but, at length, in order to save the lives of her few remaining men, she accepted the terms of capitulation proposed by Charnis6. On entering the fort, this brutal tyrant, enraged at having been once so gallantly repulsed, and a second time so gallantly resisted by a female, hanged all the prisoners except one, whom he com pelled to execute the rest. He then led Madame de la Tour, with a halter round her neck, to a tree, where she was exposed for 292 BRITISH AMERICA. some time, and then hanged ; although some accounts state that she died from the effects of the indignant treatment she had re ceived, and grief for the fate of her brave and faithful people. Charnise then destroyed the fort, and carried the ordnance and all La Tour's effects to Penobscot, to which place he had removed from La Have. La Tour's own character, however, was none of the fairest, and the records of Massachusetts Bay charge him with disgraceful conduct. He afterwards went to Canada and Hudson's Bay, where he was concerned in the fur trade, but returned on the death of Charnise, whose widow he married ; and by the death of a pious lady of St. Omer's, a sister of Charnise. he became pos sessed of all his property in Nova Scotia. La Tour remained in peaceable possession till 1654, when an armament, despatched by Oliver Cromwell, conquered the province. Disgusted with his own countrymen, who were about to dislodge him by intrigue and force, when Acadia submitted to the arms of England, La Tour transferred his allegiance, and two years after, he obtained a grant of his lands from Cromwell. He afterwards sold his lands and property in Nova Scotia, to Sir Thomas Temple, who, after spending large sums in forming establishments and securing a profitable share in the fur trade, was most unjustly deprived of the whole by the treaty of Breda, which ceded the province again to France. An armament, sent in 1690, from Massachusetts, under the command of Sir William Phipps, retook Port Royal, levelled its fortifications, and burnt the establishments at Chedebucto. The object of this expedition appears to have been more to annoy the French than to possess the country. It was, however, considered as a conquered province, and added, by a new charter, to the gov ernment of Massachusetts. Some aggressions on the part of France, who still occupied the usual places of resort for the fur trade, and the demolition by Yillibon, the French governor, and the Baron Castine, reinforced by two ships of war, of the English fort of Pemaquid, were resented by an expedition from Boston, under the command of Colonel Church. He sailed up the Bay of Furidy, drove most of the Acadians to the woods, and on the refusal of thoserwho surrendered to join the English in pursuit of the Indians, he burnt their church and all their houses, destroyed their cattle, and demolished the dikes which guarded their rich marshes from the sea. In 1696, the treaty of Ryswick gave Nova Scotia again to France, and that government soon after entered with spirit and resolution into measures for colonizing the province, and securing NOVA SCOTIA. 293 its fur trade, and especially its fisheries. The latter, in which for some time the English had participated largely, became the fertile cause of dispute between the New England colonists and the French in Nova Scotia. The French government also encour aged the pirates, who infested the coasts, to commit depredations on the shores of Massachusetts and on the English fishing ves sels, by offering them an asylum, and the means of disposing of their plunder at La Have. The people of New England retalia ted in 1704, by despatching Colonel Church a second time, with about six hundred troops, to pillage the French settlements in Nova Scotia. He proceeded to Passamaquoddy, where he burnt all the houses, and seized the property of the inhabitants. He then crossed the bay to Port Royal, and sent boats, with a detach ment, to Minas, where they plundered and destroyed three flour ishing villages. On their return to Port Royal, Church discovered that the fortresses built since he destroyed the place eight years before, were too strong to be taken by the force under his com mand. He, therefore, sailed to Chignecto, where he laid waste all the settlements, and carried all the plunder to Massachusetts. The New England states, still unwilling to relinquish the con quest of Nova Scotia, raised a thousand troops, who were despatched, in 1707, with two ships of war, to take Port Royal ; but they were repulsed by M. Subercuse, who succeeded Brouil- lard. The same force was soon after sent again from New England to .Port Royal, but they returned a second time equally unsuccessful. The conquest of Port Royal, was, however, determined upon by the English; and, in 1710, an armament, commanded by General Nicholson, an able and brave officer, consisting of four men-of-war, nineteen transports, and four provincial regiments, appeared before Port Royal. With the exception of those on board one vessel that was wrecked, the troops landed without difficulty. Batteries were immediately erected by the English, and, after a heavy cannonading on both sides, the garrison capitu lated. The conditions were most honorable both to General Nicholson and the gallant Subercuse. Notwithstanding this, France still seemed anxiously disposed to regain possession of Nova Scotia; but the treaty of Utrecht, in 1713, secured the province to England. The name of Port Royal was now changed, in honor of Queen Anne, to Annapolis ; the fortifications were repaired and strength ened, and General Nicholson appointed as first resident British governor. He arrived at Annapolis in 1714, but could not suc ceed in obtaining the allegiance of the French settlers, who, by 25* 294 BRITISH AMERICA. the capitulation of Port Royal, were allowed two years to retire with their effects from the province. In 1719, Colonel Phipps arrived, and succeeded Governor Nicholson ; and, by the royal instructions, established a council to assist him in managing the civil affairs of the colony. The province, at this period, was re sorted to only by trading adventurers, and there were no resident inhabitants but the Acadian French. These colonists, although abandoned by their hereditary sovereign, refused to transfer their allegiance to the British crown. Clinging, with extraordinary affection and lingering hopes, to France, it was long, and then with wonderful reluctance, before many of these unfortunate and ill-used people were induced to swear fealty to the king of Eng land. From this period to the peace of 1763, that succeeded the conquest of Louisburg and Canada, Nova 'Scotia was incessantly harassed by the savages. CHAPTER XXXI. Slow progress of the settlement. Indian hostilities. The Acadian French. Conquest of Cape Breton and St. John's. Expedition of D'Anville against Nova Scotia. Disasters of the French. Cape Breton given up. Foundation of Halifax. Indian wars. Expedition to Chignecto. Continuation of hostili ties by the Indians and Acadian French. Capture of Beau Sejour. Devasta tion of Chignecto and expulsion of the French inhabitants. Expedition of Admiral Holborne. Re-conquest of Cape Breton. Nova Scotia and its depen dencies finally secured to Great Britain. HUDSON'S BAY TERRITORY. The Boston settlers. Prince Rupert's expedition. Incorporation of the Hudson's Bay Company. Discoveries of Hearne, Mackenzie, Ross, Parry, Franklin and Back. RUSSIAN AMERICA. Discoveries of Behring and TchiriJcow. Settle ments of the Russians. THE settlement of Acadia was long disregarded by the British, although the governors issued proclamations, which stated their readiness to grant lands on favorable terms to emigrants. But the New England and Southern States were at this time in a con dition to afford abundant room for new settlers, and the emigrants, especially farmers, preferred removing to those places where others had previously gone, and of whom, or of their success, they had v f ome knowledge. Very few, therefore, except trading adventur ers, resorted for a long time to Nova Scotia. A considerable fishery was, previously to 1720, established at Canseau harbor ; but during the autumn of that year, a desperate attack was made on this place by the Indians, several persons were killed, all the property plundered, and the merchants ruined. It became, at length, necessary to resort to resolute and effective measures against the Indians. On the west coast of the Bay of Fundy, the Abenaqui tribe were entirely governed by a Jesuit priest, named Pere Ralle, and by a son of the Baron Castine, who was half Indian. The latter, whom they considered their cacique or leader, was arrested, but soon afterwards released. He and Pere Ralle resided at Kennebec ; and an expedition against the Indians and Acadians settled in this place, was despatched from Massa chusetts, which defeated both with great slaughter, and among the killed was Pere Ralle. The chapel, crucifix, and all that was considered idolatrous, were then destroyed, the goods plundered, and the buildings subjected to conflagration. The fate of Pere Ralle was much deplored by the Indians, and it was maintained 296 BRITISH AMERICA. that the provincials, after he was killed, treated his body with the most brutal barbarity. Soon after the beginning of the war with France, in 1744, Can- seau was destroyed by an expedition sent from Louisburg. The Indians, also, recommenced their hostilities ; and, under the direc tion of a French priest, and with some troops, under the command of an officer from Cape Breton, besieged Annapolis. They were, however, compelled to raise the siege. Annapolis was again attacked by about one thousand Indians and several Acadians, commanded by French officers. These were also repulsed, and Louisburg and the island of St. John were taken the following year, by the New England troops, under General Pepperel, as already related in the history of the United States. The conquest of Cape Breton and St.- John's was of serious consequence to France, while it secured Nova Scotia, in a great measure, against the depredations of the savages, and gave the British ships-of-war the advantage of all the harbors on the coasts of America, with the consequent effectual means of annoy ing the commerce of France. The harbor of Louisburg and the possession of Cape Breton and Nova Scotia, were, however, objects of too much importance to the French nation, to be abandoned to England, without an extraordinary effort to recover these colo nies. One of the most powerful fleets that had ever left France for North America, was therefore equipped for sea, provided with immense stores of artillery, ammunition and provisions, and having on board about four thousand regular troops. The su preme command was given to the Duke D'Anville. They sailed, early in the summer of 1 746, from Rochelle, unobserved by the English, and escaped the pursuit made by Admiral Lestock. The disasters which this expedition experienced, are scarcely par alleled by the fate of the invincible Armada of Spain. After a passage of nearly three months, D'Anville, with three ships, reached Chebucto, where one of his ships had arrived before him. He died a few days after. Several other vessels arrived, after experiencing great hardships; and the second command, under the vice admiral, was assumed by M. de la Jonquire, governor of Canada. But the wretched condition of the troops that had arrived from France, and the great number of ships with store's and troops, which were either lost or not accounted for, called for a council of war, in which the bombardment of Louisburg, according to the original plan, was relinquished, and an attack upon Annap olis determined on, much against the advice of Vice Admiral Destournelle, who now had the chief command. Upwards of NOVA SCOTIA. 297 twelve hundred men were lost during the voyage from France, and the majority of the survivors were reduced to a condition of helpless debility by scurvy and fever. It was found necessary to allow them time to recover, and encampments were accordingly formed for their accommodation. The infection was then caught by the Indians, several hundreds of whom became its victims: great numbers of sailors and troops were carried off by disease, after landing. Destournelle, reduced to that state of bodily weak ness and depression of mind, which usually causes delirium, ter minated his life by running a sword through his body. The fleet, reduced from seventy to forty ships, with the remaining troops, left Chebucto on the 13th October. The measure of ca lamity, however, was not yet completed. A tremendous storm dispersed the fleet off Cape Sable, drove them from the coast back to France, where most of them arrived in a shattered, disabled, and miserable condition. This formidable fleet, which raised such glorious hopes in France, and caused proportionate terror in the British colonies, would, no doubt, had it been attended with even common for tune, have repossessed France of all the colonies she claimed in America. The power of England was now, however, in the ascendant ; and, in the beginning of May, another fleet of thirty- nine ships, most expensively equipped, and destined for America, under the command of the gallant Jonquiere, was defeated by Admiral Anson. M. Rams iy still remained in Nova Scotia, holding the province in a state of alarm ; but the intelligence of Jonquiere' s defeat destroyed all the sanguine hopes he had enter tained of success, and he soon after retired to Canada. Cape Breton was restored to France by the treaty of Aix la Chapelle. The British now undertook, in earnest, the settlement of Nova Scotia. Chebucto, on the east coast of the province, was fixed upon for a capital, on account of its safe and capacious harbor. The Hon. Edward Cornwallis, governor of the province, arrived in 1749, with about four thousand adventurers, at Chebucto har bor ; and having selected the sloping side of a peninsula on the west side of the harbor, for the site of a town, laid it out accord ing to a regular plan, and named it Halifax, in honor of the Earl of Halifax, then president of the Board of Trade and Plan tations. The Indians, meantime, plundered Canseau, attacked Dart mouth opposite Halifax, scalped some of the inhabitants, mur dered nearly half the crews of two ships in Halifax harbor, and carried off several prisoners, whom they sold at Louisburg. They were incessantly committing murders along the coasts, and it was impossible to guard the colonists effectually against enemies, who 298 BRITISH AMERICA. sprung with the agility and fury of tigers from the thickets, or who came along silently in their birch canoes during night. The governor of Louisburg pretended, as formerly, that he had no control over them, and that the premiums for English prisoners were given from motives of humanity, to prevent the horrible tortures which the savages would inflict upon them, or their ex cruciating death by the murderous scalping-knife. Major Lawrence, who was despatched with a small detach ment to Chignecto, found that the inhabitants, on learning that he was approaching, had burnt their houses and joined La Corne ; and, after an unsatisfactory interview with this officer, he re turned to Halifax. A force of one thousand men was sent, in consequence, to Chignecto, under Major Lawrence. He effected a landing with some difficulty and sharp skirmishing, and the loss of several men. The French and Indians saved themselves by escaping across the river and joining La Corne. He then built a fort, which served to overawe the French, and to check the incur sions of the Indians. Major Lawrence succeeded to the administration of the govern ment in 1754, and soon after an expedition from New England, under the command of Colonel Monkton, proceeded to Chignecto, where it was joined by four ships-of-war and a detachment of regular troops. After bombarding and taking a block-house and battery, Fort Beau Sejour, which mounted twenty-six pieces of artillery, was stormed, and the garrison made prisoners and sent to Louisburg. The fort on Bay Vert was then invested and taken. In both great stores of ammunition and provisions were found. To secure the peace of the province, and to deprive the Acadians from assisting the French or encouraging the Indians, it was determined by Governor Lawrence to remove them from Nova Scotia, unless they subscribed to the oath of allegiance. The Acadians were, therefore, without any intimation as to the object of calling them together, commanded to appear before Colonel Fessenden, at Grand Pre; and in consequence of this summons, about four hundred men assembled. They were then shut up in the church, which was now turned into a garrison, where they were told that they were immediately to be removed from the province,' -and distributed among the other colonies, and that their lands and cattle were forfeited to the cr6wn. This order was rigidly executed. Many of these people fled to the woods and joined the Indians ; others found their way to Canada and the island of St. John. The villages were laid waste, and their houses burnt to ashes. The whole of the settlements at Ohignecto and Minas were destroyed. 299 When Mr. Pitt was appointed premier, that sagacious states man soon discovered that if Great Britain did not humble France, by conquering Cape Breton and Canada, the power of England would be abridged by the loss of her trade and the ruin of the American colonies. He, therefore, without delay, adopted mea sures for effecting this object. A most powerful fleet was equip ped, which sailed immediately for Halifax. This fleet, consisting of one hundred and fifty-two ships, commanded by Admiral Boscawen, and having on board an army of eleven thousand troops, under General Amherst, arrived at Halifax in April, 1758, and were joined by the provincial troops. On the 28th of May, this powerful armament, consisting of one hundred and fifty-seven ships and sixteen thousand troops, sailed from Halifax. The con quest of Louisburg, which is related in another part of this his tory, with the surrender of St. John's Island, established the prosperity of Nova Scotia; and this was further secured by the capture of Quebec by Wolfe, and the final conquest of Canada. By the treaty of Paris, in 1763, France relinquished all claim to Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Cape Breton and St. John's Island, and from that time these countries have formed a part of the British empire in America. The island of St. John's, now called Prince Edward's, was sepa rated from the jurisdiction of Nova Scotia, in 1767. New Bruns wick and Cape Breton were formed into separate governments, in 1784. Cape Breton was subsequently re-annexed to Nova Scotia. The settlements of the British on HUDSON'S BAY, were begun nearly two centuries ago. A French voyager, Grosseliez, on landing at Nelson's River, about the year 1660, found there a number of New England settlers from Boston ; but of this colony little more is known. In 1668, a settlement was made at Fort Charles, under the patronage of Prince Rupert, and the next year the Hudson's Bay Company was incorporated. This company exists to the present day, and holds the same sort of monopoly in that region that was formerly exercised in Asia by the British East India Company. The rest of the world are in a great measure excluded from the territories of the Hudson's Bay Com pany. From time to time, settlements have been established at various other places within the jurisdiction of the company ; but the history of their government consists of nothing but the narra tives of hunting excursions and bargains with the natives, and the adventures of travellers who have endeavored to penetrate into the interior, or coast along the shores of these barren and in hospitable regions. Hearne, an enterprising travellei, discovered the Coppermine River in 1770, and following the stream down to 300 BRITISH AMERICA. its mouth, discovered the Arctic Ocean. Mackenzie penetrated to Slave Lake, in 1789. The progress of northern discovery languished during the wars of Europe; but, in 1818, the British government despatched sev eral expeditions hy sea and land, which have determined nearly the whole outline of the northern coast, from Hudson's Bay to Behring's Straits. Captain Ross, in 1818, and Captain Parry, in 1819, sailed on their first voyages to the north. The North Georgian Islands, about the seventy-fifth degree of latitude, ap pear to have been the limits of their approach toward the pole. Both these commanders made repeated voyages, and wintered in a high northern latitude. The scientific observations made by them are highly interesting; but the northwest passage to Asia has not yet been effected. The travels of Lieutenant Franklin and Captain Back have also added much to our knowledge of the geography of these regions, although no discovery of any commercial value appears to have been the result. They have ascertained that the Arctic Ocean bounds the continent of Amer ica on the north, and that the country along its shores, and wherever they penetrated into the interior, is a frozen desert, or scantily peopled by roaming Indian tribes, in the lowest state of savage life. RUSSIAN AMERICA owes its sovereignty under the Muscovite power, to the discoveries of Behring and Tchirikow, who, in 1728, first saw the straits which separate America and Asia. The Russian voyagers subsequently extended their discoveries southwardly along the American coast towards Nootka Sound, and at a late period, made a few establishments for hunting and trade with the Indians on the coast. The limits of the Russian territory in America are bounded on the south by the parallel of fifty^four degrees forty minutes north latitude; but the sover eignty is little more than a name. A single settlement at Sitka, on the continent, and two others at Kodiak and Illuluk, on the island of Oonalashka, engaged in the fur trade with the Indians, comprise all the actual Russian possessions in America. GREENLAND is sometimes considered as belonging rather to America than to Europe. More than ten centuries ago, it was visited by the 6anes and Norwegians, who established them selves in the country, the Danes on the west coast, and the Nor wegians on the east. About the year 1400, the Norwegian colony, then comprising one hundred and ninety villages, was shut up by the ice, and nothing was heard of it afterwards. The western colony still exists, and comprises about twenty settle ments, subject to the crown of Denmark. UNITED STATES CHAPTER XXXII Discovery of Florida by Ponce de Leon. The Fountain of Youth. Expedition of Pamphilo de Narvaez. Hurricane. Narvaez undertakes the conquest of the country. Capture of Apalachen. Difficulties encountered by the Spaniards. They construct boats to return to their feet. Voyage along the shore. Their adventures and sufferings. Humanity of the natives. Terrible fate of the ex ploring party. Proceedings of Alvaro de Nunez. He sets out on a journey to Mexico and the South Sea. Adventures on the route. He crosses the Missis- i, Sufferings of Alvaro and his companions. They arrive at Mexico. The Fountain of Youth. PONCE DE LEON, one of the companions of Columbus on his second voyage, was the discoverer of Florida. He was appointed governor of Porto Rico, but after exercising this authority a short time, he was displaced ; yet he had a mind too active and ardent to remain at rest. A new object attracted his attention and absorbed his whole soul. He was assured by a number of Indians, that in some part of the Bahama islands there was a fountain called Bimini, of such wonderful virtue, that the man who bathed in its 302 THE UNITED STATES. waters, whatever his age, was restored at once to the full bloom and vigor of youth. This marvellous tale inflamed the eager curiosity of the Spanish chieftain. He spent many months in sailing along these coasts, landing at every point, and plunging into every pool of water, always hoping to rise in a state of bliss ful renovation. The consequence of such long and incessant agitation, under a burning sky, was that, instead of the brilliant rejuvenescence which he so vainly hoped to obtain, he brought upon himself all the infirmities of a premature old age. Instead of a second youth, he arrived at a second childhood, and never displayed the same vigor, either of body or mind, as before he entered upon his delusive search. It is seldom, however, that extraordinary efforts of human ac tivity fail of leading to some important consequences. While Ponce was beating about restlessly from shore to shore, in search of the mysterious fountain, he came in view of a more extensive range of land than any he had yet seen. It was covered with magnificent forests, intermingled with flowering shrubs, which presented an enchanting aspect. This, discovery was made on Easter Sunday, 1512; from which circumstance, or the flowery appearance of the country, the name of Florida was bestowed upon it. In navigating along the shore, the ships were violently agitated by the currents from the Gulf Stream, which rushes with concentrated force through the Bahama channels, and from which, the southern cape received the name of Corrientes. The Spaniards still continued to give the name of island to all newly- discovered land. In vain did the natives assure them that Flor ida formed part of a vast continent, of which they even named various nations and provinces. Some years elapsed before the Spaniards could learn to view Florida as a part of the Ameri can continent. When at last they did so, they hesitated not to claim as Florida, and as belonging to Spain, the whole of North America. Ponce de Leon, having at length renounced his unfortunate search after the Fountain of Youth, determined to make the most of his real discovery. He repaired to Spain, and obtained from the king authority to lead an expedition into Florida, with the title of Adelantydo, which included the powers of governor and commander-in-chief. Finding Porto Rico disturbed by an insur rection of the Caribs, he was obliged to take the field against them ; but being unequal to his former exertions, he made an un fortunate campaign, and lost much of his former reputation. At length, he contrived to equip an expedition for Florida ; but his constitution, exhausted by visionary hopes and fruitless efforts, EXPEDITION OF NARVAEZ TO FLORIDA. 303 being now unfit for the fatigues of such a voyage, he was obliged to put into Cuba, where he died. The Spaniards from Cuba soon found their way to Florida; and made expeditions, which at length resulted in the iniquitous practice of carrying off the Indians as slaves. A considerable time elapsed before attempts were made for the actual conquest and occupation of Florida. The next memorable expedition was that of Pamphilo de Narvaez, in 1528. His fleet touched first at the island of Dominica, where it remained for some days, to supply itself with provisions and horses. Here, no less than a hundred and forty members of the expedition declined proceeding farther, a course which their chiefs seem to have had no power to prevent. The fleet proceeded to St. Jago de Cuba, where they continued for some time, refitting and taking in sup plies. One of the ships being sent to a port at some distance for provisions, Alvaro, the master, went on shore with a few of his men, when they were assailed by a hurricane so tremendous, that the like had scarcely ever been witnessed even in these climates. The walls and houses were continually falling round them. They hurried out of the town, seven or eight linked to gether, by which means alone they could avoid being carried before the wind, and sought refuge in the woods; but here the trees falling, torn up by the roots on every side, caused almost equal alarm. At night they seemed to hear loud cries, with the sound of flutes, drums and trumpets. In the moniing the hurricane subsided ; but there appeared such a scene of deso lation as they had never before witnessed. The trees lay strewed on the ground, and every leaf and plant appeared to be destroyed. On turning to the sea, they beheld a spectacle still more doleful ; for, instead of their vessel, only a few planks were floating on the face of the deep. They searched long for the remnants which might have been cast ashore ; but found only a little boat, carried to the top of a tree, some clothes torn in pieces, and two bodies of men so mangled that they could not be recognised. No time was lost in rejoining the main body of the expedition, which, having found a harbor, had suffered less. The armament was now reduced to four hundred men and eighty horses; and Narvaez, in compliance with the general opinion, determined not to attempt landing in Florida till the depth of winter had past. On the 20th of February, 1528, the fleet again set sail, and having suffered considerably from tempests in coasting along the coasts of Cuba, ran across from Havana to the shore of Florida. On the J2th April, they found themselves at the mouth of an open bay, where they saw a village. They landed, and hoisted the king's 304 THE UNITED STATES. standard. When the natives appeared, they made long discourses, with many signals and gestures, of which the Spaniards could interpret nothing, except that they contained urgent entreaties for them to depart, and vehement threats in case of non compliance ; but finding, probably, that they were not strong enough to execute these menaces, they retreated into the interior. In this village was a house so large that it could contain three hundred persons. An excursion was then made into the interior, and another village was visited, in which the Spaniards discovered a number of coffins. These they burnt with the bodies in them, a pro ceeding very little calculated to conciliate the natives. The avidity of the Spaniards was, however, very strongly excited by the view of some very fine clothes, and especially of some golden ornaments worn by the Indians. In reply, to their eager inquiries respecting them, a country situated at some distance in the interior was mentioned, by the name of Apalachen. It was now time for the governor to consider what course he was to pursue in exploring and conquering Florida. Miruelo, a pilot whom they brought from Cuba, had undertaken to guide them into a secure and commodious harbor, instead of which he had brought them into a mere open road, and now declared him self quite out of his reckoning, and at a loss whither to steer. Narvaez, whose mind was full of the reported wealth of Apala chen, proposed to push at once into the interior, leaving the ves sels to find their way along the coast at leisure. On the 12th of May, 1528, the Spaniards, three hundred strong, of whom forty were cavalry, set out on their march into the inte rior. They travelled fifteen days without seeing any habitation. No long time was required to consume their provisions, after which they became dependent on some wild palm trees. Amid the exhaustion to which this hungry toil reduced them, they were obliged to spend a day in crossing a broad and rapid river, on the opposite side of which they found a village. Here, in answer to their eager inquiries respecting Apalachen, the Indians informed them that the Apalachens were their own enemies, and that they were ready to aid in whatever might be undertaken against that people. After having held some friendly communication and ob tained guides, th'e Spaniards proceeded ; but soon reached another river, still more rapid, and which could be crossed* only by con structing a large canoe. Juan Velasco, a bold horseman, having at tempted to swim the stream, was drowned, together with his horse. This disaster cast a gloom over their minds ; however, the horse being found by the Indians, was made to afford the only hearty meal they had enjoyed for many days. They had still a long THE SPANIARDS IN FLORIDA. 305 march to perform, over tracts sometimes mountainous, sometimes marshy, encumbered with large trees blown down by the tem pests, and often blocking up the road. At length, on the twenty- sixth of June, they arrived in sight of a village which was an nounced as Apalachen. Joy took possession of their hearts and they returned fervent thanks to heaven that they had come to the end of this long and dreary journey. Narvaez desired Alvaro, with fifty infantry and nine cavalry, to enter and take possession of the town. This he easily effected, as all the men were absent, probably on a hunting excursion, and only women and children left in the place. The warriors, how ever, soon appeared and greeted the unwelcome intruders with a shower of arrows, one of which killed a Spanish horse. When* fairly attacked, however, they were unable to bear the shock of the Spanish troops, and retreated into the woods. They appeared two days after, in a pacific attitude, and besought the invaders, rf they could not recover their houses, that they might, at least, have their wives and children. This was granted, the Spaniards only retaining one of their caciques as a hostage. It was soon found, however, that their enmity was in no degree abated. Next day they made an attack so furious that they succeeded in setting fire to some of the houses, and though again quickly repulsed, they fled with such celerity into the woods and marshes, that only one could be killed. Next day an equally brisk attack was made with a similar result. The Spaniards had not long remained at Apalachen when they became satisfied that the brilliant wealth which had lured them to this perilous expedition was a perfect chimera. The country was mountainous and rugged, and covered with extensive marshes, which, both from their depth and the large trees strewed across them, were exceedingly difficult to pass. On strict enquiry, it appeared that the farther they proceeded in this direction, the more barren and rugged they would find it. They now began to feel themselves in an evil plight. Though the Indians could not face them in the field, they hemmed them closely in, and every man or horse that straggled from the main body was overwhelmed with a shower of arrows. At length, it was discovered, that to the south was the country of Aute, now called the bay of St. Mark, which abounded in maize. So valuable did this acquisi tion appear, that the Spaniards, renouncing all their dreams of gold and conquest, set out in search of the coast of Aute. They were obliged to cross lagoons and marshes deeper than any they had hitherto encountered. On the second day, while they were struggling through the water breast deep, the air was 26* M 2 306 THE UNITED SfATES; suddenly darkened by clouds of arrows, shot by invisible hands* These were from the Indians who had lodged themselves along the banks of the lake, or behind the trees which floated on its sur face. With bows eleven or twelve spans long, and as thick as a man's arm, they discharged arrows to the distance of two hundred yards, with almost unerring precision, and such force that they penetrated the thickest armor, and grievously wounded both man and horse. Sometimes a single wound caused immediate death. The Indians, when seen, being tall, naked, and moving with pro digious swiftness, had almost the appearance of supernatural beings. No movement of resistance or attack could be made till the Spaniards were extricated from the lagoon; and even then ' the ground was so encumbered, that the cavalry could not act, and it was only by dismounting and pursuing the enemy on foot, that it became possible to drive them to a little distance. They soon re- appeared, and allowed the Spaniards no rest till after their stock of arrows was exhausted. The expedition then pro ceeded without farther molestation, and in nine days arrived at Aute. The natives had abandoned the place, but a good store of maize was found, and after another day's march, they came to the banks of a river which appeared to open at some distance below, into a broad arm of the sea. This was probably the bay of Pensacola. The situation of the Spaniards was now such as called for the most serious reflection. All their brilliant hopes had vanished. Nearly a third of their number had perished. More than a third of those that remained labored under disease. There was thus every reason to fear that, either in attempting to retrace their steps or to march along the coast in search of their fleet, the whole would perish. A general meeting was called, and every one was asked what he had to propose. After long deliberation there appeared only one resource. This was to construct small boats, and sail along the coast, till they should find their fleet. It was difficult to conceive of a scheme more desperate. They had nei ther knowledge of ship-building, nor any implements of the art nor any materials out of which sails, ropes and rigging could be constructed. Impelled by necessity, however, they went to work. One of them, put of wooden pipes and the skins of wild beasts, contrived to make a pair of bellows, by the operation of which' their stirrups, spurs and cross-bows were converted into nails, saws and hatchets. Their shirts, cut open and sewed together, made sails; the juice of a species of pine was a substitute for tar. Cypress moss served as oakum; the fibres of the pine with loose hair, formed a species of rope. A horse was killed every three ADVENTURES IN FLORIDA 307 days, and its flesh distributed, partly to the working hands, and partly as a dainty to the sick. In short, with such ardor did the work proceed, that having begun on the 4th of August, they had completed, on the 22d of September, five boats. In each of these were embarked from forty to fifty persons; but they were so crowded that they could not move or turn in the boat, of which not more than a fourth part was above the water. In this plight, however, it behoved them to sail. After proceeding six days, they approached an island and descried five canoes, belonging to Indians, who immediately abandoned them. The canoes being taken and attached to their boats, enabled the Spaniards to place themselves in a somewhat better condition. They sailed on thirty days, without finding any secure haven, or opportunity of refreshment. The scarcity of food was now felt ; and that of water was so extreme, that many were driven to drink sea- water, which, when taken in any quan tity, proved fatal. Their sufferings were aggravated by a severe storm, which continued for six days ; at the end of which they seemed on the point of perishing, when, on turning a cape, they discovered a fine and secure bay, with a large Indian town. Here they were received most cordially and hospitably by the natives. Before each door stood vessels of water, from which they quenched their thirst, and they enjoyed a hearty meal of roasted fish. Pres ents were exchanged, and such a cordial intercourse established, that Narvaez agreed to spend the night under the roof of the cacique. This calm was of short duration. At midnight the village was attacked by a hostile tribe of Indians ; the cacique fled with all his people, and the Spaniards were left to maintain, alone, a desperate conflict. The governor himself and all his people were wounded, before the enemy could be repulsed ; and they had no choice left but to re-embark. They touched afterwards at another populous bay ; but being involved in a quarrel with the natives respecting two of their people who had been lured away, they were obliged again to put out to sea. Their situation became now every moment more critical. Their remnant of provisions was drawing fast to a close, and the shat tered barks could scarcely be got forwards. That of the governor, being the best manned, now began to pull ahead at a rate with which the others were unable to keep pace. Alvaro called out to ask orders how he was to proceed ; to which Narvaez replied that the time was past for giving or receiving orders, and that it rested with every man to save his life as he best could ; he then pushed on, and was soon out of sight. Alvaro with another of the barks continued the voyage for four days ; but having only half a handful 308 THE UNITED STATES. of maize daily for each man, and encountering severe weather, they were reduced to the most extreme distress. On the evening of the fourth day, the crew gave out, and fell down half dead over each other. Alvaro being alone capable of any exertion, the master called to him, that he must take the helm, as he himself would certainly die that night. Alvaro took the post, but after a few hours' rest, the master resumed it. Towards morning they heard the sound of breakers, and found the vessel in six fathoms water, which led to the hope of being near land. Daylight con firmed this hope, and, after a severe shock in crossing the breakers, the boat was got near to the land, and the exhausted crew crept ashore upon their hands and feet. Here they kindled a fire, cooked the maize which they had still left, and began to feel their strength and spirits revive. Alvaro desired Lope de Oviedo, the most vigorous of the company, to mount a tree and see what land it was. Oviedo reported that it was an island, and so well culti vated, that it appeared almost a Christian land. He was then desired to advance a little into the country, though with caution. He soon found a village with only women and children in it ; but three archers speedily appeared, with others behind, who, following Oviedo, quickly reached the shore and formed a circle of about a hundred around the Spaniards. They were well armed and tall, and, to the alarmed eyes of the Spaniards, appeared almost gigantic. Alvaro, who had not six men who could rise from the ground, saw clearly that he had nothing to hope from resistance, and that his only course was to endeavor to propitiate the stran gers. This he sought to do by courtesy, and by offering them toys. He met a most kind and gracious return ; the Indians gave him arrows, their surest pledge of confidence ; they regretted much having no provisions with them, but promised by next morning to return with a copious supply. The Indians fulfilled their engagement, and, both this day and the following, brought fresh stores of fish, roots and other pro ductions of the soil. Alvaro, having formed a stock of these sufficient to last for some time, determined to set sail and pursue his voyage. For this purpose it was a matter of great labor, in their weak state, to haul the boat out of the sand in which it was fixed, and put it afloat ; in doing this it was even necessary to strip themselves naked, throwing their clothes iftto the boat. A fresh calamity overtook them, more dreadful than any former one. A violent wave overset the boat, which sunk with all the clothes. and carried down three of the Spaniards : the rest with difficulty reached the .shore. They threw themselves, in despair, naked on the sand. Their former condition, deemed so wretched, appeared ADVENTURES OF ALVARO IN FLORIDA. 309 almost happiness, when compared with that extremity of misery at which they had now arrived. As they looked at their emaciated bodies, in which every bone could be counted, each felt sympathy for his companions, mingled with a more intense feeling of his own misery. While they lay in this state the Indians came up with a fresh supply of provisions ; but at the view of their changed and dreadful condition, set up loud cries of lamentation, which were heard at a great distance, and were continued for half an hour without intermission. As soon as their plaint had somewhat abated, Alvaro asked his companions, without fear of being understood by the Indians, what was to be done in this extremity, and whether they ought not to ask shelter from strangers who showed so tender a concern for their sufferings. There happened, however, to be several of the party who had accompanied Cortez in his expedition to Mexi co, and had seen from a distance the dreadful pomp with which their countrymen had been sacrificed in the temple of the Mexican god of war. These adjured Alvaro, by all that was sacred, to abide every extremity rather than deliver them into the hands of men from whom they might expect a fate of similar horror. Alvaro looked round him. His companions were lying stretched on the sand, on the point of perishing. His position was quite desperate, but for the Indians ; and their tender lamentations, with the kindness and pity which beamed from their eyes, made it surely at least possible that their intentions might not be of the horrible nature now suggested. Disregarding, therefore, the ter rors and remonstrances of his comrades, he related his disaster to the Indians, and entreated the shelter of their hospitable roof. The Indians gave the most cordial consent, only proposing that they should remain a short time round the fire which had here been kindled, till they should hasten and prepare for their recep tion. In a few hours they returned, and then led, or rather car ried the Spaniards to their village, scarcely allowing their feet to touch the ground. They had kindled large fires at short distan ces, where the naked and shivering bodies of the Spaniards had from time to time the heat restored to them. On reaching the village, it was found that a house had been specially constructed for them, and had been brought by large fires into a comfortable temperature. All this care and kindness abated in no degree the fear of the Spaniards. The Indians bade them a cordial good night, and, retiring to their own habitations, began, according to the custom of their country, to sing and dance through the even ing ; but these cheerful sounds, instead of tranquillizing the Span iards, heightened their alarm, being deemed only the festal pomp 310 THE UNITED STATES. which was to celebrate their immolation. They lay sleepless, seeming to feel at every moment the sacrifical knife stuck in their breasts. It was not till morning dawned that a ray of hope began to possess their minds. The Indians then entered with a plentiful breakfast ; and the same kindness being continued from day to day, the alarms of the Spaniards were at length composed. They learned, soon after, that there were other Spaniards at no great distance, who proved to be the crew of another bark that had been shipwrecked, though not in so disastrous a manner. These had preserved their clothes, though only those which they wore. Fate did not cease to persecute this unfortunate crew. There followed such a series of cold and stormy weather, that the Indi ans could neither find the roots on which they commonly sub sisted, nor carry on their fishery. A severe scarcity ensued, which fell with peculiar weight on the strangers, who could expect nothing from the Indians, and had neither the same skill nor means to provide for themselves. Five of the Spaniards, who were in a detached station on the coast, were reduced to such an extremity, that they resorted to the horrible remedy of devouring each other ! This they continued till there remained but one, who survived only because " there was nobody to eat him" The Indi ans were shocked beyond measure on learning this, and ever after viewed the whole body of Europeans with an altered eye. The condition of the Spaniards grew worse and worse, so that, in the course of the season, famine and disease had reduced their num ber from eighty to fifteen. The Indians were at the same time attacked with a pestilential malady, which carried off half of them. Under the deep distress which this occasioned, a supersti tious idea seized them, that all the calamities of this dreadful winter had originated in a magic and malignant influence, exer cised by the strangers. They took it therefore into deliberation, whether they should put them to death ; but an old Indian very reasonably argued, that if the Spaniards had possessed this super natural power, they would surely have used it in protecting them selves ; whereas the fact was, they had suffered still more severely than the Indians. So just a view of the subject carried conviction to the minds of the savages. The Spaniards had, however, entirely lost their former favor ; they were reduced to the station of slaves, and w^re obliged tc perform the most laborious offices, particularly that of digging the earth, and searching at the bottom of the marshes for the roots on which they subsisted. To this, indeed, was added the office of physicians, which they were called upon to exercise. In vain did they plead their profound ignorance of the healing artj no credit ADVENTURES OF ALVARO. 311 was given to this denial ; and, after persuasion had been used in vain, notice was given to them, that all allowance of food was to cease till they should enter on their medical functions. Thus starved into doctors, they at length began their practice, which was exceedingly simple, being modelled on that of the Indians. They merely blew upon the patients, and uttered Spanish words, which were considered as magical, when, to their utter astonish ment, all the patients declared that from that moment they felt the greatest relief. As the success of their practice, however, did not bring any improvement in their situation, Alvaro contrived to make his escape to the continent, where he set on foot a petty traffic which succeeded wonderfully. It consisted in carrying into the interior, shells, marine plants, and other productions of the sea, for which he brought in exchange, hides, red ochre for the savage toilet, flints for arrow heads, and cane for arrows. The perpetual hos tility of the natives among themselves caused them to stand much in need of a foreign and neutral hand to carry on these transactions. Alvaro, in his capacity of merchant, was therefore well treated by the savages. He spent several years in this manner, and at length re gained sufficient confidence in his undertaking to plan a scheme for penetrating to Mexico and the South Sea. Two of his officers, Andre Dorante and Alonzo de Castiglio, accompanied him on this desperate adventure. They journeyed westward into the country, and found the inhabitants barbarous and poor, without any of the gold which they so greedily coveted. At one place the Indians made prisoners of the Spaniards and kept them for slaves, oppress ing them with hard labor and nearly starving them. After some time, they made their escape and pursued their journey to the west. In their progress through the country they gave themselves out for the " Children of the Sun ;" which title, with their skill in medi cine, gained them a favorable reception, and they travelled from tribe to tribe, guided, venerated and protected. They passed first a large river coming from the north, which was probably the Mississippi ; then, travelling thirty leagues over a populous plain, they came to a rugged, arid and dreary tract, fifty leagues in extent, being the desert which now separates the United States from the Texan and Mexican territory. In this route they suffered severely from thirst and hunger; but it was still worse when, having crossed another broad river, the Rio del Norte, they came to a range of desert, steep and barren moun tains the continuation of the Cordilleras, passing into the chain of the Rocky Mountains. Here the Indian guides, overcome 312 THE UNITED STATES. by fatigue and hunger, lay down, and declared it impossible to proceed. Alvaro, impelled to resentment, used high words and threats, to which they at last yielded. Soon after, a severe malady attacked and carried off eight of the Indians, when the poor creatures, imagining that the anger of Alvaro had induced him to employ magical powers to produce this effect, implored on their knees that he would forgive them, and cease to slay them in this terrible manner. At length they met a party of Indians who had a little maize, the sight of which was like that of land to a storm- tossed mariner. They followed them to their village ; but learned that the maize was not cultivated in this high and arid tract, though, in proceeding westward, they would soon arrive at a fer tile country on the seacoast. Alvaro began now to inquire about the Christians, when he was informed that in the southwest was a wicked people of that name, who plundered and murdered all that fell in their way, and never were known to do a good action. He was carefully warned to avoid all communication with them. Alvaro found ample proofs of the correctness of this report, as he proceeded over a large plain, Which the ravages of the Spaniards had reduced almost to a complete desert. Continuing to insist upon proceeding to meet the Christians, his guides re luctantly accompanied him ; but nothing could equal their aston ishment when told that Alvaro was himself a Christian. This they declared to be utterly impossible, since everything was con trary in the two parties. The one came from the east, the other from the west; the one were naked and on foot, the other were clothed and on horseback ; the one healed those who were sick, the other killed those who were well ; the one showed no signs of avarice, while the other seemed to have no object in life, but to steal whatever they could reach. Alvaro and his party fully justified this bad character given of their countrymen. On his arrival at the Spanish settlements, Alvaro had much difficulty to prevent the Spaniards from making prisoners of the poor Indians who had served as his guides. This, and the opinion which he frankly expressed of their own conduct, inflamed them with such resentment, that his countrymen made him a prisoner, and sent him over a range of mountains so desolate and rugged that two of the party -perished on the road. On his arrival, however, at Compostella, the capital of New Galicia, he was very cour teously received, and much displeasure was expressed by the gov ernor at the conduct of the frontier Spaniards. At Mexico his reception was still more cordial, and he found his long journey and sufferings at an end. CHAPTER XXXIII. Expedition of Fernando de Soto. Enmity of the Floridians. Cruelties of the Spaniards. Arrival at Vitachuco.Plot to exterminate the Spaniards detec ted. Battle of Vitachuco and defeat of the Indians. The Spaniards make slaves of the natives. A second plot of the Indians. The Spaniards massacre their slaves. They reach Apalachen. Adventure of Capafi. Prospects of gold. The Spaniards march westward. Courtesy of a Floridian princess. Singular behavior of a native. Indian princess in a barge. FERNANDO DE SOTO was the next adventurer in Florida. He had been a companion of Pizarro in the conquest of Peru, and was seized with a desire to rival Cortez in glory, and Pizarro in wealth. He made a proposal to Charles V. to conquer Florida at his own cost; the offer was accepted, and Soto was appointed governor of Cuba, with absolute power over that unlimited extent of country which then bore the name of Florida. The expedi tion seemed a brilliant and promising one. The Spaniards looked for another conquest as rich as that of Peru. Noblemen and wealthy proprietors were eager to embark in the enterprise; 27 N 2 314 THE UNITED STATES. houses and lands were sold to purchase military equipments, chains for captives, and other instruments for the subjugation ot a people, who were believed to possess immense stores of gold. Six hundred men, selected from a multitude of applicants, enlisted under the banner of Soto, and sailed in May, 1539, from Cuba. They landed, a fortnight after, at the bay of Espiritu Santo, in Florida. The Spaniards were well equipped for the undertaking. They had nearly three hundred cavalry, abundance of stores, blood hounds, and a drove of swine, which would rapidly increase in that favorable climate, and afford them an unfailing supply of provision. They first marched against the town of Hirriga, gov erned, like all the Floridian states, by a cacique named after the capital. Soto had humane intentions, but the Indians held the Spanish character in detestation, and could not understand the justice of the papal grant, by virtue of which the invaders de manded the surrender of their country to the king of Spain. The former sovereign of Hirriga had his nose cut off, and his mother murdered by the Spaniards. It is not surprising, therefore, that Soto found himself an unwelcome visitor. His offers of alliance were received by Hirriga, with the reply that the heads of the Spaniards would be welcome, but not their bodies. Foiled in this attempt, Soto advanced upon the city of Urribaracaxi, which he found abandoned by the inhabitants. They next marched to another city, called Acuera, from which they were repelled ; they now turned their course into the country of Acali, which they found free from the dangerous marshes that had so much incommoded them heretofore. Here they were received with an appearance of friendship ; but as they were constructing a bridge to cross a wide river, hundreds of Indians started up from the bushes, discharging clouds of arrows, and calling them base robbers and other insult ing names. They escaped, however, without any other loss than that of a favorite dog. The Spaniards next marched into the province of Vitachuco, which, contrary to the usual custom in Florida, was divided among three brothers. Ochile, the youngest, was surprised in his capital by the Spaniards, and taken prisoner ; upon which he either was or Appeared to be gained over, and undertook to plead, the cause of the Spaniards with his eldest brotherJSvho was much the most powerful, and bore the name of Vitachuco. He seiit to acquaint him that these strangers were ascertained to be children of the sun and of the moon, and rode on animals so swift, that nothing could escape them ; that they behaved in the most friendly manner towards those who received them well, but committed the ADVENTURES OF DE SOTO IN FLORIDA. 315 most dreadful havoc where they experienced contrary treatment. He earnestly exhorted him, therefore, to take the more prudent part. Vitachuco answered, in the most disdainful terms, that the solar and lunar descent of the Spaniards was a ridiculous fable ; that whatever outward appearance they might assume, doubtless they wore, like all the rest of their countrymen, traitors, murder ers, robbers, and children of the devil; that, if they were the honest men they pretended to be, they would stay at home and cultivate their own soil, instead of coming into distant climates to expose themselves, by their robberies, to the execrat ion of mankind. He afterwards sent messages to the Spaniards, filled with the most violent and indeed chimerical menaces. He told them that if they entered his country, he would command the earth to open and swallow them up ; the mountains between which they marched, to unite and crush them ; he would poison the water, the plants, and the very air. When, however, he saw the Spaniards continuing to advance, and learned from various quarters how very formidable they were, he assumed a different tone. He went to meet Soto, and made many apologies. His only anxiety now was, how he could do him the greatest honor. He tendered his own submission and that of his subjects, and wished to learn what quantity he would require of provisions, and of everything useful to him that his territory afforded. Soto received his sub mission in the most gracious manner, and professed his entire oblivion of the past. But the hatred of Vitachuco was still as deep and deadly as ever, and all this courteous seeming was only to cover a plot. The prince led the Spaniards to his town, and provided the best accommodation it could afford. At the same time, as if to do them honor, he summoned his warriors from every part of his territory, and appointed a day in which they were to be drawn up and exhibited in full array. He then disclosed to a number of his chiefs, that, on a signal given, they should fall suddenly on the Spaniards, and exterminate them at one blow. They ap plauded the scheme, and declared their eagerness to sacrifice themselves, if necessary, in so glorious an undertaking. One of them, however, communicated the fatal design to the Spaniards, Soto resolved to dissemble, and to turn the plot of the Indians against themselves. He expressed the pleasure it would give him to see the Indian pageant, and added that in order to heighten the pomp of so great a day, he would also bring out his own Spaniards in full armor and in order of battle. Vitachuco would gladly have dispensed with this honor ; but he had no pretence 316 THE UNITED STATES. for refusing ; and, not aware that all was discovered, hoped still to effect his object by surprise. On the appointed day, the Indians appeared, drawn up on a plain in front of the town, having a wood on one side, and a range of marshes on the other. The Spanish troops marched out of the town, Soto and Vitachuco marching together at their head. As they approached the spot where Soto was to have been seized, a musket was fired, at which signal, twelve Spanish soldiers sur rounded the cacique, and made him prisoner. The Indian army seeing this, raised a loud shout and rushed on to battle. Soto mounted his favorite horse, Azeituno, and with a too daring valor, which was usual with him, rushed foremost upon the enemy. The Indians met. him with a shower of arrows, aimed particu larly at Azeituno ; and that gallant steed, which had so often borne its rider to victory, was pierced with eight arrows, and fell down dead. Soto fell with him, and was in imminent danger ; but the Spanish cavalry instantly rushed on and charged the enemy. The loose infantry of the Indians were broken, dis persed and scattered in every direction. Some hundreds, the flower of the army, who had been placed in the rear, could escape only by throwing themselves into a lake. The Spaniards occu pied all the shores, but the Indians continued floating in the water, and obstinately refused to surrender. They even locked themselves three or four together, on the backs of whom one stood and discharged arrows as long as they had any remaining. They waited anxiously for night, hoping in the dark to effect a landing and escape into the woods. The Spaniards, however, invested the lake six deep, and effectually opposed every attempt to land. In the morning the Indians were in a miserable state, half dead with cold and fatigue ; yet they still turned a deaf ear to the urgent invitations of the Spaniards, who assured them of safety and good treatment if they would surrender. At length, a few, quite over- eoirte, approached the shore ; but the greater part, after touching it, again plunged into the water. When it was seen, however, that the few who landed were kindly received, others followed. By mid-day two hundred had surrendered, and in the evening there remained floating only seven, who seemed determined to perish in the water rathef -than yield. Soto hereupon sent out half a dozen of his best swimmers, who seized them by the ha"ir and pulled them on shore. After they had recovered from their almost life less state, they were asked what could lead them to persevere in so obstinate a resistance. They replied that having been invested by their master with the highest commands, they considered themselves bound to answer such confidence by sacrificing them- ADVENTURES OF DE SOTO IN FLORIDA. 317 selves in his cause. They felt themselves dishonored in having been spared by the clemency of Soto, and it would be an additional kindness if he would put them to death. The high loyalty and courage breathed in these sentiments were congenial to the ideas of the Spaniards, who even shed tears of admiration; and the seven, with general consent, were left at liberty to go to their homes. Soto at the same time used every effort to gain over Vitachuco. He admitted him again to his table, and assured him that however dreadful his conduct had been, the memory of it would be entirely effaced, provided he now acted up to his former professions of fidelity. Soto had thus far followed the course most likely to conciliate the Indians. This plan, however, having been adopted, it ought to have been followed consistently. But the Spanish commander, unfortunately, began to think that some penalty was necessary to deter other Indians from imitating the example of Vitachuco ; and the plan he devised was the most injudicious that can be con ceived. He caused his prisoners to be distributed among the Spaniards, whom they were to serve as slaves during their stay in the city. These proud chiefs and warriors were thus compelled to act as cooks and scullions, and to perform all the most menial offices. Soto, it is said, meant to set them at liberty at his depart ure, which was to take place soon ; but he did not communicate this intention to Vitachuco, to whom it appeared that his bravest subjects were thus doomed to hopeless and humiliating bondage. That fierce thirst for revenge which had been lulled in the breast of this savage chieftain was awakened anew in all its force. The Indians were disarmed, but they were at large, and in their domesticated state had the Spaniards within their power. It appeared to Vitachuco that if each Indian killed his master, the detested race would be at once extinct. The plan was embraced with ardor, and the secret faithfully kept. Three o'clock, while he was at dinner, was the time fixed by Vitachuco for executing his purpose. At this moment he threw back his shoulders, cracking his bones in a manner peculiar to the Indians, and uttering a shout so loud, that it could be heard at the distance of a quarter of a mile; he then sprang up, and seizing the general by the arm, dealt such a blow, that Soto fell senseless to the ground, and the blood gushed from his mouth. The hand of the Indian was lifted to strike another stroke, which would have closed forever the career of Soto ; but the Spanish chiefs, starting from the table, darted at once upon the cacique, who fell, pierced by twelve wounds. Meantime all the Indians had heard the loud cry, and, starting up, seized such weapons as their servile employment 27* 318 THE UNITED STATES. afforded, spits, pots, platters and chairs, and struck them with fury against the Spaniards. Two or three men were killed on the spot; almost all the rest received wounds. They soon rallied, however, and took to their arms ; but much embarrassment was felt by many, who held it beneath their dignity to kill their own slaves. All they would deign to do was to drag them to the great square, to be despatched by the arrows of auxiliary Indians ; but many of the prisoners shook themselves free, throwing down and trampling upon their masters. However, at last nearly all per ished, with little loss on the part of the Spaniards. After this dismal and bloody catastrophe, the Spaniards could have little satisfaction in remaining at this place. They merely spent four days, in dressing their wounds, and then set forward for Apalachen, which still bore, in their estimation, somewhat of that brilliant character which had lured Narvaez onward. Their march lay through the province of Ossachile, where they found, as usual, the capital deserted and the Indians watching every opportunity to harass and cut them off. Nothing serious occurred, till they arrived at the marsh or lagoon in which the army of Narvaez had suffered so dreadfully. The Indians were pre pared for them, and had occupied every post from which they could be conveniently annoyed. The Spaniards, like their pre decessors, found the marsh deep, and difficult to pass. It cost them two days to effect the passage ; but being continually on the watch, and passing the most difficult parts in the night, unper- ceived by the enemy, they worked their way across without any very serious loss. They had still to fight every step of their way to Apalachen, the Indians constantly hovering round them, and keeping up such a perpetual howling, that the Spaniards could scarcely obtain a moment's sleep. It was announced to them that at Apalachen they would find a formidable force prepared to resist them ; but on their arrival the city was abandoned, the cacique, Capafi, having retreated into the mountains. Soto sent parties in many directions to explore the country beyond Apalachen, when it was found only in one quarter to be of that rugged and mountainous character which had been reported to Narvaez. The other districts were tolerably productive in millet, roots and nuts ; so that, finding no lack of provisions, he deter mined to take up here his winter quarters. The Indian's, however, continued their harassing warfare. Soto resolved upon a despe rate effort to terminate it, by seizing their prince. Capafi had sought refuge in the heart of a thick forest, on a spot accessible only by a narrow defile which the Indians had fortified by pali sades, and considered almost impregnable. The Spaniards, how- DE SOTO IN FLORIDA. 319 ever, pulled up the stakes, cut the cords, and soon forced their way through the successive barriers to the retreat of Capafi. The chosen troops, and all the principal chiefs of the Indians rallied round their cacique in this utmost peril, but could not withstand the superior arms and discipline of the assailants. It was in vain to attempt removing the prince, who was so excessively corpulent that his only mode of locomotion was by creeping on all fours, a process much too slow for this exigency. His chiefs were there- fore obliged to produce him to Soto, at the same time falling on their knees, and entreating him rather to take their lives than do the smallest injury to their beloved monarch. The Spaniards were so moved by this loyalty, that Soto received the captive prince with courtesy, and his weighty person was respectfully conveyed to the capital. Soto, however, was much disappointed to find that the hostil ities of the Indians, instead of ceasing, became only more active and formidable. They were impelled to redoubled efforts, in hopes of effecting the deliverance of their chief. Capafi, at the urgent request of Soto, sent repeated orders to them to desist, but without effect. As the general complained heavily upon this subject, and hinted his doubts of the cacique's sincerity, the latter observed that his chiefs, considering him in a state of captivity, regarded the orders sent by him as not emanating from his own free will, but dictated by the Spaniards. If, however, an arrangement were made by which he might have an interview with his principal officers, he was confident of being able to persuade them of his sincere wish for peace, and to make them to desist from their pres ent courses. This was rather a delicate transaction ; however, Soto seeing no hope from any other course, at length agreed upon the trial. An appointment was made with the principal chiefs to assemble in a forest six miles from Apalachen ; and the prince was sent thither under a strong guard. They arrived in the evening on the borders of the forest, and messengers were sent to he chiefs, by whom a meeting was arranged for the following y. During the night, the Spaniards formed a close circle round the cacique and stationed sentinels at every point to prevent all possibility of escape. They hailed, therefore, the dawn of morn ing, under the full confidence of a happy issue to their mission. To their utter dismay the cacique was not to be found, and tidings soon arrived that the Indians were carrying him off in triumph. The Spaniards returned very disconsolate to Apalachen, and reported to Soto that the watch had been so strictly kept as to leave no possibility whatever of Capafi having escaped by human means. It was, therefore, beyond a doubt that the devil, or one 320 THE UNITED STATES. of those mighty magicians with whom the Indians have such extensive dealings, must have wafted his ponderous body through the air. Soto, on strict inquiry, saw much reason to conclude, that Morpheus, shedding his heavy dews on the wearied eyelids of the Spaniards, had been the power, under favor of whom Capafi had crept out of the circle. However, the misfortune could not now be remedied ; and these being his chosen and trusty chiefs, he did not choose to quarrel with them, but was fain to acquiesce in the supernatural solution of the affair. Some time was now spent in making inquiries, and at length the ears of the Spaniards were greeted with the most alluring tales of a yellow metal and a white metal which abounded in the west. No doubt was now entertained that another Peru was within their reach. They continued their march. A cacique, named Patofa, gave them a most unnecessary and indeed cum brous escort of three or four thousand men ; to which, it appears, he was prompted by hostile views against a neighboring power, in which he erroneously hoped that the Spaniards would assist him. Such zeal did he display in their service, that, on their com plaining of an Indian who had neglected his duty, he condemned him to drink up the nearest river. To execute this task, four of the stoutest Indians were provided with rods, to beat him lustily whenever he made a moment's pause in drinking. The luckless fellow drank and drank, till his stomach could receive no more ; then being compelled to pause, the blows began to descend with out intermission, and he was forced to fly back to the pool, till some of the bystanders, moved with pity, ran to Soto, and per suaded him to save the man's life. The Spaniards then set forth with their cumbrous escort, and proceeded for six days through a desert ; during which, however, they were copiously supplied with provisions. At the end of that period, the Indians declared themselves unable to tell where they were, or whither the road led. Soto appealed to Patofa, whether this was not a suspicious circumstance, and whether he could expect him to believe that, of so great a crowd, not one had ever been led, by war or hunting, into this quarter. The prince, however, solemnly asserted that this was the territory of their enemies, the Cofaciquis, by whom they were generally beaten. The two parties, therefore, continued to proceed till they came to a broad river, which they had no possible means of crossing. The diffi culty was much aggravated by the failure of their provisions. Parties were despatched both up and down the river, in search of a passage, but for five days without success. During that time, they suffered the greatest extremities of hunger, which they were DE SOTO IN FLORIDA obliged to palliate by killing a number of their favorite dogs ; and even these scarcely afforded a mouthful to each. At length they found some villages, where they obtained a supply of food ; but the Indians, indulging their old enmity, and encouraged by the presence of their Spanish allies, began plundering and murdeiiug on all sides. This was quite contrary to all the views of Soto; and the presence of these Indians being thus every way useless and burdensome, he was happy in being able to prevail on them, in a friendly manner, to go {iome. After some further travelling, the Spanish general was fortunate enough to discover, on the opposite side of the river, the city of which he was in quest. Ortiz and an Indian cried out across the stream, that some peaceably disposed strangers wished to treat of an alliance with their cacique. Hereupon, six of the most re spectable inhabitants, with their attendants, entered into a boat and passed the river. On being introduced to the general, they bowed first to the sun in the east, then to the moon in the west, and, lastly, to the general, to whom they put the usual question, whether he wished peace or war ? Soto replied, peace, with the addition of a passage over the river, and through the country, and a needful supply of food. It was with regret that he sought to give them this trouble, but he hoped to be able to make some suitable return. The Indians replied, that there would be every disposition to grant his request ; but, unfortunately, the country labored under a severe scarcity, and was also suffering from a pestilential disease ; but they served an amiable and gentle prin cess, to whom the whole matter should be reported. The Indians returned to the city, and, soon after, an ornamented barge was seen putting off from the shore, with another attending it ; and, in the first, an elegant female, who, it was soon perceived, must be the princess herself. She arrived, and quite enchanted the Spaniards by her beauty, her grace, and the courtesy of her demeanor. She assured Soto, that, notwithstanding the reigning scarcity, she had provided two large houses for the accommodation of his people, and had lodged in them six hundred measures of millet; besides, she possessed granaries, out of which, if necessary, a larger supply could be drawn. She then untied a string of large pearls, which formed three circles round her neck, reaching even to her girdle, and gave them to Ortiz to deliver to the general. Soto observed, how much greater pleasure it would give him, if she would present it with her own hand, which, as a sign of peace, could not be con sidered an offence against the nicest decorum. After some modest reluctance, the princess advanced and complied with this request, The Spaniards found themselves more at home here than in any 322 THE UNITED STATES. of the friendly countries through which they had lately passed. Though in former cases the natives had shown amity, it had been in a rough, constrained, half-reluctant manner; but there was something free and cordial among the Indians of Cofaciqui, which made them feel at once like old acquaintances. No time was lost }ri preparing boats and rafts, and the army passed over in safety. On inquiring into the state of the country, Soto learned that the princess had a mother, who held a sort of independent establish ment at twenty leagues distance. He expressed a wish to see the old lady, who was accordingly invited ; but, instead of comply ing, she transmitted a sharp reprimand to her daughter, for having admitted into her capital, strangers of whom she knew nothing. The young princess was so little affected by this re monstrance, that she concurred in a plan devised by Soto, to send a detachment and bring the mother by force. A young chief, with some servants, was sent with the Spaniards as their guide. This chief, who had hitherto been one of their most agreeable friends, was no sooner on the road, than, to their surprise, he sunk into a gloomy reverie, and heavy sighs every moment burst from him. At length, taking his quiver, he began drawing out all the arrows, which were so beautiful that the attention of the Spaniards was engrossed in admiring them, when he took one of the sharpest, pierced his own heart, and instantly expired. His attendants .burst into tears, and said that this chief, being equally attached to both princesses, the present necessity of failing in duty to one or the other of them, had agitated his mind, and impelled him to this fatal deed. They proceeded, however, to search for the old lady, but found that she had deserted her home ; and the Indians represented that, in attempting to follow her, they might be surrounded and cut to pieces. The Spaniards therefore re turned. CHAPTER XXXIV. Disappointment of the Spaniards in their search for gold. Temples of pearls. Discovery of Mobile. Reception of the Spaniards by the natives. Battle of Mobile and destruction of the town* Courage of the Indian women. The Span iards cross the Mississippi. Adventure ofReinoso. Death of Soto. Despon dency of his men. They march for Mexico. Conspiracy of the Indians against them. Their fleets of war-canoes. The Spaniards escape down the Mississippi. Great extent of their researches. Fruitless result of all the Spanish expeditions in Florida. Temple of Tolomeco. MEANTIME, anxious inquiries were made about the productions of this country, and particularly the white and yellow metals before mentioned. The princess answered that they were abun dant, and specimens were quickly produced. That instant dis pelled all the brilliant dreams, under the influence of which the Spaniards had undertaken this long and hazardous expedition. The yellow metal proved to be brass or copper ; the white metal was nothing but a stone, like quartz, which crumbled in the hatd. Under this mortifying disappointment their only consolation was found in pearls, which were found here in abundance, though 324 THE UNITED STATES. they could not form any judgment as to their value. The princess told them they might take as many as they pleased out of a large temple, which seemed also to be the cemetery of her ancestors, and which was lavishly adorned with them. This fact, which is positively asserted in the Spanish narratives, cannot but appear very singular, when contrasted with that reverence for ancestry which usually distinguishes nations in this stage of society. This and another temple were found in reality to contain pearls suf ficient to have loaded the whole army, an abundance which of itself afforded a pretty strong presumption that they were of small value. The other temple was that of Tolomeco, the most spa cious edifice in Florida. It was a hundred paces long, by forty broad, the roof formed by six mats placed over each other, and brilliantly adorned with shells and pearls. The gate was orna mented with twelve statues of giants in full armor, and all round the interior of the walls were ranged statues of men and women of the ordinary size, the men completely armed. The intendants of the Spanish monarch were proceeding to levy his fifth upon the pearls and other precious articles found in the temple, a measure which was stopped by Soto, on the pretence that they could not encumber themselves with such a burden, but doubtless from a well-grounded fear of provoking the hostility of the natives. The Spaniards proceeded on to Mauvila (Mobile,) a frontier town strongly palisaded, and consisting indeed of only eighty houses, but each of these divided into various apartments, and containing numerous families. Soto, it is said," was advised by one of his officers not to enter the place ; but he thought his men stood in need of the shelter of a roof. On their arrival they were entertained with every show of rejoicing ; their horses were sent to a commodious place without the city, and they were regaled with the dances of some beautiful Indian females, who, in Florida, peculiarly excelled in this exercise. Quedrado, however, who had been directed to reconnoitre the place, brought a very alarm ing report, that the houses were filled with armed warriors, collected from different parts of the country, that all the children and women had been removed, except those who were young and "fit for the battle." Soto, however, determined to avoid any overt act which. might excite or indicate hostility, and merely sent round a warning to all his men to be on their guard. Dinner being ready, notice was sent to Tascaluca, who usually sat down with the Spaniards ; but he was deeply engaged in council with his chiefs, and sent for answer, that he would come presently. An interval having passed, a second notice was sent, which brought a similar answer; but as he did not come, Ortiz was DE SOTO IN FLORIDA. 325 despatched to say that the dinner was on the table, and that he might come or not, as he chose. This message was received by a chief who came out of the council, and who replied, " Base robbers, is it thus you speak of the great Tascaluca?" He fol lowed up this speech by giving the signal for a general attack. All the Indians rushed forth, and fell in one mass upon the Span iards. who retreated with their faces turned towards the enemy, yet hardly maintaining their ranks amid clouds of arrows, which killed several and wounded many. The Indians pursued them beyond the walls, and succeeded in killing several horses, and taking a considerable booty. When the Spaniards, however, reached their horses they mounted and formed in order of battle. The undisciplined natives could not withstand their shock, but were driven back, and sought refuge within the walls. There, being placed under cover, they sent forth such clouds of arrows and missiles, that the Spaniards were driven back in their turn. By a repetition of feigned flights, they drew the enemy out of their shelter, and gave them a succession of defeats. When the Indians were thus considerably weakened, and a Spanish division, which was in the rear, had come up, Soto mus tered his strength, and determined to storm the place. He caused the cavalry, as the best armed, to dismount, buckle their armor close round them, and stooping their heads, to rush forwards and force open the gate. They succeeded, and entered; at the same time the foot soldiers broke down a part of the parapet, and rushed in along with them. The Spaniards were soon masters of all the streets and open places ; but the enemy, from the houses, annoyed them to such a degree, that they at length resolved on the dreadful expedient of setting fire to the place. The effect was immediate in a town built only of reeds and timber ; in a few minutes both armies were involved in vast volumes of flame and smoke. Many Indians, especially females, perished amid the flames, presenting a spectacle which, it is said, deeply affected the conquerors. A number of the Indians rushed out and endeav ored to renew the combat in the fields, but without success. In the last extremity, they now called on their females to come for ward. A number of these heroines had not waited the call, but fought side by side with their husbands ; and now at the general summons they rushed forth in one body against the Spanish troops. The latter felt their Castilian gallantry revolt against this species of combat ; they merely, it is said, warded off the blows of their fair assailants, whose fury soon evaporated, and by sunset the whole force of the Indians was put to rout. Thus closed the dreadful battle of Mauvila. The Indians who fell are stated 28 326 THE UNITED STATES. by Vega at eleven thousand, but by the more probable estimate of a Portuguese narrator, at twenty-five thousand. The number of the Spaniards killed on the spot was only eighteen ; but of the wounds, upwards of seven hundred were dangerous, besides num berless slight injuries, which scarcely any one had escaped. Soto, proceeding still northwest and into the interior, passed without much molestation through the territory of the Chickasaws, crossed the Mississippi and traversed the provinces of Colima and Quigante. But when he came to Tulla, a more fierce resistance was experienced than from any former nation. This arose chiefly from the female warriors, who fought side by side with their hus bands, and rivalled them in valor. After a hard contest they were driven into the town, where they still continued the battle. Reinoso, one of 'the Spanish officers, having mounted into an upper chamber, five Indian ladies rushed upon him, seized him by the legs and arms, and began beating him with all their might. Reinoso, though his men were below, deemed it unbecoming a soldier to call out for aid against such assailants; yet he was wholly unable to resist, and the blows .descended with such force and rapidity, that he could not long have survived. Luckily, in the struggle, his leg forced its way through the thin wicker parti tion which formed the floor, and appeared to a Spaniard who was in the room below, and who, thinking this an odd adventure, and that it had much the appearance of a Spanish leg, called two or three of his companions, and running up, delivered Reinoso out of the hands of the Amazons. Juan Serrano, having obtained possession of one of these heroines, endeavored to employ her as a domestic servant ; but she was continually calling upon him, either to kill her, or to set her at liberty, and throwing at him pots and pans, so that he was not sorry at last when she made her escape. Soto began now seriously to consider the situation into which he had brought himself. He had plunged again deep into Florida, without any favorable result. He was continuing to go onward, he knew not where or why, with an army gradually mouldering away. He became sensible that the plan which he had rashly abandoned, of building and fortifying a town on the sea-coast, and opening a communication with Havana and Mexico, was the only one which afforded a promise of any solid establishment. He was now, however, so distant from the coast, that he doubted being able, with his reduced force, to make his way thither through so many nations. He determined to march direct to Chucagua. build there his town, and construct two brigantines, which might sail down the stream into the Gulf of Mexico. The Spaniards, DE SOTO IN FLORIDA. 327 then retracing their steps, marched rapidly, viewing the interme diate countries only as a passage, and avoiding all intercourse with the natives ; so that they effected a march of nearly three hundred miles in a short time. They were involved in some dis putes between the states of Avilca and Guachoia ; but So to was hoping to effect his objects in the course of the winter, when a disease, of which the foundation had probably been laid by his labors and anxieties, carried him off after an illness of seven days. Soto seems to have merited a more fortunate close to his adven turous career. The Portuguese narrator calls him virtuous and valiant. He was imbued, indeed, with the same unjust and tyran nical principles which actuated the other conquerors of America, and which were sanctioned in their eyes by false principles, both of loyalty and religion; but he tempered these principles with singular humanity, and combined daring valor with much pru dence and discretion. Had the plan of settling Florida not been frustrated by the fierce valor of the natives, it might have been effected under better auspices than the other and more splendid conquests and establishments of the Spanish nation. On the death of Soto a deep and general despondency seized the expedition. After a short deliberation, it was resolved to follow out the design, on which their hearts had long been fixed, of renouncing Florida forever, and making their way by the most direct course to Mexico. Their first project was to proceed directly across the continent. This they hoped to effect by marching due west, turning neither to the right nor the left ; and in this way they made a hundred leagues at full speed, never inquiring what countries they Were going through, or holding any communication with the inhabitants. By this blind advance, however, they found themselves entangled in wild and dreary forests, and saw before them a chain of rugged and trackless mountains. These were probably a branch of the Cordilleras, which they might have avoided by a slight detour ; but they were discouraged, and deter mined to hasten back to the Chucagua, and there construct a flotilla which might convey them to Mexico. They suffered much on the road, by the scarcity of provisions, the severe cold, and the incessant hostility of the natives. On reaching the Missis sippi, they seized on Aminoia, a considerable place, composed of two contiguous towns. The natives did not willingly admit them, but were driven out after a short resistance. As soon as the troops were refreshed from their fatigues, and the rigor of the winter was over, Moscosco, who had succeeded to the command, applied with the utmost vigor to the building of seven brigantines, which were judged sufficient to embark the 328 THE UNITED STATES. remaining troops. They now learned that a general confederacy had been formed among the neighboring tribes for their destruc tion. An envoy from one of the caciques privately assured the Indian female captives that they would soon be delivered from the odious yoke of the strangers, whose heads, stuck on lances, would adorn the porches of the temples, while their bodies, suspended from the tops of the trees, would become the prey of the birds. These fair prisoners, moved either by pity or a tenderer sentiment, gave notice of the danger. Fortunately for the Spaniards, this design was checked by an inundation of the river, which converted all the surrounding plain into a sea, and made the streets of Ami- noia, passable only in canoes. They were thus enabled, by the end of July, 1543, to complete their brigantines ; but the enemy now determined to' attack them in their passage down the river. For this purpose they had provided nearly a thousand war canoes, larger than those in the rest of Florida. They were variously adorned with brilliant colors, blue, yellow, red and green ; but each canoe with the oars, and even the arrows and plumes of the boatmen, were all of one color. It was discovered from the inter preter that the Indians spoke with contempt of the cowards who were flying before them in vain, but who had escaped being the prey of the dogs on land, only to be devoured by the river mon sters. Accordingly the voyage down for ten days was one con tinued battle, in which the Spaniards were obliged to remain strictly on the defensive, being now less than five hundred in number and with their ammunition nearly exhausted. Every one of them, notwithstanding his armor, was more or less wounded, and all their horses were killed except eight. Having got the start of the enemy by about a league, they landed at a village for provisions ; but were so closely followed that they were obliged to abandon their horses, and saw miserably perish this remnant of the three hundred and fifty noble steeds with which they had landed in Florida, and which had been the main instrument of their victories. Soon after, the Indians, by a feigned relaxation in the pursuit, induced three barks with fifty-two men, rashly to separate from the rest, when they were suddenly surprised and overwhelm ed, the whole being killed or drowned, with the exception of four. They continued to/ follow the Spaniards during that day and the fol lowing night ; but next morning, when they saw the*sunrise, they raised loud shouts, and sounded all their instruments in thanks giving to that great luminary, for the victory he had grafted. They then desisted from the pursuit, which had been continued without intermission for four hundred leagues. Moscosco, with THE SPANIARDS IN FLORIDA. 329 all that remained of his troops reached the ocean without farther difficulty. The Portuguese narrator has given an estimate of the Spanish marches, which makes them amount, in all, to above five thousand miles. This is certainly extravagant ; yet they were very exten sive, including, in various directions, the whole of Florida and Georgia, and even touching Carolina. Nothing, howe^v er, can be more misplaced than the title of "Conquest of Florida," which Spanish pride has not scrupled to affix to the narrative. With the exception of the deep track of blood with which their steps were almost everywhere marked, the Spaniards left Florida, as they had found it, in full possession of the native tribes. It was not till the year 1565, that any permanent settlement was made by the Spaniards in Florida. In that year Pedro Melendez was sent on an expedition for the colonization of the country, and founded the city of St. Augustine. The French, in the meantime, had formed settlements in Carolina, and bloody contests ensued between the two nations, which ended in the total extirpation of the French. The subjugation of the native Floridians, however, has hardly been accomplished even at the present day. C HAPTER XXXV. VIRGINIA. Discovery of the United States by John and Sebastian Cabot. Voyage of Verazzani. First attempts of the English to settle North America. Unsuc cessful expedition of Sir Humphrey Gilbert. Voyage of Amidas and Barlow. Sir Walter Raleigh's first endeavors at the settlement of Virginia. Disastrous fate of the early adventurers. First attempt of the English to settle North America. HENRY VII., of England, narrowly missed the glory of attach ing to his name and that of his country the discovery of the Western World. But though he had lost the chief prize, he showed a disposition to encourage those who embarked in these nove. and brilliant adventures. A serious offer was soon made to him from a respectable quarter. Such are the strange vicissi tudes of human destiny, that the English, who, with their descend ants, were to become the greatest maritime peopleMn the world, ventured not then to undertake distant voyages, except under the guidance of Italians, a people whose vessels are now hardly ever seen out of the Mediterranean. Finding encouragement, how ever, from the rising spirit of the English nation, a Venetian mariner, named Giovanni Gabotto, whose descendants, under the DISCOVERIES OF THE CABOTS. 331 name of Cabot, now live in New England, came over with his three sons to settle in England. He presented a plan to Henry, for a western voyage of discovery. It met with the approbation of the king, and Cabot set sail for the west. On the 24th of June, 1497, he saw land, which he named Prima Vista. This was Newfoundland. He then sailed along a considerable extent of coast north and south, when, rinding the whole to be a continent with no opening to the westward, he re turned to England. This was the first discovery of the continent of America ; for it was not till the following year that Columbus saw the main land of South America, where the Orinoco pours its vast flood into the ocean. It is remarkable, and seems to indicate a very supine state of feeling upon these subjects, that while the Spanish discoverers found such numerous historians, not a single narrative should exist of the memorable voyage of Cabot. Thf- most authentic account is contained in a writing made on a map drawn by Cabot's son, Sebastian. It is very brief, and merely states the discovery of Newfoundland and the appearance of the country. The natives were clothed in the skins of wild beasts. In war they used bows, arrows, darts, wooden clubs and slings. The land was barren and bore no fruit ; while bears and stags of an enormous size roamed in great numbers over it. Fish were plenty ; among them were sea- wolves, salmon, and soles a yard long. But above all, there was a great abundance of the fish called bacalaos, or cod. One more meagre testimony is contained in the chronicle of Fabyan, who saw three natives brought over by the Cabots from Newfoundland. " These were clothed in beasts' skins, and did eat raw flesh, and spake such speech that no man could understand them." Two years after, he saw them dressed like Englishmen in Westminster palace, " which that time I could not discern from Englishmen, till I was learned what they were ; but as for speech, I heard none of them utter one word." Such are all the records which England has seen fit to preserve of this her earliest and one of her most illustrious naval exploits. John Cabot soon died, anol Sebastian, the most intelligent of his sons, not finding sufficient encouragement in England, repaired to Spain, where the ardor for discovery still continued. He was readily received into service, and despatched by the king to the coast of Brazil, where he discovered the Rio de la Plata. He became the most eminent person of his age for nautical science, and obtained the distin guished title of Piloto Mayor of Spain. On the accession of Edward VI., when the English nation caught at last the full enthusiasm of maritime adventure, Sebas tian Cabot was invited back to England, and made Grand Pilot 332 THE UNITED STATES. of the kingdom. Whether he made a second voyage to America is uncertain ; but he formed the plan and drew up instructions for the expedition sent under Sir Hugh Willoughby and Chancellor, to attempt the discovery of India by the northeast. In 1500, the Portuguese, under Cortereal, visited Newfoundland and Labrador, but made no settlement. The earliest voyage along the coast of North America, of which we have any detailed account, is that of John Verazzani, a Flor entine, who, under the patronage of Francis I. of France, sailed in 1524, to discover lands in the west. He appears to have touched first at Carolina or Florida. Large fires were seen burning on shore ; but he sought in vain for a good harbor. After sailing south and north in this fruitless search, he landed in a boat. The natives came down to 'the ' shore in considerable numbers, but on the approach of the Europeans, ran away. *At length, being sat isfied that they had nothing to fear, they brought provisions to their visitors, assisted them in drawing their boat on shore, and viewed with surprise and admiration the dress and white skin of the strangers. They were tall, handsome,. swift of foot and naked, except the furs which were tied round their waist by a girdle of plaited grass and hung down to the knees. The coast was sandy, rising into low hills ; but as they proceeded, it became loftier, and was covered with magnificent woods, not of the common forest trees, but palm, cypress, and others unknown to Europe, and which diffused the most delicious perfume. This spot appears to have been Cape Fear, in North Carolina. They now proceeded along the coast, which turned to the east ward, and appeared very populous, but so low and open that even a boat could not approach it. In this emergency, a young sailor offered to swim ashore, and open an intercourse with the natives. They crowded to receive him ; but just as he had arrived within a few* yards of the land, his courage failed, and he attempted to turn back. A high wave struck him, and he was thrown on the beach half dead. The natives immediately stripped him naked, and carried him to a large fire which they had kindled. His friends in the ships never doubted that he was about to be roasted alive and eaten; and the youth himself was at first of the same opinion. But he ,was soon assured of his safety when they merely brought him so near as to place him in a Comfortable degree of warmth. They viewed with an eager but a kindly curiosity, the whiteness of his skin and the other novelties of his appearance. On his making signs that he wished to return, they took leave of him with marks of warm affection, accompanied him to the shore, and watched him with their eyes till he reached the vessel VOYAGE OF VERAZZANI. 333 Verazzani now sailed onward, and saw the coast of Virginia. Like the former land, it was beautiful, and covered with noble trees. The canoes of the natives were hollowed out of a single tree by the use of fire. The men had all fled, and they overtook only two females, one of whom was old, and the other young, tall and handsome. The old woman was soon prevailed upon to eat of the victuals which they offered her, and even allowed them to take a little boy from her arms, which the crew wished to carry away. The young woman, on the contrary, threw all their pres ents indignantly on the ground, and when they attempted to carry her off, she uttered such frightful screams that they desisted. Sailing a hundred leagues farther, the voyagers came to a fine sheltered bay, surrounded by gentle hills, and receiving a great river, so deep that loaded ships might ascend it. This was proba bly the Hudson ; but dreading accidents, they only went up the stream in their boats, and found a country equally rich and beau tiful, which they left with regret. The hills, to their anxious view, appeared to afford some promise of mineral riches. From this place they sailed fifty leagues eastward along the coast, and came to an island ten leagues, from land, apparently Martha's Vineyard. It was covered with gentle and finely- wooded hills. Twenty canoes, filled with natives, appeared, and approaching within fifty paces, set up shouts of wonder and as tonishment. The voyagers threw them bells, mirrors, and other little toys, which soon enticed them on board the ships. Veraz zani thought them the handsomest men, and the most civilized in their manners, that he had yet seen in the newly-discovered coun try. Their color was lighter than that of the more southern people, and their forms even approached to the beauty of the antique. They became intimate with the voyagers, who made several excursions with them into the country, and found it cov ered with noble forests. They showed, however, an extreme jealousy of their women, whom they would on no account allow to approach the vessels. Even the queen, while her royal hus band spent a long time on board, examining the ship and commu nicating by signs and gestures with the crew, was left with her female attendants in a boat at a little distance. Again setting sail, they proceeded a hundred and fifty leagues along a coast running first to the east and then to the north, which shows that they were now upon the shores of New Eng land. The country was in general similar to that which they had left, though it gradually became higher, arid sometimes rose into mountains. Fifty leagues further, in the direction of east and north, brought them to a region of thick and dark woods, doubt- 334 THE UNITED STATES. less the State of Maine. Here they stopped and endeavored to open an intercourse with the natives, but found them shy and unfriendly. They were tempted, indeed, by the display of trin kets which the crew exhibited, but this led to no satisfactory results. They came down to the shore, where a violent surf was breaking, and accepted a few knives and fish-hooks, which the sailors passed to them by a rope ; but declined all further inter course. There was no temptation to linger here, and the voyagers pursued their course fifty leagues further, during which they counted thirty islands, separated by narrow channels. This was, probably, Penobscot Bay ; leaving which place, they came next to Newfoundland, and then returned to France, having completed a survey of more than two thousand miles of coast. The high hopes excited by the successful result of this voyage were not realized by the French. Verazzani, on his second expe dition, was killed and devoured by the natives, if we may believe the accounts given at the time ; though neither the date, place nor circumstances of this catastrophe, are stated by any contem porary writer. We must return to England to pursue the history of the discovery and settlement of the territory now under con sideration. The accession of Queen Elizabeth produced a great and per manent change in the spirit of the English nation with regard to maritime affairs. That prudent princess, though never liberal of treasure, inspired and seconded the enterprising spirit of her peo ple, which combining with their antipathy to the Spanish, impelled them especially to adventure in the regions of the west. Sir Humphrey Gilbert, of Compton, in Devonshire, formed the first design of leading a colony to America. Aided by Sir Walter Raleigh and Sir George Peckham, he equipped a fleet of five ves sels, and sailed for the west, May llth, 1583. One of the ships put back on the second day, but the rest held on their course, and after being retarded by westerly winds and heavy fogs, reached the banks of Newfoundland about the end of July. This spot they knew, without heaving the lead, by the incredible number of seafowl, which darkened the air. Thirty-six vessels, from Europe, were found fishing upon the banks. Gilbert appears to have conductepl in a very arbitrary and unjustifiable manner toward the foreigners, robbing them of their stores without scruple ; but the queen's commission was judged a sufficient warrant for almost any act of power in this quarter. He took possession of the country around the harbor of St. John's, but his crew became discontented, and plotted against him. The country was dreary and barren ; the weather was stormy ; ship VOYAGE OF AMIDAS AND BARLOTV. 335 after ship was lost, and finally Sir Humphrey himself. A single vessel of all the squadron returned to England. The disastrous issue of this enterprise did not, however, check the spirit of adventure. In the year 1584, Sir Walter Raleigh, one of the most remarkable men that adorned the reign of Eliza beth, undertook, at his sole charge, a grand scheme of colonization, for which he obtained an ample patent from the queen. He did not proceed in person upon the expedition, but despatched two vessels under the command of captains Amidas and Barlow. These adventurers, in order to avoid the disasters which Gilbert had suffered from the northern mists and tempests, took a circui tous route by the Canaries and the Bahama channel, after which they steered to the north. On approaching the land, they were greeted with a gale of the most delicious odors, such as might have been exhaled from a garden of flowers. They approached cautiously, and found themselves on a long line of coast, but without any appearance of a harbor. The shore was low and sandy, but green hills rose in the interior, and the woods exhibited such a profusion of grapes as had never been seen by those who had travelled in the finest wine countries of Europe. They sailed a hundred and twenty miles before they found a landing-place. On landing and mounting the nearest hill, they were surprised to discover that the whole of this range of coast was an island. It was that long strip of land which incloses Pamlico Sound, in North Carolina. The English spent two days here without seeing any people : but on the third, a boat with three men approached, one of whom landed on the beach. The English sent a boat on shore, which he fearlessly awaited, and began to speak fluently in an unknown tongue. He cheerfully accepted their invitation to go on board : ate their food, drank their wine, and, receiving some presents of dress, departed highly pleased. Other natives soon appeared, and at length came the king's brother, Granganimeo, with a train of forty or fifty attendants. They were handsome men, very cour teous in their demeanor, and treated their chief with the most abject submission. They spread a mat for him to sit upon, and stood round him in a circle, none speaking, except four, mark? d as chiefs by red pieces of copper on their heads, and these whis pered in a low tone to each other. The English began to make presents, first to Granganimeo, and then to his officers ; but he took all these and put them into his own basket, making signs that all things should be presented to him alone. Commerce was the next business, for which a quantity of valuable skins, brought by the natives, formed a desirable object. The English now dis- 336 THE UNITED STATES. played their goods and trinkets, and the chief instantly fixed upon a tin plate, which he applied to his breast, and having made a hole in the rim, hung it round his neck, declaring that he was now invincible, and fearless of an enemy. For this plate he gave twenty valuable skins. After more traffic, equally profitable, and excursions to various parts of the coast, particularly to Roanoke, where they found a queen, who treated them with great kindness, they returned to England. The two captains gave the most flattering account of the coun try on their return. " The soil," said they, " is the most fruitful, sweet, and plentiful and wholesome of all in the world. We found the people most gentle, loving and faithful, void of all guile and treason, and such as lived after the manner of the golden age." These reports enchanted Raleigh, and filled the kingdom with high expectations. The queen honored this land of promise by naming it Virginia, in allusion to her unmarried state, of which she was fond of making an ostentatious mention. Raleigh expended almost his whole fortune in equipping a second expedi tion. This consisted of seven ships, the largest of which was one hundred and twenty tons burthen. Ralph Lane was ap pointed governor. The fleet was commanded by Sir Richard Grenville, a man accounted one of the chief ornaments of Eng lish chivalry. He steered first towards the West Indies, and reached Virginia on the 29th of June, 1585. He landed his colony, and discovered Chesapeake Bay. At the head of Roanoke Sound, they found a chief named Menaton, who commanded seven hun dred fighting men. The chief, with his favorite son, they took prisoners. The former was set at liberty, but the latter was retained as a hostage. Menaton gave the English an enticing description of the country. Pearls were represented as so abundant in the upper country of the Moratiks and the Mangoaks, that not only their fur garments, but the beds and the walls of the houses were bedecked with them. Much was said, also, of a wonderful species of copper, which was found high up in the sands of the river. These accounts highly inflamed the imagination and cupidrty of the English, and the utmost eagerness was felt to push forward to this rich country. Menaton assured them that in ascending the river, they wou!4 find relays of men with provisions, at every point, and that the people would be prepared to give them the kindest reception. Forty of the adventurers, therefore, emrarked in two boats, and proceeded up the stream. Great was their dis appointment when they passed three days without seeing one of the natives, or an article of food. All the towns were deserted, and every useful thing carried away. The English now began DISASTERS OF THE SETTLERS OF VIRGINIA. 337 to suspect they were betrayed; but unwilling to abandon at^once their golden hopes, sailed on two days longer, subsisting on the flesh of two dogs made into a soup, with sassafras leaves. Still they found neither men nor food on shore, and saw only lights at night moving to and fro in the interior. At length, in the after noon, a voice from the woods called out, " Manteo!" This wus the name of one of their Indian guides, and a joyful hope arose that a friendly intercourse was about to be opened. ManteOj however, on hearing the voice, and a song which followed it, bade them be on their guard. Presently a cloud of arrows fell among them. They immediately landed and attacked the savages ; but they escaped into the forest. The English kept watch all night, and in the morning set out on their return to the coast. They reached their companions just in time to prevent a gen eral rising of the natives. Hostilities, however, soon broke out, and the enmity of all the tribes became firmly rooted. In the hopes of starving the English, they had abstained from sow ing any of the lands around the settlement. No fresh supplies arrived from England at the time expected. While they were in this forlorn condition, a fleet of twenty-three vessels came in sight ; this was the squadron of Sir Francis Drake, returning from his victorious expedition against the Spaniards in the West Indies. The colonists gladly seized this opportunity to return to England, and every man embarked without scruple. A few days after this hasty abandonment of the colony, arrived a vessel from England, with ample stores; and the crew, to their amazement, found no colony to relieve. They sailed along the coast, and made excursions into the country, but all search being vain, they returned to England. A fortnight after, arrived Sir Richard Grenville, with three well-appointed vessels, bringing everything requisite to place the settlement in the most flourishing state. Great was his dismay when neither the colony nor the ship sent for its relief, nor any trace of the English was to be discovered. He also returned to England, leaving fifty men on the island of Roanoke, to hold the place till he should arrive with more ample supplies. All these disasters did not discourage Raleigh. He sent out three more ships, with one hundred and fifty persons, under John White, as governor. They arrived on the 22d of July, On landing and searching for the fifty men of the colony, they found only the bones of one, a dreadful spectacle, which told too dis tinctly the fate of the rest. The fort was razed to the ground ; the houses were in ruins and overgrown with grass, on which deer were browsing, and all was melancholy and desolate. White, 29 2 338 THE UNITED STATES. however, sent invitations to the neighboring chiefs, to open a friendly intercourse, assuring them that all should be forgiven and forgotten. They returned a courteous answer, saying that they would reply within eight days. Meantime, the English learned the history of the unfortunate settlers. They had been surprised and attacked by three hundred Indians. They re treated into their storehouse, which the assailants set on fire. Part of them perished in the flame, part were massacred, and the remainder fled into the woods, where they were heard of no more. Irritated by this relation, and hearing nothing from the chiefs to whom he had made his overtures, White determined on instant revenge. He attacked a party of the natives, as they were sitting round a fire, and pursued them into a thicket, when it was discov ered that they belonged to one of the tribes friendly to the Eng lish. This ill-judged burst of resentment was the only exploit performed by Governor White; and the colonists, who suffered unexpected privations and hardships, forced him to return imme diately to England for further supplies. Much delay followed, and it was not till 1590, that another expedition reached Virginia, when a scene of desolation similar to the former, again presented itself in the place occupied by the unfortunate colony. The houses were demolished, and a great part of the stores were found buried in the earth. This led at first to the hope that the settlers had removed to some other spot in the neighborhood ; but as no trace was ever found of them, there cannot be a doubt that the whole miserably perished. CHAPTER XXXVI. VIRGINIA CONTINUED. Voyage of Newport. Discovery of Chesapeake Bay, Adventure of Captain Smith and Pocahontas. Smith explores the Chesapeake. Cultivation of Tobacco. Vicissitudes of the colonists. Massacre by the In dians. Dissolution of the London Company who held the charter of the colony. HI success of their administration. Settlement of Jamestown. THESE repeated disasters at length discouraged Raleigh, who had expended nearly his whole fortune without any prospect of a return. Grenville, meantime, had died. Raleigh made no farther attempts to colonize Virginia. The design was therefore sus pended for some years; but, in 1602, it received a new impulse from a voyage made by Bartholomew Gosnold, to the coast of New England, or North Yirginia, as it was then called. Sir Thomas Gates, Sir George Summers, Richard Hakluyt and others, obtained a patent for South Virginia, as a company of merchants and adventurers; and on the 19th of December, 1606, three vessels sailed from London, under the command of Captain Newport. Many persons of distinction were in this expedition ; among others Captain John Smith, who was destined to become 340 THE UNITED STATES. celebrated in the history of Yirginia. He possessed all those qualities of firmness, courage and perseverance, which could fit him for the arduous task of founding a colonial establishment. He had been appointed one of the council for the government of the colony. The president of the council was Edward Maria Wingfield ; but Smith, from the force of his character, was allowed to take a leading part in the very outset of the undertaking. He soon excited the jealousy of his colleagues, who charged him with a design of making himself king of Virginia. Upon this vague accusation, he was arrested and kept in close confinement above a year. Towards the end K of April, 1607, they came nearly in sight of the coast of Virginia, when they met a violent storm, which drove them out of their reckoning, and they sailed three days without any view of the expected land. So disheartened were they by their long passage, that they were on the point of steering back to England, when they came in sight of an unknown cape at the entrance of a spacious gulf. This was Cape Henry, at the mouth of Chesapeake Bay, where the beauty and fertility of the shores surpassed all they had yet seen of the American continent. Their first intercourse with the natives, however, showed that a deep feeling of hostility against the English had become rooted in their minds. A party from the ship having gone on shore for recreation, the savages came creeping down the hills on all fours, with their bows in their mouths, and when sufficiently near, dis charged a cloud of arrows, wounding two of the English. A volley of musketry sent them back to the woods with loud cries. When the ships reached Cape Comfort, they saw five more natives, who at first were shy, but at length invited the English by signs to come ashore to their town. They proceeded to it by rowing across a river, while the savages swam, holding their bows and arrows in their mouths. The reception of the strangers was singular. The Indians made a doleful noise, laying their faces to the ground and scratching the earth with their nails. " We did think they had been at their idolatry," says the narrator. After this greeting, they spread mats on the ground and covered them with such dainties as the country afforded, including tobacco, which they smoked out of long, ornamented pipes. They then entertained their visitors with - a dance. " beating their hands, shouting, howling" and stamping like so many wolves or devils." After this entertainment, the English departed in peace. Proceeding higher up the bay, they came among people who had probably never before seen Europeans. Here they were received still more cordially. The king, or Werrowannee, of SETTLEMENT OF JAMESTOWN. 341 Rappahannoc, met them with all his train, "as goodly men/' says one of the adventurers, " as I have seen of savages or Christians. His body was painted all of crimson, with a chain of beads about his neck ; his face painted blue, besprinkled with silver ore, as we thought; his ears all hung with bracelets of pearl, and in either ear a bird's claw beset with fine copper or gold. He entertained us in so modest a proud fashion as though he had been a prince of civil government." He invited the English to his house on a hill covered with the finest corn-fields ; the vales were watered by beautiful rivulets. One of the English having a very strong target, which could resist shot, set it up for an Indian to shoot at. The Indian took his arrow of cane, an ell in length, headed with a sharp stone, and shot the target through. A steel target was then set up, against which the arrow was broken in pieces ; on which the Indian took out another, bit it in a rage, and went away. A fine river was next discovered, to which they gave the name of James's river, in honor of king James I., from whom they held their patent. Ascending this river forty miles, they selected a spot on its banks for a settlement. A town was begun, named Jamestown. But their provisions soon began to fall short ; sick ness spread among them, and at the end of summer, fifty of the settlers had died. In their distress, all eyes were turned towards Smith, whose courage and enterprise were well known. Believ ing him to be the only man who could provide a remedy for their evils, they released him from confinement, and gave him the supreme command. Smith set forth to collect provisions in the surrounding country. The Indians, knowing the famishing con dition of the English, received them with derision, and demanded their muskets, swords, and other valuables. Finding it impossi ble to trade, the English fired a volley and frightened the savages into the woods. Smith's party then entered a village, which was found well stocked with provisions. They proposed to carry these off without delay, but Smith insisted upon remaining till the Indians returned, as he had no doubt they would do ere long. Soon they heard a hideous noise, and a body of sixty or seventy Indians issued from the woods. They were painted black, white and red, and advanced singing, dancing, and bearing in front their okee, or idol, an image of skins stuffed with moss, painted, and hung with chains of copper. In this style they made a furious attack upon the English, but were driven back to the woods, with the loss of their idol and several of their men. This defeat appeared to dishearten them, and presently a venerable personage came out with overtures of peace. A treaty was 29* 342 THE UNITED STATES. concluded, terms of barter were agreed upon, and the English obtained a boat-load of provisions. After some further excursions, Smith returned to Jamestown, and found a scheme on foot to break up the settlement and return to England. He put down this attempt, and set out to explore the Chickahominy, a branch of James's river. He sailed so fai up that his boat could be forced onward only by cutting down the trees which overhung the stream. At length, he was obliged to abandon the boat, and proceed in a canoe with four of his party, two of whom were Indians. Twenty miles further up, he left his men at the canoe, and went into the woods to shoot game. In this he did not observe his usual caution. The Indians, who had been all this time watching his movements, attacked the canoe and killed the two Englishmen. Smith suddenly found himself surrounded by two or three hundred infuriated savages. Never theless, he defended himself with amazing intrepidity. He seized his Indian guide, tied him to his body, and presented him to the enemy as a shield. In this position he retreated towards the canoe, but before he could reach it, he sunk to the middle in a swamp, where he was surrounded and taken prisoner. He now gave himself up for lost. The Indians tied him to a tree, and formed a circle around to shoot him. The presence of mind of this remarkable man did not, however, desert him even when he saw death before his eyes. Before a bow could be drawn, Smith excited the attention of their chief, Opecancanough, by exhibiting an ivory compass-dial; this caused a moment's delay, which the ingenious adventurer improved to explain its use and application to the heavenly bodies. Curiosity and the love of mystery, were strong with the savages ; the chief and his officers were struck with wonder and admiration. On a signal given, all the bows and arrows were dropped, and Smith was unbound, and conducted under a guard to the chief town of the Indians. He was then led from town to town, and exhibited to the women and children, who flocked in crowds to the sight, and received him with strange yells and dances. Every day they set before him as much bread and venison as would have fed twenty men ; but no one sat down to eat with him. This and the lack of all other marks of kindness in the behavior of the natives, induced him to think they were fattening him for slaughter. After he had been led about the country sufficiently, the sava ges performed a grotesque conjuration over him, which lasted for three days. The chief performer was a grim figure, having his face painted black with coal and oil, and numerous stuffed skins of snakes and weasels fastened by the tails to the crown of his SMITH SAVED BY POCAHONTAS. 343 head, and hanging down in a frightful manner over the face and shoulders. He was assisted by others still more hideous, with white eyes and striped skins of red and black. These demo niacal figures intermingled circles of meal and corn with bundles of sticks, explaining to their victim that the meal was the Indian country, the corn the sea, and the sticks England, and that this was done to discover whether he meant them well or ill. When this incanlation was over, he was led before Powhatan, the chief of all that part of Virginia, and whom the English dignified with the title of emperor. Powhatan arrayed himself in the utmost pomp on this solemn occasion. He wore an ample robe of raccoon skins, from which all the tails were hanging. Behind him stood two long rows of men, and behind them two more of women, all with their faces and shoulders painted red, their heads bedecked with white down, and chains of white beads round their necks. One of the queens gave Smith a towel to wash his hands, and another, a bundle of feathers to dry them. The fatal moment was now approaching. Two large stones were placed before the savage chief, and the attendants, rushing in a body upon Smith, dragged him forward and laid his head upon one of the stones. The executioner raised his ponderous club, and another instant would have ended the life of the hero of Virginia. But at this Pocahontas saving Smith. critical moment, Pocahontas, the favorite daughter of Powhatan, was struck with those emotions of humanity and tenderness, which are the ornament of the sex. Regardless of the savage hearts and barbarous mariners of her countrymen, and discarding all thoughts of the dignity of her birth, she rushed to her father, 344 THE UNITED STATES. arid pleaded for the life of the stranger. Her interposition was repelled with coolness and obstinacy by the haughty chieftain. The princess, rinding her entreaties insufficient to shake his bloody resolution, then flung herself upon the bosom of the captive, laid her head upon his, and declared that the blow aimed at his life must first fall upon her. The romantic intrepidity of this savage maiden at length touched the heart of the barbarous king. The life of the captive was spared, and he was retained at the court of the Virginian chief where he amused him and his daughter by making bells, beads, and other trinkets of European fashion. Another adventure soon followed. Smith was conveyed to a house and placed alone by a large fire. Presently he heard a frightful noise, #nd. Powhatan rushed in, with two hundred of his men, having their faces blackened, and disguised in every terrify ing manner that a savage fancy could invent. Again the prisoner looked for instant death, but was relieved by the information that these were signs of peace and friendship. He was then granted his liberty, on condition of sending the king two culverdns and a mill-stone. Smith returned to Jamestown, which he reached at a critical moment. The colonists were again in despair, and had been fitting up a pinnace to convey them back to England. He took decisive measures at once, and declared that the voyage must be abandoned, or he would cause the pinnace to be sunk. Finding him resolute, they gave up the project. Pocahontas, continuing her generous kindness, sent them provisions every three or four days, till a fresh ship arrived from England. After this, Smith set out to complete his survey of the shores of the Chesapeake. He crossed first to the eastern shore, and coasted upwards. He was variously received, the natives in general coming " in much surprise, asking what they were, and what they would." He always used the means of conciliation ; and generally succeeded, by friendly explanations and presents of beads, in opening an amicable intercourse. But in some cases, the savages were obsti nate in their hostility, and Smith was forced to intimidate them by the terrors of his musketry. In one place, he was nearly killed by the sting of a poisonous fish, and, by his own desire, his friends dug a grave for him. His rapid and unexpected recovery, however, saved the adventurers from so irretrievable a loss. A fter a fortnight spent in this pursuit, the men became tired of laboring at the oar, and being seconded in their murmurs by some days of bad weather, obliged their commander to return home, though much against his will. He set his face toward Jamestown, full of regret at not having seen the Massowomeks, understood to be SMITH ASCENDS THE POTOMAC. 345 the most numerous and powerful of all the nations in those parts, and the great river Potomac, the fame of which had come to his ears. Suddenly, to his great surprise and delight, he came to the broad mouth of this famous river, which presented so grand a spectacle that the men recovered their spirits, and agreed to ascend it. They found the country populous, but hostile; and at one place an ambuscade of three or four thousand men, grimed, painted and disguised, started up from the thickets with yells and screams, like demons from the infernal regions. However, upon the mere grazing of the English musket-balls upon the water, " down fell their bows and arrows," and a friendly intercourse followed. The enmity of these tribes, it appeared, had been fomented by Powhatan, who had now resumed his hostile feel ings toward the colonists. Some distance up the river, they found a mine of antimony, which the natives extracted with shells and hatchets. They prized this mineral highly, as the means of paint ing their bodies black, yet giving them a gloss like silver. The next expedition, Smith went in search of the river Sus- quehannah, at the head of the bay. His vessel, however, was stopped before reaching it, by the shoals. He sent up a message requesting a visit from the Susquehannah tribe, who were repre sented as a mighty people. After an interval of three or foui days, there appeared sixty men, of gigantic stature, with presents of arms, venison, and tobacco-pipes three feet long. Five of their chiefs came on board the vessel and sailed across the bay without, the least apprehension. The English then explored all the waters of the bay, particularly the river Rappahannoc, where a thousand arrows were let fly in a single volley at them. From this attack 346 THE UNITED STATES. however, they suffered no injury. In this exploratory trip they voyaged a distance of three thousand miles, and returned in safety to Jamestown. Pocahontas for several years kept up her acquaintance with the English, visiting Jamestown, with her wild train of attendants, with as much familiarity as if it had been her father's houso. Powhatan, however, dissatisfied with the English mode of tra ding, which does not seem to have been very liberal, laid a plan to murder Smith in the woods. His life was again saved by the fair Indian princess, who ran through the forest in a dark night to warn her friend of his danger. In this disinterested act of kindness she encountered gre?t hazard, yet refused all the pres ents which the English offered in token of their gratitude. Open war now broke out, and all intercourse between the colonists and the natives was cut off. Smith, having been severely burned by an accidental explosion of gunpowder, found it necessary to return to England. Before we resume the thread of our political history, we will complete the story of the heroic Pocahontas. Some time after the departure of Smith, one Captain Argall, who had been sent up the Potomac to trade for corn, heard that this celebrated per sonage was at a village on the river. He, therefore, bribed one of the Indians to inveigle her on board his vessel, and then carried her captive to Jamestown. It was expected that Powhatan would consent to terms of peace to regain possession of his daughter ; but the base treachery of her captors did not produce the desired effect. The savage king remained three months without making any reply to these overtures, and at last sent seven English cap tives with seven bad muskets and an offer of five hundred bushels of corn, as a ransom. These were rejected, as inadequate, and the unfortunate prisoner remained two years in captivity. She appears, however, to have been perfectly well treated, insomuch that she became more and more attached to the English manners and character. She was instructed in the principles of the Chris tian religion, which she embraced, and was baptized with the name of Rebecca. A young man, named Thomas Rolfe, admiring her noble character and amiable manners, paid her his addresses, and met with a tender return. A proposal of marriage was made to her father, who, with unhoped-for willingness, readily agreed to the proposal, and made it the basis of a treaty of peace, which he never violated. Rblfe and Pocahontas were married, and the brother and son of the king visited Jamestown, to represent the barbarian monarch at the wedding. Soon after, the new-married pair sailed for England. VOCAHONTAS IN LONDON. 347 When Smith heard of her arrival, he wrote a letter to the queen, soliciting her kindness and courtesy towards his noble friend. She was, in consequence, introduced at court, and became the lavonte object in the social circles of fashion and rank. She was accompanied by an Indian chief, who had married one of her sisters. This savage resisted all the endeavors made to convert him to Christianity: and the historian, Purchas, saw him repeatedly " sing and dance his diabolical measures." Pow- hatan had instructed him to bring back full information respecting England, and particularly to count the people, furnishing him for that purpose with a bundle of sticks, that he might make a notch for every man. On landing at Plymouth, he was appalled at the magnitude of the task before him, but continued notching indefatigably all the way to London. As soon, howe\ er, as he reached the great thoroughfare of Piccadilly, he threw away his sticks, and on returning, desired Powhatan to count the leaves on the trees, or the sands on the sea-shore, if he would number the English. The only mortification which Pocahontas met with in England, was from king James, who, in his pedantic bigotry, imagined, or affected to imagine, that Rolfe, in marrying the daughter of Pow hatan, might be advancing a claim to the crown of Virginia. His courtiers nevertheless, by much industry, drove this fancy from his head, and Pocahontas departed from London with the most favorable impressions of the English, and every appropriate honor conferred upon her ; Rolfe being appointed Secretary and Recor der General of Virginia. She was destined, however, no more to see her native land. As she went down the Thames, she was seized with an illness, which in a few days put an end to her life. Her last moments are described as having been extremely edifying to the spectator, and full of Christian hope and resignation. Among the commodities sought in Virginia, gold, as usual, was the primary object ; and whenever the eyes of the settlers lighted on any mineral substance of a yellow color, then, as Smith says, " dig gold ! wash gold ! refine gold ! became all the cry." Several ships were loaded with yellow earth, believed to be gold dust, which when it arrived in England was found to be utterly worth less. To gold succeeded tobacco, which was soon established so firmly among the English and other European nations as to become a speedy and permanent source of wealth to Virginia. Sir Walter Raleigh, while his mind was occupied with the settlement of the country, introduced it at the court of Queen Elizabeth, where it seems ta have been at first the subject of much ridicule. Raleigh offered to bet with the queen that he would weigh the smoke 348 THE UNITED STATES. from it ; a challenge which the queen readily accepted. Raleigh then weighed the tobacco, and after smoking it, weighed the ashes, arguing that the difference between the two quantities must be the amount of the smoke. The queen admitted his reasoning, and remarked that she had often seen gold turned into smoke, but never, till then, smoke turned into gold. Among the vicissitudes and disasters which befel the colony, there is one deserving of especial notice for its tragical character. Opecancanough, the successor of Powhatan, had adopted with ardor all the early enmity of that prince against the English. This hostile feeling was more and more embittered, as he observed the manner in which the hated strangers multiplied and spread over the country. Instigated by these feelings, he formed one of those dreadful schemes, so characteristic of the Indians, of exter minating the whole race of his enemies at a single blow. Such was the fidelity of his people, and so deep the power of savage dissimulation, that this bloody scheme was arranged and matured during four years, without the slightest hint being conveyed to the English. Down to the fatal moment of its execution the most studied semblance of friendship and cordiality was maintained. The king sent a message that " the sky would sooner fall than the peace between them should be dissolved." Several of the English, who had strayed into the woods and fallen into the power of the savages, were carefully and kindly guided back. On the fatal morning of the 22d of March, 1622, the Indians flocked to the English settlements in great numbers, with numerous presents, and many of them breakfasted in the English houses. On a signal given, they began a general massacre, without distinc tion of age or sex. The weapons of the English themselves, or any instruments of destruction which lay nearest at hand, were used against them. Many of the savage murderers had received from* their victims particular kindness and marks of favor. In a space of time which may be called momentary, three hundred and forty-seven of the English fell, without knowing how or by what weapon. Only one disclosure was made, and that by Chumo. an Indian convert living with a Mr. Pace, who treated him as his own son. One of his companions, the night before, acquaint ed him with the ,design, and urged him to kill his master, as he intended to kill his own. Instead of following this diabolical advice, Chumo discovered the plot to Pace, by whom the intelligence was despatched to Jamestown, and that settlement was saved. Meantime, the colony proceeded with much vicissitude of for- tune. The materials composing it were by no means of a prom ising description. Smith describes them as "poor gentlemen. DISSOLUTION OF THE LONDON COMPANY. 349 tradesmen, servingmen, libertines, and such like ; ten times more fit to spoil a commonwealth than either to begin or maintain one. ; ' As they went out from England usually with extravagant hopes of sudden and brilliant wealth, they paid little regard to any reg ular or substantial pursuit, and scorned even the slight labor whic h was necessary to draw subsistence from this fertile soil. Hostili ties with the Indians cut off their supplies of provisions, and a period of scarcity and suffering ensued which is known in the history of Virginia as the " starving time" Once more the inhab itants resolved to abandon the country. " No one dropped a tear," says the contemporary narrator, " for none had enjoyed one day of happiness." They embarked and sailed down James river, but the next morning they met the long-boat of Lord Delaware, who had just arrived on the coast with emigrants and supplies. The vessel was put about, and the colonists returned to Jamestown. Much as the colony had been reduced in its inhabitants and pos sessions by their calamities, its losses were soon counterbalanced oy supplies from the parent country. From May, 1621, to May, 1622, twenty ships conveyed thirteen hundred persons and eighty head of cattle from England to Yirginia. King James made the colonists a present of arms out of the tower, and sent them twenty barrels of powder. Lord St. John, of Basing, gave them sixty coats of mail. The city of London, and many private persons, made them generous presents. Specimens of wine, made in Vir ginia about this time, were sent to England. French laborers, who had been imported to cultivate vineyards, wrote to the Eng lish Company, that the climate and soil of Virginia surpassed that of the province of Languedoc, for the culture of grapes. In 1624, the London Company, which had hitherto held the gov ernment of the colony, was dissolved by a legal process, and all the rights and privileges conferred upon it returned to the king, from whom they flowed. Whatever may be thought of the manner in which the dissolution of the company was effected, the change was for the better. There is not, perhaps, any mode of governing an infant colony, less friendly to its liberty, than the dominion of an exclusive corporation, possessed of all the powers which James had conferred upon the company of adventurers in Virginia. During several years the colonists can hardly be considered in any other light than as servants to the company ; nourished out of its stores, bound implicitly to obey its orders, and subjected to the most rigorous of all forms of government, that of martial law. Nor was the power of the company more favorable to the pros perity of the colony than to its freedom. A numerous body of merchants, as long as its operations are purely commercial, may 30 350 THE UNITED STATES. carry them on with discernment and success ; but the mercantile spirit, is badly adapted to conduct an enlarged and liberal plan of civil policy. Colonies have seldom grown up to maturity and vigor, under its narrow and interested regulations. Unacquainted with the climate and soil of America, and ignorant of the produc tions best suited to them, they seem to have had no settled plan of improvement, and their schemes were continually varying Their system of government was equally fluctuating. In the course of eighteen years, ten different persons presided over the province, as chief governors. No wonder that, under such admin istration, all the efforts to give stability should prove abortive, or produce but slender effects ! Above an hundred and fifty thousand pounds were expended in this first attempt to plant an English colony in America ; and more than nine thousand persons were sent out from the mother country to people this new settlement. The nation, in return for this waste of treasure and of people, did not receive from Vir ginia an annual importation of commodities exceeding twenty thousand pounds in value ; and the colony was so far from having added strength to the state, by an increase of population, that in the year 1624, scarcely two thousand persons survived. The company, like all unprosperous societies, fell unpitied. The violent hand .with which royal prerogative had invaded its rights was forgotten, and new prospects of success opened under a projected constitution, supposed to be exempt from all the defects to which past disasters were imputed. But the death of king James prevented him from completing his intended plan of Colo nial government. It was under the administration of the London Company that slavery was first introduced into the United States. In 1620, a Dutch ship of war entered James's river, and landed twenty negroes for sale. This is the first mention of negro slavery in the history of Virginia. CHAPTER XXXVII. VIRGINIA CONTINUED. Arbitrary government of Charles I. in Virginia. isf ration of Sir William Berkeley. Opposition of the Virginians to the English Parliament. Policy of Cromwell toward the Virginians. They rebel in favor of the king. Ingratitude of Charles II. Effects of the navigation act in the colonies. Bacon's rebellion. Civil war in Virginia. The royal government overthrown. Death of Bacon and suppression of the rebellion. Prosperity of the colony. Bacon's Rebellion. CHARLES I., on his accession to the throne, in 1625, adopted all his father's maxims with respect to the colony in Virginia. He declared it to he a part of the empire annexed to the crown, and immediately subordinate to its jurisdiction. He conferred the title of governor on Sir George Yeardly ; empowered him. in conjunction with a council of twelve and a secretary, to exercise supreme authority ; and enjoined them to conform in every point to such instructions as, from time to time, he might send them. From the tenor of the king's commission, as well as from the known spirit of his policy, it is apparent that he intended to vest every power of government, both legislative and executive, in the governor and council, without recourse to the representatives of the people. Virginia knew no other law than the will of the sovereign. Statutes were published and taxes imposed, without 35-2 THE UNITED STATES. once calling upon the representatives of the people to sanction them. At the same time that the colonists were bereaved of political rights, which they deemed essential to freedom, their private property was violently invaded. A proclamation was issued, by which, under pretexts equally absurd and frivolous, they were prevented from selling tobacco to any person but to certain com missioners appointed by the king to purchase it on his account. Thus they had the cruel mortification to behold their sovereign engross all the profits of their industry, by seizing the only valua ble commodity which they had to vend, and retaining the mo nopoly of it in his own hands. While the staple of the colony of Virginia sunk in value, under the oppression and restraints of a monopoly, property in land was rendered insecure, by various and conflicting grants which Charles inconsiderately bestowed upon his favorites. These were not only of such exorbitant extent as to be unfavorable to the progress of cultivation, but, from inat tention or imperfect acquaintance with the geography of the country, their boundaries were so inaccurately defined, that large tracts already occupied and planted, were often included in new grants. The murmurs and complaints which such a system of admin istration excited, were augmented by the rigor with which Sir John Harvey, who succeeded Yeardley in the government of the colony, enforced every act of power. Rapacious, unfeel ing and haughty, he added insolence to oppression; and neither regarded the sentiments nor listened to the remonstrances of the .people under his administration. The colonists, far from the seat of government, and overawed by authority, submitted long to his tyranny and exactions. Their patience was at last exhausted ; and in a transport of popular rage and indignation, they seized their governor and sent him a prisoner to England, accompanied by two of their number, whom they deputed to prefer their accu sations against him to the king. But this attempt to redress their wrongs was altogether repugnant to every idea which Charles entertained, with respect to the obedience due by subjects to theii sovereign. To him, the conduct of the colonists appeared to be, not only an usurpation of his right, but an open and audacious act of rebellion. t Without deigning to admit their deputies into his presence, or to hear one article of their charges*.against Har vey, the king instantly sent him back to his former station, with an ample renewal of all the powers belonging to it. Though Charles deemed this vigorous step necessary to assert his own authority, and to testify his displeasure against those who had pre sumed to offer such an insult to it, he seems to have been so sen- VIRGINIA. 353 sible of the grievances under which the colonists groaned, and of the chief source from which they flowed, that, soon after, he not only removed a governor so justly odious to them, but named as a successor, Sir William Berkeley, a person far superior to Harvey in rank, abilities and popular virtues. Under his government, the colony in Virginia remained, with some short interruption, almost forty years ; and to his mild and prudent administration, its increase and prosperity are in a great measure to be ascribed. It was indebted, however, to the king himself, for such a reform of its constitution and policy, as gave a different aspect to the colony, and animated all its operations with a new spirit. Though the tenor of Sir William Berkeley's com mission was the same with that of his predecessor, he received instructions under the great seal, by which he was empowered to declare, that in all its concerns, civil as well as ecclesiastical, the colony was to be governed according to the laws of England. He was directed to issue writs for electing representatives of the people, who, in conjunction with the governor and council, were to form a general assembly, and to possess supreme legislative authority. And he was ordered to establish courts of justice, in which all questions, whether civil or criminal, were to be decided agreeably to the forms of judicial procedure in the mother country. tt is probable that the dread of the spirit then rising in England, extorted from Charles concessions so favorable to Virginia. He was aware that many measures of great moment, in his own government, would be brought under a strict review in parlia ment, and, unwilling to give malecontents the advantage of adding a charge of oppression, in the remote parts of his dominions, to a catalogue of domestic grievances, he artfully endeavored to take the merit of having granted voluntarily to his people in Virginia, such privileges as he foresaw would be extorted from him. But though Charles established the internal government of Vir ginia on a model similar to that of the English constitution, and conferred on his subjects there all the rights of freemen and citi zens, he was extremely solicitous to maintain its connexion with (he parent state. With this view he instructed Sir William Berkeley strictly to prohibit any commerce of the colony with for eign nations. Even under this restraint, such is the kindly influ ence of free government on society that the colony advanced rap idly in industry and population. At the beginning of the civil war, the English settled in it exceeded twenty thousand. Gratitude towards a monarch from whose hands they had re ceived immunities, together with the influence and example of a popular governor, concurred in preserving loyalty among die 30* s2 354 THE UNITED STATES. eolonists. Even when monarchy was abolished, after one king had been beheaded, and another driven into exile, the authority of the crown continued to be acknowledged and revered in Virginia. Irritated at this open defiance of its power, parlia ment issued an ordinance declaring, that, as the settlement in Yiiginia had been made at the cost, and by the people of England, it ought to be subordinate to the English commonwealth, and subject to such laws as are, or shall be made in parliament ; that, instead of dutiful submission, the colonists had disclaimed the authority of the state, and audaciously rebelled against it ; on this account they were denounced as traitors ; and, not only all vessels belonging to natives of Europe, but those of foreign nations were prohibited to enter their ports, or to carry on any commerce with them. The efforts of a high-spirited government, in asserting its own dignity, were prompt and vigorous. A powerful squadron, with a considerable body of land forces, was despatched to reduce the Virginians to obedience. After compelling the colonists in Bar- badoes and the other islands to submit to the commonwealth, the squadron entered the bay of Chesapeake. Berkeley, with more courage than prudence, took arms to oppose this formidable arma ment ; but he could not long maintain such an unequal contest. His gallant resistance, however, procured favorable terms for the people under his government. A general indemnity for all past offences was granted. They acknowledged the authority of the common wealth, and were admitted to a participation of all the rights of citizens. By a convention entered into by commis sioners, on both sides, the Virginians had secured to them the ancient limits of their country ; its free trade ; its exemption from taxation but by their own assembly ; and the exclusion of military force from among them. Berkeley, firm to his principles of loyalty, disdained to make any stipulation for himself; but continued to reside in Virginia, as a private man, beloved and respected by all over whom he had formerly presided. Not satisfied with taking measures to subjugate the colonists, the commonwealth turned its attention towards the most effectual mode of retaining them in dependence on the parent state, and of securing to, it the benefit of their increasing commerce. With this view, the parliament framed two laws ; one ofavhich expressly prohibited all mercantile intercourse between the colonies and for eign states ; and the other ordained that no production of Asia, Africa or America, should be imported into the dominions of the commonwealth, but in vessels belonging to English owners, or to the people of the colonies settled there, and navigated by an LOYAL PROCEEDINGS OF THE VIRGINIANS. 355 English commander, and by crews of whom the greater portion were Englishmen. This act was rigidly enforced in Virginia and Maryland ; and from its operation the inhabitants suffered no little distress. Cromwell frequently changed his colonial governors, lest they should enter into the feelings of the people. In Virginia, he had no less than three, Digges, Bennet and Matthews, during the protectorship. His conduct was very different in the New England colonies. Notwithstanding the navigation laws, they were allowed a free trade to all parts ; and were indulged with the liberty of importing their commodities into England, free from all the duties which the southern colonies were obliged to pay. This excited the envy of the other colonies, and created dissatisfaction among the mer chants in England ; but was, notwithstanding, continued till the restoration. Virginia remained almost nine years in perfect tranquillity. During that period, many adherents to the royal party, and among these some gentlemen of good families, in order to avoid danger and oppression, to which they were exposed in England, or in hopes of improving their fortunes, migrated to Virginia. On the death of Matthews, the last governor named by Cromwell, the sentiments and inclinations of the people, no longer under the con trol of authority, burst out with violence. They forced Sir Wil liam Berkeley to quit his retirement; they unanimously elected him governor of the colony; and as he refused to act under an usurped authority, they boldly erected the royal standard, and, acknowledging Charles the Second their lawful sovereign, pro claimed him with all his titles. The Virginians long boasted, that, as they were the last of the king's subjects who renounced their allegiance, they were the first who returned to their duty. Happily for the people in Virginia, a revolution in England, sudden and unexpected, seated Charles on the throne of his ances tors. On receiving the first accounts of this event, the exultation of the colony was universal and unbounded, but not of long con tinuance. Gracious but unproductive professions of esteem and good-will were the only return made by Charles to loyalty arid services, which, in the estimation of the Virginians, were so dis tinguished, that no recompense was beyond what they claimed. The king's neglect and ingratitude disappointed all the sanguine hopes they had founded on the merits of their past conduct ; and at the same time the spirit which influenced parliament, in com mercial deliberations, opened a prospect that alarmed them with respect to their future situation. In framing regulations for the 356 THE UNITED STATES. encouragement of trade, the house of commons, instead of grant ing the colonies that relief which they expected, from the restraints on their commerce imposed by the commonwealth and Cromwell, not only adopted all their ideas concerning this branch of legis lation, but extended them further. This produced the act of navigation, the most important and memorable of any in the statute book, with respect to the history of English commerce. By this, it was enacted, that no commodities should be imported into any settlement in Asia, Africa or America, or exported from them, but in English or plantation built vessels ; that no sugar, tobacco, cotton, wool, indigo, ginger, or woods used in dyeing, of the growth or manufacture of the colonies, should be shipped from them to any other country but England. Soon after, the act of navigation was extended, and additional restraints were imposed by a new law, which prohibited the importation of any European commodity into the colonies, but what was laden in England, in vessels navigated and manned as the act of navigation required. The principles of policy on which the various regulations con tained in both statutes are founded, were openly avowed in a declaration, that, " as the plantations beyond seas are inhabited and peopled by subjects of England, they may be kept in a firmer dependence upon it, and rendered yet more beneficial and advan tageous to it, in the further employment and increase of English shipping and seamen, as well as in the vent of English woollen and other manufactures and commodities ; and in making Eng land an emporium, not only of the commodities of those planta tions but also of the commodities of other countries and places, for the supplying of them." By these successive regulations, the plan of securing to Eng land a monopoly of the commerce with its colonies, and of shutting up every other channel into which it might be diverted, was per fected and reduced into a complete system. On one side of the Atlantic these regulations have been extolled, as an extraordinary effort of political sagacity, and have been considered as the great charter of national commerce, to which England is indebted for all its opulence and power. On the other, they have been execrated as a code of oppression, more suited to the illiberality of mercantile ideas than to the extensive views of legislative wisdom. Hardly was the act of navigation known in Virginia, and its effect begun to be felt, when the colony remonstrated against it, as a grievance, and petitioned earnestly for relief. But the com mercial ideas of Charles and his ministers coincided so perfectly with those of parliament, that, instead of listening with a favora- NAVIGATION ACT. 357 ble ear to their application, they labored assiduously to carry the act into execution. For this purpose, instructions were issued to the governor, forts were built on the banks of the principal rivers, and small vessels appointed to cruise on the coasts. The Vir ginians, seeing no prospect of obtaining exemptions from the act, set themselves to evade it. As it is with extreme difficulty that commerce can be turned into a new channel, tobacco, the staple of the colony, sunk prodigiously in value, when they were com pelled to send it all to one market. It was some time before Eng land could furnish full assortments of those necessary articles, without which the industry of the colony could not be carried on, or its prosperity secured. Encouraged by the symptoms of general languor and despondency, which this declining state of the colony occasioned, the Indians, seated towards the heads of the rivers, ventured first to attack the remote settlements. Unexpected as these hostilities were from a people, who during a long period had lived in friendship with the English, a measure taken by the king seems to have excited still greater uneasiness among the most opu lent people in the colony. Charles had imprudently imitated the example of his father, by granting such large tracts of land in Virginia to several of his courtiers, as tended to unsettle the dis tribution of property in the country, and to render the title of the most ancient planters to their estates, precarious and questionable. From these various causes, which affected every individual in the colony, the indignation of the people became general; and was worked up to such a pitch that nothing was wanting to precipitate them into the most desperate acts, but some leader qualified to unite and to direct their operations. Such a leader they found in Nathaniel Bacon, a colonel of militia ; who, though he had been settled in Virginia only three years, had acquired, by popular manners, an insinuating address, and the consideration derived from having been regularly trained in England to the profession of the law, such general esteem, that he was regarded as one of the most respectable persons in the colony. Bacon was ambitious, eloquent and daring. Prompted either by honest zeal to redress the public wrongs, or allured by hopes of raising himself to distinction and power, he mingled with the malecontents, and by his bold harangues, and confident promises of removing all their grievances, inflamed them almost to madness. As the devastation committed by the Indians was the calamity most sensibly felt by the people, he accused the gov ernor of having neglected the proper measures for repelling the invasions of the savages, and exhorted them to take arms in their 35S THE UNITED STATES. own defence, and to exterminate that odious race. Great numbers assembled and chose Bacon to be their general. He applied to the governor for a commission confirming this election of the peo ple ; and oifered to march instantly against the common enemy. Berkeley, accustomed, by long possession of supreme command, to high ideas of the respect due to his station, considered this tumult uary armament as an open insult to his authority. Unwilling, however, to give farther provocation to an incensed multitude, by a direct refusal of what they demanded, he thought it prudent to negotiate in order to gain time ; and it was not till he found (ill endeavors to soothe them ineffectual, that he issued a proclama tion, requiring them in the king's name, under the pain of being denounced as rebels, to disperse. But Bacon,' sensible that he had advanced so far as rendered it impossible to recede with honor or safety, instantly took the only resolution that remained for him in his situation. At the head of a chosen body of his followers, he marched rapidly to Jamestown ; and, surrounding the house where the governor and council were assembled, demanded the commission for which he had formerly applied. Berkeley, with the proud, indignant spirit of a cavalier, disdaining the requisitions of a rebel, peremptorily refused to comply ; and calmly presented his naked breast to the weapons that were pointed against it. The council, however, foreseeing the fatal consequences of driving an enraged multitude, in whose power they were, to the last extremities of violence, proposed a commission constituting Bacon general of all the forces in Vir ginia, and, by their entreaties, prevailed on the governor to sign it. Bacon, with his troops, retired in triumph. Hardly was the council delivered, by his departure, from the dread of present danger, when, by a transition not unusual in feeble minds, pre sumptuous boldness succeeded to excessive fear. The commis sion granted to Bacon was declared to be null, having been extorted by force ; he was proclaimed a rebel ; his followers were required to abandon his standard, and the militia ordered to arm and join the governor. Enraged at this conduct, Bacon, instead of continuing his march towards the Indian country, instantly wheeled round, and ad vanced with all his forces to Jamestown. The governor, unable to resist so numerous a body, made his escape anclfled across the bay, to Accomack, on the eastern shore. Some of the counsellors accompanied him thither ; others retired to their own plantations. Upon the flight of Sir William Berkeley, and dispersion of the council, the frame of civil government in the colony seemed to be 359 dissolved ; and Bacon became possessed of supreme and uncon trolled power. But, as he was sensible that his countrymen would not long submit with patience to aathority acquired and held merely by force of arms, he endeavored to found it on a more constitutional basis, by obtaining the sanction of the people's approbation. With this view he called together the most consid erable gentlemen in the colony, and having prevailed on them to bind themselves by oath to maintain his authority, and to resist every enemy that should oppose it, he from that time considered his jurisdiction as legally established. Berkeley, meanwhile, made inroads into different parts of the colony, where Bacon's authority was recognised. Several sharp conflicts took place with various success. Jamestown was reduced to ashes ; and the best cultivated districts in the province were laid waste, sometimes by one party, and sometimes by the other. But it was not by his own exertions that the governor hoped to termi nate the contest. He had early transmitted an account of the transactions in Virginia to the king, and demanded such a body of soldiers as would enable him to quell the insurgents. To induce the king to grant this request, he represented Bacon's party as impatient of all dependence on the parent state. Charles, alarmed at a commotion no less dangerous than unexpected, and solicitous to maintain his authority over a colony, the value of which was daily increasing, speedily despatched a small squadron, with such a number of regular troops as Berkeley had required. Bacon and his followers received intimation of this armament, but were not intimidated at its approach. They boldly deter mined to oppose it with open force ; and declared it to be consist ent with their duty and allegiance to treat all who should aid Sir William Berkeley, as enemies, until they should have an opportu nity of laying their grievances before their sovereign. But while both parties prepared, with equal animosity, to involve their country in the horrors of a civil war, an event happened which quieted the commotion almost as suddenly as it had been excited. Bacon, when ready to take the field, sickened and died. None of his followers possessed such talents as entitled them to aspire to the supreme command. Destitute of a leader to conduct and animate them, their sanguine hopes of success subsided. Mutual distrust accompanied this universal despondency. All began to wish for an accommodation ; and, after a short negotia tion with Sir William Berkeley, Lieutenant General Ingram and Major General Walklate, they laid down their arms and submitted to his government, on obtaining a promise of general pardon ; but SCO THE UNITED STATES. ... were obliged to submit to the incapacity of ever bearing any office in the colony. Thus terminated an insurrection, which, in the annals of Vir ginia, is distinguished by the name of "Bacon's rebellion." During seven months this daring leader was master of the colony, while the royal governor, shut up in a remote corner of it, was able to e make only a feeble resistance. Skirmishes took place, in which several on both sides were killed or wounded. The cattle of the country were destroyed, and during the insurrection there was an almost total neglect of husbandry ; so that the people had the dreadful prospect of famine. What were the real motives that prompted Bacon to take arms, and to what length he intended to carry his plans of reform, it is not easy to discover. It is probable that his conduct, like that of other adventurers in faction, would have been regulated chiefly by events ; and accordingly as these proved favorable or adverse, his views and requisitions would have been extended or circumscribed. Sir William Berkeley, as soon as he was reinstated in his office, called together the representatives of the people, that by their advice and authority, public tranquillity and order might be per fectly re-established. Though this assembly met a few weeks after the death of Bacon, while the memory of reciprocal injuries was still recent, and when the passions excited by such a fierce contest, had yet had but little time to subside, its proceedings were con ducted with a moderation seldom exercised by the successful party in a civil war. No man suffered capitally. A small number were subjected to fines ; others were declared incapable of holding any office of trust ; and, with these exceptions, the promise of general indemnity was confirmed by law. Soon after these events, Berke ley went to England, and died there. Lord Culpepper was ap pointed his successor. From the English revolution, in 1688, to the American revolu tion, in 1776, the government of Virginia was conducted on lib eral principles, and generally for the benefit of the people. The colony was too far north to be involved in the disputes with the Spaniards, about boundary, whicjj affected the more southern colonies ; and too far south to be claimed by the French, as an appendage to Canada ; or to have a distressing participation in the several wars between France and England which, from 1690, to 1748, disturbed the peace of the more northern colonies. From 1754, to 1758, when the French scheme of uniting Canada and Louisiana, was urged, the frontiers of Virginia were involved in serious distresses, from the incursions of French and Indian par- VIRGINIA. 361 ties, detached from fort Duquesne, on the Ohio; but, with this exception, Virginia enjoyed a steady course of prosperity, for the last eighty-five years of her colonial existence. In this period, her strength and her resources increased to so great an extent, as enabled her successfully to resist the encroachments of the mother country. Sock bridge, Virginia. 31 CHAPTER XXXVIII. MASSACHUSETTS. Voyage of Gosnold to New England. Voyage of Weymouth. Settlement of Popham and Gilbert at Sagadahock. Smith's voyage to New England. Rise of the Puritans. Their persecution in England. Their emi gration to Holland. Brown and Robinson. Embarkation of the Pilgrim Fathers. Voyage of the Mayflower to America. Arrival of the Pilgrims at Cape Cod. Adventures with the natives, and perils of the colonists. Landing at Plymouth. Landing of the Pilgrims. IN the year 1602, Captain Bartholomew Gosnold made a voy age to New England, apparently on his own account, and perhaps with a view to the Newfoundland fishery. He sailed from Dart mouth, in a small vessel, with a crew of thirty-two men. He first made the land p,bout Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard. The voyagers found the soil exceedingly fertile, so that -wheat, barley and oats, being sown in the middle of May, grew nine inches in. a fortnight. On reaching the main land, " they stood awhile, rav ished with the beauty and delicacy of the scene," which presented large and fine meadows, adorned with clear and noble streams. They caught in a few hours more codfish than they knew how COLONIZATION OF NEW ENGLAND. 363 to dispose of; and the coast appeared so rocky and broken as to afford every promise of good harbors. Gosnold published such alluring accounts of this territory, which still bore the name of North Virginia, that the attention of the English, which had been turned somewhat from the subject of western adventure by the ill success of the southern colony, was roused anew. This dis covery presented to their eyes a new country, and gave them a much larger idea of that vast dominion, which, under the above name, stood nominally attached to the British empire. In 1606, Thomas Arundel, Lord Wardour, an accomplished and spirited nobleman fitted out a vessel, under Captain Weymouth, to make further discoveries. Weymouth, following the same route as Gosnold, brought home a most favorable report, but the narra tive of his voyage is not sufficiently distinct to enable us to deter mine the precise localities to which his delineations refer. He describes a noble river, a mile broad for forty miles upward into the country, and adds that "Orenoque, so famous in the world's ears," was not comparable to it. From the size of this river, one might judge it to be the Hudson ; but from his mention of a bay with the isles, channels and inlets about it, we incline to think it was the Penobscot. The soil is represented as most rich, " verged with a green border of grass," and which, when cleared of the thick woods that covered it, might be formed into the most beau tiful meadow. Weymouth might have found opportunity for trade, but he would not " hazard so hopeful a business," and regarded nothing but " a public good and promulgating God's holy Church." The first colony sent to New England was despatched by Sir John Popham, chief justice, and Sir Ferdinando Gorges, governoi of Plymouth, and " divers others worshipful knights and mer chants of the west." These great personages, however, produced nothing more than a little bark of fifty-five tons, on board of which they shipped twenty-nine Englishmen and two savages, who had been brought from that country. But these adventurers never reached the New England shores. On the coast of Hispaniola they were caught in a thick and tempestuous fog, on the clearing up of which they found themselves in the midst of a fleet of Spanish vessels, who made them prisoners and carried them to Spain. Notwithstanding the miscarriage of this enterprise, Cap tain Popham, son to the chief justice, and Captain Gilbert, set sail, in 1607, on a new adventure, with a hundred men. well equipped. They settled on the river Sagaclahock, and built a fort, which they called St. Geprge. The first years of a colony, how ever, always constitute a period of hardships, and the new settlers 364 THE UNITED STATES. suffered additionally by part of their stores being accidentally burned. Next summer a vessel arrived with supplies, but brought tidings of the death of their great patron, the chief justice, and likewise of the brother of Captain Gilbert, who determined imme diately to go home and take possession of his estate. The whole colony, discouraged and sick of the enterprise, set sail together. The next adventurer in New England, it appears, was Captain John Smith, who acted so eminent a part in Virginia, and whom Purchas describes as "a man who hath many irons in the fire." He went about the principal seaports in the west of England, visiting all the gentlemen who were likely to favor his scheme; and complains that this negotiation cost him more toil and torment than any he endured on the coasts of the New World. The mer chants of London were best able to furnish the funds, but the western sailors were the best fishers, and the voyage from London to Plymouth was almost as hard as from Plymouth to New Eng land. At length he equipped two vessels, whose destination was threefold : first, the whale fishery ; next, a mine of gold ; and, in default of both, to make a saving voyage any other way. All three failed. The whale-fishery proved a "costly conclusion;'' for, though they saw and chased a great number of whales, they could not kill any. The gold was found a mere device of the projector ; and when they came to the banks of Newfoundland, they found they had lost the prime season for fishing, and re turned to England with only a sorry cargo. During this voyage, however, Smith surveyed and made a map of the coast of New England, which he presented to the king, Charles L, who always took a great interest in maritime affairs, and amused himself in changing the uncouth Indian names of places into others derived from England. Notwithstanding this sunshine of royal favor, Smith had difficulty next year in equipping a small bark with sixteen colonists, whom he would have wished to be several thousands, and who seemed, indeed, to be incapable of providing for their own security on this barbarous shore ; but he trusted in the friendship of Dohoday, " one of the greatest lords of the savages." This vessel was captured by the French, and Smith effected, with difficulty, his return to England. . Yet his ardent and persevering temper still led him to dwell on the scheme, and in his 'General History of New England, 4je copiously sets forth all its advantages. The shore, he admits, is in many places " rocky and affrightable," but in penetrating into the in terior it greatly improved, and might yield plentifully, though not quite the same perfection as in Virginia, the best grains, fruits and vegetables. NEW ENGLAND COLONIZATION. 365 Meantime, the first voyage of Smith had been followed by a tragical event. One Hunt, who had been left in charge of one of the ships inveigled twenty or thirty of the natives on board and carried them to Malaga, where he sold them to the Spaniards. The consequence was that Captain Hobson, who came after him, without knowing anything of the affair, was attacked by the Indians ; several of his crew were killed, and himself wounded. The natives were subsequently pacified for a time, but in a few years these hostile acts were repeated. These mishaps, with other discouraging circumstances arising out of the loose and indiscriminate manner in which the patentees of the colony made grants of land to individuals, threw such a damp on the undertaking, that England, an hundred and twenty years after her discovery of North America, possessed nothing on the shores of this great continent except a few scattered huts built by the fishermen who resorted hither in summer. But the time was now come, when causes unforeseen, and events undesigned by their authors, were to lead the way to a mighty tide of emi gration, and render New England the most flourishing and pros perous of all the colonies in the western world. New England was the destined asylum of oppressed piety and virtue, and its colonization, denied to the pretensions of greatness and the efforts of power, was reserved for men whom the great and the powerful despised for their insignificance, and persecuted for their integrity. The recent growth of the Virginian colony, and the repeated attempts to form a settlement in New England, naturally attracted to this quarter the eyes of men who felt little reluctance to forsake a country, where, for conscience sake, they had already incurred the loss of temporal ease and enjoyment ; whom persecution had fortified to the endurance of hardship, and piety had taught to despise it. It was at this juncture, accordingly, that the project of colonizing New England was undertaken by the Puritans, a body of men, respecting whose sentiments and previous history we must give some account. Henry the Eighth Abolished the authority of the church of Rome in England, but his haughty and imperious disposition incited him to substitute his own authority for that of the pope, and regu late the ecclesiastical affairs of the kingdom in an arbitrary and despotic manner. Abetted by a body of servile, dependent and sordid nobles, whom he enriched with the spoils of the plundered monasteries, and by a compliant House of Commons, whose pro fession of faith veered about with every variation of the royal creed, he paid no respect whatever, in the ecclesiastical institutions which he successively established, to the sentiments of the body 31* 366 THE UNITED STATES. of the people, a portion of his subjects, to whose petitions he once answered by a public proclamation that they were " but brutes and inexpert folk," and as unfit to advise him as blind men were to judge of colors. His object was to make himself and his suc cessors the heads of the church, in place of the pope ; and for the maintenance of this usurped dominion, he retained, both in the ceremonies of worship and the constitution of the clerical order, a great deal of the machinery which his predecessor in the supre macy had found useful. While he rigidly denied the right of pri vate judgment to his subjects, his own incessant and imperious exercise of this right continually tempted them to partake the satisfaction which it seemed to afford him. Moreover, the frequent variations of the creeds he promulgated, at once excited a spirit of speculation ' akin to his own, and practically refuted the only pretence that could recommend or entitle his judgment to the implicit assent of fallible men. The pope, expressly maintaining that he could never be in the wrong, was disabled from correcting either his own errors or those bequeathed to him by his predeces sors. Henry the Eighth, merely pretending to the privilege of being always in the right, defeated this pretension by the variety and inconsistency of the systems to which he applied it. While he insisted on retaining much of the peculiar doctrine of the church of Rome, he attacked, in its infallibility, a tenet not only important in itself, but the sole sanction and foundation of a great many others. Notwithstanding all his exertions, a spirit of re ligious inquiry began to arise among the multitude of professors, who, blindly or interestedly, had followed the fortunes and the variations of the royal creed ; and the knowledge of divine truth, combined with a growing regard for simplicity of divine worship, arising first in the higher classes, spread downwards through the successive ranks of society during this and the following reigns. Even in the lifetime of Henry, the protestant doctrines had spread far beyond the limits of any of the peculiar creeds which he had adopted and promulgated, and in their illegitimate extent had made numerous proselytes in his court and kingdom. The propagation of them was aided by the translation and diffusion of the Scriptures, which he vainly endeavored to prevent, and which enabled his people to draw truth for themselves, unstinted and unadulterated, from the everlasting wells. The open profession of those illicit opinions, was in many instances repressed by the terror of his inflexible cruelty, and by the influence over his measures which his courtiers found it easy to obtain, by feigning implicit submission to his capricious and impetuous temper. The temptations to which these men were exposed, proved fatal in HENRY VIII. AND THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 367 some instances to their integrity ; and several of them, even the virtuous Cranmer, concurred, though reluctantly, in punishing by a cruel death the open profession of sentiments which they secretly cherished in their own breast. They were afterwards compelled themselves to drink of the same cup of martyrdom, and enabled to make some atonement to the cause of truth, by the heroism with which, in Mary's bloody reign, they suffered for the cause which they had persecuted before. By the death of Henry, his protestant subjects were exempted from the necessity of further dissimulation. In the reign of Edward the Sixth, the Catholic doctrines were wholly expunged from the national creed, and the fundamental articles of the pro testant faith recognised and established by law. As among other practices of the preceding reign, the absurd and tyrannical device of promoting uniformity of faith and worship by persecution, was still pursued, the influence of temporal fear and favor con tributed, no doubt, to encumber the protestant church with many reluctant and hypocritical professors. In the hope of reconciling the English nation, as far as possible, to the system they had established, the ministers of Edward preserved not only the eccle siastical constitution which Henry had retained, but as much of the ancient ceremonial of worship as they judged likely to gratify the taste and predilections of minds that hankered after Catholic pageantry. They rather yielded in this respect to the necessity of the times, than indulged their own sentiments or followed out their principles ; and plainly insinuated their opinion, that, when ever the public mind was sufficiently prepared for it, a farther reformation should be introduced into the establishment. But in the prosecution of this temporizing policy, the rulers of the Eng lish reformed church encountered a spirit of resistance, originating in the protestant body itself. During the late reign, the disaffec tion that had been cherished in secret toward the national church had not confined itself to the doctrine savoring of popery which she retained, and which many protestants connected in their opinion and esteem with the ceremonial rites and clerical habits that had for ages been their associate and their characteristic. With their enmity to the doctrines of the Catholic church, they com bined an aversion to those ceremonies which her ministers had too often rendered subservient to imposture. These sentiments, which were subsequently matured into doctrines by the puritans, had already begun to take possession of the minds of the English protestants. But the sentiments of the puritans were overborne by the weight of superior numbers, and might, perhaps, have gradually 368 THE UNITED STATES. died away, if the reign of Edward had been much farther pro longed, or his sceptre transmitted to a protestant successor. But the reign of Mary seemed destined not only to purify the protes tant body, by separating the true from the false professors, but to strengthen and confirm every protestant sentiment, by exposing that religion to persecution. During the tyrannical and bloody reign of Mary, many of the English protestants forsook their country and took refuge in Germany and Switzerland. The puritans beheld with pleasure, in the continental churches, the establishment of a constitution and ritual, which had been the object of their own warm approbation and earnest desire. On the death of Mary, the emigrants returned to England ; but her suc cessor, Elizabeth, inherited the headstrong and arrogant disposi tion of her father, -and though she had been educated with her brother Edward, and her understanding had received a strong tincture of protestant opinion, her feelings inclined her in favor of the rites, discipline, and even doctrines of the Catholics ; of every thing, in short, which might enable her to maintain a dominion over the clergy. She desired to make them priests, not preachers; discouraged their sermons, and would have interdicted them from marriage, had she not been restrained by the remonstrances of her minister, Lord Burleigh. Disregarding the wishes both of churchmen and puritans, she restored king Edward's constitution, with no other alteration than the omission of a few passages in the liturgy that were offensive to the Catholics ; and caused a law to be framed, commanding, under the penalties of fine, imprison ment and deprivation of ministerial office, a strict uniformity of religious worship. This was the first step in a line of policy which the Church of England had deep and lasting cause to deplore, and which, by compelling thousands of her best and ablest ministers reluctantly to forsake her communion, afflicted her with a decay of internal piety, the effects of which continued to be visible after many generations. The immediate consequences of the oppressive policy of Eliza beth were the enkindling of a great additional zeal and fervor in the minds of the puritans ; the multiplication of their numbers, and a growing abhorrence in their body to the order of bishops, and the whole frame of a church which was to them an organ of injustice and tyranny. There is no doubt that the. puritans of those times were at first exceedingly reluctant to separate from the Church of England. They willingly allowed her to be a true Christian church, and merely claimed indulgence with regard to a few ceremonies which did not affect the substance of her consti tution. But the injurious treatment which they received, induced THE BROWNISTS. 369 different views; it at once aroused their passions, stimulated their inquiries, and extended their objections. Expelled from the national church, they were forced to inquire if they could not do without it. Their next step was to deny the lawfulness of communion with it, inasmuch as this church persecuted them foi a conscientious adherence to their opinions. So firm was the resis tance of the puritans to the despotic authority of the crown, that the historian, Hume, has not hesitated to declare that to this sect alone the English of the present day owe the whole freedom of their constitution. Robert Brown, in 1586, was the first who proclaimed an open rupture with the established church. His doctrine readily gained the assent and approbation of multitudes. This individual, from whom the name of Brownists was applied to the first seceders, was a young clergyman, of a good family, active and intrepid, but excited by a fiery temper and an insatiable rage for controversy. He travelled about the country, inveighing against bishops, eccle siastical courts, ceremonies, and episcopal ordination of ministers, and exulting, above all, in the boast that he had been committed to thirty-two prisons, in some of which he could not see his hand at noonday. The queen and the bishops had recourse to the usual remedy, persecution, and the Brownists were oppressed with cruelties that disgraced the name of religion. This course had its usual effect of spreading the persecuted doctrine still more widely. Brown himself, with a congregation attached to him, emigrated to Holland, where they were permitted to enjoy their opinions without molestation. Those who remained in England were exposed to all the severity of the law and all the fury of theological hatred. Some were hanged for circulating the writings of the Brownists, and others for attending their dis courses. Numbers suffered severe imprisonment, and many fami lies were ruined by heavy fines. On the accession of James to the throne, he was solicited, by numerous petitions, to interpose his authority for the protection and relief of the puritans. At first he showed himself so far disposed to comply, as to appoint a solemn conference between their leaders and the heads of the church party at Hampton Court. But the hopes inspired by the prcposal of this conference were disappointed by the result; and James, instead of tolerating the puritans, banished, imprisoned, and otherwise persecuted three hundred of their ministers, in the second year of his reign. The first congregation of Brownists which emigrated to Hol land, broke up into parties and were soon dispersed. Brown returned to England, and ended his days in obscurity. But in 370 THE UNITED STATES. 1610, another congregation fled from the persecutions at home, and took refuge in Leyden, where they were permitted to establish themselves in peace, under the ministry of their pastor, John Robinson. This excellent person may be justly regarded as the founder of the sect of Independents, having been the first teacher who steered a middle course between Brownism and the Presby terian system. He was a man of most exemplary life, fervent piety, sound sense and high attainments. Enjoying the counsel and direction of such a pastor, and cher ishing an adequate sense of his value, the English exiles com posing this congregation remained for ten years at Leyden, in harmony with each other, and in peace with their neighbors. But, at the end of that period, the same pious views that had prompted their departure from England, incited them to undertake a more distant migration. They beheld with deep concern the prevalence around them of manners which they esteemed loqse and profane; more particularly the general neglect among the Dutch of a reverential observance of Sunday ; and they reflected with apprehension on the danger to which their children were exposed, from the natural contagion of habits so remote from serious piety. Their country, too, still retained a hold on their affections; and they were loath to behold their posterity com mingled and identified with the Dutch population. The small- ness of their numbers and the difference of language, discouraged them from attempting to propagate in Holland the principles, which, with so much suffering and hazard, they had hitherto maintained; and the conduct of the English government extin guished every hope of toleration in their native land. The famous Arminian controversy, moreover, which was now raging in Holland with a fury that produced the barbarous execution of the Grand Pensionary, Barneveldt, and the imprisonment of Grotius, probably contributed to alienate the desires of the Eng lish exiles from farther residence in a land where the Calvinistic tenets, which they cherished, were thus disgraced by cruelty and intolerance. In these circumstances, it occurred to them that they might combine the indulgence of their patriotic attachment with the propagation of their religious principles, by establishing them selves in some distant quarter of the British dominions ; and after many days of' earnest supplication for the counsel and direction of Heaven, they unanimously determined to transport themselves and their families to the territory of America. It was resolved that a part of the congregation should proceed thither before the rest, to prepare a settlement for the whole; and that the main body, meanwhile, should continue at Leyden with their pastor. ft EMBARKATION OF THE PILGRIMS. 371 In choosing the particular scene of their establishment, they hesi tated for some time, between the territory of Guiana, of which Sir Waiter Raleigh had published a most dazzling and attractive de scription, mainly engendered by the brilliancy of his own imagi nation, and the provinces of Virginia, to which they finally gavo the preference ; but Providence had ordained that their residence should be established in New England. By the intervention of agents, whom they deputed to solicit the sanction of the English government to their enterprise, they rep resented to the king, " that they were well weaned from the delicate milk of their mother country, and inured to the difficulties of a strange land ; that they were knit together in a strict and sacred bond, by virtue of which they held themselves bound to take care of the good of each other, and of the whole ; that it was not with them as with other men, whom small things could dis courage, or small discontent cause to wish themselves at home again." The king, wavering between his desire to promote the colonization of America, and his reluctance to suffer the con sciences of any portion of his subjects to be emancipated from his control, refused to grant them a charter assuring the full enjoy ment of ecclesiastical liberty, but promised to connive at their practices, and to refrain from molesting them. They were forced to accept this precarious security, and would hardly have obtained it but for the friendly interposition of Sir Robert Nanton, one of the secretaries of state, and a favorer of the puritans ; but they relied with more reason on the distance from the ecclesiastical tribunals of England, and from the eye and arm of their persecuting sovereign. Having procured from the Virginia Company a grant of a tract of land, lying as was supposed within the limits of its patent, several of the congregation sold their estates, and expended the purchase money in the equipment of two vessels, in which a hundred and twenty of their number were appointed to embark from an English port for America. All things being prepared for the departure of this detachment of the congregation from Delft haven, where they took leave of their friends for the English port of embarkation, Robinson and his people devoted their last meeting in Europe to an act of solemn and social worship, intended to implore a blessing from Heaven upon the hazardous enterprise. He preached a sermon to them from Ezra viii. 21. " I proclaimed a fast there at the river Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before our God, to seek of him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance." On the 6th of September, 1620, the pilgrims took their final departure from England in the Mayflower, a vessel of 372 THE UNITED STATES. one hundred and eighty tons. The whole number who embarked amounted to one hundred and one souls. The story of their voyage from Ley den across the Atlantic, and their arrival in the New World, cannot be better related than in the following words fr:m the simple and touching narrative of Nathaniel Morton, the author of New England's Memorial. " The wind being fair, they went on board and their friends with them, where truly doleful was the sight of that sad and mournful parting, to hear what sighs and sobs and prayers did sound amongst them ; what tears did gush from every eye. Yet comfortable and sweet it was to see such lively and true express ions of dear and unfeigned love. But the tide, which stays for no man, calling them away that were thus loath to depart, their reverend pastor, falling down upon his knees, and they all with him, with watery cheeks, commended them with most fervent prayers unto the Lord and his blessing. And then, with mutual embraces and many tears, they took their leave of one another, which proved to be the last leave to many of them. Then hoist ing sail, with a prosperous gale of wind, they came in a short time to Southampton. Now all being compact together in one ship, they put to sea again with a prosperous wind. But after they had enjoyed fair winds for a season, they met with many contrary winds and fierce storms, with which their ship was shrewdly shaken and her upper works made very leaky, and one of the main beams of the mid-ship was bowed and cracked, which put them to some fear that she would not be able to perform the voyage ; on which the principal of the seamen and passengers had serious consultation what to do, whether to return or hold on. But the ship proving strong under water, by a screw the said beam was brought into his place again ; which being done and well secured by the carpenter, they resolved to hold on their voyage. And so, after many boisterous storms, in which they could bear no sail, but were forced to lie at hull many days together, after long beating at sea, they fell in with the land called Cape Cod; the which being made and certainly known to be it, they were not a little joyful. After some little deliberation, they tacked ab^ut to .stand to the southward, to find some place about Hudson's river, according to their first intentions, for their habitations. But they had not sailed that course above half a day^ before they fell among perilous shoals and breakers, and they were so far entan gled therewith, as they conceived themselves in great danger ; and the wind shrinking upon them withal, they resolved to bear up again for the cape aforesaid. The next day, by God's Providence, they got into the cape harbor. Thus, they arrived at Cape Cod, 373 alias Cape James, in November, 1620, and being brought safe to land, they fell upon their knees and blessed the God of heaven, who had brought them over the vast and furious ocean, and deliv ered them from many perils and miseries. " But what could they see but a hideous and desolate wilderness, full of wild beasts and wild men ? And what multitudes of them there were, they then knew not ; neither could they, as it were, go up to the top of Pisgah, to view from this wilderness a more goodly country to feed their hopes ; for which way soever they turned their eyes, save upwards to heaven, they could have little solace or content in respect of any outward object ; for summer being ended, all things stood in appearance with a weather-beaten face, and the whole country, full of woods and thickets, represented a wild and savage hue. If they looked behind them, there was the mighty ocean which they had passed, and was now as a main bar and gulf to separate them from all the civil parts of the world. " Necessity now calling them to look out a place for habitation, while their carpenter was trimming up of their boat, sixteen of their men tendered themselves to go by land and discover those nearest places, which was accepted ; and they, being well armed, were sent forth on the 16th of November, and having marched about a mile by the sea-side they espied five Indians, who ran away from them ; and they followed them all that day sundry miles, but could not come to speech with them. So night coming on, they betook themselves to their rendezvous, and set out their sentinels and rested in peace that night. The next morning they followed the Indian tracks, but could not find them nor their dwellings, but at length lighted on a good quantity of clear ground, near to a pond of fresh water, where the Indians had planted corn, at which place they saw sundry of their graves. And proceeding further, they found new stubble where Indian corn had been planted the same year ; also they found where lately a house had been, where some planks and a great kettle were remaining, and heaps of sand newly paddled with their hands, which they digged up, and found in them divers fair Indian baskets filled with corn, some whereof was in ears, fair and good, of divers colors, which seemed to them a very goodly sight, having seen none before ; of which rarities they took some to carry to their friends on shipboard, like as the Israelites' spies brought from Eshcol some of the good fruits of the land. But finding little that might make for their encouragement as to situation, they returned. " After this, their shallop being ready, they set out the second time for a more full discovery of this place, especially a place that seemed to be an opening, as they went into the said harbor, some 32 374 THE UNITED STATES. two or three leagues off, which the master judged to be a river. About thirty of them went out on this second discovery, the mas ter of the ship going with them ; but upon the more exact discov ery thereof, they found it to be no harbor for ships, but only for boats. There they also found two houses covered with mats, and sundry implements in them, but the people ran away and could not be seen. Also there they found more of their corn and beans of various colors : the corn and beans they brought away, pur posing to give them full satisfaction when they should meet with any of them. And here is to be noted a special and great mercy to this people, that here they got them seed to plant their corn the next year, or otherwise they might have starved, for they had none nor any likelihood to get any until the season had been past, as the sequel did manifest ; neither is it likely that they had had this if the first discovery had not been made, for the ground was now all covered with snow and hard frozen. But the Lord is never wanting unto those that are his, in their greatest needs. Let his holy name have all the praise ! " The month of November being spent on these affairs, and having much foul weather, on the sixth of December they concluded to send out their shallop again on a third discovery. They set sail, intending to circulate the deep bay of Cape Cod, the weather being very cold, so as the spray of the sea lighting on their coats, they were as if they had been glazed : notwithstanding, that night they got down into the bottom of the bay, and as they drew near the shore, they saw some ten or twelve Indians, and landed about a league off them, but with some difficulty, by reason of the shoals in that place, where they tarried that night. "In the morning they divided their company to coast along, some on shore and some in the boat, where they saw the Indians had been the day before, cutting up a fish like a grampus ; and so they ranged up and down all that day, but found no people, nor any place they liked, as fit for their settlement : and that night they on shore met with their boat at a certain creek, where they made them a barricado of boughs and logs for their lodging that night, and being weary, betook themselves to rest. The next morning, about five o'clock, seeking guidance and protection from God by prayer, and refreshing themselves in way of preparation to persist on their intended expedition, some of tRem carried their arms down to the boat, having laid them up in their coats from the moisture of the weather ; but others said they would not carry theirs till they went themselves. But presently, all on a sudden, about the dawning of the day, they heard a great and strange cry, and one of their company being on board, came hastily in and MORTON'S NARRATIVE. 375 cried, c Indians ! Indians ! ' and withal, their arrows came flying amongst them ; on which all their men ran with speed to recover their arms, as by God's good providence they did. In the mean time, some of those that were ready, discharged two muskets at them, and two more stood ready at the entrance of their rendez vous, but were commanded not to shoot until they could take full aim at them, and the other two charged again with all speed, for there were only four that had arms there, and defended the barri- cado which was first assaulted. The cry of the Indians was dreadful, especially when they saw their men run out of their rendezvous toward the shallop to recover their arms, the Indians wheeling about upon them : but some running out with coats of mail and curtal-axes in their hands, they soon recovered their arms and discharged amongst them, and soon stayed their violence. Notwithstanding, there was a lusty man, and no less valiant, stood behind a tree, within half a musket shot, and let his arrows fly amongst them. He was seen to shoot three arrows, which were all avoided, and stood three shots of musket, until one, taking full aim at him, made the bark and splinters of the tree fly about his ears, after which he gave an extraordinary shriek, and away they went, all of them. And so, leaving some to keep the shallop, they followed them about a quarter of a mile, that they might conceive that they were not afraid of them, or any way discouraged. " From hence they departed, and coasted all along, but discerned no place likely for harbor, and therefore hasted to the place the pilot told them of, who assured them that there was a good har bor, and they might reach it before night ; of which they were glad, for it began to be foul weather. After some hours' sailing, it began to snow and rain, and about the middle of the afternoon the wind increased, and the sea became very rough, and they broke their rudder, and it was as much as two men could do to steer the boat with a couple of oars. But the pilot bid them be of good cheer, for he saw the harbor. But the storm increasing and night drawing on, they bore what sail they could to get in while they could see : but herewith they broke their mast in three pieces, and their sails fell overboard in a very grown sea, so as they had like to have been cast away, yet by God's mercy they recovered themselves, and having the flood with them, struck into the harbor. But when it came to, the pilot was deceived, and said, ' Lord be mer ciful to us ! my eyes never saw this place before ! ' And he and the master's mate would have run the boat ashore in a cove full of breakers before the wind, but a lusty seaman who steered, bid them that rowed. ' if they were men, about with her ! else they were all cast away :' the which they did with all speed. So he 376 THE UNITED STATES. bid them be of good cheer and row hard, for there was a fair sound before them, and he doubted not but they should find one place or other they might ride in safety. And although it was very dark and rained sore, yet in the end they got under the lee of a small island, and remained there all night in safety. But they knew not this to be an island until the next morning, but were much divided in their minds : some would keep the boat, doubting they might be amongst the Indians ; others were so wet and cold they could not endure, but got on shore, and with much difficulty got fire. And so the whole were refreshed and rested in safety that night. The next day, rendering thanks to God for his great deliverance of them, and his continued merciful good providence towards them, and finding this to be an island, it being the last day of the week, they resolved to keep the Sabbath there." James I. Charles I. Oliver Cromwell. Charles It CHAPTER XXXIX. MASSACHUSIZTTS CONTINUED. The Plymouth settlement. Sufferings of the colo nists. Hostility of the Indians prevented. The Old Colony. Salem founded. The new colony of Massachusetts Bay. Foundation of Boston. Alliance with the Indians. Theological dissensions. Roger Williams. Endicott. Founda tion of Providence Plantations. Representative government in Massachusetts. Emigration to New England. Hugh Peters. The colonists penetrate to the Connecticut. Settlement of Boston. THE next day, December 11, 1620, O. S., they landed on the con tinent. This is the day, now the 22d, N. S., celebrated ever after wards in the history of New England for the landing of the Pilgrims. The rock on which they first planted their feet, known as " Fore father's Rock," is now visited with devotion by their grateful descendents. The town which they built here, was named Ply mouth, in memory of the last English port from which they sailed. The settlement was immediately begun by building houses. This territory having been found without the limits of their patent, as their original destination was the country about Hudson river, they formed a voluntary government before landing, upon purely democratic principles. John Carver was chosen governor. Their building went on slowly ; cold weather, snow and rain, hindered their labors and subjected them to great sufferings. By a fortu- 378 THE UNITED STATES. nate chance they had saved for seed the corn first discovered; otherwise, their agriculture for the first season would hardly have kept them from starving. Sickness diminished their numbers, and a fire consumed their storehouse. By March, 1621, only fifty-five remained of their whole number, yet were they not dis couraged. None of the natives had yet been seen at Plymouth. But, on the 16th of March, an Indian walked into the town and saluted them, in broken English, with the exclamation, "Welcome, Eng lishmen!" This was Samoset, a sagamore of Monhegan, in Maine, where he had learnt some English by intercourse with fishing vessels and traders. He informed the Plymouth settlers that the place where they had established themselves was called by the Indians, Pdtuxet, and that an extraordinary pestilence had depopulated the whole neighborhood about four years previous, leaving neither man, woman nor child remaining. The settlers had found ancient cornfields and other marks of cultivation here, which confirmed this account. There were in consequence no owners of the land first occupied by the New England pilgrims. They treated Samoset with hospitality, and he made them subse quent visits, bringing with him Squanto, a native who had been kidnapped by Captain Hunt, in 1614, and carried to England. The settlers now learned that Massasoit, the greatest sachem in the country, was near, with a train of sixty men. His visit was friendly, and a treaty was made between him and the Englisk, for mutual assistance and defence, which was observed inviolate for half a century. The settlers, by their moderate, discreet and upright conduct toward their neighbors, secured their firm friend ship and alliance ; and within a year, nine sachems of the country declared their allegiance. Massasoit, with several others, signed a writing, acknowledging the king of England as their sovereign. The first demonstration of a hostile spirit came from Canonicus, sachem of the Narragansetts, who sent the English a bundle of arrows wrapped in the skin of a rattlesnake. The token was readily understood, and promptly answered by sending back the skin stuffed with powder and shot. The savage chieftain discov ered that the strangers were not to be frightened away, and changing his mjnd, eagerly sought their friendship. Meantime the English had explored Boston harbor and the shores of Massa chusetts Bay. A settlement was made at Weymouth, in 1622, by Mr. Weston, of London, who, without any connection with the Plymouth company, obtained a patent for a tract of land in Mas sachusetts Bay. His colony of fifty or sixty persons, by their imprudent and disorderly behavior, came to nothing at the end of FOUNDATION OF BOSTON. 379 a year. They would have starved or been cut off by the Indians, but for the aid of the Plymouth men, who averted a plot for their destruction, which had been revealed by the faithful Massasoit. The settlers at Plymouth first threw all their property into a common stock, but this scheme was found impracticable after a short trial. The property was therefore equally divided, and the colonists became freeholders of the soil. The progress of population was slow, and at the end of ten years the settlement contained only three hundred souls. Salem was settled in 1628, by Endicott, one of the original planters. An establishment had been made in 1624, at Cape Ann, but shortly afterwards aban doned. The government of Plymouth, or, as it was afterwards called, the Old Colony, was a voluntary association, not deriving its powers from the king of England. A new government soon arose in its neighborhood. Humphrey, Endicott and Whetcomb, and three other gentlemen of Dorchester, in England, obtained a char ter for a colony in Massachusetts Bay, which afterwards absorbed the Plymouth colony and became the head of the New England settlements. This charter was signed by king Charles I., in March, 1629. Winthrop, Dudley, Johnson, Pynchon, Saltonstall, Bellingham and others, celebrated in the colonial annals, were parties to the undertaking. An association at Boston in Lincoln shire, lent them their support, and they received encouragement from the great body of the Puritans throughout England. Their ships sailed in May of the same year, and at the end of June arrived at Salem, which at that time consisted of ten or a dozen wretched hovels. The first attempts of the new emigrants were unprom ising; winter brought disease and suffering, and before spring, eighty, almost half their number, had died. However, during the following season, the colony received a strong reinforcement ; no less than one thousand and five hundred persons arrived at Salem. Many of them were of high endowments, large fortunes and good education ; scholars well versed in all the learning of the times ; clergymen who ranked among the most eloquent and pious in England. A search was now made for a more desirable locality to build a town, and the peninsula of Shawmut, or Tri-mountain, was found to be a place of " sweet and pleasant springs, and good land, affording rich corn-fields and fruitful gardens." The safe and capacious harbor, sheltered from the ocean by clusters of well wooded islands, offered additional advantage, and in September, 1630, the foundation of Boston was laid. The town received its name from the Rev. John Cotton and other " Boston men," who had shown great zeal for the colony. 380 THE UNITED STATES. The new emigrants encountered much the same obstacles that afflicted the Plymouth settlers. Disease and hardship thinned their ranks, yet they bore all with equal firmness, and their con duct towards the natives was equally prudent and upright. The Boston settlers soon became formidable in the eyes of the savages, who were at hostility with each other. The sagamore of the Mohegans came from the banks of the Connecticut, soliciting the English to settle in his neighborhood. He praised the fertility of the country, and sought their alliance as a bulwark against the inroads of his enemies, the Pequods. Next came the Nipmucks, begging for assistance against the tyranny of the Mohawks. Then came Miantonimo, the great warrior of the Narragansets ; then the son of the aged Canonicas ; and then a Pequod sachem, with a great store of wampumpeag and bundles of sticks, in promise of so many beaver and other skins. Charlestown, Roxbury, Dor chester, Cambridge, Ipswich and Newbury, were founded about this time, or within a few years. The first General Court was held at Boston, in October, 1630. The government underwent some changes, but was established on .a representative system, with a governor elected annually. For a long time, however, the elective franchise was confined to the members of the church. City of Boston. The first theological dissension that arose in the colony, was promoted by Roger Williams, who had emigrated to New Eng land in 1630, and officiated for some time as pastor of New Plymouth; but not finding there an audience of congenial spirits, he obtained leave to resign his functions at that place, and had recently been appointed minister of Salem. This celebrated man was a Brownist, keen, resolute and uncompromising. He began to announce from the pulpit, which he had gained by his substantial piety and fervid zeal, many new opinions, some wildly specula- ROGER WILLIAMS. 381 tive, some boldly opposed to the existing constitutions of civil society, and some which, if unexceptionable in the abstract, were regarded as unsuitable to the place where they were promul gated, and the exercises and sentiments with which he endeav ored to combine them. He maintained that it was not lawful for an unregenerate man to pray, nor for Christians to join in family prayer with those whom they judged unregenerate ; that it was not lawful to take an oath to the civil magistrate, not even the oath of allegiance, which he had declined himself to take, and advised his congregation equally to reject ; that king Charles had unjustly usurped the power of disposing of the territory of the Indians, and hence the colonial patent was utterly invalid ; that the civil magistrate had no right to restrain or direct the con sciences of men ; and that anything short of unlimited toleration for all religious systems, was detestable persecution. These liberal principles of toleration, he combined with a spirit so rigid and separating, that he not only refused all communion with persons who did not profess every one of the foregoing opinions, but for bade the members of the church at Salem to communicate with any of the other churches in the colony ; and when they refused to obey this prohibition, he forsook his ministerial office among them and established a separate meeting in a private house. He even withdrew from the society of his wife, because she continued to attend the church of Salem, and from that of his children, because he accounted them unregenerate. In his retirement he was attended by a select assembly of zealous admirers, consisting of men in whose minds an impetuous temper, inflamed by perse cution, had greatly impaired the sense of moral perspective ; who entertained disproportionate ideas of those branches of the trunk of godliness, for the sake of which they had endured severe afflic tion, and had seen worth and piety foully wronged; and who abhorred every symbol, badge, and practice, that was associated with the remembrance, and spotted, as they conceived, with the iniquity, of their idolatrous oppressors. One of these individuals, Endicott, a magistrate of the place, and formerly deputy governor of the colony, in a transport of devouring zeal against superstition, was instigated by Williams to cut the red cross out of the royal standard ; and many of the trained bands who had followed this standard without objection, caught the contagion of Endicott's fervor, and protested that they would no longer follow a flag, on which the popish emblem of a crucifix was painted. The intem perate and disorderly conduct of Endicott was generally disap proved, and the provincial authorities punished his misdemeanor by reprimand, and disability of holding office for a year ; but they 382 THE UNITED STATES. were obliged to compromise the dispute with the protesters among the trained bands, and comply to a certain extent with their remonstrances. They were preparing to call Williams to a judi cial reckoning, when Cotton and other ministers interposed, and desired to be allowed to reason with him; alleging that his vehemence and breach of order betokened rather a misguided conscience than seditious principles, and that there was hope that they might gain, instead of losing, their brother. "You are deceived in that man, if you think that he will condescend to learn of any of you, was the prediction of the governor ; at all events, the result of that conference was that sentence of banishment from the colony was forthwith pronounced upon Williams. This sentence excited great feeling in Salem, and was so generally regarded as persecution by the adherents of Williams, that the bulk of the inhabitants of the place were preparing to follow him into exile ; when an earnest and pious admonition, addressed to them by Cotton and the other ministers of Boston, induced them to relinquish their purpose, to acknowledge the justice of the pro ceeding, and abandon Williams to his fate. He was not, however, abandoned by his more select admirers, whose esteem and affec tion he had gained to such a degree, that they resolved to brave every hardship in order to live and die with him. Accompanying him in his exile, they directed their march towards the south ; and settling at a place beyond the jurisdiction of Massachusetts, they purchased a considerable tract of land from the Indians, and bestowed on their plantation the name of Providence. Had Williams encountered the severities to which the publication of his peculiar opinions would have exposed him in England, he would probably have lost his senses ; the wiser and kinder treatment he experienced from the Massachusetts authorities, was productive of happier effects ; and Cotton and his colleagues were not wholly mistaken, in supposing that they would gain their brother. They gained him, indeed, in a manner less flattering to themselves than a controversial victory would have been, but much more benefi cial to the interests of America. He contributed, as we shall see, at a later period, to found the state of Rhode Island, and was one of its most eminent benefactors. He lived to an advanced age, and soon throwing off the impetuous yet punctilious spirit with which his doctrinal sentiments had been leavened, he regained the friendship and esteem of his ancient fellow-colonists, and preserved a friendly correspondence with Cotton and others of them till his death. The principles of toleration, which he had formerly discredited, by the rigidness with which he disal lowed the slightest difference of opinion between the members of REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT IN MASSACHUSETTS. 383 his own communion, he now recommended, by the exercise of meekness, charity and forbearance. The great fundamental prin ciples of Christianity, progressively acquiring a more exclusive and absorbing influence on his mind, he began to labor for the conversion of the Indians ; and, in addition to the benefits of which his ministry among them was productive to this race of people, he acquired over them an influence which he rendered highly advantageous to his old associates in Massachusetts, whom he was enabled frequently to apprize of conspiracies formed against them by the savages in their vicinity, and revealed to him by the tribes with whom he maintained relations of friendship. Endicott's vehemence was not less mellowed by time and the ascendency of sound wisdom and piety. He remained in Massa chusetts; and at a later period held for many years the chief office in its government, with great public advantage and general esteem. The colony of Massachusetts had continued, meanwhile, to ad vance in the attainment of stability and prosperity, and to extend its settlements ; and in 1634, an important and beneficial change took place in its municipal constitution. The mortality that had prevailed among the Indians, had vacated a great many stations formerly occupied by their tribes ; and as most of these were advantageously situated, the colonists took possession of them with an eagerness that dispersed their settlements widely over the face of the country. This necessarily led to the introduction of repre sentative government, and, accordingly, at the period of convoking the general court, the freemen, instead of personally attending it, which was the literal prescription of the provincial charter, elected representatives in their several districts, whom they authorized to appear in their name and act in their behalf. The representa tives were admitted, and henceforward considered themselves, in conjunction with the governor and council of assistants, as the supreme legislative body of the province. The abstract wisdom of this innovation could not admit of doubt; and, in defence of its legitimacy, it was forcibly urged that the colonists were only making an improved and necessary access to the enjoyment of an advantage already bestowed on them, and preventing their assemblies from becoming either too numerous to transact business, or inadequate to represent the gen eral interest and administer the general will. The number of freemen had greatly increased since the charter was granted; many resided at a distance from the places where the general courts or assemblies of the freemen were held ; personal attendance had become inconvenient ; and, in such circumstances, little if any 384 THE UNITED STATES, blame can attach to the colonists for making with their own hands the improvement that was necessary to preserve their existing rights, instead of applying to the government of England, which was steadily pursuing the plan of subverting the organs of liberty in the mother country, and had already begun to exhibit an altered countenance towards the colonial community. In consequence of this important measure, the colony advanced beyond the state of a mercantile society or corporation, and acquired by its own act the condition of a commonwealth endowed with political lib erty. The representatives of the people having established them selves in their office, asserted its inherent rights, by enacting that no legal ordinance should be framed within the province, no tax imposed, and no public officer appointed in future, except by the provincial legislature. The increasing violence and injustice of the royal government in England cooperated so forcibly with the tidings that were circulated of the prosperity of Massachusetts, and the simple frame of ecclesiastical policy that had been established in the colony, presented a prospect so desirable, and, by the comparison which it invited, exposed the gorgeous hierarchy and recent superstitious innovations in the ceremonies of the English church to so much additional odium, that the flow of emigration seemed rather to enlarge than subside, and crowds of new settlers contin ued to flock to New England. Among the passengers in a fleet of twenty vessels that arrived in the year 1635, were two per sons who afterwards made a distinguished figure in a more conspicuous scene. One of these was Hugh Peters, the celebrated chaplain and counsellor of Oliver Cromwell, and the other was Vane, whose father, Sir Henry Vane, the elder, enjoyed the dignity of a privy counsellor at the English court. Peters, who united an active and enterprising genius with the warmest devotion to the interests of religion and liberty, became minister of Salem, where he not only discharged his sacred functions with zeal and advantage, but roused the planters to new courses of useful indus try, and encouraged them by his own successful example. His labors were blessed with a produce not less honorable than en during. The spirit which he fostered has continued to prevail with unabated vigor; and nearly two centuries after his death, the piety, good mprals, and industry, by which Salem has always been characterized, have been ascribed, with just- and grateful commemoration, to the effects of Peters' residence there. He remained in New England till the year 1641, when, at the request of the colonists, he went to transact some business for them in the mother country, from which he was fated never to return. But SIR HENRY VANE. 385 his race remained in the land which had been thus highly indebted to his virtue ; and the name of Winthrop, one of the most honored in New England, was again acquired and transmitted by his daughter. Vane, afterwards Sir Henry Vane, the younger, had been for some time restrained from indulging his wish to proceed to New England, by the prohibition of his father, who was at length induced to waive his objections by the interference of the king. A young man of patrician family, animated with such ardent devotion to the cause of pure religion and liberty, that, relinquishing all his prospects in Britain, he chose to settle in an infant colony, which as yet afforded but little more than a bare subsistence to its inhabitants, was received in New England with the fondest regard and admiration. He was then little more than twenty-four years of age. His youth, which seemed to magnify the sacrifice he had made, increased no less the impression which his manners and appearance were calculated to produce. The deep, thoughtful composure of his aspect and demeanor stamped a serious grace, and somewhat, according to our conceptions, of angelic grandeur on the bloom of manhood ; his countenance dis closed the surface of a character not less resolute than*profound, and of which the energy was not extinguished, but concentrated into a sublime and solemn calm. He possessed a prompt and clear discernment of the spirits of other men, and a wonderful mastery over his own. He has been charged with a wild enthu siasm, by some who have remarked the intensity with which he pursued purposes, which to them have appeared worthless and ignoble ; and with hypocrisy by others, who have contrasted the vigor of his resolutions with the calmness of his manners. But a juster consideration, perhaps, may suggest that it was the habitual energy of his determination, that repressed every symptom of vehement impetuosity, and induced an equality of manner that scarcely appeared to exceed the pitch of a grave, deliberate con stancy. So much did his mind predominate over his senses, that though constitutionally timid, and keenly susceptible of impres sions of pain, yet his whole life was one continued course of great and daring enterprise ; and when, amid the wreck of his fortune and the treachery of his associates, death was presented to him self in the appalling form of a bloody execution, he prepared for it with a heroic and smiling intrepidity, and encountered it with tranquil and dignified resignation. The man who could so com mand himself, was formed to acquire a powerful ascendency over the minds of others. He was admitted a freeman of Massa chusetts; and extending his claims to respect, by the address and ability which he displayed in conducting business, he was 33 w 2 386 THE UNITED STATES. elected governor, in the year subsequent to his arrival, by unani mous choice, and with the highest expectations of a happy and advantageous administration. These hopes, however, were dis appointed. Yane, not finding in the political affairs of the colo nists, a field wide enough for the excursion of his active spirit, embarked its energy in their theological discussions; and, \ in for tunately connecting himself with a party who had com eived singularly just and profound views of Christian doctrine, but asso ciated them with some dangerous errors, and discredited them by a wild extravagance of behavior, he very soon witnessed the abridgment of his usefulness and the decline of his popularity, and returned to England. The incessant flow of emigration to Massachusetts, causing the inhabitants of some of the towns to feel themselves straitened for room, suggested the formation of additional establishments. A project of founding a new settlement on the banks of the river Connecticut, was now embraced by Hooker, one of the ministers of Boston, and a hundred of the members of his congregation. After enduring extreme hardship, and encountering the usual difficulties that attended the foundation of civilized society in this quarter of America, with the usual display of fortitude and reso lution, they at length succeeded in establishing a plantation, which gradually enlarged into the flourishing State of Connecticut. CHAPTER XL. MASSACHUSETTS CONTINUED. Foundation of the province of Connecticut. The Narraganset Indians. The Pequods. Indian wars. Sassacus and Mason. Victory over the Pequods, and extirpation of that tribe. Atrocities of the Indian wars. Internal dissensions in Massachusetts. Doctrines of Mrs. Hutchinson. Their effects upon the colony. Indian wars. - SOME Dutch settlers from New York, who had, in 1633, occu pied a post in Connecticut, were compelled to surrender it to the British colonists, who, moreover, obtained shortly after from Lord Brooke, and Lords Say and Sele, the grant of a district, which these noblemen had acquired in the same quarter, with the inten tion of flying from the royal tyranny to America. Thomas Hooker, a clergyman, made the first permanent settlement in Connecticut. Hooker and his comrades at first carried with them a commission from the government of Massachusetts ; but sub sequently, ascertaining that their territory was beyond the juris diction of the authorities of Massachusetts, they combined them selves, by a voluntary association, into a body politic, constructed on the model of the colonial society from which they had separated. They continued in this condition till the Restoration, when they obtained a charter for themselves, from King Charles the Second. That this secession from the colony of Massachusetts was occa- 388 THE UNITED STATES. sioned by lack of room in a province yet imperfectly peopled, has appeared so improbable to some writers, that they have thought it necessary to assign another cause, and have found none so probable or so satisfactory as the jealousy which they conclude that Hooker must inevitably have entertained towards Cotton, whose patriarchal authority had attained such a height in Massa chusetts, that even a formidable political dissension was quelled by one of his pacific discourses. But envy was not a passion congenial to the breast of Hooker, or likely to be generated by the character or influence of Cotton. The notion of a redundant population was the more readily entertained at this period, from the unwillingness of the settlers to penetrate far into the interior of the country, or deprive themselves of an easy communication with the coast. Another reason, indeed, appears to have sug gested the formation of the new settlement ; but it was a reason that argued not dissension, but community of feeling and design between the planters who remained in Massachusetts and those who removed to Connecticut. By the establishment of this ad vanced station, a barrier, it was hoped, would be erected against the troublesome incursions of the Pequod Indians. Nor is it utterly impossible that some of the seceders of the new settle ment were actuated by a restless spirit, which had hoped too much from external change, and which vainly urged a farther pursuit of that excitement which is found in a life of adventure and vicissitude. In the immediate neighborhood of this new settlement another plantation was formed, about two years after, by a numerous body of emigrants who arrived from England, under the guidance of Theophilus Eaton, a man of large fortune, and John Davenport, an eminent puritan minister. Unwilling to erect the social institu tions which they projected, upon foundations previously laid by other hands, these adventurers declined to settle in Massachusetts, which already presented the scene of a thriving and well-com pacted community ; and, smitten with the attractions of a vacant territory skirting the large and commodious bay to the southwest of Connecticut river, they purchased from its Indian owners all the land that lies between that stream and Hudson's river, which divides the southern parts of New England from New York. Repairing to tMe shores of this bay, they built, ^first the town of New Haven, which gave its name to the whole colony, and then the towns of Guilford, Milford, Stamford and Brainford. After some time they crossed the bay, and planted various settle ments in Long Island; in all places where they came, erecting churches on the model of the Independents. When wo observe SETTLEMENT OF CONNECTICUT. the injustice and cruelty exercised by the government of Britain, thus contributing to cover the earth with cities, and to plant reli gion and liberty in the savage deserts of America, we recognise the overruling providence of that Being, who can render even the insolence of tyrants, who usurp his attributes, conducive to his honor. Having no royal patent, nor any other title to their lands than by purchase of the natives, and not being included within the boundaries of any provincial jurisdiction established by British authority, these settlers entered into a voluntary association, of the same nature and for the same ends as that which the founders of Connecticut had embraced ; and in this condition they remained till the Restoration, when New Haven and Connecticut were united by a charter of King Charles the Second. When the settlement of Connecticut was first projected, hopes were entertained that it might conduce to overawe the hostility of the Indians; but it produced a directly opposite effect. The tribes of Indians in the immediate vicinity of Massachusetts Bay were comparatively feeble and un warlike; but the colonies of Providence and Connecticut were planted in the midst of power ful and martial hordes. Among these, the most considerable were the Narragansets, who inhabited the shores of the bay which bears their name; and the Pequods, who occupied the territory which stretches from Rhode Island to the banks of the Connec ticut. The Pequods were a numerous tribe, and renowned for their prowess and ferocity. They had early entertained a jealous hatred of the European colonists, and for some time past had harassed them with unprovoked attacks, and excited their abhor rence and indignation by the monstrous outrages to which they subjected their captives. Unoffending men, women and children, who had the misfortune to fall into their hands, were scalped and sent back to their friends, or put to death with every circum stance of torture and indignity, while the assassins, with dia bolical glee and derision, challenged them to invoke the God of the Christians, and put to the proof his power to save them. The extension of the English settlements excited anew the fury of the savages, and produced a repetition of injuries, which Vane, the governor of Massachusetts, determined at length to retaliate and punish by offensive operations. Receiving intelligence of a serious attack that had been made by the Pequods on the Connecticut settlers, he summoned all the New England communities to as semble and despatch the strongest force they could contribute, to the defence of their countrymen, and of the common cause of European civilization. The Pequods, aware of the impending danger, were not negligent of prudent precautions, as well as 33* 390 THE UNITED STATES. active endeavors to repel it. To this end, they sought a recon ciliation with the Narragansets, their hereditary enemies, and rivals in power ; proposing that on both sides the remembrance of ancient quarrels and animosities should be buried ; and urging the Narragansets for once to cooperate cordially with them against a common foe, whose progressive encroachments threatened to con found them both in one common destruction. But the Narragan sets had long cherished a fierce and deep-rooted hatred against the Pequods ; and less moved by a distant prospect of danger to themselves, than by the hope of an instant gratification of their implacable revenge, they rejected the proposals of accommoda tion, and determined to assist the English in the prosecution of the war, which broke out in 1637. The Pequods, incensed but not dismayed by this disappoint ment, hastened by the vigor of their operations to anticipate the junction of the allied provincial forces; and the Connecticut troops, while as yet they had received a small part of the succors with which their friends had undertaken to reinforce them, found it necessary to advance against the enemy. The Pequod warriors, amounting in number to more than fifteen hundred, commanded by Sassacus, their principal sachem, occupied two fortified sta tions, against one of which, at Mistic, in Rhode Island, Captain Mason and the Connecticut militia, consisting only of ninety men, attender by a body of Indian allies, directed their attack. The approach of Mason was quickened by the information that the enemy, deceived by a seeming retreat of the provincial troops, had abandoned themselves to the conviction that the English dared not encounter them, and were celebrating in premature triumph the supposed evacuation of their country. About daybreak, while in deep slumber and supine security, they were approached by the colonists ; and the surprise would have been complete, if an alarm had not been communicated by the barking of a dog. The war-whoop was immediately sounded, and they flew to their arms. The colonial troops rushed on to the attack; and while some of them fired on the Indians through the palisades, others forced their way by the entrances into the fort, and setting fire to the huts, which were covered with reeds, involved their enemies in the confusion and horror of a general conflagration. The Pequods, notwithstanding the disadvantage of their situation, behaved with great intrepidity; but after a prolonged and "furious resist ance, they were totally defeated, with the slaughter of at least five hundred of their tribe. Many of the women and children per ished in the flames ; and the warriors, in endeavoring to escape, were slain by the colonists, or, falling into the hands of the Indian EXTINCTION OF THE PEQUODS. 391 allies of the English, who surrounded the fort at a distance, were reserved for a more cruel fate. Soon after this action, Captain Stoughton having arrived with the auxiliary troops from Massa chusetts, it was resolved to pursue the victory. Several engage ments took place, which terminated unfavorably for the Pequods ; and in a short time they sustained another general defeat, which put an end to the war. A few only of this once powerful nation survived, who, abandoning their country to the victorious Euro peans, dispersed themselves among the neighboring tribes, and lost their existence as a separate people. Sassacus had been an object of superstitious terror to the Narragansets, who had endeavored to dissuade the colonists from risking a personal encounter with him, by the assurance that his life was charmed and his person invul nerable. After the destruction of his people, when he fled for refuge to a distant tribe, the Narragansets, exchanging their terror for cruelty, solicited and prevailed with these Indians to cut off his head. Thus terminated a struggle more important from its conse quences than from the number of the combatants, or the celebrity of their names. On its issue there had been staked no less than the question, whether Christianity and civilization, or paganism and barbarity should prevail in New England. This first military enterprise of the colonists was conducted with vigor and ability, and impressed the Indian race with a high opinion of their steadfast courage and superior skill. Their vic tory, however, it must be confessed, was sullied by cruelties which it is easy to account for and extenuate, but painful to re collect. The Massachusetts militia had been exceedingly diligent before their march in purging their ranks of all persons whose religious sentiments did not correspond with the general standard of faith, orthodoxy. It had been happy if they could have purged their own bosoms of the vindictive feelings which the outrages of their savage foes were but too well fitted to inspire. Some of the prisoners were tortured by the Indian allies, whose cruelties, we can hardly dou^bt, the English might have prevented ; a consider able number were sold as slaves in Bermuda, and the rest were reduced to servitude in the New England settlements. In aggra vation of the reproach which these proceedings undoubtedly merit, it has been urged, but with very little reason, that the Pequods were entitled to the treatment of an independent people, gallantly striving to defend their property, their rights and their freedom. But, in truth, the Pequods were the aggressors in an unjust quarrel, and were fighting all along in support of unpro voked and ferocious purposes of extermination. While the military force of Massachusetts was thus employed 392 THE UNITED STATES. in the field, the provincial commonwealth was shaken by intestine dissensions, which had been excited by theological controversy, and inflamed by the gall and bitterness of unruly tongues. It was the custom at that time, in Boston, that the members of every congregation should assemble in weekly meetings, to reconsider the sermons of the preceding Sunday ; to discuss the doctrinal instructions they had heard ; to revive the impressions that had been produced by their sabbatical exercises ; and extend the sacred influences of the Sabbath throughout the week. Mrs. Hutchinson, the wife of one of the most respectable inhabitants of the colony, a woman of masculine spirit, subtle, ambitious and enthusiastic, submitted with impatience to the restriction by which women, at these meetings, were debarred from the privilege of joining in the debates; and 'at length, conceiving that she was authorized to exercise her didactic powers, by the precept of Scripture, which enjoins the elder women to teach the younger -, she established sep arate meetings of the Christians of her own sex, where her zeal and talents soon procured her a numerous and admiring audience. These women, who had partaken the .struggles and perils of the male colonists, had also caught no small portion of the various hues of their spirit ; and as many of them had been accustomed to a life more replete with external elegance and variety of interest and employment than the state of the colony could supply, they experienced a listless craving for something to animate and engage their faculties, and judged nothing fitter for this purpose than an imitation of those exercises, for the promotion of the great common cause, which seemed to minister such comfort and sup port to the spirits of the men. Mrs. Hutchinson, their leader, had by her devout behavior, gained the cordial esteem of John Cotton, whose charity never failed to recognise, in every human being, the slightest trace of those graces which he continually and ardently longed to behold ; and towards him she entertained and professed for some time a very high veneration. The friend ship of Vane and some others had a less favorable influence on her mind ; and their admiring praise of the depth and vigor of her genius seems to have elevated, in her estimation, the gifts of intellect above the graces of character. She acquired the title of The Nonesuch^ which the ingenuity of her admirers derived from an anagrammatical transposition of the letters of her name ; and gave to her female assemblies the title of gossipings, a term at that time of respectable import, but which the scandalous repute of female conventions and debates has since consigned to con tempt and ridicule. Doing amiss what the Scriptures plainly forbade her to do at all, she constituted herself not only a dictator MRS. HUTCHINSON. 393 of orthodoxy, but a censor of the spiritual estate and value of all the ministers and inhabitants of the province. Her canons of doctrine were received by her associates as the unerring standard of truth ; and a defamatory persecution was industriously waged against all who rejected them as unsound, uncertain, or unintelli gible. A scrutiny was instituted into the characters of all the provincial clergy and laity; and of those who refused to receive the doctrinal testimony of the conclave, few found it easy to stand the test of a censorious inquisition, stimulated by female petulance and controversial rancor. In the assemblies which were held by the followers of Mrs. Hutchinson, there were nourished and trained a keen, pugnacious spirit, and unbridled license of tongue, of which the influence was speedily felt in the serious disturbance first of domestic happiness, and then of public peace. The mat rons of Boston were transformed into a synod of slanderous praters, whose inquisitorial deliberations and audacious decrees instilled their venom into the innermost recesses of society ; and the spirits of a great majority of the citizens being in that com bustible state in which a feeble spark will suffice to kindle a formidable conflagration, the whole colony was inflamed and distracted by the incontinence of female spleen and presumption. The tenets adopted and inculcated by the faction of which Mrs. Hutchinson was the leader, were denounced by their adversa ries as constituting the heresy of antinomianism. The doctrine which she taught, and the censures which she pronounced, were received with avidity and delight by a considerable party ; and proportionally provoking the displeasure of others, excited the most violent dissensions throughout the whole colony. Cotton endeavored to moderate the heats that arose, by representing to the parties, that their strife was prejudicial to the great purpose in which he firmly believed the minds of both were united, the exalting and honoring divine grace ; the one (said he) seeking to advance the grace of God within us, in the work of sanctification, the other seeking to advance the grace of God without us, in the work of justification. But the strife was- not to be stayed; his endeavors to pacify and reconcile, only served to draw down upon himself the charge of a timorous and purblind incapacity, from the assembly of the women ; and, as even this insult was not able to induce him to declare himself entirely opposed to them, he incurred a temporary abatement of his popularity with a majority of the colonists. Some of the tenets promulgated by the sectaries, he reverenced as the legitimate fruit of profound and enlightened meditation upon the Scriptures; but he viewed with grief and amazement the fierce and arrogant spirit with which they 394 THE UNITED STATES. were maintained, and the wild and dangerous errors with which they very soon came to be associated. The controversy raged with a violence very unfavorable to the discernment and recog nition of truth. Mrs. Hutchinson and her adherents, both male and female, firmly persuaded of the superior soundness and purity of their system of doctrines, forgot to consider how far the opposi tion which it encountered might be traced to the obscurity and imperfection of their views, and their manner of exhibiting them. It is asserted that the heat of their tempers gradually commu nicated itself to the understandings of Mrs. Hutchinson and her party ; and that, in addition to their original tenets, they adopted the idea that the Spirit of God communicates with the minds of believers independently of the written word ; and, in consistency with this, received many revelations of future events, announced to them by Mrs. Hutchinson, as equally infallible with the prophe cies of Scripture. But the accounts that are transmitted to us of such theological dissensions are always obscured by the cloud of contemporary passion, prejudice and error ; hasty effusions of irri tated zeal are mistaken for deliberate sentiments, and the excesses of the zealots of a party are held up as the standard by which the whole body may fairly be measured. Some ministers, who had embraced Mrs. Hutchinson's opinions, began to proclaim them from the pulpit, with such opprobrious invectives against all by whom they were rejected, as at length brought the dissensions to a crisis; and Vane, being considered the confederate and protector of Mrs. Hutchinson, his continuance in office, or privation of it, at the approaching annual election, was the first test by which the parties were to try with which of them resided the power of imposing silence on the other. So much ill humor and mutual jealousy had now been instilled into the minds of the people, that the utmost efforts of the sober and humane barely sufficed to prevent the day of election from being disgraced by a general riot. All the exertions of Vane's partisans failed to obtain his reappointment; and by a great majority of votes, the government was conferred on Winthrop. Vane, never theless r re mained in the colony, professing his willingness to undertake even the humblest function in the service of a commonwealth of the people of God ;, and the followers of Mrs. Hutchinson, regarding his deprivation of office as a dangerous blow to themselves, ceased not to labor for his reinstatement, with as much warmth as they had exerted in the propagation of their religious tenets. The government was loudly reproached, and Winthrop openly slighted and affronted. At length, the prevailing party resolved to cut up this source of contention by the roots ; and a general synod of MRS. HUTCHINSUN. 395 the churches of the colony having been assembled, the doctrines recently broached were condemned as erroneous and heretical. As this proceeding served only to provoke the professors of these doctrines to assert them with increased warmth and pertinacity, the leaders of the party were summoned before the general court. Mrs. Hutchinson rebuked her judges for their wicked persecution of truth, compared herself to the prophet Daniel cast into the den of lions, and attempted to complete the similitude by exercising what she believed to be the gift of prophecy, and predicting that her exile would be attended with the ruin of her adversaries and all their posterity. To this punishment, nevertheless, she was condemned, together with her brother, Wheelwright, who was a clergyman, an,d who had been the great pulpit champion of her doctrines ; and some of the inferior members of the faction, partly on account of the violence with which they still proclaimed their theological tenets, and partly for the seditious insolence with which they had treated the new governor, were fined and dis franchised. In consequence of these proceedings, Vane quitted the colony, and returned to England, "leaving a caveat," says Cotton Mather, " that all good men are not fit for government." CHAPTER XLI. THE NEW ENGLAND COLONIES. Jealousy of the English government. Attempt* upon American liberty. Firmness of the colonists. Attempts of the crown tc stop emigration. Cromwell and Hampden. Trouble in England. Harvara College founded. Settlement of Maine. General state of the colonies. Man ners, government, religion, strictness of morals. Severity of the laws. Attempts to civilize the Indians. Elliot, the Indian apostle. His labors among the natives. Stubborn character of the Indians. Mayhem's missionary efforts. Translation of the Bible. Result of the attempts at civilizing the savages. Elliot preaching to the Indians. MEANTIME, the progress of the New England colonies had begun to* excite the jealousy of the English government. The system of civil and religious liberty, now rapidly growing up in the west, was too striking a spectacle to escape serious notice. The clergy, in particular, began to look upon the American innovations as an affair of state, and in April, 1634, the Archbishop of Canterbury and his associates received full power over the American planta tions, with authority to establish the government, regulate the church, and revoke any charter which conceded liberties prejudi cial to the royal prerogative. This account spread alarm among the colonists, and they resolved to defend their rights. Fortifica tions were hastily erected, and a military fund of six hundred pounds raised, a large sum, if we consider the poverty of the colonies at that period. All the ministers assembled at Boston DISTRICT OF MAINE. 397 and declared unanimously the determination of the settlers to defend their lawful possessions as far as they were able. The holders of the general patent for New England were forced to surrender it to the king, and by a writ of quo wananto, the Mas sachusetts charter was likewise ordered to be given up. With a design to stop the tide of emigration to the colonies, the privy council, in May, 1638, forbade the sailing of eight ships, in the Thames, bound to New England. A tradition is current that Oliver Cromwell and John Hampden, afterwards so famous in the history of England, were among the emigrants on board this fleet. After some detention, however, the ships were permitted to depart. When the order for surrender of the charter arrived at Boston, accompanied with a threat that in case of refusal the king would take into his own hands the whole government of the plantations, the colonists firmly refused ; and, fortunately for them, before the royal anger could wreak itself on their heads, the troubles broke out in England which led Charles I. to the scaffold. The repub lican parliament favored the colonists, and the House of Commons, in 1643, voted a resolution favorable to the New England colonies. In the meantime Massachusetts promulgated a bill of rights and offered a free welcome to Christians of every nation, who might fly from war, famine, tyranny or persecution. New England had at this early period become the asylum for the oppressed of all Christendom. Antecedent to this period the colonists had begun to look forward to the promotion of literature. Harvard College was founded, in 1636, by the general court of Massachusetts, who appropriated a whole year's taxation towards the establishment of a college at Cambridge. Two years afterwards, John Harvard, of Charlestown, bequeathed one half of his estate and all his library to the same purpose, from which donation the infant Uni versity received his name. The District of Maine, now a separate state, was in the early part of its existence, a portion of Massachusetts. This territory was at first comprised within the limits of a patent granted to Gorges and Mason, who obtained a title for the whole country between the Merrimack and the St. Lawrence. The French had already visited the coast of Maine and established themselves at Mount Desert. Some English settlers took post at Saco river and Monhegan Island, about 1618, but the first permanent settlement was made in 1626, "on the Maine," as it was called, in contra distinction to the islands which so thickly stud the coast. This settlement was at the mouth of the Pemaquid. The French made encroachments and claimed nearly all the territory of Maine, but they were finally expelled. The first court organized in this 34 398 THE UNITED STATES. district was in 1636, at Saco. Gorges gave the country the name of New Somersetshire. In 1652, Massachusetts, by a literal inter pretation of her charter, extended her limits so as to absorb the territory of Maine as far as Casco Bay. In 1691, the whole of Maine became incorporated with Massachusetts, and continued an integral portion of that state till 1820. When the intercourse, which for twenty years had subsisted between New England and the parent state, was interrupted by the civil war in England, the number of colonists appears to have amounted to about twenty thousand persons, or four thousand families, including about a hundred ministers. The expenditure that had already been incurred in equipping vessels and transport ing emigrants, amounted to nearly two hundred thousand pounds, a prodigious sum in that age, and which nothing but the grand and unconquerable principle which animated the puritans, could have persuaded men to expend on the prospect of forming an establishment in a remote, uncultivated desert, offering to its inhabitants merely a plain, unadorned freedom and difficult sub sistence. When the civil war broke out in the parent state, the colonists had already founded fifty towns and villages ; they had erected upwards of thirty churches and ministers' houses ; and combining with their preponderating regard for the concerns of religion, a diligent and judicious conduct of their temporal affairs, they had improved their estates to a high degree of cultivation. During the first seven years of the infancy of the settlement that was founded in 1630, even subsistence was procured with diffi culty, and trade was not attempted ; but soon after that period, the people began to extend their fishery, and to open a trade in lum ber, which subsequently proved the staple article of New England commerce. In the year 1637, there were but thirty ploughs in the whole province of Massachusetts, and less than one third of that number in Connecticut. The culture of the earth was generally performed with hoes, and was consequently slow and laborious. Every commodity bore a high price. Though money was ex tremely scarce, the price of a good cow was thirty pounds ; Indian corn cost five shillings a bushel ; labor and every other article of use was proportionably dear. Necessity at first introduced what the jurisprudence of the colonists afterwards confirmed; and desiring to perpetuate the habits that had proved o conducive to piety and virtue, they endeavored by legislative enactments, to exclude luxury and promote industry. When the assembling of the long parliament opened a prospect of safety, and even of triumph and supremacy to the puritans in England, many persons who had taken refuge in America returned to their native country ; GENERAL STATE OF THE COLONIES. 399 but a great majority of the colonists had experienced so much of the substance and happiness of religious life in the societies which had been formed within the colony, that they felt themselves united to New England by stronger and nobler ties than any that patriotic recollections could supply; and resolved to abide in a region which their virtue had converted from a wilderness into a garden. In these infant communities of men devoted to godli ness and liberty, all hearts were strongly united by community of feeling on subjects the most interesting and important; the inhabitants were, in general, very nearly on a level in point of temporal condition; the connexion of neighborhood operated as extended family ties; and the minds of all were warmed and invigorated by a primitive friendliness, freedom, and simplicity of mutual communication. And yet some indications of an aristo- cratical disposition, arising not unnaturally from peculiar circum stances that had occurred in the formation of the colonial settle ments, did occasionally manifest themselves. Several of the first planters, particularly Dudley, Winthrop, Bradford, Bellingham and Bradstreet, were persons of ample fortune ; and besides the transportation of their own families, they had borne the charge of transporting many poor families, who must otherwise have remained in England. Others were members of the original body of patentees, and had incurred expenses in the procurement of the charter, the formation of the company, the equipment of the first body of adventurers, and the purchase of the soil from the natives, of which they had now no prospect of obtaining reim bursement. On this class of planters the offices of government naturally devolved during the infancy of the settlements, and long continued to be discharged by them with no other pecuniary recompense than presents, which were occasionally voted to* them by the gratitude of their fellow-citizens. It was probably owing to the prevalence of the peculiar sentiments inspired by the ser vices of these persons, that, in the first general court which was assembled in Massachusetts, the election of the governor, the appointment of all the other officers, and even the power of legisla tion, were withdrawn from the freemen, and vested in the council of assistants; and although the freemen reclaimed and resumed their rights the following year, yet the exercise of legislation was confined almost entirely to the council of assistants, till the intro duction of the representative system in the year 1634. From this time the council and the freemen, assembled together, formed the General Court, till the year 1644, when it was arranged that the governor and assistants should sit apart ; and thence commenced the separate existence of the democratic branch of the legislature, 400 THE UNITED STATES. or house of representatives. Elections were conducted by ballot, in which the balls or tickets tendered by the electors consisted of Indian beans. Some notice of the peculiarities of jurisprudence that already prevailed in the various communities of New England, will serve to illustrate the state of society and manners that sprung up at first among this singular people. By a fundamental law of Massachusetts, it was enacted, " that all strangers professing the Christian religion, who shall flee to this country from the tyranny of their persecutors, shall be succored at the public charge until some provision can be made for them." Jesuits and other Romish priests, however, were subjected to banishment, and in case of their return, to death. This cruel ordinance was afterwards ex tended to the -Quakers ; and all persons were forbidden, under the severest penalties, to import any of " that cursed sect," or of their writings, into the colony. By what proceedings the Quakers of that age provoked so much aversion and such rigorous treatment, we shall have an opportunity of considering hereafter. These persecuting edicts had no place in Rhode Island, where no one was exposed to active molestation for religious opinions, and all professors of Christianity, except Roman Catholics, were admitted to the full rights of citizenship. In Connecticut, persons were for bidden to run, or even to walk, "except reverently to and from church," on Sunday, or to profane the day by sweeping their houses, cooking their victuals, or shaving their beards. Mothers were even commanded not to kiss their children on that sacred day. The usual punishments of great crimes were disfranchisement, banish ment, and temporary servitude ; but perpetual slavery was not per mitted to be inflicted upon any persons except captives lawfully takenin the wars ; and these were to be treated with the gentleness of Christian manners, and to be entitled to all the mitigations of their lot, enjoined by the law of Moses. Disclaiming all but defensive war, the colonists considered themselves entitled and constrained, in self-defence, to deprive their assailants of a liberty which they had abused and rendered inconsistent with the safety of their neighbors. The practice, notwithstanding, was impolitic, to say no worse, and served to pave the way, at a later period, for the introduction of negro slavery into New England. All gaming was prohibited ; cards and dice were forbidden to be imported ; and assemblies for dancing were proscribed. By a law enacted in 1646, kissing a woman in the street, even in the way of honest salute, was punished by flogging. This was not considered an infamous punishment by the people of Massachu setts : and even so late as the middle of the eighteenth century, SEVERITY OF THE LAWS. 401 there were instances of persons, who, after undergoing its severity, have associated with the most respectable circles of society in Boston. This doubtless arose from the peculiar character of the government, which, seeming to hold a patriarchal relation to the people, could never be supposed, in correcting an offender, to divest itself entirely of hope and good will towards him. The economy of inns was regulated with a strictness which deserves to be noted, as explanatory of a circumstance that has frequently excited the surprise of European travellers in America. The intemperance and immorality to which these places are so often made subser vient, were punished with the utmost rigor ; and all innkeepers were required, under the severest penalties, to restrain the ex cesses of their guests, or to acquaint the magistrate with their perpetration. To secure a stricter execution of this law, it was judged expedient that innkeepers should be divested of the temp tation that poverty presents to its infraction, and enjoy such personal consideration as would facilitate the exercise of their difficult duty ; and, accordingly, none were permitted to follow this calling, but persons of approved character and competent estate. One of the consequences of this policy was, that an em ployment very little respected in other countries, for a long period, was creditable in the highest degree in New England. Persons, wearing apparel which the grand jivry should account unsuitable to their estate, were to be admonished in the first instance, and if contumacious, fined. A fine was imposed on every woman cutting her hair like a man's, or suffering it to hang loosely upon her face. Idleness, lying, swearing and drunken ness, were subjected to various penalties and marks of disgrace. The selectmen assessed, in every family, the quantity of spinning which the young women were esteemed capable of producing, and enforced by fines the production of the requisite quantities. Usury was forbidden ; and the prohibition was not confined to the interest of money, but extended to the loan of laboring cattle and implements of husbandry. Persons deserting the English settle ments, and living in heathen license and profanity, were punished by fine and imprisonment. A male child above sixteen years of age, accused by his parents of rebellion against them and general misconduct, incurred, (conformably with the Mosaic code,) the doom of capital punishment; and any person courting a maid without the sanction of her parents, was fined and imprisoned, It is pleasing to contemplate the substantial fruits of Chris tian sentiment evinced by the memorable exertions for the con version of the Indians. The circumstances that promoted the 34* Y2 402 THE UNITED STATES. emigrations to New England, had operated with particular force on the ministers of the puritans ; and so many of these spiritual direc tors had accompanied the other settlers, that among a people who derived less enjoyment from the exercises of piety, the numbers of the clergy would have been reckoned exceedingly burdensome and very much disproportioned to the wants of the laity. This circumstance was highly favorable to the promotion of reli gious habits among the colonists, as well as to the extension of their settlements, in the plantation of which, the cooperation of a minister was considered indispensable. It contributed also to suggest and facilitate missionary labor among the neighboring heathen, to whom the colonists had associated themselves, by superadding the ties of a common country to those of a common nature. While the people at large were progressively extending their industry, and overcoming by culture the rudeness of desert nature, the ministers of religion, with earnest zeal, aspired to an extension of their peculiar sphere of usefulness ; and, at a very early period, entertained designs of redeeming to the dominion of piety and civilization the neglected wastes of human character that lay stretched in savage ignorance and idolatry all around them. John Elliot, one of the ministers of Roxbury, a man whose large soul glowed with the in tensest flame of holy charity, had been diligently laboring some time to overcome the preliminary diffi culty by which its performance was obstructed. He had now, by diligent study, obtained such a knowledge of the Indian language, as enabled him not only himself to speak it with fluency, but to facilitate the acquisition of it by others, in the construction and publication of a system of Indian grammar. Having completed his preparatory inquiries, he began, in the close of this year, a scene of labor, which has been traced with the greatest interest and accuracy by the ecclesiastical historians of New England. . It is a remarkable feature in Elliot's long and arduous career, that the energy by which he was actuated never sustained the slightest abatement; but, on the contrary, manifested a steady and continual increase. He appears never himself to have doubted its endurance ; but, confidently referring it to Divine bestowment, he felt assured of its derivation from a source incapa ble of being wasted by the most liberal communication. Every thing he saw or knew occurred to him in a^ religious aspect ; every faculty, and every acquisition that he "derived from the employment of his faculties, was received by him as a ray imparted to his soul, from that everlasting source of sentiment and intelligence, which was the object of his earnest contempla- LABORS OF ELLIOT AMONG THE INDIANS. 403 tion and continual desire. As he was one of the holiest, so was he also one of the happiest and most beloved of men. When he felt himself disabled from preaching, by the infirmities of old age, lie proposed to his parishioners of Roxbury, to resign his ministe rial salary ; but the people unanimously declared, that they would willingly pay the stipend, for the happiness of having him reside among them. His example, indeed, was the most valuable part of his ministry among Christians; his life, during many yeais, K ~ : '.~. u, continual effusion of soul in devotion to God and charity to mankind. The mild, persuasive address of Elliot soon gained him a favor able audience from many of the Indians ; and having successfully represented to them the expediency of an entire departure from their savage habits of life, he obtained from the general court a suitable tract of land adjoining the settlement of Concord, in Massachusetts, upon which a number of Indian families began, under his counsel, to erect fixed habitations for themselves, and where they eagerly received his instructions, both spiritual and secular. It was not long before a violent opposition to these innovations was excited by the powows, or Indian priests, who threatened death and other inflictions of the vengeance of their idols on all who should embrace Christianity. The menaces and artifices of these persons caused several of the seeming converts to draw back, but induced others to separate themselves entirely from the society and converse of the main body of their country men, and court the advantage of a closer association with that superior race of men, who showed themselves so willing, nay, so anxious, to diffuse and communicate the benefits of their own improved condition. A considerable number of Indians resorted to the land allotted to them by the provincial government, and exchanged their wild and barbarous habits for the modes of civil ized living and industry. Elliot was continually among them, instructing, animating, and directing them. They felt his supe rior wisdom, and saw him continually and serenely happy ; and there was nothing in his exterior condition that indicated sources of enjoyment from which they were debarred. On the contrary, it was obvious that of every article of merely selfish comfort, he was willing to divest himself, in order to communicate to them a share of what he esteemed the only true riches of an immortal being. The women in the new settlement learned to spin ; the men to dig and till the ground ; and the children were instructed in the English language, and taught to read and write. As the number of domesticated Indians increased, they built a town by the side of Charles river, which they called Natlck ; and they 404 THE UNITED STATES. devsired Elliot to frame a system of municipal government foi thorn. He directed their attention to the counsel that Jethro gave - to Moses ; and in conformity with it, they elected for themselves rulers of hundreds, of fifties and of tens. The provincial govern ment also appointed a court, which, without assuming jurisdiction over them, tendered the assistance of its judicial mediation to all who might be willing to refer to it the adjustment of their more difficult or important controversies. In endeavoring tc extend their missionary influence among the surrounding tribes, Elliot and his associates met with diversified results, corresponding to the visible varieties of human character, and the invisible pre determinations of the Divine will. Many Indians expressed the utmost abhorrence and contempt of Christianity ; some made a hollow profession of willingness to hear, and even of conviction, with the view, as it afterwards appeared, of obtaining the tools and other articles of value that were furnished to every Indian who proposed to embrace the habits of civilized life. In spite of great discouragement the missionaries persisted; and the diffi culties that at first mocked their efforts, seeming at length to vanish under an invisible influence, their labors were attended with astonishing success. The character and habits of the lay colonists promoted the efficacy of these pious endeavors, in a manner which will be forcibly appreciated by all who have exam ined the history and progress of missions. Simple in their man ners, devout, moral and industrious in their lives, they enforced the lessons of the missionaries by demonstrating their practica bility and their beneficial effects, and presented a model which in point of refinement was not too elevated for Indian imitation. While Elliot and an increasing body of associates were thus employed in the province of Massachusetts, Thomas Mayhew, a man who combined the gentlest manners with the most ardent * .and enthusiastic spirit, together with a few coadjutors, diligently prosecuted the same design in Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket, and Elizabeth Isles, and the territory comprehended in the Plymouth patent. Abasing themselves, that they might elevate their species and promote the divine glory, they wrought with their own hands among those Indians whom they persuaded to forsake savage habits ; and zealously employing all the influence they acquired to the communication of moral and spiritual improvement, they beheld their exertions crowned with the most signal success. The character and manners of Mayhew appear to have been singularly calculated to excite the tenderness, no less than the veneration, of the objects of his benevolence. His address derived a pene trating interest from that earnest concern, and high and holy ELLIOT AND MAYHEW. 405 value, which he manifestly entertained for every member of the family of mankind. Many years after his death, the Indians could not hear his name mentioned without shedding tears, and betraying transports of grateful emotion. Both Elliot and Mayhew found great advantage in the practice of selecting the most docile and ingenious of their Indian pupils, and by especial attention to their instruction, qualifying them to act as schoolmasters among their countrymen. To a zeal that seemed to increase by exercise, they added insurmountable patience and admirable prudence ; and steadily fixing their view on the glory of the Most High, and declaring that, whether out wardly successful or not in prosecuting it, they felt themselves blest and happy in pursuing it ; they found its influence sufficient to light them through the darkness of every perplexity and peril, and finally conduct them to a degree of success and victory unparalleled, perhaps, since that era when the miraculous endow ments of the apostolic ministry caused multitudes to be converted in a day. They were not hasty in urging the Indians to embrace improved institutions ; they desired rather to lead them insensibly forward, more especially in the establishment of religious ordi nances. Those practices, indeed, which they accounted likely to commend themselves, by their obviously beneficial effects, to the natural understanding of men, they were not restrained from recommending to their early adoption; and trial by jury very soon superseded the savage modes of determining right, or ascer taining guilt, and contributed to improve and refine the sense of equity. In the dress and modes of intercourse among the savages, they also introduced, at an early period, alterations calculated to form and develop a sentiment of modesty, of which the Indians were found to be grossly and universally deficient. But all those practices which are, or ought to be exclusively the fruits of renewed nature and divine light, they desired to teach entirely by example, and by diligently radicating and cultivating in the minds of their flock, the principles out of which alone such visible fruits of piety can lastingly and beneficially grow. It was not till the year 1660, that the first Indian church was founded by Elliot and his fellow-laborers in Massachusetts. There were at that time no fewer than ten settlements within the province occu pied by Indians comparatively civilized. Elliot had occasionally translated and printed various approved theological dissertations for the use of the Indians ; and, at length, in the year 1664, the Bible was printed for the first time, in the na tive language of the New World, at Cambridge, in Massachusetts. This, indeed, was not accomplished without the assistance of 406 THE UNITED STATES. pecuniary contributions from the mother country. The colonists had zealously and cheerfully cooperated with their ministers, and assisted to defray the cost of their charitable enterprises ; but the increasing expenses threatened at last to exceed what their narrow means were competent to afford. Happily, the tidings of this great work excited a. kindred spirit in the parent state, where, in the year 1649, there was formed, by act of parliament, a Society for propagating the Gospel in New England, whose cooperation proved of essential service to the missionary cause. This society, having been dissolved at the restoration, was afterwards reerected by a charter from Charles the Second, obtained by the exertions of the pious Richard Baxter, and the influence of the illustrious Robert Boyle, who thus approved himself the benefactor of New England, as well as of Virginia. Supported by its ample endow ments, and the liberal contributions of their own fellow-colonists, the American missionaries exerted themselves with such energy and success in the work of converting and civilizing the savages, that, before the close of the seventeenth century, there were collected in the province of Massachusetts, more than thirty con gregations of Indians, comprising upwards of three thousand persons, reclaimed from a gross barbarism and degrading super stition, and advanced to the comfort and respectability of civilized life, and the dignity and happiness of worshippers of the true God. There were nearly as many converts to religion and civiliza tion in the islands of Massachusetts Bay ; there were several Indian congregations in the Plymouth territories ; and among some of the tribes that still pursued their wonted style of roving life, there was introduced a considerable improvement in civil and moral habits. CHAPTER XLII. NEW HAMPSHIRE. Gorges and Mason's projects. Foundat on of Portsmouth. New Hampshire absorbed in Massachusetts. RHODE ISLAND. Williams obtains a charter for that colony. CONNECTICUT. First attempt of the Dutch at a set tlement. Hartford founded by the English. Government of Connecticut. New Haven. Distresses of the first settlers. Troubles with the Indians and Dutch. Connecticut obtains a charter. Founding of Portsmouth. SIR Ferdinando Gorges and John Mason, members of the coun cil of Plymouth, obtained, in 1622, a patent for Laconia, under which name was then comprised all the coast from the river Merrimac to the St. Lawrence. A. company was formed in Eng land, under this patent, and settlements effected at Portsmouth and Dover, in 1623. The colony, however, made but little progress ; the patentees got involved in territorial disputes with their Massa chusetts neighbors, and wasted their efforts in suits at law, the poorest means of helping the growth of an estate. Fifteen years later, the whole coast of New Hampshire and Maine is described as a mere wilderness, with a few huts scattered here and there along the shore ; and at the end of thirty years, Portsmou th con tained only fifty or sixty families. Mason took out a new pa ent, but his American estate became ruined. Neither the proprietor nor the king paid any attention to this colony, and the New 408 THE UNITED STATES. Hampshire settlers were left to take care of themselves. The colony was absorbed into Massachusetts in 1641, and continued to form a part of that state till 1677, when a committee of the privy council, having examined all the colonial charters, de cided that Massachusetts had no jurisdiction over this terri tory. New Hampshire then became a royal province. The history of this state is so closely connected throughout with that of Massachusetts, that they cannot be separated without impair ing the unity of our narrative of general events. The foundation of the province of Rhode Island was laid by Roger Williams, whom we have already seen leaving the settle ments at Massachusetts Bay, and going into exile in the wilder ness. Williams first established himself at Seekonk, but finding the spot within -the limits of Plymouth, he removed across the river, and made a permanent settlement at Providence in 1638. He bought the land of the Narraganset Indians, and his infant colony was undisturbed by disputes with the natives. The friends of Anne Hutchinson sought shelter here, and the colony increased to such a degree that a constitution was established in 1641. Williams remained here upwards of forty years, and in 1643, he went to England, where, by the interest of Sir Henry Vane, he obtained a parliamentary charter, by which the colony was governed till the restoration of Charles II. That monarch favored the Rhode Islanders ; and the liberal terms of the charter which he granted the colony in 1663, form a theme of unbounded praise with the historians of the time. Under .this charter the state continued to be governed down to the year 1842. In our narrative of the Indian wars in the preceding chapter, we have alluded to the early establishment of the Dutch and English on Connecticut river. In the year 1635, and the subse quent years, several distinct English settlements were made. One group of these settlers, led by Mr. Hooker, with their families, stock and property, travelled in about fourteen days from Massa chusetts Bay to Hartford, across the intermediate trackless wil derness. They had no guide but their compass ; no covering but the heavens; and their chief subsistence was the milk of their cows, which they drove before them. By these and other settlers from Old and New England, two colonies, named Connecticut and New Haven, we're formed, and continued distinct for about thirty years, but were then united. These early settlements were formed by voluntary associations of persons who purchased the soil from the natives, and the right of settling there from the old Plymouth company in England. The constitution of the colony called Connecticut, was estab- CONNECTICUT. 409 lished by a convention of all the freemen of Windsor, Hartford, and Wethersfield, which met at Hartford, in January, 1639. It ordained that there should be annually two general courts or legis lative assemblies, one in April and the other in September ; that in the first, all public officers should be chosen ; that a governor should be annually appointed ; that no one should be chosen to this office unless he had been a magistrate, and also a member of some church ; that the choice of officers should be by ballot, and by the whole body of freemen ; and that every man was to be considered as a freeman, who had been received as a member of any of the towns, and had taken the oath of fidelity to the com monwealth ; that each of the three towns should send four depu ties to the general court; and that, when there was an equal division of votes, the governor should have the casting vote. John Haynes was chosen the first governor, and henceforward the general court proceeded to enact laws. A free representative government was thus established in New England, one hundred and thirty-seven years before the American revolution. The planters of Q,uinipiack, afterwards called New Haven, con tinued more than a year without any other constitution than their plantation covenant. In this they had solemnly engaged to be governed, as well in their civil as their religious concerns, by the rules of Scripture. In June, 1639, they held a convention to lay the foundation of their polity. It was resolved that the Scriptures afford a perfect rule for the discharge of all duties, and that they would be governed by them ; that church members only should be free burgesses, and that they only should choose magistrates among themselves to manage their affairs. They met in court and admitted into their body all the members of the churches. To this succeeded the election of officers. Theophilus Eaton was chosen governor, and with him were joined four magistrates. It was at the same time agreed that there should be a general court annually in October, at which all the officers of the colony should be chosen, and that the word of God should be the sole rule for regulating the affairs of the commonwealth. Connecticut, when first settled, was a vast wilderness. In it were neither fields, gardens, public roads, nor cleared ground; but much valuable timber and wild fruit; a great variety of water-fowl and other birds. In its waters there was an abun dance of fish of different kinds. In no part of New England were the Indians so numerous, in proportion to territory, as in Connec ticut. For thirty or forty years after its settlement, they were computed to be to the white population, in the proportion of nineteen to one. 35 z2 410 THE UNITED STATES. The settlement of this cold country was injudiciously begun in October. By the 15th of the next month, Connecticut river was frozen from side to side. The snow was deep and the season tempestuous. In the following month, December, provisions gen erally failed. Famine and even death were anticipated by many. Some, impelled by hunger, attempted to return through the wilderness, to Massachusetts. Others abandoned their habita tions. Seventy persons were obliged, in the extremity of winter, to go to the mouth of the riyer, to meet their provisions, as the only expedient to preserve their lives. They who kept their sta tions suffered extremely. After all the help they could obtain by hunting and from the Indians, they were obliged to subsist on acorns, malt and grains. It is difficult to describe the distresses of this first doleful winter. These first settlers, exposed to all the horrors of a dreary wilder ness, were encompassed with numerous and cruel tribes of sava ges, who could at pleasure destroy them. They had neither bread for themselves nor their children; neither habitations nor convenient clothing. Whatever emergency might occur, they were cut off, both by land and water, from either succor or retreat. Their second year was also a season of great and various labors. Many of the planters had to remove themselves and effects from a considerable distance. It was also incumbent on them to culti vate the earth, and raise a crop, to prevent a repetition of the dis tresses which took place the preceding year. It was necessary to erect and fortify their houses ; to prepare food and shelter for their cattle ; to make roads between their settlements, that on any emer gency, they might assist each other. These various labors were of difficult accomplishment in a new and unsettled country. The planters had not been accustomed to cutting down trees, to clearing and cultivating new lands. They were strangers in the country, and knew not what kinds of grain would be most congenial with its soil; nor had they any experience how the ground must be cultivated, that it might yield a plentiful crop. They had few oxen or implements of husbandry. Everything was to be .pre pared or brought from a great distance and at a dear rate, Besides all these labors and difficulties, much time was taken up in constant watchings, trainings and preparations for the defence of themselves and children. In addition to all these difficulties, they could neither hunt, fish, nor cultivate their fields, nor travel, nor even walk out from home, but at the peril of their lives. They were obliged to keep a con stant watch by night and day ; to go armed to their daily labors, and to public worship. But nothing could discourage men who UNION OF THE COLONIES. 411 were determined to sacrifice every worldly comfort to secure liberty of conscience, the privileges of a pure church, and the propagation of religion and liberty in America. Besides these troubles from Indians, the first settlers of Connec ticut and New Haven had well-founded apprehensions of dangers from their neighbors, the Dutch in New Amsterdam, who had been settled there upwards of twenty years, and urged claims to a great part of Connecticut, as the property of the United Netherlands. At this time, England, convulsed with a civil war between the king and parliament, could afford no aid to fyer American colonies. Surrounded with dangers and enemies, the inhabitants of Con necticut and New Haven confederated with their neighbors and brethren of Massachusetts and Plymouth, in a league offensive and defensive. They henceforward took the name of the United Colonies of New England. This was an union of the highest consequence to the New Eng land colonies. It made them formidable to the Dutch and Indians 3 and respectable among their French neighbors. It was happily adapted to maintain a general harmony among themselves, and to secure the peace and rights of the country. It was one of the principal means of the preservation of the colonies during the civil wars and unsettled state of affairs in England. The Indians were so hostile, that its whole influence was necessary to prevent a general war. The Indians at this period were beginning to acquire the use of fire-arms. The French, Dutch, and others, for the sake of gain, sold them arms and ammunition. Laws were made to restrain this traffic ; but, from the avarice of individuals, they were not carried into full effect. The Dutch, at Hartford, maintained a distinct and independent government, and resisted the English laws. A war of epistles, protests and proclamations, was carried on between their gov ernors, each of whom criminated the opposite party, while the borderers on the territories of both made reciprocal incursions into, and depredations on, the settlements of each other. Charges of a serious nature were made by Connecticut against Stuyve- sant, the Dutch governor of New Amsterdam, as having leagued with the Indians to extirpate the English. This charge was principally supported by the evidence of Indians. Their credi bility was admitted by one party, but denied by the other. Three fourths of the commissioners urged a declaration of war against their Dutch neighbors; but Massachusetts, contrary to the articles of union, would not cooperate with the other three colonies. These applied to Cromwell for aid ; but he was too much occupied at home to attend to the wishes of his distant friends. The Dutch 112 THE UNITED STATES. were also too fully employed in Europe, to aid their colonies in North America. Nothing serious was attempted on either side , but representations continued to be made by the New Englanders to the ruling powers of England, against the Dutch in New Am sterdam ; and their subjugation was incessantly urged, as essen tial to the security of English America. These were seconded from an unexpected quarter. Stuyvesant, having retaken New castle, reduced the fort at Christiana, and compelled the submis sion of all the Swedes near the Delaware. The proprietor of Maryland, uneasy at the extension of Dutch conquests, as en croaching on his province, joined in urging the necessity of fitting out an expedition against New Amsterdam. England, convulsed by a civil war, could not immediately attend to their request ; but Charles the Second, soon after he was restored to the throne of his ancestors, listened to the joint wishes of his subjects in Maryland and New England. Before any effectual measures were adopted for this purpose, Connecticut applied to the restored king for a royal charter. This was granted in 1662. New Haven was incorporated into the colony of Connecticut in 1665. The sub sequent history of this charter, and of the Indian wars of which this state was the theatre, will be found related in the history of the United Colonies. CHAPTER XLIII. NEW YORK Henry Hudson's discoveries. First settlement of the Dutch in America. Manhattan. Albany. The colony of New Amsterdam founded. Troubles with the Connecticut settlers. The English conquer the New Nether lands. Administration of Nichols. The Dutch recover the province. The English again acquire it. Leisler's usurpation. Civil war. Governor Slaughter. Defeat and execution of Leisler. General state of the colony of New York. Discovery of the Hudson River. NEW YORK was first settled by the Dutch, who claimed the country by right of discovery. Henry Hudson, an English man in the Dutch service, made a voyage to this coast in 1609, and, on the 3d of September, entered the mouth of that great river, which now bears his name. He ascended the stream above the point where Albany is now situated, but made no settlement, as his chief object was the discovery of a northwest passage to India. On a subsequent voyage, in the same pursuit, in the Northern Seas, he discovered Hudson's Bay, where he was turned adrift in a boat by his mutinous crew, and never heard of after wards. The Dutch East India Company, under whose auspices Hudson had made his voyage to America, claimed the territory in the neighborhood of the newly-discovered river and Delaware Bay, for the United Provinces of Holland. Another voyage was made 35* 414 THE UNITED STATES. by the merchants of Amsterdam, in 1610; a profitable trade was carried on with the natives, and the Dutch repeated their visits. A few huts were erected on Manhattan Island in 1613, and this was the foundation of the city of New York, although there was no regular attempt to establish a colony till some years later. Mouses were built at Albany as early as 1615. Connecticut river appears to have been first discovered by the Dutch. The settle ment on Manhattan Island was called New Amsterdam, and the whole province received the name of the New Netherlands. Determined at length on the settlement of a colony, the States General made a grant of the country, in 1621, to the West India Company. Wouter Van Twiller arrived at New Amsterdam, and took upon himself the government in 1529. The New Eng- landers having commenced a settlement in New Haven, Kieft, the second governor of New Netherlands, protested against them ; but his protest, being unsupported, was disregarded. In the same year the Dutch protested against a settlement of the Swedes, which had lately been made on the banks of the Delaware. In 1640, the English, who had overspread the eastern part of Long Island, advanced to Oyster Bay. Kieft broke up their settlement in 1642, and fitted out two sloops to drive the English out of Schuylkill, of which the Marylanders had lately possessed them selves. Peter Stuyvesant was the third and last Dutch governor, and began his administration in 1647. The inroads and claims upon his government kept him constantly employed. New England on the east, and Maryland on the west, excited his fears. About the same time, Captain Forrester, a Scotchman, claimed Long Island for the dowager of Stirling. The Swedes, too, were pro ceeding in their settlements near the Delaware. Governor Stuy vesant was a faithful servant to the West India Company. He early and earnestly stated to his employers the embarrassments he daily experienced from the New Englanders, the Marylanders, and the Swedes; and pointed out to them the probability of a formidable attack from England. His representations were unavailing. No preparations were made against the gathering storm. Maryland on the one side, and Connecticut on the other, i^rged upon their mother country the necessity of an expedition against the Dutcfh, who separated the southern from the northern English colonies. Their representations were listened to by Charles the Second. In 1664, he gave to his brother James, duke of York and Albany, a patent, which included what is now called New York and New Jersey, a part of Connecticut, and part of what is now called Pennsylvania, and the State of Delaware. To reduce this NEW NETHERLANDS CONQUERED BY THE ENGLISH. 415 country, part of which was in peaceable possession of the Dutch, to the obedience of the Duke of York ; to gratify the colonies of Connecticut and Maryland, and to consolidate, in continuity, the English colonies, king Charles the Second despatched three armed vessels, having on board three hundred soldiers. They reached the harbor of New York in August, 1664. Governor Stuyvesant sent a respectable deputation of citizens with a letter, desiring to be informed of the reason of their approach and continuance in the harbor. Colonel Nichols, the commander of the expedition, answered with a summons to surrender all fortified places to the king of England, and, at the same time, gave assurance to the inhabitants, that all who submitted to the English government should be confirmed in their rights to estate, life and liberty. Stuyvesant promised an answer to the summons the next morn ing ; and in the meantime convened the council and burgomasters. The Dutch governor was a good soldier, and had lost a leg in the service of the states. He would have willingly made a defence, and therefore refused a sight of the summons, both to the inhabi tants and burgomasters, lest the easy terms offered might induce them to capitulate. The latter, however, insisted upon a copy, that they might communicate it to the late magistrates and principal burghers. They called together the inhabitants at the stadt-house, and acquainted them with the governor's refusal. Winthrop, the governor of Connecticut, at the same time wrote to the director and his council, strongly recommending a surren der. On the 22d of August, the burgomasters came again into council, and desired to know the contents of the English mes sage from Governor Winthrop ; which Stuyvesant still refused to communicate. They continued their importunity, and he, in a fit of anger, tore it to pieces ; upon which they protested against the act and all its consequences. Determined upon a defence of the country, Stuyvesant wrote a letter in answer to the summons. In this he vindicated the right of the Dutch to the country, on the ground of prior possession. He in particular asserted that they had, without control and in peace, enjoyed Fort Orange for forty-eight or fifty years; the Manhattans about forty-one or forty- two years; the South river for forty, and Fresh Water river for thirty-six years. In the meantime, Nichols published a proclamation in the country, encouraging the inhabitants to sub mit, and promising them the king's protection, and all the privi leges of subjects. Stuyvesant was induced to write another letter ; wherein he declared, "that he would stand the storm: yet, to prevent the spilling of blood, he had sent a deputation to consult, if possible, on accommodation." Nichols, who knew the disposi- 416 THE UNITED STATES. tion of the people, answered immediately, that "he would treat about nothing but a surrender." The Dutch governor, the next day, agreed to a treaty and surrendered. The town of New Amsterdam, upon the reduction of the island of Manhattan, took the name of New York. Hudson and the South river were however still to be reduced. Sir Robert Carr commanded the expedition to Delaware, and Carteret was com missioned to subdue the Dutch at Fort Orange. The garrison capitulated on the 24th of September ; and he called it Albany, in honor of the duke. Sir Robert Carr was equally successful on South river; for he compelled both the Dutch and Swedes to capitulate, and deliver up their garrisons, on the 1st of October, 1664. On that day fell the Dutch power upon the continent of North America ; and the whole New Netherlands became subject to the English crown. Before these conquests were completed, the Duke of York had granted a portion of the territory ceded to him by Charles the Second, to Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret. This is now called New Jersey. Though the New Netherlands were reduced, very few of the inhabitants removed from the country. Governor Stuyvesant held his estate and died there. His posterity still survive and maintain a respectable rank among the citizens of the United States. Nichols, being now possessed of the country, took upon himself its government. He permitted the city to be ruled as before, by a scout, burgomasters and schepens ; but gradually introduced the English government. After an administration of three years, Nichols returned to England. The time, during his short residence, was almost wholly taken up in confirming the ancient Dutch grants. He erected no courts of justice ; but took upon himself the sole deci sion of all controversies whatever. Complaints came before him by petition, upon which, he gave a day to the parties ; and after a summary hearing, pronounced judgment. His determinations were called edicts, and executed by the sheriffs he had appointed. It is much to his honor, that, notwithstanding all this plenitude of power, he governed the province with integrity and moderation. Colonel Francis Lovelace was appointed by the duke to suc ceed Nichols in the government of the province. The people lived very peaceably under him, till his powers were rendered inefficient by the re-surrender of the colony. This was effected in 1673, by the treachery of John Manning, who had at that time the command of the fort. He, by a messenger, sent down to the commander of a few Dutch ships, which had recently arrived, and lay under Staten Island, and made his peace. On the same EDMUND ANDROS. 417 day the Dutch ships came up, moored under the fort, and landed their men, who entered the garrison, without giving or receiving a shot. On the surrender of the capital, all the magistrates from the adjacent country were summoned to New York- and the major part of them swore allegiance to the States General, and the Prince of Orange. View of New York. The Dntch governor enjoyed his office but a very short season ; for, in 1674, a treaty of peace between England and the States General was signed, which restored this country to the English. The Duke of York, to remove all controversy respecting his prop erty, obtained a new patent from the king, for the same lands which had been granted to him ten years before ; and, two days afterwards, he commissioned Edmund Andros, as governor of his territories in America. New York, being a conquered country, was governed as such, by the duke's governors, and their councils, who, from time to time, made rules and orders, which were esteemed to be bind ing as laws. This state of things continued till 1653, when, for the first time, deputies from the several towns and villages assem bled to deliberate on the civil condition of the country. But the representative system was not made perfect in a popular leg islative body till 1683. A dissatisfaction with the government soon became general. Papists began to settle in the province, under the smiles of the officers appointed by the duke. Several public characters openly avowed the Roman Catholic religion. The cry that the Protestant religion was in danger became uni versal. In this state of general alarm, intelligence arrived that a revolution was on the point of taking place in England. The hopes of the disaffected were elevated ; but none chose to act, till the Bostonians had set the example. Sir Edmund Andros, who A3 418 THE UNITED STATES. was devoted to the arbitrary measures of king James, by his tyranny in New England, had drawn upon himself the universal odium of a people animated with the love of liberty ; and there fore, when they could no longer endure his despotic rulo, they seized and imprisoned him, and afterward sent him to England. Upon the news of these events, several captains of militia civn- vened, to concert measures in favor of the Prince of Orange. Among these, Jacob Leisler was the most active. He was a man in esteem among the people, and of a moderate fortune ; but des titute of every qualification necessary for conducting the grand enterprise which he undertook. Milborne, his son-in-law, an Englishman, directed all his councils. Their first object was the seizure of the garrison in New York. Leisler entered -it with forty-nine men, and having got possession, determined to hold it till the whole militia should join him. Being in complete possession of the fort, he sent an address to king William and queen Mary. This was followed by a private letter from Leisler to king William, which informed his majesty of the state of the garrison, and the temper of the people ; and concluded with strong protestations of sincerity, loyalty and zeal. Leisler's sudden investiture with supreme power over the prov ince, and the probable prospects of king William's approbation of his conduct, excited the envy and jealousy of the late council and magistrates, who had refused to join in the glorious work of the revolution. Leisler, on the other hand, fearful of their influence, and wishing to extinguish the jealousy of the people, admitted several trusty persons to a participation of that power, which the militia had committed solely to himself. In conjunction with these, he exercised the government, assuming to himself only the honor of being president in their councils. This model continued, till a packet arrived with a letter from the lords Car- rnarthen, Halifax and others, directed to " Francis Nicholson Esq., or, in his absence, to such as, for the time being, take care for preserving the peace and administering the laws in their majesties' province of New York, in America." Nicholson, who had acted as lieutenant-governor, under king James, having absconded when this packet came to hand, Leisler considered the letter as directed to himself; and from ihat time executed all lands of commissions in his own name, assuming the title, as well as the authority of lieutenant-governor. Except the eastern inhabitants of Long Island, all the southern part of the colony cheerfully submitted to Leisler's commands. The people of Albany, in the meantime, were determined to hold the garrison 410 and city for king William, independent of Leisler, and formed themselves into a convention for that purpose. Taking it for granted, that Leisler at New York, and the con vention at Albany were equally well affected toward the revolution, nothing could be more unwise than the conduct of both parties, who, by their uncompromising temper, threw the province into convulsions, and sowed the seeds of mutual hatred and animosity. When Albany declared for the prince of Orange, there was noth ing more that Leisler could properly require. Rather than sacrifice the public peace of the province to the trifling honor of resisting a man, who had no evil designs, the people of Albany ought, in prudence, to have delivered the garrison into his hands, till the king's definitive order should arrive; but while Leisler, on the one hand, was inebriated with his newly-gotten power, so, on the other, Bayard, Cortlandt, Schuyler, and their associates, could not brook a submission to the authority of a man, mean in his abilities, and inferior in his degree. Jacob Milborne was commissioned for the reduction of Albany. Upon his arrival there, a great number of the inhabitants armed themselves. In these circumstances, Milborne thought proper to retreat, and soon afterwards departed from Albany. In the spring, he commanded another party upon the same errand ; and the dis tress of the country, occasioned by an Indian irruption, gave him all the desired success. No sooner was he possessed of the garrison, than most of the principal members of the convention absconded ; upon which, their effects were arbitrarily seized and confiscated. Colonel Henry Sloughter, who had a commission from king William to be governor of the province, arrived and published it on the 19th of March, 1691. Never was a governor more neces sary to the province than at this critical conjuncture ; but either through the hurry of the king's affairs, or the powerful interest of a favorite, a man was sent over, utterly destitute of every quali fication for government ; licentious in his morals, avaricious and poor. If Leisler had delivered the garrison to Colonel Sloughter, as he ought to have done, upon his first landing, he would doubt less have attracted the favorable notice both of the governor and the crown ; but, being a weak man, he was so intoxicated with the love of power, that, though he had been well informed of Slough ter's appointment, he not only shut himself up in the fort with Bayard and Nichols, whom he had imprisoned, but refused to deliver them up or to surrender the garrison. From this moment, he lost all credit with the governor, who joined the party against him. On the second demand of the fort, Milborne and Delanoy, came out, under pretence of conferring with his excel- 420 THE UNITED STATES. lency ; but in reality, to discover his designs. Sloughter, who considered them as rebels, threw them both into jail. Leisler, upon this event, thought proper to abandon the fort, which Colonel Sloughter immediately entered. Bayard and Nichols were now released from their confinement, and sworn as members of the privy council. Leisler, having thus ruined his cause, was appre hended, with many of his adherents, and a commission of oyer and terminer issued for their trials. In vain did they plead the merit of their zeal for king William, since they had so lately opposed his governor. Leisler endeav ored to justify his conduct, insisting that Lord Nottingham's letter entitled him to act in the quality of lieutenant-governor. Leisler and his son were condemned to death for high treason. These violent measures drove many of the inhabitants, who were fearful of being apprehended, into the neighboring colonies. Tranquillity was not completely restored, till an act of general indemnity was passed. Colonel Sloughter proposed, about this time, to set out for Albany ; but, as Leisler' s party were enraged at his imprisonment and the late sentence against him, his enemies were afraid new troubles would spring up, in the absence of the governor ; for this reason, both the assembly and council advised that the prisoners should be immediately executed. Sloughter chose rather to delay such a violent step; being fearful of cutting off two men, who had vigorously abetted the cause of the king, and so signally con tributed to the revolution. Nothing could be more disagreeable to Leisler' s enemies, whose interest was deeply concerned in his de struction ; and, therefore, when no other measures could prevail with the governor, tradition informs us that a sumptuous feast was prepared, to which Colonel Sloughter was invited. When his ex cellency's reason was drowned in his cups, the entreaties of the . company prevailed with him to sign the death-warrant. Before he recovered his senses, the prisoners were executed. The bodies of these unhappy sufferers were afterwards taken up, and interred with great pomp in the old Dutch church, in the city of New York. Their estates were restored to their families ; and Leisler' s descendants in the public estimation were rather dignified than disgraced by the fall of their ancestor. The severity on both sides irritated one half the people against the other, teisleriahs and anti-Leislerians, became the names of two parties, who, for many years, hated and opposed each other, to the great disturb ance of the colony. The revolution being established, governors were appointed by the new order of British sovereigns. As they were good or bad, NEW YORK AND CANADA. 421 the people were happy or otherwise. About this time, the French schemes of joining Canada and Louisiana, and limiting the Eng lish colonies to the Atlantic coast, began to be unfolded. The governor of Canada built forts, and otherwise encroached on the limits of New York. He also began to make and extend a com munication from the St. Lawrence to the lakes of Canada ; and gradually to approach the head waters of the Ohio. The friend ship of the confederacy of Indians known by the name of the Six Nations, was courted by both. Roman Catholic missionaries from Canada were sent among them, ostensibly to convert them to Chris tianity ; but really to secure their attachment to France. Severe laws were passed in New York, to punish them as intruders. A great trade was carried on between Albany and Canada, for goods saleable among the Indians. Burnet, governor of New York, with the view of keeping the Six Nations dependent on the English for their supplies, procured acts of the legislature for restraining this trade ; but in this he was thwarted by the selfishness of the merchants. To secure the friendship of the Indians, to obtain the command of the lakes, and of the country between New York and Canada, were the objects pursued by both, from an early period of the eighteenth century, or rather from the year 1692. Governor Burnet, who commenced his administration in 1720, was the first who sounded a general alarm, and stirred up the colonists to be on their guard; but reciprocal schemes of counteraction had been previously projected by the Canadians and New Yorkers, against each other ; by the latter for security ; by the former, in subserviency to their grand scheme of uniting Canada with Louisiana. CHAPTER XLIV. NEW JERSEY settled. Berkeley and Carteret. William Penn. Foundation of PENNSYLVANIA. Government of the colony. Philadelphia founded. Penn sylvania united to New York. Revolutions of the government, Settlement of DELAWARE by the Swedes. Conquest by the Dutch. Final transition to the English. Colonization of MARYLAND. Lord Baltimore. Tranquillity of the province. Religious liberty. Loyalty of the inhabitants. Party violence.' General state of the colony. Settlement of NORTH and SOUTH CAROLINA. Locke's constitution, its anomalous and impracticable character. Settlement of GEORGIA. Pennsylvania. NEW JERSEY was a portion of the New Netherlands when that territory came into possession of the English. A trading station of the Dutch seems to have existed at Bergen, as early as 1618, but the country was for a long time neglected. In 1664, some Quakers settled near Raritan Bay, and in the same year a number of New England puritans, dwelling on Long Island, obtained of the Indians a deed of a large tract on Newark Bay, having pre viously enjoyed the permission of the Dutch to settle in New Jersey. This was called the " Elizabethtown purchase," and led the way to interminable suits of law. The Duke of York sold ; in 1664, the New Jersey portion of his patent to Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret. Emigrants were brought over from England by the new proprietors, and the foundation of a capital was laid, NEW JERSEY AND PENNSYLVANIA. 423 which received the name of Elizabethtown, from Lady Carteret. The first legislative assembly was held there in 1668. The colony received further accessions from Connecticut, and the quiet of the settlers was not disturbed by Indian wars. When the Dutch recovered the New Netherlands, in 1673, the New Jersey colony acknowledged their authority for fifteen months. Berke ley and Carteret were thus reinstated in their possessions. In 1674, Berkeley sold his half of the territory to a company of Quakers in England, who formed a settlement at Salem the next year. Carteret soon after parted with his claims, to William Penn and others, and a charter or constitution for West New Jersey was formed in 1677. The colony now rapidly increased by the emigration of Quakers. East and West Jersey were for many years under separate governments ; and both territories were at one time, according to king James's plans, annexed to New England. They continued disunited till 1702, but their history is not marked by any events that can interest the general reader, till the period of the American revolution. William Penn making a treaty nith the Indians. PENNSYLVANIA was founded by William Penn, a Quaker, who had become one of the proprietors of New Jersey. He was the son of Admiral Penn, the conqueror of Jamaica, and embraced the principles of the Quakers while a student at Oxford. The Quakers were persecuted in England, and Penn was repeatedly imprisoned. The spirit of religious enquiry, and an abhorrence of persecution for conscience sake, took complete possession of his 424 THE UNITED STATES. soul, and it was reserved for this excellent man to make a suc cessful experiment of these just maxims, by establishing a colony in the Western World, on the most liberal principles of toleration, while the oldest nations of enlightened Europe were attempting to reduce the minds of men to an absurd uniformity in articles of faith and modes of worship. Determined to seek an asylum for himself and his persecuted sect in America, he made use of a claim upon the government for sixteen thousand pounds, bequeathed him by his father, to obtain a grant of territory. Charles II., always embarrassed for money, assigned him a tract of land upon the Delaware, to which he gave the name of Pennsylvania. The charter for this colony was drawn up by Penn himself, and bears the date of 1681. The settlement was begun the same year, by Markham, an agent of Penn's. The Duke of York laid claim to a portion of the territory comprised within his patent, and held actual possession of the western shores of Delaware Bay, where settlements of Dutch, English and French, had for some time been established. In August, 1682, Penn, after long solicitations, obtained from the Duke of York a conveyance of the town of Newcastle, with the territory twelve miles around it, and that tract of land extend ing thence southward on the Delaware, to Cape Hen] open. This is now the state of Delaware. He soon after set out for America, accompanied by about two thousand emigrants; and in the Octo ber following, landed at New Castle, on the banks of the Delaware, where, in addition to the colonists sent out by himself, he found settlements consisting of about three thousand persons, composed of Swedes, Dutch, Finlanders and English. He cultivated with care, the good will of the natives and purchased from them, at a satisfactory price, such lands as were necessary for the present use of the colony. Within the space of a year after the requisites for a regular settlement were obtained, between twenty and thirty sail, with passengers, arrived in the province. The banks of the Delaware were rapidly settled, from the Falls of Trenton, down to Chester. Most of these primitive settlers were orderly, religious people, chiefly of the Quaker persuasion; and several of them were wealthy. They were from England, Wales, Ire land and Germany. Emigrants from the last, settled German- town in 1682. 'On their landing they set about procuring shelter. Some lodged in the woods, under trees; some in caves, which were easily dug in the high banks of the west side of the Dela ware; others in huts, erected in the most expeditious manner. The difference between the finely improved countries they had left, and the wild, woody desert, on which they were about to fix NEW JERSEY. 425 themselves, was immense ; but the soil was fertile, the air clear and healthy, and the streams of water good and plentiful. There was an abundance of wood for fuel and building. Tools, for cutting it down, and working it up, were brought from England. The anticipation of future comforts from these natural advan tages, together with the recollection of their honorable views in making the settlement, enabled them to bear up under all difficulties. They soon cleared ground and planted it with Indian corn and wheat. Though nearly three thousand people came the first year, they were all provided for. Deer, wild turkeys, fish and Indian corn, were in great plenty. A deer could be purchased for about two shillings, and other articles in a relative proportion. Tradition informs us that in partic ular seasons, wild pigeons were in such abundance, as to be easily taken, and to be extensively contributory to the support of the settlers. In this situation, to be strong, healthy, active, and capable of bearing fatigue, was of much more consequence than high birth or pompous titles. He fared the best who was most expert in the various practical arts directly subservient to the procurement of food, clothing and shelter, from the woods, waters, and surface of an uncultivated country. Even that delicacy of habit, which results from close application to study and mental improvement, was inconvenient; for it abated that capacity for labor which their situation required. Hands were much more in demand than heads. Servants and the lower class of people, who had been used to work hard and fare scantily, prospered more than those who had been accustomed to live at their ease, and brought property with them. In a society thus constituted, opinions favorable to liberty, equality and the rights of man, were of spontaneous growth. The first assembly was held at Upland, now called Chester, in 1682 ; and, in a short session of three days, it despatched much important business. They agreed upon an act of settlement, in the nature of a constitution, or form of government; or rather consented to one offered to them by Penn for their consideration. The Dutch, Swedes, Finlanders and others, who had previously settled in the vicinity of the Delaware, were naturalized. Every foreigner who should join them, and promise allegiance to the king and obedience to the proprietors, was declared a freeman. The territories, for so was the late purchase from the Duke of York denominated, were annexed to the province; and to the former, all the privileges of the latter were communicated; but some time afterward, they were detached, and continued a sepa- B 3 426 THE UNITED STATES. rate colony, with one and the same governor, but a different assembly. The following principles were adopted in the early government of Pennsylvania : " That children should be taught some useful irade, to the end that none may be idle ; that the poor may work to live, and the rich, if they became poor ; factors, wronging their employers, to make satisfaction and one third over." It was also declared, that everything "which excites the people to rudeness, cruelty and irreligion, should be discouraged and severely pun ished;" and, "that none acknowledging one God, and living peaceably in society, should be molested for his opinions or his practice, or compelled to frequent or maintain any ministry what soever." To these regulations, which were established as funda mental, must be attributed the rapid improvement of this colony, and the spirit of diligence, order and economy, for which the Pennsylvanians have been at all times so justly celebrated. Penn, dissatisfied with the act .of settlement, though formed by himself, proposed a second frame of government. To this, with his usual address, he easily procured the assent of the assembly. For the encouragement of aliens, it declared, "that in case of death, without naturalization, their lands should descend to their heirs." In order that the inhabitants might be accommodated with such food as Providence had freely afforded, "liberty was given to every one to hunt on uninclosed lands, and to fish in all waters belonging to the province." The assembly of April, 1683, established various salutary regulations. Abrogating the common law, with regard to the descent of lands, it enacted, " that the estates of intestates should be disposed of, one third of the per sonal property absolutely, and one third of the lands during life to the widow, and two-thirds among the children, the eldest son having a double share." Py the promulgation of these and similar laws, the growing prosperity of the colony was promoted. Their beneficial effects were felt long after their legislative energy had ceased. While Pennsylvania prospered, by the wisdom of her regulations, Penn, in 1684, went to England. He left his province in profound peace, under the administration of five commissioners, chosen from the provincial council, at the head of whom was President Lloyd. In the year 1682, the foundation of Philadelphia, the metropo lis of the province, was laid. Within twelve months from its commencement, it contained one hundred houses, and rapidly increased. In ninety-four years it became the capital of an inde pendent empire; and in it, audience was given to a minister plenipotentiary from the court of France, on the very spot where, PENNSYLVANIA. 427 a century before, wild beasts prowled, and wild men roamed. At the same time, Pennsylvania, grown to great consequence, held in her hands the balance between six independent states on the north and as many on the south, as often as they were equally divided on national questions. View of Philadelphia. Penn had been so eminently favored by Charles the First and Charles the Second, that his enemies represented him as a Jesuit, disguised under the garb of Quakerism. Having been a friend of James, he was supposed to be an enemy to William. After his return from America, in 1684, he was detained in Europe, and at four different times imprisoned on vague suspicions and unfounded charges; but his upright, virtuous character stood the test of the severest scrutiny. He declared, " that he loved his country and the Protestant religion above his life, and that he had never acted against either; but that King James had been his friend, and his father's friend, and he thought himself bound, in justice and gratitude, to be a friend to him." The jealous policy of that day had no ear for sentiments of the heart. Penn was among the last to acknowledge the prince and princess of Orange ; and the government of Pennsylvania was carried on for one or two years, in the name of King James, after his abdica tion. These and other grounds of suspicion were urged with so much zeal against Penn, as to induce King William to deprive him of his government. Pennsylvania, without any respect to its charter, was, in 1692, annexed to New York, and subjected to the administration of Fletcher, governor of that province. Penn, having vindicated his character, and established himself in the good opinion of King William, soon regained his province, and appointed William Markham lieutenant-governor, to take care of 428 THE UNITED STATES. its interests. This storm had scarcely blown over, when another began to lour. Early in the eighteenth century, measures were agitated in England for reducing all proprietary governments in America into regal ones ; and a bill for that purpose was brought into the House of Lords. By the address of the friends of Penn and of Pennsylvania, this project was given up. Though Penn was a wise and good man, and the people he led ' to Pennsylvania were, in general, orderly and well-disposed, yet there were almost constant bickerings between him and them. He changed the form of government two or three times, and each change was apparently for the better, and more to the satisfaction of the inhabitants ; yet there was seldom any reciprocal satisfac tion between the parties. From Moses, the legislator of Israel, to Penn, the leader of the Quakers, it has been the lot of all men who have undertaken to conduct emigrants from one country to another, to fail in satisfying the people, whose benefit was one of the primary objects of the emigration. Between the opposition Penn had to encounter in England, and the difficulties he had to combat in Pennsylvania, his life was a continued scene of suc cessive vexations. His private fortune was materially injured by his advances to promote the infant settlement, particularly to pre serve the friendship and good will of the Indians. His province, for some considerable time, was subjected to a mortgage. After being harassed by his creditors, he was obliged to submit to a temporary loss of his personal liberty. It was his lot, in common with many illustrious benefactors of mankind, to meet with very improper returns for great philanthropic exertions. He lived poor, but died rich, leaving an inheritance to his children, which, at the commencement of the American revolution, was of immense value. DELAWARE was first explored by the Swedes and Finns, about the year 1627. They purchased from the natives the land on both* sides the bay from Cape Henlopen to the falls. Gustavus Adolphus urged his subjects to make settlements in this country, and an association was formed under his patronage, called the West India Company. A settlement was made on Christiana creek, and the colony received the name of New Sweden. Lew- istown, Tinicum and Chester were also founded soon after by the Swedes, and fortifications built at these places in apprehension of hostilities with the Dutch at New Amsterdam. TlTe chancellor Oxenstiern patronised the new colony, and it was owing to his endeavors that the Swedes remained here. New emigrants were sent over, and the English were expelled from Elsingburg, a fort which they had built on the Jersey side of the Delaware. The MARYLAND. 429 Swedes established themselves on the spot, and in 1651, captured also a fort erected by the Dutch, on the Delaware. This aggres sion was fatal to the colony of New Sweden. The Dutch gover nor of New Amsterdam raised a force of six hundred men, sailed with a fleet up the Delaware, and reduced the Swedish settle ments, one after another, without bloodshed. The colony had existed seventeen years, and, at the time of its surrender, con tained about seven hundred souls. From 1655 to 1664, it was incorporated with the Dutch territory. It afterwards passed into the hands of William Penn, and was also claimed by Lord Balti more, as a part of Maryland. Until 1703, it formed a part of Penn sylvania, when it received a separate legislative assembly, but one governor presided over both provinces. Maryland was the third English colony settled in North America; but the first which, from its beginning, -was erected into a province of the kingdom. The first emigrants to Maryland, consisting of about two hundred persons, chiefly of the Roman Catholic religion, landed on the banks of the river Potomac, in the beginning of the year 1634. Calvert, their leader, purchased the rights of the aborigines, and with their consent, took posses sion of a town, which he called St. Mary's. He continued care fully to cultivate their friendship, and lived with them on terms of perfect amity. The lands, which had been thus ceded, were planted with facility, because they had already undergone the discipline of Indian tillage. Food was therefore easily procured. The Roman Catholics, unhappy in their native land, and desirous of a peaceful asylum, went over in great numbers to Maryland. Lord Baltimore, to whom the province had been granted, laid the foundation of its future prosperity on the broad basis of security to property, and of freedom in religion. The wisdom of these measures converted a dreary wilderness into a prosperous colony ; because men exert themselves in their several pursuits, in propor tion as they are assured of enjoying in safety those blessings which they wish for most. Never did a people enjoy more hap piness than the inhabitants of Maryland, under Cecilius, the father of the province. While Virginia persecuted the puritans, her severity compelled many to pass over into this new province, the assembly of which had enacted, "that no person professing to believe in Christ Jesus, should be molested in respect of their religion, or in the free exercise thereof." The prudence of the one colony acquired what the folly of the other had thrown away. Mankind then beheld a new scene on the theatre of English America. They saw in Massachusetts, the Puritans abridging the rights of various sects ; and the Church of England 430 THE UNITED STATES. in Virginia, actuated by the same spirit, harassing those who dis sented from the established religion ; while the Roman Catholics of Maryland tolerated and protected the professors of all denomi nations. In consequence of this liberal policy, and other prudent measures adopted by the rulers of this province, it rapidly increased in wealth and population. The annals of Maryland are barren of those striking events which enliven the page of history. This is probably the reason that so little of its history has been published. Its internal peace, in the period of infancy, was but little disturbed either by Indians or insurgents, though not wholly exempt from either. Its early settlers loved their king and their proprietary. They were not given to change, but attached to ancient forms, their native coun try and its constitution. It affords the first example in colonial history, of the dismemberment of an ancient colony, by the forma tion of a new one out of it, with separate and equal rights. This occasioned disputes between the original state, Virginia, and that dissevered portion of it called Maryland ; and also between persons claiming rights from different sources; but these controversies were adjusted without serious consequences. Their first assembly was convened in 1634, and was probably composed of all the freemen of the province. In 1638, representation was introduced. In the year 1650> their constitution was improved, by a division of the legislature into two distinct branches, sitting and deliber ating apart. Those who were called by special writs, formed the upper house. Those who were chosen by the hundreds, composed the lower house. The internal peace of the province was seriously disturbed while the civil wars raged in England. A majority of the chief men in Maryland were attached to the cause of royalty. But the opposition was so strong as to end in a civil war. After various skirmishes, fought with alternate success, a decisive engagement took place. The party attached to Oliver Cromwell prevailed. Stone, the governor of the province, was taken prisoner, and from the violence of party rage, ordered to be hanged. He suffered a long imprisonment ; but it does not appear that the sentence was executed. He had administered the government with so much pro priety, as to be respected by good men of both parties. Cromwelj appointed commissioners to settle the affairs of .the province In 1658, they surrendered the government to Josias Feudal, who had been appointed governor by the proprietary ; but the public peace remained unsettled, till the restoration of king Charles gave a permanent superiority to the friends of royalty. Notwithstand ing various distractions and revolutions in these times of civil NORTH CAROLINA. 431 war, when men had cast off the usual restraints of law and order, the province continued to increase in numbers, industry and wealth. At the restoration, in 1660, it contained about twelve thousand persons. The efforts of Charles the Second and James the Second, to consolidate the colonies, did not effect anything against the charter of Maryland. This province, then in its infancy, was happily neglected, or forgotten, so long, that judgment was not obtained against it ; but the introductory process had commenced in the year before the revolution. With the exception of the three or four years that followed the defeat of Braddock, in 1 775, Maryland was generally in possession of peace and orderly gov ernment, from 1663 till 1775. In these one hundred and thirteen years immediately preceding the American revolution, Maryland enjoyed a great share of prosperity. When that event took place, she with all her increased resources, heartily joined her sister colonies, in contending for their common rights. At this period, Maryland had increased her population, from twelve thousand, to three hundred and ten thousand one hundred and seventy-four. Scene in North Carolina. The first visits of the English to NORTH CAROLINA have been related in the history of Virginia. About 1650, some planters from Virginia settled in the county of Albermarle, and this appears to have been the first permanent establishment in the province. In 1661, another settlement was made at Cape Fear, by a number of adventurers from Massachusetts. They bought the land from the natives, but had no patent from the crown. Both these settlements were voluntary, and their government 432 THE UNITED STATES. no more than but a spontaneous association of the people. Their nearest civilized neighbors were the Spaniards at St. Augustine. In 1663, Charles II. made a grant of Carolina to Lord Clarendon and others. They sent over emigrants, and placed the province under the superintendence of Sir William Berkely, governor of Virginia. A constitution was framed for North Carolina, and the first assembly was held in 1669. The province was at first divided into two distinct colonies, the Cape Fear settlers giving their territory the name of Clarendon ; but this separation contin ued only for a short time. The war with the Tuscarora Indians, which happened many years afterwards, will be related in another chapter. SOUTH CAROLINA was held by the same proprietors as her sister province. The first settlement made within the limits of the present state was at Beaufort, in 1670. The settlement went on so slowly and quietly as to offer little for the pen of the historian. For nearly a century the colonists had not penetrated above eighty miles into the interior. The celebrated Locke was employed by Lord Shaftesbury, one of the proprietors, to frame a constitution for Carolina. This scheme of government, the most remarkable ever projected for the Anglo-American colonies, established two orders of nobility, landgraves and caciques, who were to enjoy the hereditary pos session of two fifths of all the land. The plebeian landholders were to be adscripts of the soil under the jurisdiction of their lords. The elective franchise was confined to the landholders. The legislature was a parliament, composed of the ' four estates,' the proprietors, the landgraves, the caciques and the commons. The whole judicial, executive and legislative power was indepen dent of the people. The government was organized by the pro prietors, and Monk, Duke of Albermarle, appointed ruler, with the title of Palatine. This strange scheme of government, however, wa t s found to be totally impracticable. GEORGIA was originally comprised in the Carolina patent, and was the last settled province of the original thirteen. As late as 1732, there was not a European within its limits. In that year George II. made a grant of the territory to a company who brought over settlers and the next year founded Savannah. Gen eral Oglethorpe, was the conductor of the enterprise. The lands were distributed- as military fiefs, and entailed on^ the male pos terity of the holders. The importation of blacks w'as prohibited. These regulations hindered the growth of the colony and drew the settlers into Carolina. The charter was surrendered in 1752, and a government similar to those of the neighboring provinces was established. CHAPTER XLV. THJE UNITED COLONIES OF NEW ENGLAND. The first American confederacy. Its policy and effects. The Massachusetts charter attacked. Resistance of the colonists. Bigotry of the New England Puritans. Persecution of Anabaptists and Quakers. Faults of the Quakers. The civil war in England. The charter again attacked. Philip j s war. Ravages committed by the Indians. Defeat and death of Philip. Philip's mar. THE success of the colonists in their war with the Pequods, led them to perceive the benefits which would flow from a more sys tematic and permanent combination of their plans. Hitherto the respective governments of Massachusetts. Plymouth, Connecticut and New Haven, had been independent of each other, but in 1637, the scheme of a confederacy was proposed. Massachusetts, as the most powerful state of the four, was to take the leading station, which somewhat offended the scrupulous pride of Con necticut, and she insisted that each state should possess a negative on the proceedings of the whole body. This was opposed with good reason by Massachusetts, as likely to defeat the main object of their joint counsels. Connecticut was hard pressed, at that moment, by the Dutch of the New Netherlands, and at length waived her scruples. In 1643, the UNITED COLONIES of NEW ENG LAND bound themselves by a mutual league to render each other protection and assistance. 37 c3 434 THE UNITED STATES. Each colony reserved its own local jurisdiction. The affairs of the confederacy were intrusted to a body of commissioners, consisting of two from each colony. What may be termed the " foreign relations" of the union, the intercourse and wars with the Indians, were specially assigned to their care. They were authorized to make internal improvements at the common charge, and to assess the common expenses according to population. They declared war, levied troops, and decided all questions that arose among the confederated states. Neither New Hampshire nor Rhode Island were members of this league ; the former was ex cluded as not sufficiently conforming to the Puritan model ; and the latter for refusing to acknowledge the jurisdiction of Plymouth. The New England Union was unsanctioned by the authority of the crown, and might reasonably have excited the jealousy of Charles I., had he been at leisure to bestow his attention upon his transatlantic colonies, yet this confederacy was allowed to continue many years. It survived the jealousies of the long parliament, received the approbation of Cromwell, and escaped animadversion on the restoration of the Stuarts. When the long parliament established its authority in England that body determined to introduce its rule into all the foreign dependencies of England. A mandate arrived in Massachusetts, in 1651, ordering the governor and assembly to send their charter to London and wait for a new patent from the keepers of the liberties of England. The General Court of Massachusetts replied with a petition and remonstrance, and conducted their measures so skilfully that the parliament was completely foiled in this attempt against the liberties of the colony. The accession of Cromwell to the supreme power was a favorable event for New England. He made no attempt to molest the people in their rights ; and his exertions speedily relieved the Connecticut settlers from aW fears of the Dutch at New Amsterdam. > On the conquest of Jamaica by the English, Cromwell made a proposal to the inhab itants of Massachusetts to transport them to that island, that they might carry the sword of the gospel into the very heart of the territories of popery. This offer, as well as another proposition to remove to Ireland was rejected. We have seen the jealous watchfulness with which the NGW England colonists maintained their political rights, and the sacri fices which they had made to secure the enjoyment of their religious opinions. Yet, so full of contradictions is the human character, that the same men did not hesitate to display the most rigid intolerance towards the dissenters from their own creed. Bigotry was cherished as the safeguard of religious truth by those THE QUAKERS. 435 who fled from their homes to enjoy liberty of conscience and freedom of religious inquiry. Laws were made against secta rianism ; heretics were banished ; a neglect of established forms of worship was punished as a civil offence. The strongest Mirrent of persecution set against the Anabaptists and Quakers. These sectarians promulgated doctrines, which, as the puritans believed, were of disorganizing tendency, and were incompatible with the safety of society. They were fined, imprisoned, banished, and some of them hanged. These deplorable proceedings have been considered a disgrace ful blot on the annals of New England, and in truth like all other persecutions, they are not to be defended. Yet, on a closer scru tiny into the temper and circumstances of the times, we shall find ample materials for the explanation of these strange anomalies in the puritan character. The Quakers of that day were not the same peaceful, moderate men, whom we see at present. The doctrines they preached were hostile to all regulated forms, order and discipline, civil and ecclesiastical. Instead of preaching the gospel, they raised their voices against everything that was most highly approved and revered in the doctrine of the provincial churches. Their imprudence, extravagance and fanaticism, ren dered them objects of general apprehension and horror. They were first banished from the colony, but swarms of them returned; violent and impetuous in provoking persecution and disturbing the peace of society. They profanely interrupted divine service, and committed acts of folly, frenzy and indecency, hardly credi ble. It is no wonder that these scandalous outrages irritated the sober Puritans, and drove them to severe measures against their disturbers. By degrees the wild extravagances of the Quaker spirit subsided, and the laws against them were relaxed. The persecution ceased at the end of three or four years, and since 1660, the Quakers have never disturbed the repose of the Ameri can colonies, or been themselves molested. Free commerce had been enjoyed by the colonists under the administration of Cromwell; but the restoration of Charles II. threatened them with an abridgement of their privileges. Virginia inclined towards royalty, and made a premature declaration for the king. Massachusetts temporized, and received the two regi cides, Whalley and Goffe, who sought an asylum on her shores, a deed which brought upon her the bitter reproaches of the restored monarch. When the royal authority was established, the General Court of Massachusetts sent an address to the king, deprecating any interference in colonial affairs. The answer was a demand for the arrest of Whalley and Goffe, who immediately 436 THE UNITED STATES. absconded, doubtless with the connivance of the Massachusetts authorities. They sought a more secluded asylum in Connec ticut, where they lived many years, successfully eluding the researches of their pursuers. The colonists, learning that their commercial privileges had been abridged, drew up a declaration of rights, amounting to little short of a declaration of hostilities, in case of an invasion of their political privileges by the royal authority. Agents were despatched to England to plead their cause, and their negotia tions were so successful, that little molestation was given them for some years. Massachusetts, however, never enjoyed the sin cere favor of Charles II., and a contest was carried on for some time, which at length, in 1683, produced a writ of quo warranto, by which the charter of Massachusetts was taken away. This event struck consternation into the people of the province, who were now totally at the mercy of the crown. Portrait of Philip. The most destructive Indian war, sustained by the infant colonies, began in the year 1675, by Philip, sachem of the Wam- panoags, who lived in Rhode Island. For some years he. had been preparing for hostilities. The warriors, under his own immediate command, were about five hundred ; but by alliances, he had increased his force to three thousand. Believing, as he did, that nothing short of the entire destruction^ the English would rescue the Indians from total ruin, he exerted his utmost energies in prosecuting a war of extermination. Murder, iire and destruction, marked the route of his followers. There was scarcely an English family that did not suffer in property, or by the loss of relatives. 437 The war commenced June, 1675, in the following manner: Sausaman, an Indian friendly to the English, gave them notice of the hostile intentions of Philip's Indians. He was soon after wards murdered by his own countrymen. The fact being sub stantiated in a court of justice, his murderers were convicted, and suffered death. Philip, thereupon, prepared for war. He began by killing the cattle and rifling the houses of the English settlers. One of these sufferers shot an Indian. The Indians retaliated by killing all the English that were in their power. Eight or nine were slain in one day, at Swanzey and its vicinity. Skirmishes followed with various success. The Indians retreated into a swamp, from which they fired and killed several of the English. The former retired deeper into the swamp. The latter, finding they attacked the Indians in the swamps under great disadvan tages, resolved to starve them; but the Indians found means to escape. Captain Hutchinson, with twenty horsemen, while pursuing the Indians, fell into an ambuscade, and lost almost all his men. A few escaped, but were closely pursued by the Indians, who assaulted the town to which the vanquished had fled. The pursuing savages set fire to every house excepting one, to which all the inhabitants had gathered for security. When they had nearly succeeded in firing that also,. Major Willard arrived with forty-eight dragoons, and dispersed them. The Hadley Indians were attacked at a place called Sugar-loaf Hill, and about twenty- six of them were slain, as were also about half of the assailants. These Indians rallied, and, obtaining new associates, fell upon Deer field, killed one man, and laid most of the town in ashes. On the same day, Hadley was alarmed by the Indians in the time of public worship, and the people thrown into the utmost confusion ; but the enemy were repulsed by the valor and good conduct of an aged, venerable man, who, suddenly appearing in the midst of the affrighted inhabitants, put himself at their head, led them to the onset, and instantly dispersed the enemy. This deliverer of Hadley, supposed by some to be an angel, was Gen eral Goffe, one of the Judges of Charles the First, who was at that time concealed in the town. The Springfield Indians, though previously friendly to the English, perfidiously concurred with Philip's Indians to burn the town of Springfield, and actually proceeded so far as to burn thirty-two houses ; but the remainder of the town was saved. The confederation of the New England towns was now found of great service. The war, on the part of the Indians, was con ducted with so much ability, vigor and perseverance, as to require 37* 438 THE UNITED STATES. the united efforts of the confederated colonies. They severally furnished their quotas, and marched with their combined forces into the Narraganset territory. The Indians, apprised of an armament intended against them, had fortified themselves very strongly within a swamp. The English, without waiting to draw up in order of battle, marched forward in quest of their enemy's camp. Some Indians, appearing at the edge of the swamp, were no sooner fired upon by the English, than they returned the fire and fled. The whole army now entered the swamp, and followed the Indians to their fortress. It stood on a rising ground, in the midst of the swamp, and was composed of palisades, which were encompassed by a thick hedge. It bad but one practicable entrance, which was over a log, four or five feet from the ground, and that aperture was guarded by a block house. The English captains entered it at the head of their companies. The two first, Johnson and Davenport, with many of their men, were shot dead at the entrance. Four other cap tains, Gardner, Gallop, Siely, and Marshal, were also killed. When the troops had effected an entrance, they attacked the Indians, who fought desperately, and beat the English out of the fort. After a hard fought battle of three hours, the English became masters of the place, and set fire to the wigwams. In the conflagration many Indian men and women perished. The sur viving Indian men fled into a cedar swamp at a small distance, and the English retired to their quarters. Of the English, there were killed and wounded about two hundred and thirty. Of the Indians, one thousand are supposed to have perished. On the 10th February, 1676, several hundreds of the Indians fell upon Lancaster; plundered and burned the greatest part of* the town, and killed or captured forty persons. Two or three hundred of the Narraganset and other Indians, not long after, sur prised Medfield, and burned nearly one half of the town. On the 25th of February, the Indians assaulted Weymouth, and burned seven or eight houses and barns. On the 13th of March, they burned the whole town of Groton, excepting four garrisoned houses ; and on the 17th, they entirely burned Warwick, with the exception of one house. On the 26th of March, they laid most of the town of Marlborough in ashes. On the same day, Captain Peirce, of Scrtuate, who had been sent out by the governor and council of Plymouth colony, with about fifty **white men and twenty friendly Indians, of Cape Cod, was cut off by the enemy, with most of his party. Two days afterwards, the Indians fell upon Rehoboth, and burned forty dwelling houses and about thirty bams, and the day after, about thirty houses in Providence. PHILIP'S WAR. 439 Early in April, they did much mischief at Chelmsford, Ando- ver, and in the vicinity of those places. Having, on the 17th of the same month, burned the few deserted houses at Marlborough, they immediately afterward violently attacked Sudbury, burned several houses and barns, and killed ten or twelve of the English, who had come from Concord, to the assistance of their neighbors. Capt. Wadsworth, who had been sent at this juncture from Boston, with about fifty men, to relieve Marlborough, learning that the enemy had gone through the woods towards Sudbury, turned immediately back in pursuit of them. When the troops were within a mile of the town, they spied, at no great distance, a party of Indians, apparently about one hundred, who, by retreat ing as if through fear, drew the English above a mile into the woods ; when a large body of the enemy, supposed to be about five hundred, suddenly surrounded them, and precluded the possi bility of their escape. The gallant leader and his brave soldiers fought with desperate valor, but were completely defeated. The few who were taken alive, were destined to tortures unknown to their companions, who had the happier lot to die in the field of battle. About the same time, the Indians burned nineteen houses and barns at Scituate; but they were bravely encountered and repulsed by the inhabitants. On the 8th of May, they burned and destroyed seventeen houses and five barns; and two days afterwards, they burned seven houses and two barns in that town, and the remaining houses in Nantasket. Several large bodies of Indians having assembled on Connecti cut river, in the vicinity of Deerfield, the inhabitants of Hadfield, Hadley and Northampton, combined to attack them. One hun dred and sixty men marched silently twenty miles in the dead of night, and, a little before the break of day, surprised the Indians, whom they found asleep and without guards. The first notice that they gave of their approach was by a discharge of their guns into the wigwams. Some of the Indians, in their conster nation, ran directly into the river, and were drowned. Others betook themselves to their bark canoes, and having in their hurry forgotten their paddles, were hurried down the falls, and dashed against the rocks. Many of them, endeavoring to secrete themselves under the banks of the river, were discovered and slain. In this action, distinguished by the name of the Hale fight, the Indians lost three hundred men, women and children ; but recovering from their surprise, and attacking the rear of the English on their return, they killed Captain Turner, commander of the expedition, and thirty-eight of his men. 440 THE UNITED STATES. On the 30th of May, a great body of Indians, supposed to be sfx or seven hundred, appeared before Hatfield. Having bunted twelve houses and barns without the fortification, they attacked the houses in the centre of the town, that were surrounded with palisadoes; but twenty-five resolute young men of Hadley ad venturing over the river and boldly charging the Indians, they instantly fled from the town, with the loss of twenty-five of their men. Though Massachusetts was the chief theatre of the war, Con necticut, her sister colony, was active in the suppression of the common enemy. Volunteer companies had been formed early in the year, principally from New London, Norwich and Stonington, which associated with them a number of Mohegan, Pequot and Narraganset tribes. These companies ranged the Narraganset country and harassed the hostile Indians. Between the spring and the succeeding autumn, the volunteer captains, with their flying parties, made ten or twelve expeditions, in which they killed and captured two hundred and thirty of the enemy, took fifty muskets, and brought in one hundred and sixty bushels of their corn. They drove all the Narraganset Indians, excepting those of Nimyset, out of their country. The assembly of Connecticut raised three hurdred and fifty men, who were to be a standing army, to defend the country and harass the enemy. Major John Talcot was appointed to the chief command. Early in June, he marched from Norwich, with two hundred and fifty soldiers, and two hundred Mohegan and Pequot Indians, into the Wabaquasset country ; but found it entirely deserted. On the 5th of June, the army under his com mand marched to Chanagongum, in the Nipmuck country, where they killed nineteen Indians, and took thirty-three prisoners ; and thence marched by Quaboag to Northampton. On the 12th of June, four days after their arrival at Northampton, about seven hundred Indians made a furious attack upon Hadley ; but Major Talcot, with his gallant soldiers, soon appeared for the relief of the garrison, and drove off the enemy. On the 3d of July, the same troops, on their march towards Narraganset, surprised the main body of the enemy, by the side of a large cedar swamp, and attacked them so suddenly, that a considerable nuiriber of them were killed and taken on the spot. Others escaped to the swamp, and were immediately surrounded by the English, who, after an action of two or three hours, killed and took one hundred and seventy of the enemy. Shortly after- waids, they killed and captured sixty-seven, near Providence and DEATH OF PHILIP. 441 Warwick. About the 5th of July, they returned to Connecticut, and on their way took sixty prisoners. The enemy, thus pursued, and. hunted from one lurking place to another, straitened for provisions, and debilitated by hunger and disease, became divided, scattered and disheartened. In July and August, they began to come in and surrender themselves to the mercy of their conquerors. Philip, who had fled to the Mo hawks, having provoked that warlike nation, had been obliged to abandon their country, and was now with a large body of Indians lurking about Mount Hope. The Massachusetts and Plymouth soldiers were vigilant and intrepid in pursuit of him; and on the 2d of August, Captain Church, with about thirty English soldiers, and twenty friendly Indians, surprised him in his quar ters, killed about one hundred and thirty of his men, and took his wife and son prisoners ; but Philip escaped. About ten days after this surprise, an Indian deserter brought information to Captain Church that Philip was at Mount Hope Neck, and offered to guide him to the place and help to kill him. Church instantly set out in pursuit of him, with a small company of English and Indians. On his arrival at the swamp, he made a disposition of his men at proper stations, so as to form an ambus cade, putting an Englishman and an Indian together, behind coverts. These commenced a fire on the enemy's shelter, which was on the margin of the swamp. It was open, in the Indian manner, on the side next the swamp, to favor a sudden flight. Philip, at the instant of the fire from the English, seized his gun, and fled towards the thickets ; but ran in a direction towards an English soldier and an Indian, who were at the station assigned them by Captain Church. The Englishman snapped his gun, but it missed fire. He then bade the Indian fire ; and he instantly shot him dead. The death of Philip was the signal of complete victory. The Indians in all the neighboring country now generally submitted to the English, or fled and incorporated themselves with distant and strange nations. In this short but terrible war, about six hundred of the inhabitants of New England, composing its principal strength, were either killed in battle or murdered by the Indians. Twelve or thirteen towns were entirely destroyed, and about six hundred buildings, chiefly dwelling houses, were burnt. In addition to these calamities, the colonies contracted an enor mous debt, while, by the loss of their substance, from the ravages of the enemy, their resources were essentially diminished. The fall of Philip was then considered as the extinction of a virulent and implacable enemy. It is now viewed as the fall of D3 442 THE UNITED STATES. a great warrior, a penetrating statesman, and a mighty prince. It then excited universal joy and congratulation, as a prelude to the close of a merciless war. It now awakens sober reflections on the instability of empire, the peculiar destiny of the aboriginal race, and the inscrutable decrees of Heaven. The patriotism of the man was then overlooked in the cruelty of the savage; and little allowance was made for the natural jealousy of the sover eign, on account of the barbarities of the warrior. Philip, in the progress of the English settlements, foresaw the loss of his terri tory, and the extinction of his tribe ; and he made one mighty effort to prevent these calamities. He fell ; and his fall contrib uted to the rise of the United States. Joy for this event should be blended with regret for his misfortunes, and respect for his patriotism and, talents. In this distressing war, the New En glanders comforted them selves with the reflection that it was unprovoked on their part. The worthy governor, Winslow, in a letter dated May 1st, 1676, observed: "I think I can clearly say that before these present troubles broke out, the English did not possess one foot of land in this colony, which was not fairly obtained by honest purchase from the Indian proprietors." Death of Philip. CHAPTER XLVI. The Massachusetts charter revoked. Accession of James II. His arbitrary char acter. Establishment of tyranny in New England. Administration of Andros. Policy of James. Remonstrances of the colonists. The charter of Rhode Island surrendered. Andros at Hartford. Attempts to seize the charter of Connecticut. Oppressive government of Andros. Wadsnorth concealing the charter of Connecticut in the oak. CHARLES II. was so eager to complete the execution of his design against the liberties of Massachusetts, that immediately after the court of King's Bench had given its decision against the charter, in November, 1684, he proceeded to arrange a new government for the colony. Colonel Kirke, a man infamous for his bloody excesses, was appointed governor of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine and Plymouth. No representative system was to exist, but a governor and council, appointed by the king, were to exercise the whole control. Had this arbitrary scheme been persisted in, the colonists would most surely have taken up arms, and the American revolution might have been accelerated by a century. Horror and dismay took possession of the minds of people at the first tidings of this audacious design against them ; but in the midst of their alarm the sudden death of the king was announced at Boston. This somewhat relieved the apprehensions of the colonists, although they could have scanty hopes of favor from his bigoted and arbitrary successor, James II., 444 THE UNITED STATES. who was proclaimed in the capital of New England with melan choly solemnity. James, indeed, was too much enamored of arbitrary power to be deterred from the indulgence of it by any obstacle inferior to invincible necessity ; and, accordingly, after some temporary ar rangements, without paying the slightest regard to opinions supported only by the pens of lawyers, he determined to establish a complete tyranny in New England, by combining the whole legislative and executive authority in the persons of a governor and council, to be named by himself. Kirke had been found too useful, as an instrument of terror in England, to be spared to America. But Sir Edmund Andros, who had signalized his devotion to arbitrary power, in the government of New York, was now appointed captain-general, and vice-admiral of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, New Plymouth, and certain dependent territories during the pleasure of the king. He was empowered, with the consent of a board of counsellors, to make ordinances for the colonies, not inconsistent with the laws of England, and which were to be submitted to the king for his approbation or dissent, and to impose taxes for the support of government. He was directed to govern the people according to the, tenor of his commission, of a separate letter of instructions with which he was at the same time furnished, and of the laws which were then in force or might be afterwards enacted. The governor and council were also constituted a court of record ; and from their decisions an appeal to the king was to be allowed. The greater part of the instructions that were communicated to Andros are of a nature that would do honor to the patriotism of the king, if the praise of this virtue were due to a barren desire to promote the welfare of the people, accompanied with the most effectual exertions to strip them of every security by which their welfare migfyt be guarded. Andros was directed to promote no persons to offices of trust, but colonists of fair character and competent estate, and to displace none without sufficient cause ; and to re spect and administer the existing laws of the country, in so far as they were not inconsistent with his commission or instructions ; to dispose of the crown lands at moderate quit rents; "to take away or to harm no man's life, member, freehold or goods, but by established laws of the country, not repugnant to^ those of the realm ;" to discipline and arm the inhabitants for the defence of the country, but not to obstruct their attention to their own private business and necessary affairs ; to encourage freedom of commerce by all proper means ; to check the excessive severity of masters to their servants, and to punish with death the slayers of Indians JAMES H. AND NEW ENGLAND. 445 or negroes ; to allow no printing press to exist, and to grant uni versal toleration in religion, but special encouragement to the Church of England. Except the restraint of printing, (which, though enjoined, appears not to have been carried into effect,) there are none of these instructions that express a spirit of des potism ; and yet the whole system was silently pervaded by that spirit ; for as there were no securities provided for the accomplish ment of the king's benevolent directions, so there was no check established to restrain the abuse of the powers with which the governor was entrusted. The king was willing that his subjects should be happy, but not that they should be free., or enabled to pursue a scheme of happiness independent of his agency or con trol ; and this conjunction of a desire to promote human welfare, with an aversion to the means most likely to secure it, suggests the explanation, perhaps the apology, of an error to which de spotic sovereigns are inevitably liable. Trained in habits of indulgence of their own will, and in sentiments of respect for its force and efficacy, they learn to consider it as what not only ought to be, but must be, irresistible ; and feel no less secure of ability to make men happy without their own concurrence, than of the right to balk the natural desire of mankind to be the pro viders and guardians of their own welfare. The possession of absolute power renders self-denial the highest effort of virtue; and the absolute monarch who should demonstrate a just regard to the rights of his fellow-creatures, would deserve to be honored as one of the most magnanimous of human beings. Furnished with the instructions which we have seen for the mitigation of his arbitrary power, and attended with a few companies of sol diers for its support, Andros arrived in Boston; and presenting himself as the substitute for the dreaded and detested Kirke, and commencing his administration with many gracious express ions of good will, he was at first received more favorably than might have been expected. But his popularity was short-lived. Instead of conforming to his instructions, he copied, and even exceeded, the arbitrary conduct of his master in England, and committed the most tyrannical violence and oppressive exactions. Dudley, the late president, and several of his colleagues, were associated as counsellors of the new administration, which was thus loaded, in the beginning of its career, with the weight of their unpopularity, and in the end involved themselves in deeper odium and disgrace. It was the purpose of James to consolidate the strength of ah the British colonies in one united government : and Rhode Island and Connecticut were now to experience that their destiny was 38 446 THE UNITED STATES. involved in the fate of Massachusetts. The inhabitants of Rhode Island, on learning the accession of the king, immediately trans mitted an address, congratulating him on his elevation, acknowl edging themselves his loyal subjects, and begging his protection for their chartered rights. Yet the humility of their supplications could not protect them from the consequences of the plans he had embraced for the general government of New England. Articles of high misdemeanor were exhibited against them before the lords of the committee of colonies, charging them with breaches of their charter, and with opposition to the acts of navigation ; and before the close of the year 1685, they received notice of the institution of a process of quo warranto, against their patent. Without hesitation, they resolved that they would not contend with their sovereign, and passed an act, in full assembly, formally surrendering their charter and all the powers it contained. By a fresh address, they "humbly prostrated themselves, their privi leges, their all, at the gracious feet of his majesty, with an entire resolution to serve him with grateful hearts." These servile expressions dishonored but did not avail them; and the king, accounting legal solemnities a superfluous ceremony with persons so devoted to his will, proceeded, without further delay, to impose the yoke which the people sought to evade by deserving it. His eagerness, however, to accomplish his object with rapidity, though it probably inflicted a salutary disappointment on this community at the time, proved ultimately beneficial to their political interests, by preserving their charter from legal extinction ; and this benefit, which a similar improvidence afforded to the people of Connec ticut, was ascertained at the era of the British revolution. In consequence of the last address that had proceeded from Rhode Island, Andros had been charged to extend his administration to that province ; and in the same month that witnessed his arrival at Boston, he visited Rhode Island, when he dissolved the pro vincial corporation, broke its seal, and, admitting five of the inhabitants into his legislative council, assumed the exercise of all the functions of government. Connecticut had also transmitted an address to the king on his accession, and vainly solicited the preservation of her privileges. When the articles of misdemeanor were exhibited against Rhode Island, a measure of similar import was employed against the governor and assembly of Connecticut, who were reproached with making laws contrary in tenor to those of England ; of extorting unreasonable fines ; of administering an oath of fidelity to their own corporation, in contradistinction to the oath of allegiance: of intolerance in ecclesiastical polity, and of denial of justice. These JAMES H. AND NEW ENGLAND. 447 charges, which were supposed to infer a forfeiture of the charter, were remitted to Sawyer, the Attorney General, with directions to expedite a writ of quo warranto against the colony. The writ was issued, and Randolph, the general enemy of American lib erty, offered his services to carry it across the Atlantic. The governor and the assembly of Connecticut had for some time beheld the storm approaching, and knowing that resistance was vain, they endeavored, with considerable address, to elude what they were unable to repel. After delaying as long as possible to make any signification of their intentions, the arrival of Sir Edmund Andros at Boston, and his conduct in Rhode Island, convinced them that the designs of the king were to be rigor ously pursued, and that they could not hope to be allowed to deliberate any longer. They wrote accordingly to the Secretary of State, expressing a strong desire to retain their present consti tution ; but requesting, if it were the irrevokable purpose of their sovereign to dispose otherwise of them, that they might be incor porated with Massachusetts, and share the fortunes of a people with whom they had always maintained a friendly correspon dence, and whose principles and manners they understood and approved. This was hastily construed by the British government into a surrender of the provincial constitution ; and Andros was commanded to annex this province also to his jurisdiction. Ran dolph, who seems to have been qualified, not less by genius than inclination, to promote the execution of tyrannical designs, advised the English ministers to prosecute the quo warranto to a judicial issue ; assuring them that the government of Connecticut would never consent to do, nor acknowledge that they had done, what was equivalent to an express surrender of the rights of the people. It was matter of regret to the ministers and crown law yers of a later age, that this politic suggestion was not adopted. But the king was too eager to snatch the boon that was within his reach, to wait the tedious formalities of the law; and no farther proceedings ensued on the quo warranto. In conformity with his orders, Andros marched at the head of a body of troops to Hartford, the seat of the provincial government, where he demanded that the charter should be delivered into his hands. The people had been extremely desirous to preserve, at least, the document of rights, which the return of better times might enable them to assert with advantage. The charter was laid on the table of the assembly, and some of the principal inhabitants addressed Andros at considerable length, relating the exertions that had been made, and the hardships that had been incurred, in order to found the institutions which he was come to destroy ; 448 THE UNITED STATES. entreating him yet to spare them, or at least to leave the people in possession of the patent, as a testimonial of the favor and happi ness they had enjoyed. The debate was earnest but orderly, and protracted till a late hour in the evening. As the day declined, lights were introduced into the hail, which was gradually sur rounded by a numerous concourse of the bravest and most determined men in the province, prepared to defend their repre sentatives against the apprehended violence of Andros and his armed followers. At length, finding that their arguments were ineffectual, a measure, supposed to have been previously con certed by the inhabitants, was coolly, resolutely and successfully conducted. The lights were extinguished, as if by accident ; and Captain Wadsworth, laying hold of the charter, disappeared with it, before they could be rekindled. He conveyed it securely through the crowd, who opened to let him pass, and closed their ranks as he proceeded, and deposited it in the hollow of an ancient oak tree, which retained the precious deposit until the era of the English revolution, and was long regarded with venera tion by the people, as the memorial and associate of a transaction so interesting to their liberties. Andros, finding all his efforts ineffectual to recover the charter, or ascertain the person by whom it had been secreted, contented himself with declaring that its institutions were dissolved ; and assuming to himself the exercise of supreme authority, he created two of the principal inhabitants members of his general legislative council. Having thus united all the New England States under one comprehensive system of arbitrary government, Andros, with the assistance of his grand legislative council, selected from the inhabitants of the several provinces, addressed himself to the task of enacting laws and regulations calculated to fortify his authority. An act restor ing the former taxes, obtained the assent of the council ; and yet even this indispensable provision was obstructed by the reluctance with which the counsellors, though selected by Andros himself, consented to become the instruments of riveting the shackles of their country. The only further opposition which he expe rienced, proceeded from the inhabitants of the county of Essex, in Massachusetts, who, insisting that they were freemen, refused to pay the contingent assessed upon them of a taxation which they deemed unconstitutional. But their resistance was easily overpowered, and many of them were severely punished. Andros soon discovered that the revenues of the ancient government were inadequate to the support of his more costly administration ; and while he signified this defalcation to the king, he declared, at the same time, with real or affected humility, that the country was so JAMES II. AND NEW ENGLAND. 449 much impoverished with the effects of the Indian war, by recent losses at sea and by scanty harvests, that an increase of taxation could hardly be endured. But James, who had exhausted his lenity in his letter of instructions, answered this communication by a peremptory mandate to raise the taxes to a level ^with the charges of administration ; and Andros, thereupon, either stifling his tenderness for the people, or discarding his superfluous re spect to the moderation of the king, proceeded to exercise his power with a rigor and injustice that rendered his government universally odious. The weight of taxation was oppressively augmented, and the fees of all public functionaries screwed up to an enormous height. The ceremonial of marriage was altered, and the celebration of that rite, which had hitherto been com mitted to the magistrates, was confined to the ministers of the church of England, of whom there was only one in the province of Massachusetts. The fasts and thanksgivings appointed by the congregational churches, were arbitrarily suppressed by the governor, who maintained that the regulation of such matters belonged entirely to the civil power. He took occasion frequently, and with the most offensive insolence, to remark, in presence of; the council, that the colonists would find themselves greatfy mis taken, if they supposed that the privileges of Englishmen followed them to the extremity of the earth ; and that the only difference between their condition and that of slaves, was that they were neither bought nor sold. It was declared unlawful for the colo nists to assemble in public meetings, or for any one to quit the province without a passport from the governor; and Randolph, now at the summit of his wishes, was not ashamed to boast, in letters to his friends, that the rulers of New England were " as arbitrary as the great Turk." While Andres mocked the people with a semblance of trial by jury, he contrived, by intrigue and partiality in the selection of jurymen, to convict and wreak his vengeance upon every person who offended him, as well as to screen the misdeeds of his own dependents from the punishment they deserved. And, as if to heighten the discontent excited by such tyrannical insolence, he took occasion to question' the validity of the existing titles to landed property, pretending that the rights acquired under the ancient government were tainted with its vices and obnoxious to its fate. New grants or patents from the governor, it was announced, were requisite to mend the defective titles to lands ; and writs of intrusion were issued against all who refused to apply for such patents, and to pay the large fees that were charged for them. Most of the landed proprietors were compelled to submit to this extortion, in order to save their 38* E3 450 THE UNITED STATES. estates from confiscation, an extremity which, however, was braved by one individual, Colonel Shrimpton, who preferred the loss of his property to the recognition of a principle which he deemed both oppressive and dishonorable to this country. The king, indeed, had now encouraged Andros to consider the people whom he governed as a society of felons or rebels; for lie trans mitted to him express directions to grant his majesty's most gracious pardon to as many of the colonists as should apply for it. But none had the meanness to solicit the grace that exclu sively befitted the guilty. The only act of the king that was favorably regarded by the inhabitants of the colony, was his declaration of indulgence, which excited so much discontent in Britain, even among the Protestant dissenters, who shared its benefit. Notwithstanding the intolerance that has been imputed to New Englan^, this declaration produced general satisfaction there, though some of the inhabitants had discernment enough to perceive that the sole object of the king was the gradual intro duction of the Catholic church into Britain. CHAPTER XLVII. Sir William Phipps. His origin and fortunes. Attempts unsuccessfully to restore the charier. Discontent of the New Englanders. Indian hostilities. Exasperation of the people against Andros. Insurrection at Boston., Andros deposed, and the ancient government restored. War with the French and Indians. Conquest of Acadie by Sir William Phipps. Expedition against Quebec. Miscarriage of the attempt. Endeavors of the colonists to regain the ancient charter. Opposition of King William. The new charter and aug mented jurisdiction of Massachusetts. End of the Plymouth colony. Phipps, the colonial governor. III success of his administration. Expedition to Pema- quid. Unpopularity of Phipps. Deposition of Sir Edmund Andros. SIR William Phipps, whose fruitless interposition had been exerted in behalf of the deputation from Massachusetts at the court of England, was himself a native of this province; and notwithstanding a scanty education and obscure birth, had ascended, by the mere force of superior genius, to a conspicuous rank, and gained a high reputation for spirit, capacity and suc cess. He followed the employment of a shepherd at his native place, till he was eighteen years of age, and was afterwards apprenticed to a ship-carpenter. When he was freed from his indentures, he pursued a seafaring life, and attained the station of captain of a merchant vessel. An account, which he happened to peruse of a Spanish ship loaded with bullion, wrecked near the 452 THE UNITED STATES. Bahama Islands, about fifty years before, inspired him with the bold design of extricating the buried treasure from the bowels of the deep; and, transporting himself to England, he stated his scheme so plausibly, that the king was struck with it, and, in 1683, sent him with a vessel to make the attempt. It proved unsuccessful, and all his urgency could not induce James to engage in a repetition of it. But the Duke of Albermarle, resum ing the project, equipped a vessel for the purpose, and gave the command of it to Phipps, who now succeeded in accomplishing his project, and achieved the recovery of specie, to the amount of at least three hundred thousand pounds, from the bottom of the ocean. Of this treasure he obtained a portion sufficient for his own enrichment, with a still greater meed of consideration and applause. The king was exhorted by some of his courtiers to confiscate the whole of the specie thus recovered, on pretence that he had not received a fair representation of the project ; but he declared that the representation had been perfectly fair, and that nothing but his own misgivings and the timorous counsels and mean suspicions of those courtiers themselves, had deprived them of the riches which this honest man had sought to procure for him. He conceived a high regard for Phipps, and conferred on him the rank of knighthood. Sir William employed his influ ence at court for the benefit of his country ; and his patriotism seems never to have harmed him in the opinion of the king. Finding that he could not prevail so as to obtain the restoration of the chartered privileges, he solicited and received the appointment of high sheriff of New England, in the hope that, by remedying the abuses that were committed in the impannelling of juries, he might create a barrier against the tyranny of Andros. But the governor and his creatures, incensed at this interference, hired ruffians to attack his person, and soon compelled him to quit the prpvince and take shelter in England. James, shortly before his own abdication, among the other attempts he made to conciliate his subjects, offered Phipps the government of New England; but he refused to accept this appointment from a falling tyrant, and under a system which, instead of seeking any longer to miti gate, he hoped speedily to see entirely overthrown. The discontent of the people of New England continued meanwhile to increase, insomuch that every act of government, however innocent, or even laudable, was viewe'd through the perverting medium of a fixed and inveterate jealousy. In order to discredit the former provincial authorities, Andre? and Ran dolph had sedulously inculcated the notion that the Indians had hitherto been treated with a cruelty and injustice, to which all the ADMINISTRATION OF ANDROS. 453 hostilities of these savages ought reasonably to be imputed ; and had vaunted their own ability to pacify and propitiate them by gentleness and equity. But this year their theory and their policy were alike disgraced by the furious hostilities of the Indians on the eastern frontiers of New England. The movements of these savages were excited, on this, as on former occasions, by the insidious artifices of the French, whose suppleness of character and demeanor, contrasted with the grave, unbending spirit of the English, gave them in general a great advantage in the competi tion for the favor of the Indians; and who found it easier to direct and employ, than to check or eradicate the treachery and ferocity of their savage allies. The English colonists offered to the natives terms of accommodation, which at first they seemed willing to accept; but the encouragement of the French soon prevailed with them to reject all friendly overtures, and their native fierceness prompted them to signalize this declaration by a series of unprovoked and unexpected massacres. Andros published a proclamation, requiring that the murderers should be delivered up to him ; but the Indians treated him and his procla mation with contempt. In the depth of winter he found himself obliged to march with a considerable force against these enemies ; and though he succeeded in occupying and fortifying positions which enabled him somewhat to restrain their future incursions, he inflicted but little injury upon them, and lost a great many of his own men, who perished in vain attempts to follow the Indians into their fastnesses in the most rigorous season of the year. So strong and so indiscriminating was the dislike he had excited among the people of New England, that this expedition was unjustly ascribed to a deliberate purpose to destroy the troops whom he conducted, by cold and famine. Every reproach, how ever groundless, stuck fast to the hated characters of Andros and Randolph. At length the smothered rage of the people broke forth. In the spring some vague intelligence was received, by letters from Vir ginia, of the proceedings of the Prince of Orange, in England. The ancient magistrates and principal inhabitants of the province, though they ardently wished and secretly prayed that success might attend the prince's enterprise, yet determined, in so great a cause, to incur no unnecessary hazard, and quietly await a revo lution which they believed that no movement of theirs could either promote or retard. But New England was destined to accomplish, by her own efforts, her own liberation ; and the inhabitants of Massachusetts were now to exercise the gallant privilege, which, nearly a century after, and in a conflict still more 454 THE UNITED STATES. arduous, their children again were ready to assert of being the foremost in resisting oppression, and vindicating the rights and honor of their country. The cautious policy and prudential dis suasions from violence that were employed by the wealthier and more aged co'onists, were contemned by the great body of the people, whose spirit and courage prompted them to achieve the deliverance which they were less qualified, by foresight and patience, to await. Stung with the recollection of past injuries, their patriotic ardor, on the first prospect of relief, could not be restrained. In seasons of revolution, the wealthy and eminent mingle with their public spirit a less generous concern for their valuable private interests, and their prospect of sharing in official dignities. The poor have no rich private fortunes in their posses sion ; no dazzling preferments within their reach ; and consequently less restraint on the full flow of their social affections. All at once, and apparently without any preconcerted plan, an insurrec tion broke forth in the town of Boston ; the drums beat to arms ; the people flocked together ; and in a few hours the revolt became universal, and the energy of the people so overpowering, that every purpose of resisting their will was abandoned by the government. The scruples of the more wealthy and cautious inhabitants were completely overcome by the obvious necessity of interfering to calm and regulate the fervor of the populace. Andros, Dudley, and others, to the number of fifty of the most obnoxious, fled into the citadel on Port Hill; but the citizens stormed the fortress, and they were seized and imprisoned. On the first intelligence of the tumult, Andros sent a party of soldiers to apprehend Simon Bradstreet ; a measure that served only to suggest to the people who their chief ought to be, and to antici pate the unanimous choice by which this venerable man was reinstated in the office he had held when his country was deprived of her liberties. Though now bending under the weight of ninety years, his intellectual powers had undergone but little decay ; "he retained," says Cotton Mather, " a vigor and wisdom that would have recommended a younger man to the government of a greater colony.' 7 As the tidings of the revolt spread through the province, the people eagerly flew to arms, and hurried to Boston to cooper ate with their insurgent countrymen. To the assembled crowds a proclamation was read from the balcony of .the court-house, detailing the grievances of the colony, and imputing the whole to the tyrannical abrogation of the charter. A committee of safety was appointed by general consent; and an assembly of represen tatives being convened soon after, this body, by J* unanimous vote, and with the hearty concurrence of the -whole province, AFFAIRS IN NEW ENGLAND IN 1690. 455 declared their ancient charter and its constitution to be resumed ; reappointed Bradstreet and all the other magistrates who had been in office in the year 1686 ; and directed those persons, in all things, to conform to the provisions of the charter, " that this method of government may be found among us, when oides shall come from higher powers in England." They announced that Andros and the counsellors who had been imprisoned along with him, were detained in custody to abide the directions that might be received concerning them from his highness the Prince of Orange, and the English parliament. What would be the extent of the revolution that was in progress in the parent state, and to what settlement of affairs it would finally conduct, was yet un known in the colonies. The example of Massachusetts was followed by the other New England provinces, and news shortly after having been received of the establishment of William and Mary on the throne, they were proclaimed at Boston, with great solemnity and rejoicing. The king and queen wrote a letter, addressed to "the colony of Massachusetts," sanctioning their proceedings, and authorizing them to continue their provisional government till measures could be taken to establish it upon a permanent basis. Andros was sent to England for trial, in 1690. In the midst of these proceedings, war broke out between Eng land and France. The rupture between the two parent states extended itself to their possessions in America ; and the colonies of New England and New York were now involved in bloody and desolating warfare with the forces of the French in Canada and their Indian auxiliaries and allies. The hostilities that were directed against New York belong to another branch of this his tory. In concert with the French, various attacks were made by consideraoie bodies of the Indians, in the conclusion of the present year, on the settlements and forts of New Hampshire and Maine ; and proving successful in some instances, they were productive of the most horrid extremity of savage cruelty. Aware that these depredations originated in Canada and Acadia, the general court of Massachusetts prepared, during the winter, an expedition against Port Royal and Quebec. The command of it was en trusted to Sir William Phipps, who, on the dissolution of the late arbitrary government, had returned to New England, in the hope of being able to render some service to his countrymen. Eight small vessels, with seven or eight hundred men, sailed under his command in the following spring, and almost without opposition took possession of Port Royal, and of the whole province of Aca dia ; and within a month after its departure, the fleet returned, loaded with plunder enough to defray the whole expense of the 456 THE UNITED STATES. expedition. But Count Frontignac, the governor of Canada, retorted by sharp and harassing attacks on the remote settlements of New England; and stimulating the activity of his Indian allies, kept the frontiers in a state of incessant alarm, by their predatory incursions. Letters had been written, by the general court of Massachusetts, to king William, urging the importance of the conquest of Canada, and soliciting his aid in an expedition for that purpose ; but he was too much occupied in Europe to extend his exertions to America ; and the general court determined to prosecute the enterprise without his assistance. New York and Connecticut engaged to furnish a body of men, who were to march overland to attack Montreal, while the troops of Massa chusetts should repair by sea to Quebec. The fleet destined for this expedition consisted of thirty-five vessels, the largest of which carried forty-four guns ; and the number of troops on board amounted to two thousand. The command of this armament was entrusted to Sir William Phipps, who, in the conduct of the enterprise, demonstrated his usual courage, and every military qualification, except that which experience alone can confer, and without which, in a warfare with a civilized enemy, all others commonly prove unavailing. The troops of Connecticut and New York, retarded by defective arrangements, and disappointed of the assistance of the friendly Indians who had engaged to fur nish them with canoes for crossing the rivers they had to pass, were compelled to retire without attacking Montreal ; and in con sequence the whole force of Canada was concentrated to resist the attack of Phipps. His armament arrived before Quebec so late in the season, that only an immediate assault could have enabled him to carry the place ; but by unskilful delay, the time for such an attempt was irretrievably lost. The English were worsted in various sharp encounters, and compelled at length to make a precipitate retreat; and the fleet, after sustaining great damage in the voyage homeward, returned to Boston. Such was the unfortunate issue of an enterprise which involved Massachu setts in an enormous expense, and cost the lives of at least a thousand of her people. The French had so strongly foreboded its success, that they scrupled not. to ascribe its discomfiture to the immediate interposition of Heaven, in confounding the devices of the enemy, arid depriving them of common sense; arid, under this impression, the citizens of Quebec established an annual pro cession in commemoration of their deliverance. That the conduct of Phipps, however, had been no way obnoxious to censure, may be safely inferred from the fact that a result so disastrous brought no blame upon him, and deprived him in no degree of the favor NEW ENGLAND. 457 of his countrymen. And yet the disappointment, in addition to the mortification which it inflicted, was attended with very injuri ous consequences. The general court of Massachusetts had not even anticipated the possibility of miscarriage, and had expected to derive from the success of the expedition, the same reimburse ment of expenses, of which their former enterprises had been productive. "During the absence of the forces," says Cotton Mather, with an expression too whimsical for a matter of so much solemnity, "the wheel of prayer of them in New England had been kept continually going round;" and this attempt to re inforce the expedition by spiritual cooperation, had been pursued in combination with an entire neglect of provisions applicable to the possibility of an unsuccessful result. The returning army, finding the government unprepared to satisfy their claims, were on the point of mutinizing for their pay; and it was found neces sary to issue bills of credit, which the troops consented to accept in place of money. The colony was now in a very depressed state. Hoping to turn to religious account the calamities which they were unable to avoid, the government endeavored to pro mote the increase of piety and the reformation of manners; and pressed upon the ministers and the people the duty of strongly resisting that worldliness of mind, which the necessity of con tending violently for temporal things is apt to engender. The attacks of the Indians on the eastern frontiers were attended with a degree of success and barbarity that diffused general terror; and the colonists were expecting in this quarter to be driven from their settlements, when, all at once, those savages, of their own accord, proposed a peace of six months, which was accepted by the provincial government with great willingness and devout gratitude. As it was clearly ascertained that the hostile proceed ings of the Indians were continually fostered by the intrigues, and rendered more formidable by the counsel and assistance of the French authorities in Canada, the conquest of this province began to be considered by the people of New England as indispensable to their safety and tranquillity. In the hope of prevailing with the king to sanction and embrace this enterprise, as well as for the purpose of aiding the other deputies in the no less interesting application for the restoration of the provincial charter, Sir William Phipps, soon after his return from Quebec, by desire of his countrymen, repaired to England. King William was unwilling to restore the old charter. A new instrument was drawn up, incorporating Massachusetts, Maine, Plymouth and Nova Scotia into one jurisdiction. The governor and some other officers were appointed by the crown. The 39 F3 THE UNITED STATES. representatives were chosen by the people, but the governor had a negative on the choice of the counsellors, and could convoke, adjourn, or dissolve the legislature at pleasure. He also nominated all military officers, and, with the consent of his council, all the judges and law officers. He had, moreover, a veto on the acts of the legislature, and every law was to be sent to England for the royal approbation. Such was the new government of Massachu setts, which excited great discontent, and led the way, by constant struggles between the colonial and the regal power, to the war of independence. The British ministers were aware how unwel come these innovations were to the people of Massachusetts, and in order to soften the measure at the outset, procured the appoint ment of a native American, Sir William Phipps, for governor of the province. < As he was held in high esteem by the inhabitants, his appointment had some effect in softening their ill humor. Yet his administration, on the whole, was unprosperous ; for although he might give his sanction, as governor, to popular laws, it was not in his power to guard them from being rescinded by the crown ; and this fate soon befel a law that was passed by the provincial assembly, declaring the colonists exempt from all taxes but such as should be imposed by their own representatives, and asserting their right to share all the privileges of Magna Charta. He found the province involved in a distressing war with the French and Indians, and in the still more formidable calamity of that strange delusion Avhich has been termed the New England witchcraft, and which will be described at length in the next chapter. When the Indians were informed of the elevation of Sir William Phipps to the office of governor of Massachusetts, they were struck with amazement at the fortunes of the man, whose humble origin they perfectly well knew, and with whom they had familiarly associated but a few years before in the obscurity of his primitive condition. Impressed with a high opinion of his courage and resolution, and a superstitious dread of that fortune that seemed destined to surmount every obstacle, and prevail over every disadvantage, they would willingly have made peace with him and his countrymen, but were induced to continue the war by the artifices and intrigues of the French. A few months after his arrival, the governor, at the head of a small army, marched' to Pemaquid, on the Penobscot river, and there caused to be erected a fort of considerable strength, calcula ted by its situation to form a powerful protection to the province, to overawe the neighboring tribes of Indians, and interrupt their mutual communication. The beneficial effect of this operation was experienced in the following year, when the Indian? sent WITCHCRAFT. 459 ambassadors to the fort at Pemaquid, and there at length con cluded, with English commissioners, a treaty of peace, by which they renounced forever the interests of the French, and pledged themselves to perpetual amity with the inhabitants of New England. The colonists, who had suffered severely from the recent depredations of these savages, and were still laboring under the burdens entailed on them by former wars, were not slow to embrace the first overtures of peace . and yet they mur mured, with great discontent and ill humor, at the measure to which they were principally indebted for the deliverance they had so ardently desired. The expense of building the fort, and maintaining its garrison and stores, occasioned an addition to the existing taxes, which provoked their impatience. The party who had opposed submission to the new charter, eagerly promoted every complaint against the operation of a system which they regarded with rooted aversion; and labored so successfully on this occasion to vilify the person and government of Sir William Phipps, in the eyes of his countrymen, that his popularity sus tained a shock from which it never afterwards entirely recovered. The people were easily induced to regard the increase of taxation as the eifect of the recent abridgement of their political privileges, and to believe that if they had retained their ancient control over the officers of government, the administration of their affairs might have been more economically conducted. But another cause, which we have already mentioned, and must now more attentively consider, rendered the minds of the colonists, at this time, unusually susceptible of gloomy impressions, and of sus picions equally irritating and unreasonable. CHAPTER XLVIII "Witchcraft in Europe. First symptoms of this belief in America. The Boston witchcraft. The Salem witchcraft. Propagation of the delusion. Influence and credulity of the clergy. Particulars of the various trials and executions. Illegality of the judicial proceedings. Absurdities uttered by the witnesses. Cotton Mather. Increase of the delusion. Consternation of the people. Revo lution in the public mind, and cessation of the trials. Inexplicable character of these occurrences. WITCHCRAFT had been a matter of serious belief in Europe from time immemorial. In 1484, Pope Innocent issued a bull, directing the inquisitors to be vigilant in searching out and punishing all who were guilty of this crime. In 1515, more than five hundred persons were burned at Geneva, for witchcraft, in three months. Above a thousand were put to death in the diocese of Como within a single year, and above one hundred thousand, in Ger many alone, were executed for this crime, during the persecutions consequent upon the papal bull. In the reign of Elizabeth and James I., statutes against this offence were enacted in England, and within the gpace of one hundred and fifty years, it is esti mated that thirty thousand individuals suffered death on this account. As late as 1647, more than a hundred executions in England attested the general belief in this crime still existing in that enlightened country. Witches were hanged in England as late as 1716, and in Scotland till 1722. WITCHCRAFT. 461 The early settlers of New England could hardly be expected to be free from this portion of the current superstition of the age ; and, in accordance with the opinion of their countrymen in the Old World, they regarded it with great abhorrence and indig nation. In America, however, as in England, there were not wanting men of sense and discernment whose understanding was above this vulgar error. In the year 1693, as we shall see pres ently, Robert Calef, a merchant of Boston, was bold enough to contradict the reigning opinions on this delicate subject. His courageous and manly reasoning, and the pungent sarcasm of his language, provoked the hottest ire of the New England clergy, with Cotton Mather at their head. It is worthy of remark, that, more than half a century after this, the learned and acute jurist, Blackstone, asserted, in the hall of a British university, that the existence of witchcraft and sorcery was a truth to which every nation in the world had borne testimony ! an opinion which he has given to the world in his well known commentaries on the laws of England. Holding these long-established notions, the colonists of New England naturally looked upon the savages as worshippers of evil spirits, and their priests or powows as necromancers. The first mention of witchcraft occurs about 1645, but no executions took place till 1650, when three persons suffered death at Boston, all protesting their innocence. About the same time, or a little later, there were trials for this offence in New York, but no per sons were executed. A period of nearly thirty years elapsed from the first executions in Boston, without the occurrence of any new case. But in 1688, witchcraft again attracted notice, in con sequence of the publication of a book containing a circumstantial account of the previous cases and arguments, tending to show the reality of the crime. The effect of this work was immediately apparent. Four of the children of John Goodwin, a serious and respectable man in the north part of Boston, were suspected of being bewitched. These children were intelligent, pious and moral; the eldest was not above fourteen. She had accused a washer-woman with purloining some of the family linen. The mother of this woman was an Irish female, of bad character, and abused the girl in harsh terms; soon after which, the girl fell into fits, which were thought to be produced by diabolical means. One of her sisters and two brothers followed her example, and according to the story, were tormented in the same part of their body at the same time, although they were kept separate. All their complaints were in the day-time, and they slept comfortably all night ; but this was only an additional marvel in the popular 39* 462 THE UNITED STATES. estimation. They were struck speechless at the sight of the Assembly's Catechism, Cotton's Milk for Babes, and sundry other books of the same stamp ; but could read profane, popish, quaker and episcopalian books, without any trouble. At times they lost their sight, hearing and speech. Their tongues would be drawn down their throats, and then stuck out upon their chins. Their joints would be dislocated, and they would utter piteous outcries of burnings, incisions, beating, &c., and show their wounds. These occurrences created a general alarm in Boston, and the ministers kept a day of fasting and prayer, at the house of the sufferers ; after which the youngest child made no more com plaints. The others continued to be afflicted, and the magistrates judged it time to interpose. The Irish woman underwent an examination, but would neither confess nor deny, and appeared to be out of her senses. The physicians, decided that she was of sound mind, and she was hanged, declaring that the children should not be relieved from their complaints. The eldest was taken into Cotton Mather's family, where, after some time, she fell again into her convulsions, but the matter went no further in this instance. All the children subsequently returned to their ordi nary behavior. The great tragedy in this deplorable delusion was acted at Salem. It began in 1692, in the house of Samuel Parris, a minister of that place. His daughter, niece, and two other girls, all of tender age, began to make similar complaints to those mentioned in the case of Goodwin's children. The physicians, not knowing how to explain the facts, instead of suspecting foolish tricks in the children, pronounced them bewitched. An Indian woman in the family tried some experiments, which she pretended to have learned among her own people, to find out the witch. The children heard of this, and we cannot be surprised that their next proceeding was to cry out against the poor Indian, ancl pretend that she was pinching, pricking and tormenting them. Straightway they fell into fits ; but Tituba, the Indian, resolutely denied that she was a witch, although she confessed that she knew how to discover one. Private fasts were kept at the minister's house, and as the alarm increased, these became public, and at length a general fast was proclaimed throughout the colony. At this distance of time the increase of this wretched delusion may be easily explained; but at the period of which we are speaking, natural means and ordinary motives were not likely to be assigned as the causes of events which could be ascribed to superhuman agency. The great notice which people took of the children, with the sympathies of the persons who visited them, WITCHCRAFT. 463 tended not only to confirm them in their impositions, but to draw others into the same frauds. The number of the bewitched soon increased, and the contagion spread from children to grown people. These, too, had their spasms and convulsions, and laid their charges, not only against Tituba, but two other women, named Osborn and Good, one of whom was crazy, and the other bed-ridden. Tituba at length confessed herself a witch, and the other women her confederates. The three were put in jail. Three weeks afterwards, two other women, of good character and church-members, named Corey and Nurse, were charged with witchcraft. On their approach the children fell into fits, but the women denied everything, and were imprisoned. The charge then fell upon a child of five years old, the daughter of the above-mentioned Sarah Good, who had haunted and bitten the bewitched persons; in evidence of which the print of small teeth were exhibited on their arms. The infatuation increased, and those whose duty it was to check it, used their utmost exertions to spread the alarm more widely. Parris preached an inflammatory sermon from the text, "Have I not chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?" At this, Sarah Cloyse, sister to one of the accused, rose and left the meeting, which of course caused her to be charged with witchcraft, and imprisoned. About the same time, Elizabeth Procter incurred the same charge ; and her husband having the hardihood to accompany his wife to the examination, fell under a similar accusation, which ultimately cost him his life. The public attention was now absorbed in the subject. The deputy governor, with five other magistrates, went to Salem in April Sarah Cloyse and Elizabeth Procter underwent an exam ination. Parris, who officiated on the occasion, appears to have excited all the charges. The first witness, John, the Indian, husband to Tituba, was rebuked as a grievous liar. Sarah Cloyse was accused of having been at the witches' sacrament. Struck with horror and amazement at this absurd charge, she fainted away. The possessed impostors cried out, " Her spirit is gone to prison, to her sister Nurse ! " The niece of Parris charged Elizabeth Proctor with attempting to persuade her to sign the devil's book; to which she calmly replied, " Dear child, it is not SOj there is another judgment, dear child." This availed noth ing in her favor, and the accusers, turning towards her husband, declared that he, too, was a wizard. All three were thrown into prison, No wonder that the whole country was in a conster nation, when persons of sober life and unblemished character were committed to prison upon evidence like this. Nobody 464 THE UNITED STATES. was safe; and the most effectual way to avoid an accusation was to become an accuser. Accordingly the number of the bewitched increased every day, and the number of the accused in proportion. Hitherto no one of the accused, except Tituba, had confessed ; and hints were thrown out that by confession they might save themselves. This had its effect, and a woman named Hobbs, owned everything charged against her, and was left unharmed. Thus it was that the monstrous doctrine began to be promulgated that the gallows was to be set up, not for those who professed themselves witches, but for those who rebuked the delusion, not for the guilty, but for the unbelieving. But in all cases of epi demic madness, nothing is more offensive to the popular taste than moderation and scepticism. As might be expected, confessions rose in importance, as being the only avenue of escape. Exami nations and commitments followed daily, and the land was shaken with such terror and alarm as cannot be easily described. The purest life, the strictest integrity, the most solemn assertions of innocence, were of no avail. Husband was torn from wife, parent from children, brother from sister, and in some cases the unhappy victims saw in their accusers their nearest and dearest friends. In one instance a wife and daughter accused the hus band and father, to save themselves ; and in another, a girl, seven years old, testified against her mother. Two individuals appear to have been mainly instrumental in strengthening and upholding these lamentable delusions, Parris, above mentioned, and Cotton Mather ; the latter, a compound of ignorance and learning, of bigotry, spiritual pride and inquisitorial malice. Parris was present at all the examinations of the acciised, taking the matter into his own hands, putting leading questions, and artfully entrapping the witnesses into contradictions, by which they became confused, and were charged as guilty of the imputed offence. In some cases confessions were extorted by the most cruel methods. Two young men persisted in maintaining their innocence, till they were tied together neck and heels, and then they accused their own mother. Margaret Jacobs being art fully beguiled into a confession, accused Mr. Burroughs, minister of Salem, and afterwards her own grandfather. Burroughs was condemned to be hanged, on which she was struck with horror and remorse, and recanted her confession, choosing "rather to lose her life than to persist in accusing an innocent person. She begged forgiveness of Burroughs before his execution, and retracted all she had said against her grandfather ; but this did not save his life. WITCHCRAFT. 465 The prisoners had been increasing from the middle of February until June. The jails of Essex and the neighboring counties were full. In May, the new charter and the royal governor, Sir Wil liam Phipps, arrived at Boston. The governor, a firm believer in witchcraft, finding the prisons filled with victims charged with this offence, and urged on by the seeming emergency of the occa sion, issued his special commission, constituting the persons named in it, a court for Suffolk, Essex and Middlesex. This court, which was an illegal tribunal, because the governor had no shadow of authority to establish it, consisted of seven judges, namely : Wil liam Stoughton, the lieutenant-governor, chief justice Nathaniel Saltonstal, who refused to act, and was replaced by Jonathan Curwin, John Richards, Bartholomew Gedney, Wait Winthrop, Samuel Sewall and Peter Sergeant. The date of their commis sion was June 2d, 1692, and on the same day the court convened at Salem. It was a popular tribunal ; there was not a lawyer concerned in its proceedings. Stoughton and Sewall had been educated clergymen ; Withrop and Gedney, as physicians ; Rich ards was a merchant ; Sergeant was a man of influence in the colony. The general course of proceedings at these trials was quite consistent with the character of the court and the nature of the offence. After pleading to the indictment, if the prisoner denied his guilt, the afflicted persons were first brought into court to swear as to who afflicted them. Then those of the accused who voluntarily confessed, were called upon to tell what they knew of the accused. Proclamation was then made for all who could give any testimony, however foreign to the charge, to come into court, and whatever any one volunteered to tell, was admit ted as evidence. The next process was to search for " witch marks," the doctrine being that the devil affixed his mark to those in alliance with him, and that this spot on the body became callous and dead. This duty was performed by a jury of men or women, according to the sex of the prisoner. A wart or mole was often conclusive evidence, when the other proof was doubtful. It was a strong sign of witchcraft to make an error in the Lord's prayer, which the accused, on their examination, were required to repeat, and if they committed a single slip of the tongue, even in the pronouncing of a syllable, it was fatal to them. As a specimen of the absurdities that were uttered as testimony against the accused, we will cite the following from the trial of Bridget Bishop. One witness testified that in the course of some little controversy with the prisoner about her fowls, he went to bed well one night, awoke by moonlight, and saw the clear like ness of this woman grievously oppressing him, in which misera- 466 THE UNITED STATES. ble condition she held him, unable to help himself, till near day. He told her of this, but she utterly denied it, and threatened him very much. Quickly after this, being at home on a Lord's day, with the doors shut about him, he saw a black pig approach him, and on endeavoring to kick it, the spectre vanished away. Im mediately after, sitting down, he saw a black thing jump in at the window and come and stand before him. The body was like that of a monkey, the feet like a cock's, but the face much like a man's. He being so extremely affrighted that he could not speak, this monster spoke to him and said, " I am a messenger sent unto you, for I understand that you are in some trouble of mind, and if you will be ruled by me you shall want for nothing in this world.' ? Whereupon, he endeavored to clap his hands upon it, but he could feel no substance, and it jumped out of the window again, but immediately came in by the porch, though the doors were shut, and said, " You had better take my counsel." He then struck at it with a stick, but hit only the groundsel. The arm with which he struck was presently disabled, and the spectre vanished away. He presently went out at the back door, and spied this Bridget Bishop in her orchard, going towards her house, "but he had not power to set one foot forward unto her." Upon this, returning into the house, he was immediately accosted by the monster he had seen before, which goblin was going to fly at him ; whereat he cried out, " The whole armor of God be between me and you ! " So it sprung back and flew over the apple-tree, shaking many apples off in its passage. In making the leap it flung dirt with its feet against the stomach of the man, whereupon he was struck dumb, and so continued for three days together! Two other witnesses testified that being employed by the pris oner to help take down the cellar wall of the old house wherein she formerly lived, they did, in holes of the said old wall, find -several poppets, made up of rags and hog's bristles, with headless pins in them, the points being outward, u whereof the prisoner could now give no account unto the court that was reasonable or tolerable." On evidence of this sort, she was convicted of witchcraft, and sentenced to be hanged, which sentence was carried into execution on the 10th r of June. " As she was under guard," says Cotton Mather, "passing by the great and spacious -meeting-house of Salem, she gave a look towards the house ; and immediately a demon, invisibly entering the meeting-house, tore down a part of it ; so that though there was no person to be seen there, yet the people, at the noise, running in, found a board, which was strongly NEW ENGLAND. 467 fastened with several nails, transported into another quarter of the house." There was one species of evidence which was of great effect in these prosecutions, and which it was impossible to avoid or rebut. Witnesses were allowed to testify to certain acts of the accused when they were not present in the body, tormenting their victims by apparitions and spectres, which pinched them, robbed them of their goods, caused them to languish and pine away, and pricked them with sharp pins ; the bewitched persons often producing the identical pins with which this was done. It was thought that an invisible and impalpable fluid darted from the eyes of the witch and penetrated the brain of the person be witched. A touch by the witch attracted back the malignant fluid, and the sufferers recovered their senses.* After the condemnation of Bridget Bishop, the court adjourned to the 30th of June, and the governor and council thought proper, in the meantime, to take the opinion of several ministers on the state of affairs. This opinion, drawn up by Cotton Mather, con tained many cautions against precipitancy, but concluded with a strong recommendation of " speedy and vigorous prosecution of such as have rendered themselves obnoxious." This recommen dation unfortunately received vastly more attention than the cautions which preceded it. The prosecutions were carried on with all possible vigor. At the next session of the court, five women were brought to trial, condemned and executed. There was some difficulty in the case of Rebecca Nurse, one of the number ; she was a member of the church, and bore a good char acter. The jury pronounced her not guilty. The accusers made a great clamor, and the court expressed much dissatisfaction. They said the jury must have disregarded the words the prisoner used when two female witnesses appeared against her, namely, " they used to come among us," which the court interpreted to refer to a witch meeting. The jury again retired, "but could not tell how to take her words against her " till she had explained them. The prisoner, being informed of the use which had been made of her words, gave in her declaration to the court that she meant only that the witnesses were prisoners as well as herself and that, being hard of hearing and full of grief, she found it difficult to explain herself. After her condemnation, the governor showed a disposition to grant her a reprieve, but this was met by a violent opposition. An organized committee in Salem, whose * It has been suggested that many of the alleged marvels attending these cases, resemble the appearances said to be displayed at the exhibitions of mesmerism. 468 THE UNITED STATES. special object it was to carry on these prosecutions, was said to have defeated the reprieve in this case. The unfortunate woman was taken in chains to the meeting-house, on the next communion day, to be excommunicated by Mr. Noyes, her minister, and she was hanged on the 19th of July. " But her life and conversation had been such, that the remembrance thereof, in a short time after, wiped off all the reproach occasioned by the civil or ecclesi astical sentence against her!" At the trial of Sarah Good, it is said that one of the afflicted persons fell into a fit, and after recovery cried out, "that the prisoner had stabbed her and broke her knife in doing it," and a piece of the knife was found upon the afflicted person. But a young man declared that, the day before, he broke that very knife and threw away the piece in presence of the afflicted person. The court took so much notice of this impostor as to bid her tell no more lies, but still proceeded to use her as a witness against other prisoners. When Sarah Good came to be executed, Noyes, her minister, urged her to confess, telling her she was a witch, and knew she was a witch. She replied, "You are a liar; I am no more a witch than you are a wizard ; and if you take away my life, God will give you blood to drink." For many years afterwards the people of Salem had a tradition that the curse of this poor woman was verified, Mr. Noyes having been choked to death with blood. At the next adjournment of the court, on the 5th of August, six persons were brought to trial. John Proctor and his wife, and John Willard, of Salem village, George Jacobs, of Salem, Martha Currier, of Andover, and George Burroughs, of Wells, in. the province of Maine. Willard had been an officer employed in arresting witches; but becoming sensible of the imposition, he declined the service. For this he was maliciously denounced, prosecuted and condemned. Proctor begged for another court to be tried in, knowing he was foredoomed by the one at which he was arraigned; his prayer was disregarded, and his conviction followed immediately. Burroughs was confronted by witnesses who pretended to be dumb. The chief justice asked, "Who hinders these witnesses from giving their testimonies?" "I sup pose the devi^" answered Burroughs. " How comes the devil," asked the judge, " so loath to have any testimony borne against you?" This question was considered decisive against him. The delusion or malice of the witnesses, on this and other trials, is unaccountable. Different persons testified solemnly to the ap pearance of Burroughs to them, during the night, accompanied with spectres in winding-sheets, a "little black-headed man in WITCHCRAFT. 469 dark apparel, with a book written in lines as red as blood ;" black cats and other necromantic accompaniments. Burroughs was hanged, notwithstanding his eloquent protestations of innocence, which went to the hearts of all the spectators. It is useless to add to this melancholy catalogue of sufferers. Already twenty persons had been put to death, and fifty or sixty had been tor tured into confession of witchcraft. The consternation of the people was universal. It was impossible for these fanatical atrocities to be longei endured, or such monstrous absurdities longer to find belief. The jails were full, hundreds were under suspicion, the law de manded more victims, but the popular feeling, stronger than judicial authority, revolted against this unreasonable and bloody business. Fraud and imposture began to be visible oehind the veil of mystery which had hitherto shrouded these matters in darkness. Where were these horrors to end? Corrupt means had been used to tempt people to become accusers, and charges were made against the most virtuous and exalted characters in the country. People exclaimed "Who can think himself safe, if these things are allowed to continue?" It was clearly seen that the trials were not fair, but served only as a form for condemning the accused. Such a state of things could not long continue, and at length the juries refused to convict. The force of public senti ment was too powerful, and Stoughton, the chief justice, finding it in vain to procure any further convictions, retired from the bench. The change in the public mind was soon complete and universal. Lamentations and bitter repentance followed these horrid pro ceedings, among all who had acted a part in the tragedy. The indignation of the people was deep and strong against those who had been particularly active in these enormities. Parris, the minister, who had been the chief agent in the beginning of this frenzy, and who, beyond all question, made use of the popular feeling to gratify his own malignity against individuals whom he disliked, was compelled to leave his people. Cotton Mather, by artful appeals and publications, in which he seemed to suppress the truth, succeeded for a while in deceiving the public as to the encouragement he had given to the proceedings at Salem. Yet, still eager to "lift up a standard against the infernal enemy," he got up a case of witchcraft in his own parish; but the imposture was promptly exposed by the unlettered, yet sensible and intelligent, Robert Calef, whom Mather stigmatizes as a malignant calumniator, and a "coal from hell." Mather was severely judged, even by his own generation, for his share in these 40 470 THE UNITED STATES. proceedings, and his own diary shows that he did not altogether escape the compunctions of conscience. The members of the juries which had acted in these cases, published solemn declarations of regret for what they had done, and begged the forgiveness of the people. Many of the witnesses confessed their error, and the general court made all the reparation possible to the sufferers. None of the persons, however, who had so unscrupulously sworn away the lives of their neighbors, were ever brought to trial ; there was no disposition to renew the remembrance of these deplorable scenes. Such were the occurrences which form one of the most curious chapters in the history of the human mind. After making every allowance for the spirit of religious fanaticism, popular delusion, and panic, the subject in some respects still remains inexplicable. The moral phenomena which attended it have never been satisfac torily explained. Time has rather obscured than thrown light upon it ; and after all our scrutinies, we must place the New Eng land witchcraft among those well-attested historical facts which most strongly excite our curiosity, but for which it is impossible to account. Fraud and imposture, no doubt, were mixed up in it, and popular credulity and panic frenzy certainly had an abun dant share in the propagation of the excitement. But it is no less certain that it was not all fraud and imposition, and that it was indebted to other means than mere credulity and fright for its influence. Deeds were done and appearances exhibited, which it is impossible to explain upon any principles of natural philosophy then or now known. We do not hold that every marvellous tale of the New England witchcraft is true, and at the same time we cannot reject the incontrovertible testimony which establishes some of the most unaccountable of these facts. Rejecting alike the extremes of credulity and scepticism, we must come to the conclusion that this is among the strangest facts in psychology, and that it still remains shrouded in a mystery which the pro- foundest scrutiny has been unable to remove. CHAPTER XLIX. Political state of New England at the end of the seventeenth century. State of morals and religion. Decline of the puritanical rigor. Literature of New England. The primitive historians. Characteristics of their writings. Works of Cotton Mather. Early growth of letters in New England. State of educa tion. Prosperity and happiness of the people. AT the end of the seventeenth century, the people of New Eng land were united among themselves, and enriched with an ample stock of experience of both good and evil. When Lord Bellamont arrived in Massachusetts, as governor, in 1699, the recent heats and animosities had entirely subsided ; he found the inhabitants generally disposed to harmony and tranquillity, and he contribu ted to cherish this disposition, by a policy replete with wisdom, integrity and moderation. The virtue that had so signally dis tinguished the original settlers of New England, was now seen to shine forth among their descendants with a lustre less dazzling, but with an influence in some respects more amiable, refined and humane, than had attended its original display. One of the causes, perhaps, that conduced to the restoration of harmony and the revival of piety among this people, was the publication of various histories of the New England settlements, written with a spirit and fidelity well calculated to commend to the minds of the colonists the just results of their national expe rience. The subject was deeply interesting; and, happily, the treatment of it was undertaken by writers whose principal object was to render this interest subservient to the promotion of piety and virtue. Though New England might be considered as yet in a state of political infancy, it had passed through a great variety of fortunes. It had been the adopted country of many of the most excellent men of the age in which its colonization began, and the native land of others who had inherited the character of their ancestors, and transmitted it in unimpaired vigor and with additional renown. The history of man never exhibited an effort of more resolute and enterprising virtue than the original migration of the puritans to this distant and desolate region ; nor have the annals of colonization ever supplied another instance of the foundation of a commonwealth, and its advancement, through a period of weakness and danger, to strength and security, in 472 THE UNITED STATES. which the principal actors have left behind them a reputation more illustrious and unsullied, with fewer memorials calculated to pervert the moral sense or awaken the regret of mankind. The relation of their achievements had a powerful tendency to animate hope and perseverance in brave and virtuous enterprise. They could not indeed boast, as the founders of the settlement of Pennsylvania have done, that, openly professing non-resistance of injuries, and faithfully adhering to that profession, they had so fully merited and obtained the Divine protection, by an exclu sive dependence on it, as to disarm the ferocity of barbarians, and conduct the establishment of their commonwealth without violence and bloodshed. But if they were involved in numerous wars, it was the singular and honorable characteristic of them all, that they were invariably the offspring of self-defence against the unprovoked malevolence of their adversaries, and that not one of them was undertaken from motives of conquest or plunder. Though they considered these wars as necessary and justifiable, they sincerely deplored them ; and more than once the most dis tressing doubts were expressed, at the close of these hostilities, if it were lawful for Christians to press even the right of self-defence to such fatal extremity. They behaved to the Indian tribes with as much good faith and justice as they could have shown to a powerful and civilized people, and were incited, by the manifest inferiority of those savage neighbors, to no other acts than a series of magnanimous and lawful endeavors to instruct their ignorance and improve their condition. The histories that were now published were the compositions of the friends, associates and successors of the original colonists, and written with an energy of just encomium, that elevated every man's ideas of his ancestors and his country, and of the duties which arose from these natural or patriotic relations, and excited universally a generous sympathy with the characters and senti ments of the fathers of New England. The writers, nevertheless, were too conscientious, and too enlightened, to confound the virtues with the defects of the character they described; and while they dwelt apologetically upon the causes by which perse cution had been provoked, they lamented the infirmity that (under any degree of provocation) had betrayed good men into conduct so oppressive and unchristian. These representations could not fail to produce a beneficial effect upon the people of New England. They saw that the glory of their native land was associated with principles that could never coalesce with or sanction intolerance ; and that every instance of persecution with which their annals were stained, LITERATURE IN NEW ENGLAND. 473 was a dereliction of those principles, and an impeachment of their country's claims to the admiration of mankind. Inspired with the warmest attachment to the memory, and the highest respect for the virtues of their ancestors, they were forcibly admonished, by the errors into which they had fallen, to suspect and repress in themselves those infirmities from which even virtues of so high an order had been found to aiford no exemption. From this time the religious zeal of the people of New England was no longer perverted by intolerance, or disgraced by persecution; and the influence of Christianity, in mitigating enmity and promoting kindness and indulgence, derived a freer scope from the growing conviction, that the principles of the gospel were utterly irrecon cilable with violence and severity ; and that, revealing to every man his own infirmity much more clearly than that of any other human being, they were equally adverse to confidence in himself and to condemnation of others. Cotton Mather, who recorded and reproved the errors of the first colonists, lived to witness the success of his monitory representations, in the charity and liber ality of their descendants. New England, having been colonized by men not less eminent for learning than piety, was distinguished, at an early period, by the labors of her scholars, and the dedication of her literature to the nurture of religious sentiment and principle. The theological works of John Cotton, Hooker, the Mathers, and other New Eng land divines, have always enjoyed a high degree of esteem and popularity, not only in New England but in every protestant country of Europe. The annals of the various states, and the biography of their founders, were written by cotemporary histo rians with a minuteness which was very agreeable and interest ing to the first generation of their readers, and to which the writers were prompted, in some measure at least, by the conviction they entertained that their country had been honored with the signal favor and especial guidance and direction of Divine Prov idence. This conviction, while it naturally betrayed those writers into the fault of prolixity, enforced by the strongest sanctions the accuracy and fidelity of their narrations. Recording what they considered the special dealings of God with a people peculiarly his own, they presumed not to disguise the infirmities of their countrymen; nor to magnify the Divine grace in the infusion of human virtues, above the Divine patience in enduring human frailty and imperfection. Nay, the errors and failings of the illustrious men, whose lives they related, gave additional weight to the impression, which above all they desired to convey, that the colonization of New England was an extraordinary work of 40* H3 t 474 THE UNITED STATES. Heaven ; that the counsel and virtue by which it had been con ducted and achieved were not of human origin; arid that the glory of God had been displayed, no less in imparting the strength and wisdom, than in controlling the weakness and perversity of the instruments which he condescended to employ. The most considerable of these historical works is the Magnalia Christi Americana, or history of New England, by Cotton Mather. Of this work the arrangement is exceedingly faulty ; and its vast bulk must continue to render its exterior somewhat repulsive to modern readers. The continuity of the narrative is frequently broken by the introduction of long discourses, epistles, and theo logical reflections and dissertations ; biography is intermixed with history ; and events of local or temporary interest are related with tedious superfluity of detail. It is not so properly a single or continuous historical narration, as a collection of separate works, illustrative of the various scenes of New England history, under the heads of Remarkable Providences Remarkable Trials, and numberless other subdivisions. A plentiful intermixture of puns, anagrams and other barbarous conceits, exemplifies a peculiarity, the offspring partly of bad taste, and partly of superstition, which was very prevalent among the prose writers, and especially the theologians of that age. Notwithstanding these defects, the work will amply repay the labor of every reader. The biograph ical portions, in particular, possess the highest excellence. Cotton Mather was the author of a great many other works, some of which have been highly popular and eminently useful. One of them bears the title of Essays to do Good, and contains a lively and forcible representation, conveyed with more brevity than the author usually exemplifies, of the opportunities which every rank and every relation of human life will present to a devout mind of promoting the glory of God and the good of mankind. Dr. Franklin, in the latter years of his active and useful life, declared that all the good he had ever done for his country or his fellow-creatures must be ascribed to the impressions produced on his mind by perusing that little work in his youth. History and divinity were the chief but not the only subjects which exercised the labors of the scholars of New England. John Sherman, an eminent puritan divine, who was one of the first emigrants from Britain to Massachusetts, where he died in 1685, ^obtained a high. and just renown as a mathematician and astronomer. He left at his death, a large manuscript collection of astronomical calcula tions; and for several years published an almanac, which was interspersed with pious reflections and admonitions. NEW ENGI AND AT THE CLOSE OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 475 A traveller who visited Boston in 1686, mentions a number of booksellers there who had already made fortunes by their trade. The learned and ingenious author of the History of Printing in America, has given a catalogue of the works published by the first New England printers, in the seventeenth century. Consid ering the circumstances and numbers of the people, the catalogue is amazingly copious. One of the printers of that age was an Indian, the son of one of the first Indian converts. The education and habits of the people of New England prepared them to receive the full force of those impressions which their national literature was fitted to produce. In no country have the benefits of education been more highly prized or more generally diffused. Institutions for the education of youth were coeval with the foundation of the first provincial community, and were pro pagated with every accession to the population and every exten sion of the settlements. Education was facilitated in New England by the peculiar manner in which its colonization was conducted. In many other parts of America the planters dispersed themselves over the face of the country ; each residing on his own farm, and in choosing the spot where his house was to be placed, guided merely by considerations of agricultural convenience. The ad vantages resulting from this mode of inhabitation, were gained at the expense of such dispersion of dwellings as obstructed the erection of churches and schools, and the enjoyment of social intercourse. But the colonization of New England was conducted in a manner much more favorable to the improvement of human character and manners. Perhaps no country in the world was "ever more distinguished than New England was at this time for the general prevalence of those sentiments and habits that render communities respectable and happy. Sobriety and industry pervaded all classes of the inhabitants. The laws against immoralities of every description were extremely strict, and not less strictly executed; and being cordially supported by public opinion, they were able to render every vicious and profligate excess alike dangerous and discredit able to the perpetrator. We are assured, by a well informed writer, that at this period there was not a single beggar in all New England ; and a gentleman of unquestioned veracity, who had resided there seven years, declared that, during all that period, he had never heard a profane oath, nor witnessed an instance of inebriety. Labor was so valuable, land so cheap, and the elective franchise so widely extended, that every industrious man might acquire a stake in the soil, and a voice in the civil administration of his country. The general diffusion of education caused the 476 THE UNITED STATES. national advantages, which were vigorously improved, to be justly appreciated ; and a steady and ardent patriotism knit the hearts of the people to each other and to their country. The state of society in New England, the circumstances and habits of the people, tended to form among their leading men a character more solid than brilliant, not, as some have imagined, to discourage the cultivation or exercise of talent, but to repress its idle display, and train it to its legitimate and respectable end, of giving efficacy to wisdom, prudence and virtue. Yet this state of society was by no means inconsistent either with polite ness of manners or with innocent hilarity. Lord Bellamont was agreeably surprised with the graceful and courteous demeanor of the gentlemen and clergy of Connecticut, and confessed that he found the aspect and address, which he had thought peculiar to nobility, in a land where this aristocratical distinction was un known. From Dunton's account of his residence in Boston, 1686, it appears that the inhabitants of Massachusetts were at that time distinguished in a very high degree by their cheerful vivacity, their hospitality and courtesy. CHAPTER L. Indian wars in the south. The Tuscaroras. Plot againsi te Ttfffl Carolina settlers. Massacre at Roanoke. BarnwelVs expedition. Influence of the French and Spaniards in exciting Indian hostilities. Characteristics of Indian warfare. Conspiracy of the Yamassees. Attack on the colony of South Carolina. Defeat of the Yamassees and their expulsion into Florida. Massacre at Roanoke. IN the year 1712, the Tuscarora Indians in North Carolina, alarmed at the increasing population of the whites, formed a plan for cutting them off by a general and instantaneous massacre. Twelve hundred bow-men were concerned in this horrid plot. All of them had agreed to begin their murderous operations on the same night. When that night came, they entered the planters' houses ; demanded provisions, affected to be displeased with them, and then murdered men, women and children, without mercy or dis tinction. To prevent the alarm spreading through the settlement, they ran from house to house, slaughtering the scattered families wherever they went. None of the colonists, during that fatal night, knew what had befallen their neighbors, until the assailants reached their own doors. The destruction at Roanoke was great. One hundred and thirty-seven of the settlers were put to death in a few hours. 478 THE UNITED STATES. These who escaped were collected together, and guarded by the militia, until assistance was received from their neighbors. Colonel Barnwell, of South Carolina, was detached with six hun dred militia and three hundred and sixty-six Indians, to their relief. He had to march through an intermediate wilderness of two hun dred miles. On his arrival he attacked the Indians of North Carolina with great resolution and success. Of them three hun dred were killed and one hundred taken prisoners. The survivors sued for peace ; but many of them abandoned the country, and uniting with the five nations, made the sixth of that confederacy. These several Indian wars seem to have been systematic attempts of the aborigines to rid their country of the new comers. The rapidly increasing population, and regular encroachments of the latter on the* former, gave a serious alarm to the ancient lords of the soil, who discovered, when it was too late, that their destruc tion was likely to result from their having too readily permitted strangers to take possession of their lands. These and other less important wars were purely Indian; but, from about the year 1690, the Indians, in addition to private and personal sources of contention, were stirred up to hostilities against their white neigh bors, by the French and Spaniards, whose colonies were con tiguous. The morality of civilized Christian kings did not restrain them from employing the heathen savages of the wilder ness to harass and destroy the settlements and Christian subjects; of each other. The particulars of the early Indian wars have already been given sufficiently in detail. A general view of the subject may now be proper. These wars took place, more or less, along the whole western frontier of the colonies, from New Hampshire to Georgia, and from the year 1690, to the peace of Paris, 1763. Through that wide range, and for that long period of seventy-three years, with occasional intermissions, Indian hostilities, fomented by the French at the north and the Spaniards in the south, disturbed the peace and stinted the growth of the English colonies. The mode in which these wars were waged was very different from that usual among civilized nations. The Indians were seldom or never seen before they did execution. They appeared not in the open field, but achieved their exploits by surprise, chiefly in the morning, keeping themselves hid behind logs aud bushes, near the paths in the woods, or the fences contiguous to the doors of houses. Their lurking holes could be known only by the report of their guns. They rarely assaulted a house, unless they knew there would be little resistance. It has been afterwards known that they had lain in ambush for days together, watching the INDIAN WARS. 479 motions of the people at their work, without daring to discover themselves. Their cruelty was chiefly exercised upon children and such aged, infirm, or corpulent persons, as could not bear the hardships of a journey through the wilderness. If they took a woman far advanced in pregnancy, their knives were plunged into her bowels. An infant, when it became troublesome, had its brains dashed out against the next tree or stone. Sometimes, to torment the wretched mother, they would whip and beat the child till almost dead, and then throw it to her, to comfort and quiet it. If the mother could not readily still its crying, the hatchet was buried in its skull. A prisoner, wearied with his burden, was often despatched the same way. If a captive appeared sad and dojected, he was sure to meet with insult ; but if he could sing, and dance, and laugh with his masters, he was caressed as a brother. Famine was a common attendant on these captivities. The Indians, when they caught any game, devoured it all at one sitting; and then, girding themselves round the waist, travelled without sustenance, till chance threw more in their way. The captives, unused to such canine repasts and abstinences, could not support the surfeit of the one nor the craving of the other. The obvious hardships of travelling, half naked and barefoot, through pathless deserts, over craggy mountains, and deep swamps, through frost, rain and snows; exposed by day and night to the inclemency of the weather, and in summer to the venomous stings of those numberless insects with which the woods abound ; the restless anxiety of mind, the retrospect of past scenes of pleasure, and the daily apprehension of death, either by famine or the savage enemy, were a few of the horrors of an Indian captivity. On the other hand, there have been instances of justice, gener osity and tenderness, during these wars, which would have done honor to a civilized people. A kindness shown to an Indian was remembered as long as an injury. They would sometimes carry children on their arms and shoulders ; feed their prisoners with the best of their provisions; and pinch themselves rather than that their captives should want food. When sick or wounded, they would afford them comfort and means for their recovery. But the most favorable circumstance in an Indian captivity, was their decent behavior to women. There is no evidence that any woman who fell into their hands was ever treated with the least immodesty; but testimonies to the contrary are very frequent. Whatever may be the cause, the fact is certain; and 480 THE UNITED STATES. it was a most happy circumstance for female captives, that, amid all their distresses, they had no reason to fear from a savage foe the perpetration of a crime which has too frequently disgraced, not only the personal, but national character of those who make large pretensions to civilization and humanity. In the war between France and England, from 1690 to 1697, the French, who were then proprietors of Canada, instigated the Indians to hostilities against the English colonists. Such of the latter as inhabited the eastern part of New England, were severely harassed, and many of them were killed. Similar events took place in the war between the same European powers, which began in 1702, and ended in 1713. Excited by similar influ ences, a more extensive and mischievous warfare was carried on between the Indians and the inhabitants of the middle colonies, in the war between the same powers which ended in 1763. Hitherto, Indian excursions had proceeded from Canada, and were directed against the frontier settlers of New York or New England ; but from the year 1754, when the French established themselves at Fort Duquesne, on the Ohio, parties of French and Indians, advancing from that post, carried havoc and desolation, for four years, over the western settlements of the middle colonies, to the extent of many hundred miles, and to so great a degree, that Carlisle, in Pennsylvania, Fredericktown, in Maryland, and the Blue Ridge, in Virginia, were, in the year 1756, exposed as a frontier. The distresses of the inhabitants exceeded all description. If they went into stockade forts, they suffered from want of pro visions, were often surrounded and sometimes cut off. By fleeing, they abandoned the conveniences of home and the means of sup port. If they continued on their farms, they lay down every night under the apprehension of being murdered before morning. But this was not the worst. Captivity and torture were fre quently their portion. To all these evils, women, aged persons, and children, were equally liable with men in arms, for savages make no distinction. Extermination is their object. The settle ments in advance were abandoned, broken up, or drenched in blood, from the repeated and sudden incursions of light parties of Indians, headed by Frenchmen, who, after perpetrating extensive mischief in a few days, saved themselves by rapidly retreating to the Ohio. A similar policy, on a smaller scale, had influenced the Spaniards, while they possessed Florida ; from which they excited the neighboring Indians to harass the most southern colonies. In the year 1715, the Yamassees, a numerous and powerful tribe INDIAN WARS. 481 of Indians, inhabiting a considerable territory on the northeast side of Savannah river, then and now known by the name of Indian land, formed, under Spanish influence, a general conspi racy ; in which every Indian tribe, from Florida to Cape Fear river, was said to have joined. The object was the extermination of the English settlements. On the 15th of April, at the dawn of day, the Indians fell on the defenceless settlers, unapprehensive of danger, and in a few hours massacred above ninety persons in Pocotaligo. One man escaped to Port Royal, and alarmed the town. The inhabitants of it generally fled to Charleston. While the Yamassees were laying waste the southern frontiers of Caro lina, other tribes from the northward were perpetrating similar devastations in that quarter. The southern division of the enemy consisted, by computation, of six thousand bow-men; and the northern between six hundred and a thousand. The planters, thus taken by surprise, were so dispersed, that they could not assemble together, nor act in concert. They mostly fled to Charleston. The intelligence they brought, magnified the danger, so as to induce doubts of the safety even of the capital ; for at that time it contained on the muster-roll, no more than twelve hundred men fit to bear arms. A party of four hundred [ndians came to Goose Creek, about twenty miles from Charles ton. Every family there had fled to town, with the exception of seventy white men and forty negroes, who, having surrounded themselves with a slight breastwork, resolved on defence. After they had resisted for some time, they incautiously agreed to terms of peace. The faithless savages, being admitted within their works, butchered the garrison. The invaders spread destruction through the parish of St. Bartholomew, and advancing as far as Stono, burned the church, and every house on the plantations, by the way. Similar ravages were committed in several other places. In this time of general calamity, Governor Craven, of South Carolina, acted with spirit. He proclaimed martial law, laid an embargo on all vessels in the harbor, and marched out of town at the head of the militia, to attack the Yamassee invaders. He guarded himself against their mode of fighting from thickets and from behind trees ; and took every precaution to prevent a surprise. He knew full well that his followers must either conquer, or die most probably by torture. The fate of the province depended on the success of his arms. The event of the expedition would decide whether Carolina should remain a British province, or be annexed to Florida, in the occupation of the aborigines. There was no back country then settled with friendly white inhabitants, to whom the settlers 482 THE UNITED STATES. might fly for refuge, or from whom they might look for relief. Virginia was the nearest place from which effectual aid could be expected. As Governor Craven marched through the country, straggling parties of the Indians fled before him, till he reached Saltcatchers, where they had pitched their camp. Here a sharp and bloody contest took place. The Indians fought from behind trees and bushes, alternately retreating and returning to the charge. The militia, with the governor at their head, kept close to the enemy, improved every advantage, and drove them from their lurking- places. The pursuit was continued till the invaders were expelled from Carolina, and forced to retreat over Savannah river. The number of the militia lost in ttyis expedition, or of the Indians killed therein, is .not known ; but, in the course of the war, four hundred of the inhabitants of Carolina were murdered by the invading savages. The Yamassees, after their defeat and expulsion from Carolina, went directly to the Spanish garrison at St. Augustine, where they were received with so much hospitality and kindness, and had such ample encouragement given them to settle in Florida, as confirmed the suspicions previously entertained, that their late conspiracy was contrived by Spaniards, and carried on by their encouragement. Thus, in almost every period anterior to the revolution, there were occasional hostilities, and a constant expectation of them kept up between the white settlers and the Indians. The arms of the colonists were not suffered to rust. This state of things excited anxiety, but at the same time promoted alertness. Re moved, as the colonists were, from the military scenes of Europe, in case of permanent domestic tranquillity, they would have been indifferently prepared for the revolutionary contest. In their wars with the Indians, the colonists were taught their first military lessons; but before they had completed the infantile period of their political existence, they had ample means of instruction. In the hundred and fifty-six years which intervened between the first English settlement in North America, and the complete expulsion of the French from it, there were constant bickerings between their respective colonies, and frequent wars between the parent nations. As far as territorial rights depended on prior discovery, the English had the advantage; but as far as they flowed from occupancy, the French were in some respects supe rior, and in all nearly equal. The settlement of Jamestown and Quebec, the first capitals of both, are so nearly contemporary as INDIAN WARS. 483 to be within fifteen months of each other. Six years had not elapsed from the first settlement of either, when hostilities com menced in the New World, between the two rival nations of the Old, whose wars, for centuries, had furnished nearly half the materials for the history of Europe. CHAPTER LI. Progress of the French settlements. Review of the policy of the French and English. The Jive nations invade Canada, and sack Montreal.^ Plans of the English for the invasion of Canada. Peace of Ryswir.k. Mutual restoration of conquests. Indian war in New Hampshire. LoveweWs fight. End of the savage hostilities in New Hampshire. LovervelVs Fight. THE French, restored to all their claims on the northern part of the American continent, proceeded with spirit in making settle ments. To the aborigines they paid particular attention, and were successful, beyond all others, in securing their affections. While Englishmen generally kept at a distance from the sons of the forest, Frenchmen, by conforming to their customs, inter marrying with them, and coinciding with their views, obtained an astonishing ascendency over their untutored minds. Peace was of short duration between these nations, whose interests so materially clashed; for each wished to be the predominant power in North America. Wars succeeded wars, as will be more par ticularly related, and treaties succeeded treaties ; but nothing was accomplished which tended to peace. After years of hostilities, the losses on both sides exceeded the profits. Neither had such a decided superiority, as to give the law to the other; arid the FRENCH EXPEDITION AGAINST NEW YORK. 485 general termination of their wars was a reciprocal restitution of conquests. In these unprofitable contests, the colonies of both nations, as appendages to their respective parent states, followed as they were led, and partook in the follies, losses and expenses of the countries from which they respectively sprung. If the French power had never been revived after its prostration, at tht end of the 17th century, the colonies would have had little necessity foil keeping on their armor. They would have known nothing of the mechanism of armies, or of the modes which experience has proved to be best adapted for drawing forth, organizing and sup porting the yeomanry of their country, for military purposes ; but in consequence of the treaty of Utrecht, the English colonists, in contending with their French neighbors, had sufficient experience of war to be alert in their own defence ; and yet were not so much nor so often involved as to be materially stinted in their growth. They were thus, by the wars of Europeans carried on in America, prepared for the great revolutionary contest for inde pendence. A review of these early colonial contests requires our next attention. In the war between France and England, which, after several years' continuance, ended in 1697, the conquest of New York and of Boston on the one side, and of Quebec and of Canada on the other, were projected. Neither succeeded, though repeated attempts were made by both parties to accomplish their wishes. In the year 1688, a French fleet sailed from Rochefort, which, with the aid of land forces, destined to march from Canada, was intended for the attack of New York. While this expedition was preparing, the Five Nations of Indians suddenly landed twelve hundred men on the island of Montreal, and killed one thousand of the French inhabitants, who thought themselves perfectly secure These Indians continued their incursions into Canada, with such horrid effect, that many of the inhabitants were killed : and a scarcity ensued, from the inability of the survivors to cul tivate their fields. This state of things saved New York from an attack in preparation, for which considerable progress had been made. These incursions into Canada, by the Indians attached to the British interest, were severely retaliated, by parties of Indians and French penetrating from Canada into the English settle ments. One of these, after a tedious march through an uninhab ited country, covered with snow, arrived, in February, 1690, about midnight, at the village of Schenectady, near Albany. The invaders, dividing themselves into small parties, invested every house at the same time. While the inhabitants were asleep, without any apprehension of danger, their doors were suddenly 486 THE UNITED STATES. forced open, and an indiscriminate massacre commenced. Sixty- seven persons were put to death, and twenty -seven were taken prisoners. The rest fled naked through deep snow to Albany. Of these, twenty-five lost their limbs, from the effects of cold. Similar bloody excursions, often repeated, induced a general eagerness among the contiguous colonies to effect the conquest of Canada, which they considered as the source from which all the evils of Indian warfare originated. Commissioners from these colonies met at New York, and fixed on a plan of operations for that purpose. A fleet of thirty-five vessels, as has been already related in the history of New England, commanded by Sir William Phipps, sailed from Nantasket for Quebec, on the 19th of August, 1692. This fleet was to be assisted by eight hundred and fifty men, who .were to march, by the way of Lake Champlain, from Connecticut and New York, to Montreal. The fleet arrived before Quebec, in October, when it was too late to do anything, otherwise than by an immediate assault, to which their force was unequal. The land army, after advancing to the lake, was obliged to retreat, from the want of canoes and provisions. The projected invasion was frustrated, because there was no common superintending power, to give union and system to the plan of combined attack. King William, after earnest solicitation, determined to aid Massachusetts in accomplishing the object of her wishes. The plan was to send a British fleet and army, to reduce Martinique, afterwards to proceed to Boston, and cooperate with the forces of Massachusetts in the reduction of Canada. By the llth of June, when the British fleet and army had reached Boston, from the West Indies, they were so reduced by the disease common to that tropical climate, that thirteen hundred, out of twenty-one hundred soldiers, were buried. The enterprise against Canada, was, there fore, from necessity, deferred. In 1696, the invasion and conquest of Canada was again contemplated by Massachusetts, and the assistance of England again solicited. In the same year, the French formed an expedition against Boston; but both projects proved abortive. The peace of Ryswick, in 1697, for the present composed these contentions ; but was very far from extinguishing the eagerness of either power fcfr enlarging their possessions in the^New World. By this peace, France and England reciprocally agreecf to restore to each other all conquests made during the contest. Nothing being settled as to the boundaries of their American territories, war soon recommenced. Indian incursions into the New England colonies, immediately followed. These r as usual, excited a general wish WARS WITH THE INDIANS. 487 for the conquest of Canada. An address to Queen Anne, request ing her to aid an expedition for that purpose, was voted by the general court of Massachusetts in 1708. This was well received, and expeditions were projected, in the years 1709, 1710 and 1711, for the reduction of Canada, and other adjacent French posses sions; but, from the difficulty of concert in combined operations between sea and land forces from England, and troops to be raised by distinct American legislatures, together with bad weather and a hazardous coast, nothing more was effected than the reduc tion of Port Royal, in Nova Scotia, or Annapolis, as it was after wards called. In 1722, a war broke out between the Indians and the people of New Hampshire. The French Jesuits had established them selves among the savages in this quarter, and their pompous and imposing religious ceremonies had made a much stronger impres sion upon them than the simple form of worship usual among the Congregationalists of New England. The Indians had a Catholic church at Penobscot and another at Norridgewock, where a Jesuit, named Sebastian Ralle, resided. He was a man of talents, learn ing and address, and had obtained a strong influence over the savage tribe. With this man the governor of Canada held a close correspondence, and by his means the Indians were encour aged in their hostilities against the New England settlers. At the first appearance of war, a party of English marched to Norridgewock, to seize Ralle, as he was well known to be the 488 THE UNITED STATES. instigator of these troubles. The Jesuit escaped, hut his papers were taken, which disclosed the whole of his intrigues. The next year the Indians attacked the English settlements. Dover and several other places were burnt, and many persons massacred. Several companies of men were raised among the frontier settlements, for the defence of the country. One of these volunteer companies, under the command of Captain John Lovewell, of Dunstable, was greatly distinguished, first by their success, and afterwards by their misfortunes. This company consisted of thirty men. On their first excursion to the northward of Winnipiseogee Lake, they discovered an Indian wigwam, in which were a man and a boy. They killed and scalped the man, and brought the boy alive to Boston, where they received the reward promised by law, and a handsome gra tuity besides. By this success, his company was augmented to seventy. They marched again, and visiting the place where they had killed the Indian, found his body as they had left it two months before. Their provision falling short, thirty of them were dis missed by lot, and returned. The remaining forty continued their march, till they discovered a track which they followed. They saw a smoke just before sunset, by which they judged that the enemy were encamped for the night They kept themselves concealed till after midnight, when they silently advanced, and discovered ten Indians asleep around a fire, by the side of a frozen pond. Lovewell determined to make sure work ; and placing his men conveniently, ordered part of them to fire, five at a time, as quick after each other as possible, and another part to reserve their fire. He gave the signal by firing his own gun, which killed two of the Indians. The men firing, according to order, killed five more on the spot. Two of the other three, as they started up from their sleep, were instantly shot dead by the reserve. The other, though wounded, attempted to escape, by crossing the pond ; but was seized by a dog, and held fast, till they killed him. Thus, in a few minutes, the whole company was destroyed, and an attempt against the frontiers of New Hampshire prevented. These Indians were marching from Canada, well furnished with guns and ammunition. They had also a number of spare blankets, moccasins, and snow shoes, for the accommodation of the prisoners whom they expected to take. The pond, where this exploit was performed, has since been called Love well's pond. This company, with the ten scalps stretched upon hoops, and elevated on poles, entered Dover in triumph, and proceeded WARS WITH THE INDIANS. 489 / thence to Boston, where they received from the public treasury, the bounty of one hundred pounds for each. Encouraged by this success, Lovewell marched, in April, 1725, intending to attack the village of Pigwacket. His company at that time consisted of forty-six, including a chaplain and surgeon. They halted, and built a stockade fort, for a place of retreat in case of misfortune. Here the surgeon was left with a sick man, and eight of the company for a guard. The number was now reduced to thirty-four. These advanced to the northward, and were attacked about ten o'clock. Captain Lovewell and eight more were killed. Several of the Indians fell ; but, being supe rior in number they endeavored to surround the party; who, perceiving their intention, retreated, hoping to be sheltered by a point of rocks. In this forlorn place, they took their station. On their right was the mouth of a brook, at that time unfordable ; on their left was the rocky point ; their front was partly covered by a deep bog, and partly uncovered ; and the pond was in their rear. The enemy galled them in front and flank, and had them so completely in their power, that if they had improved their advantage, the whole company must either have been killed, or obliged to surrender at discretion ; for they were destitute of pro visions, and their escape was impracticable. Under the conduct of Lieutenant Wyman, they kept up their fire, and showed a reso lute countenance all the remainder of the day, during which their chaplain, Jonathan Frie, Ensign Robbins, and one more were mortally wounded. The Indians invited them to surrender, by holding up ropes to them; and endeavored to intimidate them by hideous yells ; but they determined to die rather than yield ; and by their well-directed fire, the number of the savages was thinned, and their cries became fainter. Just before night they quitted their advantageous ground. The shattered remnant of this brave company, collecting themselves together, found three of their number unable to remove from the spot ; eleven wounded but able to march ; and nine who had received no hurt. It was melancholy to leave their dying companions behind; but there was no possibility of removing them. One of them, Ensign Robbins, desired his associates to lay his gun by him, charged, that if the Indians should return before his death, he might be able to kill one more. After the rising of the moon, they quitted the fatal spot, and directed their march towards the fort, where the surgeon and guard had been left. To their great surprise, they found it deserted. From this place, they endeavored to get home. Lieutenant Farwell and the chaplain, who had the jour nal of the march in his pocket, perished in the woods. The J3 490 THE UNITED STATES. others, after enduring the most severe hardships, came in, one after another, and were not only received with joy, but recom pensed for their valor and sufferings. A generous provision was also made for the widows and children of the slain. Colonel Tyng, with a company from Dunstable, went to the spot ; and having found the bodies of the twelve, buried them, and carved their names on the trees where the battle was fought. This was one of the most fierce and obstinate battles which had been fought with the Indians. They had not only the ad vantage of numbers, but of placing themselves in ambush, and of choosing with deliberation the moment of attack. These circumstances gave them a degree of ardor and impetuosity. The fall of Lovewell and of one quarter of his men in the first onset, was discouraging ; but the survivors knew the situation to which they were reduced, and that their distance from the fron tier cut off all hope of safety from flight. In these circumstances, prudence as well as valor dictated a continuance of the engage ment ; and a refusal to surrender, until the enemy, awed by their brave resistance, and weakened by their own loss, yielded them the honor of the field. The Indians shortly afterwards requested peace. In the mean time, some of the enemy were disposed for further mischief. They shot Benjamin Evans, wounded William Evans, and cut his throat ; John Evans received a slight wound in the breast, which, bleeding plentifully, deceived them. Thinking him dead, they stripped and scalped him. He bore the painful operation without discovering any signs of life. Though all the time in his perfect senses, he continued the feigned appearance of death, till they had turned him over and struck him several blows with their guns, and left him for dead. After they were gone off, he rose and walked naked and bloody towards the garrison; but on meeting his friends by the way, he fell in a fainting fit on the ground. Nevertheless, he recovered and survived fifty years. This was the last effort of the Indians in New Hampshire. In three months, the treaty which they desired was signed at Boston ; and the next spring ratified at Falmouth. A peace was concluded in the usual form, which was followed by restraining all private traffic with the Indians, and establishing truck houses in conve nient places, where they were supplied with the necessaries of life on advantageous terms. CHAPTER LII. Intercourse with the savage tribes. Renewal of hostilities with the Indiana and French. The New England frontiers ravaged. Relaxation of the cruelty of savage warfare. Assault and capture of St. Francis, by Major Rogers. Cap ture oj Louisburgh, by the New England forces Capture of Louisburgh. THOUGH none of the other colonies of New England bore any share in the expenses or calamities of the war, yet New Hamp shire suffered less than in former conflicts. Their militia, at this time, was completely trained for active service. Every man, of forty years of age, had seen more than twenty years of war. They had been used to handle their arms from the age of child hood, and most of them, by long practice, were excellent marks men and good hunters. They knew the lurking-places of the enemy, and possessed a degree of hardiness and intrepidity, which can be acquired only by familiarity with danger and fatigue. They had also imbibed, from their infancy, a stiong antipathy to the savages. This was strengthened, in time of war, by their repeated acts of blood and desolation, and not obliterated by the intercourse which they had with them in time of peace. As the Indians frequently resorted to the frontier towns in time of scarcity, it was common for them to visit the families whom they had injured in time of war ; to recount the circumstances of 492 THE UNITED STATES. death and torture which had been practised on their friends ; and when provoked or intoxicated, to threaten a repetition of such cruel deeds, in future wars. To bear such treatment required more than ordinary patience. It is not improbable that secret mur ders were sometimes the consequence of such harsh declarations. Certain it is, that when any person was arrested for killing an Indian, in time of peace, he was either forcibly rescued from the hands of justice, or if brought to trial, invariably acquitted ; it being often impossible to impannel a jury, some of whom had not suffered by the Indians, either in their persons, families, or property. Twenty years of peace followed, in which the population and settlements of New Hampshire were considerably extended. War being declared by England against France, in 1744, an Indian war with the contiguous English colonies followed in its train. Defensive measures were adopted on the frontiers. Besides the forts, which were maintained at the public expense, there were private houses, enclosed with ramparts or palisades of timber, to which the people who remained on the frontiers, retired. These private garrisoned houses were distinguished by the names of the owners. The danger to which the distressed people were con stantly exposed, did not permit them to cultivate their lands to any advantage. They were frequently alarmed when at labor in their fields, and obliged to repel an attack, or make a retreat. Their crops were often injured, and sometimes destroyed, either by their cattle getting into the fields when the enemy had broken the fences, or because they were afraid to venture out to collect and secure the harvest. Their cattle and horses were frequently killed by the enemy, who cut the flesh from the bones, and took out the tongues, which they preserved for food by drying them in smoke. Sometimes they were afraid even to milk their cows, though they kept them in pastures as near as possible to the forts. When they went abroad they were always armed ; but frequently they were shut up, for weeks together, in a state of inactivity. The history of a war on the frontiers can be little else than a recital of the exploits, the sufferings, the escapes and deliverances of individuals, of single families, or small parties. The first appearance of the enemy on the western frontier, was at the Great Meadow,, sixteen miles from fort Dummer. Two Indians took William Phipps, as he was hoeing his corn. When they had carried him half a mile, one of them went down a steep hill to fetch something which had been left. In his absence, Phipps, with his own hoe, knocked down the Indian who was with him, then seizing his gun, shot the other as he ascended the hill. NEW ENGLAND INDIAN WARS. 493 Three others of the same party shortly after came up, and killed him. The Indian whom he knocked down, died of his wound. Throughout the summers of 1745 and 1746, the Indians were scattered in small parties, on all the frontiers. They broke up settlements, killed several individuals, and captured more, either in their houses, or when going to mill, milking their cattle, or working in the woods or fields. During this scene of devastation and captivity, there were no instances of deliberate murder or torture exercised on those who fell into the hands of the Indians. Even the old custom of making the prisoners run the gauntlet, was in most cases omitted. On the contrary, there is an univer sal testimony from the captives who returned, in favor of the humanity of their captors. When feeble, they assisted them in travelling; and in cases of distress from want of provisions, shared with them an equal proportion. There was a striking difference between the manner in which this war was conducted on the part of the English, and on the part of the French. The latter kept out small parties, continually engaged in killing, scalping and taking prisoners, who were sold in Canada, and redeemed by their friends at great expense. By this mode of conduct, the French made their enemies pay the whole charge of their predatory excursions, besides reaping a handsome profit to themselves. On the other hand, the English attended only to the defence of the frontiers. No parties were sent to harass the settlements of the French. If the whole coun try of Canada could not be subdued, nothing less would be attempted. Men were continually kept in pay, and in expectation of service ; but they spent their time either in garrisons or camps, or in guarding provisions. Though large rewards were promised for scalps and prisoners, scarcely any were obtained, unless by accident. The French encouraged and paid their Indians for English scalps; but the English offered no premiums for the scalps of Frenchmen or Canadians. This war was not decisive, and the causes which kindled it were not removed. One of its effects was peculiarly injurious. It produced a class of men, who, having been for a time released from laborious occupations, and devoted to the parade of military life, did not readily obey the calls of industry. To such men peace was burdensome ; and the more so because they had not the advantage of half-pay. Short was the interval between this arid the succeeding war. The peace took place in 17-19 ; and in 1754, there was a call to resume the sword. The time was now come when a decisive war must settle the long pending controversy, whether France or England should be the predominant power in 42 494 THE UNITED STATES. North America. Hostilities had no sooner commenced between France and England, in the western woods of Virginia, than the Indians renewed their attack on the frontiers of New Hampshire. In the summer of 1754, scenes, similar to those that have been described, recommenced. In this war, especially the first year of it, Canada was filled with prisoners, scalps and private plunder, with public stores, and provisions ; much of which had been taken from New Hampshire. View on Lake Champlain. When the British army had obtained a decided superiority over the French, it was determined to chastise the Indians, who had committed so many devastations. Major Robert Rogers, was despatched from Crown Point, by General Amherst, in October, 1759, with about 200 rangers, to destroy the Indian village of St. Francis. After a fatiguing march of twenty-one days, he came within sight of the place, which he discovered from the top of a tree. He halted his men at the distance of three miles ; and in the evening, with two of his officers, entered the village in disguise. The Indians were engaged in a grand dance, and he passed through them undiscovered. Having formed his men into parties, and posted them to advantage, he made a general assault just before day, whilst the Indians were asleep. They were so completely surprised, that little resistance could be made. Some were killed in their houses j and of those who attempted to flee, many were shot or tomahawked by parties placed at the avenues. The dawn of day disclosed a horrid scene ; and an edge was given to the fury of the assailants, by the sight of several hundred scalps of their countrymen, elevated on poles and waving in the air. This village had been enriched with the plunder of the frontiers, SEDUCTION OF LOUISBURG. 495 and the sale of the captives. The houses were well furnished, and the church was adorned with plate. The suddenness of the attack and the fear of a pursuit, did not allow much time for pillage; hut the rangers brought off about two hundied guineas in money ; a silver image weighing ten pounds ; a large quantity of wampum and clothing. Having set fire to the village, Rogers made his retreat. Of the rangers, one man only was killed, and six were wounded. In their retreat, they were pursued and lost seven men. They kept in a body for about ten days, and then scattered. Some found their way to " Number Four," after hav ing suffered much by hunger and fatigue. Others perished in the woods, and their bones were found near Connecticut river, by the people, who, after several years, began plantations at the upper Cohos. In the year 1745, a daring enterprise was projected in Boston against Louisburg, a strong fortress belonging to the French, on the island of Cape Breton. This was proposed by Shirley, governor of Massachusetts, and approved by the general court of that province. Louisburg was the Dunkirk of North America. Five millions of dollars had been employed in its fortifications. It was of great importance to France, and also to England, med itating, as both did, the extension of their American possessions. Upwards of five thousand men were raised in the New England colonies, and put under the command of William Pepperell, a respectable merchant in Massachusetts. This force arrived at Canso early in April, 1745. A British marine force from the West Indies, commanded by Commodore Warren, acted in concert with these land forces. The siege was conducted with such spirit and address, that, on the 17th of June, the fortress capitulated. The reduction of Louisburg, by colonial troops, gave to European powers enlarged ideas of the value of American possessions. The war, henceforward, became more important. Great projects occu pied the attention of the belligerent powers. The recovery of Louisburg, the reduction of Nova Scotia, the total devastation of the seacoast, and even the complete conquest of New England, were contemplated by the French. With this view, a powerful fleet, and an a1*my of three thousand men, under the command of Duke d'Anville, sailed, in 1746, for the American coast. There was no British fleet at hand to resist this force. The distress of the colonies was great, and their apprehensions of danger were excited to a high pitch, when Providence wrought their deliverance. The French ships .were visited by such fatal sickness, that thirteen hundred of their crew died at sea. Their whole fleet was also dispersed by a violent tempest. Some of the ships were lost. 496 THE UNITED STATES. and those which escaped, returned singly to France. The whole expedition was defeated without the firing of a single gun. Great Britain, not less sanguine, counted on the expulsion of the French from the continent of America; and that Canada, with the adjacent French possessions, would soon be British provinces. Preparations were made for executing these gigantic projects: but they came to nothing. No further important transaction took place in America, till the war ended, by the peace of Aix-la- Chapelle, in 1748. By this, it Was stipulated that all conquests made during the war should be restored. The British colonists had the mortification to see Louisburg returned to the French, its former owners. The treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle left all controversies between France and . England, on the subject of boundaries, undecided. France continued in possession of Canada in the north, and the Mississippi in the south ; and her settlements approximated each other, by the extension of new establishments northerly, up the Mississippi, and southwardly, down the lakes and the Ohio. In this state of things disputes grew so naturally out of the manner in which the country had been settled, that they could only be adjusted by the sword, or by an accommodating policy, not usual among kings. The claims of each stood on such plausi ble grounds, as might have induced both nations to believe they were right. The European powers having parcelled out the American territory among themselves, on the idea that the rights of the natives were of no account, could substitute no claims of their own, but such as necessarily clashed with each other. As they established the position that those who first dis covered and took possession of any savage country, became its rightful proprietors, the extent of the territory thus acquired by discovery and possession, could not be exactly ascertained; for only a small part of it could be reduced to actual occupation. C'ontests accordingly arose among all the first settlers, respecting the extent of their several possessions. CHAPTER LI11. Claims of the French to the country on the Ohio. Progress of the English settlements in this direction. Formation of the Ohio Company. The French strengthen their frontiers. Washington's embassy to the Ohio. Hostilities on tfa frontier. Campaign on the Great Meadows. The Albany plan of Union. Expedition and defeat of Braddock. Campaign of Niagara. Expedition against Crown Point. Oswego taken by the French. Campaign of 1758. Reduction of Louisburg. Operations in Canada. Frontenac captured. The French abandon Fort Du Quesne. Peace with the Ohio Indians. Success of the British arms in Canada. Capture of Quebec by General Wolfe. General character of the war in America. Policy and objects of the contending powers. General result of the contest. Washington's embassy to the Ohio. THE English colonies, originally planted on the seacoast, advanced westwardly, and their rights were supposed to extend in that direction, across the continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean. The French, possessing Canada in the north, and the mouth of the Mississippi in the south, and stretching their settlements from north to south, necessarily crossed those of the English, extending from east to west. These interfering claims gave to each a plausible title to the country ; and they were of vast importance, inasmuch as they had relation to all that delight ful region, which lies between the Allegany mountains and 42* K3 498 THE UNITED STATES. the Mississippi. Both, considering their respective rights as vindicated by the new law of nations, rushed into a fierce and bloody war, extending in its progress from the Ohio to the Ganges, for lands which belonged to neither, and which, in twenty years after the termination of hostilities, passed away, by com mon Consent, from both ; and' were vested in a new power, vhose national existence, by a mysterious Providence, grew out of their contention. This controversy about Ohio lands was by far the most impor tant which had ever taken place on the North American continent. The prize contended for was of immense value, and drew forth the energies of both nations. The white population of the Eng lish colonies was at that period about twenty for one of the French, but the latter was united under a single military governor, who could give an uniform direction to the physical force of the country, which was under his sole command. The government was military, and the people could be called into the field when ever their service was required. The French also had great influence over the Indians, and were uncommonly successful in securing their affections. The New England governments sometimes acted in concert; but the other English colonies were in the habit of pursuing different interests, under distinct legislatures, and being dispersed over a large extent of territory, were, for the most part, unused to military operations. Under these circumstances, two of the great est powers in the Old World entered into bloody competition for ascendency in the New. The collision of the exclusive claims of France and England in the same country, was accelerated in the following manner. About the year 1749, George II. made a grant of six hundred thousand acres of land in the neighborhood of the Ohio, to certain persons in Westminster, London, and Virginia, who had associated under the title of the Ohio Company. At this time France was in possession of the country on both sides of the mouth of the Mississippi, as well as of Canada, and wished to form a communication between these two extremities of her terri tories in North America. She was, therefore, alarmed at the scheme in agitation by the Ohio Company, inasmuch as the land granted to them lay between her northern and southern settle ments. Remonstrances against the British encroachments, as they were called, having been made in vain by the governor of Canada, the French at length seized some British subjects, who were trading among the Twightees, a nation of Indians near the Ohio, as intruders on the land of his most Christian majesty, and sent them to a fort on the south side of lake Erie. The T wig h tees, by way of retaliation for capturing British traders, whom they deemed their allies, seized three French traders and sent them t^ Pennsylvania. The French, persisting in their claims to the country on the Ohio, as part of Canada, strengthened themselves by erecting new forts in its vicinity, and at length began to seize and plunder the British traders found on or near that river. Repeated com plaints of these violences being made to the governor of Virginia, it was at length determined to send a suitable person to the French commandant near the Ohio, with a letter, to demand the reason of his hostile proceedings, and to insist on his evacuating a fort he had lately built. Major Washington, being then little more than twenty-one years of age, offered his service, which was accepted. The distance to the French settlements was more than four hundred miles ; and one half the route led through a wilder ness, inhabited only by Indians. He received his commission October 31, 1753, and commenced his journey, with seven attend ants. On the way his horses failed. He, nevertheless, proceeded on foot, with a gun in his hand, and a pack on his back. On the 12th of December, he found the French commandant at a fort on the river Le Boeuf, and tendered to him Governor Dinwiddie's letter of remonstrance. In a few days he received the commandant's answer, and on his return, delivered it to Governor Dinwiddie, at Williamsburg, about the middle of January, 1754. This answer was of such a nature as induced the Virginia assembly to raise a regiment, to support the claims of his Britannic majesty, ore* the territory in dispute. Of this, Mr. Fry was appointed colonel, and Washington lieutenant-colonel. The latter, in April, 1754, advanced with two companies of the regiment as far as the Great Meadows, and in this vicinity, came up with, and sur prised, in the night, a party of Frenchmen, who were advanc ing towards the English settlements. The commanding officer, Mr. Jumonville, was killed ; one person escaped ; and all thd rest surrendered. Shortly afterwards Colonel Fry died, and Washington became commander of the regiment. He collected the whole at Great Meadows, and was there joined by two inde pendent companies. With this force, he erected a small stockade fort, whicn was afterwards called Fort Necessity. A small gar rison was left there ; and Colonel Washington advanced with the main body to dislodge the French from Fort Du Quesne, which they had recently erected at the confluence of the Monongahela and Allegany rivers. On his way, he was informed by friendly Indians, that the French had strongly reinforced Fort Du Quesne 500 THE UNITED STATES. and were advancing in force towards the English settlements. A council of war recommended a retreat to the Great Meadows ; and to make a stand at a fort lately erected there. Shortly after they reached that place, and hefore they had time to fortify them selves, they were attacked by Monsieur de Villier, at the head of a considerable force. Colonel Washington made a brave defence, behind the small, unfinished work, called Fort Necessity ; but at length surrendered on articles of capitulation, by which it was agreed that the garrison should march out with the honors of war, and be permitted to retain their arms and baggage, and to march unmolested into the inhabited parts of Virginia. From the eagerness discovered by both nations for these lands, it occurred to all that a rupture between France and England could not be far distant. It was also evident to the rulers of the latter that the colonies would be the most convenient centre of operation for repressing French encroachments. To draw forth the colonial resources, in an uniform system of operations, became an object of public attention. To digest a plan for this purpose, a general meeting of the governors and most influential members of the provincial assemblies was held at Albany. The commis sioners at this congress were unanimously of opinion that an union of the colonies was necessary, and they proposed a plan to the following effect: "that a grand council should be formed of members to be chosen by the provincial assemblies, which coun cil, together with a governor, to be appointed by the crown, should be authorized to make general laws, and also to raise money from all the colonies for their common defence." The leading members of the provincial assemblies were of opinion that, if this plan were adopted, they could defend themselves from the French, without any assistance from Great Britain. This plan, when sent to England, was not acceptable to the ministry; and, in lieu thereof, they proposed that the governors of all the colonies, attended by one or two members of their respective councils, which were, for the most part of royal appointment, should, from time to time, concert measures for the whole colonies; erect forts, and raise troops, with a power to draw upon the British treasury in the first instance ; but to be ultimately reimbursed, by a tax to be laid on the colonies by act of parliament. This was as much disrelished by the coloni.-s as the former plan had been by the British ministers. The principle of some general power, oper ating on the w'lole of the colonies was still kept in mind, though dropped for tin- present The minist- il plan, laid down above, was transmitted to Governor Shirley; and b}^ him communicated to Dr. Franklin, EXPEDITION AND DEFEAT OF BRADDOCK. 501 arid his opinion thereon requested. That sagacious patriot sent to the governor an answer, in writing, with remarks upon the proposed pian, in which, by his strong reasoning powers, on the first view of the new subject, he anticipated the substance of a controversy which, for twenty years, employed the tongues, pens a nd swords of both countries. The policy of repressing the encroachments of the French on the British colonies was generally approved both in England and America. It was, therefore, resolved to take effectual measures for driving them from the Ohio, and also for reducing Niagara, Crown Point and the other posts, which they held within the limits claimed by the king of Great Britain. To effect the first purpose, General Braddock was sent from Ireland to Virginia, with two regiments ; and was there joined by so many more as amounted in the whole to twenty-two hundred men. He was a brave man, but destitute of the other qualifica tions of a great officer. His haughtiness disgusted the Americans, and his severity made him disagreeable to the regular troops. He particularly slighted the country militia and the Virginia officers. Colonel Washington, who acted as aide-de-camp to the general, begged his permission to go before him, and scour the woods with provincial troops, who were well acquainted with that service; but this was refused. The general, with twelve hundred men, pushed on incautiously, till he fell into an ambuscade of French and Indians, July 9th, 1755. An invisible enemy com menced a heavy and well-directed fire on his uncovered troops. The van fell back on the main body ; and the whole was thrown into disorder. Marksmen levelled their pieces particularly at officers and others on horseback. In a short time Washington was the only aide-de-camp left alive, and not wounded. He had two horses shot from under him ; and four bullets passed through his coat ; but he escaped unhurt, though every other officer on horse back was either killed or wounded. Providence preserved him for further and greater services. Throughout the whole of the carnage and confusion of this fatal day, Washington displayed the greatest coolness and the most perfect self-possession. Brad- dock was undismayed amid a shower of bullets; and, by his countenance and example, encouraged his men to stand their ground ; but valor was useless, and discipline only offered surer marks to the destructive aim of unseen marksmen. Unac quainted with the Indian mode of fighting, Braddock neither advanced upon nor retreated from the assailants ; but very inju diciously endeavored to form his broken troops on the ground where they were first attacked, and where they were exposed 502 THE UNITED STATES. uncovered, to the incessant galling fire of a sheltered enemy. The action lasted nearly three hours. In the course of it, the general had three horses shot under him, and finally received a mortal wound. The officers in the British regiments displayed the greatest bravery. Their whole number was eighty-five; and sixty-four of them were killed or wounded. The common soldiers were so disconcerted by the unusual mode of attack, that they broke their ranks and could not be rallied ; but the provincials, more used to the Indian modes of fighting, were not so much disconcerted. They continued in an unbroken body, under Colonel Washington, and covered the retreat of their associates. Notwithstanding these hostilities, war had not yet been formally declared. Previous to the adoption of that measure, Great Brit ain, contrary to the usage of nations, captured sundry French vessels, and made prisoners of eight thousand French sailors. This heavy blow for a long time crippled the naval operations of France ; but at the same time inspired her with a desire to retal iate, whenever a proper opportunity should present itself. The second object of the campaign of 1755, was the reduction of Niagara. This was attempted by General Shirley, with fifteen hundred men. Though great diligence was used on his part, yet he was not able to reach Oswego before the latter end of August. He proposed to embark about seven hundred of his troops on Lake Ontario, and to proceed against Niagara. But, while he was employed in his embarkation, a succession of heavy rains arrested his progress. The troops were discouraged, and his Indians dispersed. The season being too far advanced for the completion of the enterprise, it was relinquished. The general left seven hundred men in Oswego, and returned to Albany. The third expedition of this campaign was against Crown Point. This originated with Massachusetts, and was to be exe cuted by the colonial troops raised in New England and New York. The command was given to William Johnson, one of the council of New York. The delays which are inseparable from all undertakings depending on distinct and separate authorities, were now experienced to a great extent. The expedition -was not fully prepared to proceed till the last of August. Baron Dieskan, who commanded the French, did not wait for the arrival of Johnson, but. determined to attack him at the southern extrem ity of Lake George. Johnson detached ColoneNWilliams, with one thousand men, to skirmish with the approaching enemy. They met and immediately engaged ; Williams fell, and his party fled. A second detachment, ordered to their aid, experienced the same fate; and both were closely pursued by the French, till EXPEDITIONS AGAINST THE FRENCH COLONIES. 503 they rejoined the main body, which was a few miles in the rear, and posted behind fallen trees. The French halted. The Amer icans, recovering from their first alarm, played two pieces of artillery, with great effect, on the assailants. These now, in their turn, retreated and were briskly pursued. Dieskau, being mor tally wounded, became a prisoner. This repulse was magnified into a victory, and seemed to remove the depression occasioned by the defeat of General Braddock. William Johnson was rewarded by the English House of Commons, with 5000 ster ling ; and the title of baronet was conferred on him by the king of Great Britain. Thus ended the campaign of 1755. The expeditions against Fort Du Q,uesne and Niagara entirely failed. Though an advan tage had been gained over the French commanded by Dieskau, no impression was made on Crown Point, the reduction of which was one of the principal objects of the campaign. These failures seemed to arise from the want of a general superintending will, to harmonize the operations of the different colonies, and to direct them, with effect and expedition, to the point on which they were to act. From the want of it, the movements of the forces were, in every season, too late for effective service. In the meantime, the frontier settlers, for several hundred miles, were exposed to the ravages of the Indians; for the French maintained a complete ascendency over them. By their bloody incursions, whole settle ments were frequently broken up and abandoned. The plan for the campaign of 1756, was as extensive as that of 1755. This was agreed upon in a grand council of war, held by General Shirley, commander-in-chief of the British forces in America, and the governors of Connecticut, New York, Penn sylvania, and Maryland. The reduction of Crown Point and Niagara, with the other posts on Lake Ontario, and of Fort Du duesne, on the Ohio, were the objects of this campaign. It was resolved to raise nineteen thousand men in America. But this so far exceeded what had ever been done by the colonists, that unavoidable delays took place before a sufficient number could be recruited. The service was further and materially injured, by a regulation which required that, in every case, pro vincial officers should be under British officers, when they acted together. While they were adjusting their respective claims to rank, and deliberating whether to attack Niagara or Fort Du Q,uesne, Montcalm, an able an experienced officer, who suc ceeded Dieskau in the command of the French troops in Canada, advanced at the head of five thousand Europeans, Canadians and Indians, and invested Oswego. His operations were conducted 504 THE UNITED STATES. with such address and ability, that the garrison, consisting of six teen hundred men, supplied with provisions for five months, was speedily compelled to surrender. This so disconcerted the plan of offensive operations agreed upon, that everything of that kind was given up, and the whole attention of the British general was directed to security against further losses. The colonies were iirged to send on reinforcements to their army, by representations that the enemy would have it in their power to overrun the coun try, unless a superior force was immediately brought forward to oppose them. While their fears were alarmed with this serious view of their danger, another object of terror was presented. The small-pox broke out in Albany. To a people who had never been the subjects of that disorder, it appeared as a most formidable evil, from which they could not secure themselves otherwise than by flight. The sanguine hopes of the colonists of a successful campaign, again terminated in disappointment. Much labor had been employed in collecting and transporting troops, provisions and military stores, for decisive operations ; and yet nothing had been accomplished. No one enterprise contem plated at the commencement of the campaign, had been carried into effect. Notwithstanding all these discouragements, great exertions were made for the opening campaign of 1757, with a force that might insure success. Lord Loudon, the commander-in-chief of the British forces, applied for four thousand men from New England, which were readily granted. A large fleet and army arrived from Europe, to aid in prosecuting the war with vigor. From a junction of these formidable armaments, the colonists confidently expected the speedy downfall of the power of France in America. Instead of attempting a variety of objects as before, it was pro posed to strike at a single one in the campaign- of 1757. This was the reduction of Louisburg, on the island of Cape Breton. After an expedition for this purpose was in great forwardness, intelligence was received, that a fleet had lately arrived from Brest, and that Louisburg was garrisoned by an army of six thousand regular troops, and defended by seventeen line-of-battle ships. As no hope of success against this formidable force could be entertained, the*- proposed expedition was abandoned, and the British general and admiral returned to New York." While they relinquished all ideas of offensive operations, the French general took them up. Feeling himself secure with respect to Louisburg, he determined to gain complete possession of Lake George. With an army of nine thousand men, collected at Crown Point, Ticon- EXPEDITIONS AGAINST THE FRENCH COLONIES. 505 deroga, the adjacent French posts, and from the Canadians and Indians, he laid siege to Fort William Henry, which was in good condition, and garrisoned by three thousand men. The French commander urged his approaches with such vigor, that Colonel Munroe, in six days, surrendered the fort on articles of capitula tion. Thus ended the campaign of 1757. The affairs of Britain and British America were in a very alarming situation. Three campaigns had produced nothing but expense and disappoint ment. The French had the command of the lakes, a complete ascendency over the Indians, and were in possession of the country about which the war had commenced. With an inferior force, they had been successful in every campaign. This was not only the case in America, but in Europe and Asia. Wherever hostilities had been carried on, the British arms had failed of success. Gloomy apprehensions respecting the destiny of the British colonies were common. That Britain would fail in estab lishing her claim to the western country connected with the waters of the Mississippi, was feared by many good citizens. It was at the same time believed by several, that the French would connect Canada with Louisiana ; and so form a bow, of which the British colonies would be no more than the string. These apprehensions were soon done away. The campaigns of 1758, 1759 and 1760, assumed a new aspect. Victory everywhere crowned the British arms ; and in a short time the French were dispossessed not only of the territories in dispute between the two countries, but of Quebec, and of their ancient province, Canada, of which they had been in possession before the establishment of the first British province on the continent of North America. This change took place under the vigorous administration of William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, who, in this crisis, was called to the helm of Great Britain. His plans for carrying on the war were gigantic, and never crippled for want of means. Possessing the public confidence, he commanded the resources of the nation. Employing merit, wherever found, he brought into public service the first talents in the country. In a circular letter to the Ameri can governors, he assured them that a formidable force would be sent to operate against the French in America; and he called on them to raise as large bodies of men as their numbers and resources would allow. The legislature of Massachusetts voted seven thousand men, Connecticut five thousand, and New Hampshire three thousand. These were ready to take the field early in May. The Earl ef London, now commander-in-chief of the British forces, found 43 L3 606 THE UNITED STATES. himself at the head of the most powerful army ever seen in North America. No delays interposed to defeat the objects of the campaign. The winters were regularly devoted to necessary preparations, and for taking the field as soon as the season would permit. Three expeditions were proposed, the first, against Louisburg; the second, against Ticonderoga, and Crown Point; the third against Fort Du Quesne. Fourteen thousand men, twenty ships of the line, and eighteen frigates, were assigned to the expe dition against Louisburg. This formidable armament arrived before Louisburg on the 2d of June, and proceeded with such vigor, as to compel the surrender of the place in less than eight weeks. The expedition against Ticonderoga and Crown Point was not successful. The force ordered on this service con sisted of about, sixteen thousand men. These embarked on Lake George, in one hundred and twenty-five whale-boats and nine hundred batteaux. After they had debarked on the west side of the lake, they marched towards the advanced guards of the French, and on their march a skirmish took place with the enemy. At the first fire Lord Howe was killed. General Abercrombie proceeded, and took possession of a fort near Ticonderoga. Under the impression of false intelligence, an assault was resolved upon, and took place on the 8th of July; but the French were so well covered by abbatis. and a breastwork eight feet high, that the British troops could not carry the works. After a contest of four hours, and the loss of one thousand eight hundred of the assail ants, a retreat was ordered. Abercrombie relinquished for the present all designs against Ticonderoga; but detached Colonel Bradstreet, with three thousand men, eight pieces of cannon, and three mortars, against Fort Frontenac, a fortress on the north side of Lake Ontario. Bradstreet commenced operations against the fort in the latter end of August, and in a few days received the unconditional surrender of the garrison, consisting of one hundred and ten men. The expedition against Fort Du Quesne, was committed to General Forbes, at the head of eight thousand men. Upon their arrival at the fort, they found it abandoned. The garrison had recently escaped in boats down the Ohio. To the fort, hence forward, was given the name of Pittsburg, in compliment to Mr. Pitt, who, with s'e much reputation, directed the affairs of Great Britain. The Indians came in and made their sublnission to the conquerors. Treaties were concluded with them, which gave peace to the frontier settlements of Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. Two of the three objects of the campaign of 1758, having been CAPTURE OF QUEBEC. accomplished; the entire conquest of Canada was proposed as the object to be pursued the next year. To accomplish this great undertaking, it was agreed that three powerful armies should enter Canada by different routes, and attack, at the same time, all the strong-holds in that country. At the head of one division General Wolfe was to ascend the St. Lawrence, and, with the cooperation of a fleet, lay siege to Quebec. The main army was destined, in the first instance, against Ticonderoga and Crown Point ; and after the reduction of these places, to proceed to the St Lawrence, and, descending the river, to join General Wolfe, betore Quebec. The third army was to be conducted by General Prideaux, in the first instance against Niagara; and after the reduction of that place, to embark on Lake Ontario, and proceed down the St. Lawrence against Montreal, and afterwards to Quebec. General Amherst advanced with the main army to lay siege to Ticonderoga and Crown Point; but on his approach both places were abandoned, and their garrisons retired to Isle aux Noix. Amherst made great exertions to obtain a naval supe riority on the lake, that he might be enabled to attack the French, who had a considerable marine force at its northern extremity; but after gaining a partial advantage, by destroying two vessels of the enemy, he was obliged, by storms and the advanced season of the year, to return to Crown Point, and put his troops in winter quarters. General Prideaux advanced towards Niagara, and, having effected a landing about three miles from the fort, he proceeded to invest the place by regular approaches. In the prosecution of the siege, he was killed, and the command devolved on Sir William Johnson. A party of French came from Detroit and Venango, to the relief of the garrison; but they were defeated, and the garrison, consisting of six hundred men, surren dered during the last week in July. Though the armies, led by Amherst and Prideaux against Ticonderoga, Crown Point and Niagara, had succeeded, yet their success was neither so com plete, nor so early in the season, as to enable them to fulfil the ulterior objects of the campaign, by an efficient cooperation with General Wolfe, to whom had been assigned the hazardous and difficult operation of a direct attack on Quebec. Wolfe was completely successful in this important enterprise. Quebec sur rendered on the 13th of September, and the whole of Canada became subject to the British crown. Till the year 1758, or rather 1759, it seemed doubtful whether France or England would gain the ascendency in the New World: and, in particular, whether the British would riot be confined to a narrow slip of land on the shores of the Atlantic. 508 THE UNITED STATES. The superior population and wealth of the English colonies, and the immense superiority of the British navy over that of France, and particularly the energy of Pitt's administration, turned the scales in favor of England. Great joy was diffused throughout the British dominions ; but in no place was it felt in a higher degree, or with greater reason, than in America. For one hundred and fifty years France and England had been contending for American territory, and for the last half of that period almost incessantly. Neither knew the precise extent of their boundaries, but both were willing to enlarge them. They possessed much, but coveted more. Neither were backward to make encroach ments on the other ; and both were prompted to repel them when made, or supposed to be made, on themselves. Throughout this period, especially the last half of it, in addition to the unavoida ble calamities of war, indiscriminate massacres had been frequently and extensively committed on numerous settlers, dispersed over many hundred miles of exposed frontier; it has been supposed that the British lost, in this way, not less than twenty thousand inhabitants. War assumed a most terrific aspect among the colonists. Not confined to men in arms, as is common in Europe, aged persons, women and children, were frequently its victims. The tomahawk and scalping-knives, carried to the firesides of peaceable, helpless families, were applied promiscuously to every age and sex. It was hoped that the reduction of Canada would close these horrid scenes forever, with respect to the northern and middle colonies. As the Indians could in future derive supplies from none but the English, and as they could no longer be exposed to the seduction of French influence, it was confidently expected that they would desist from their depredations, and leave the colonists to pursue their own happiness. This was in a great measure the case, after the peace of Paris, in 1763. At the end of that period, a new war, on new principles, commenced, in which the same ground was fought over, and the same points con tended foi y by new parties. The Indians were again called in as auxiliaries, and encouraged to the same scenes of devastation and murder, from which the colonists had fondly hoped that the con quest of Canada had forever delivered them. The origin of this revolution is the next subject of inquiry. Before we enter upon it, a few reflections may be properly indulged. One hundred and fifty-six years had passed away- between the first permanent British establishment in North America, and the conquest of Canada. In a considerable portion of that period, the three greatest naval powers of Europe, England, France and Spain, had been incessantly contending for the same American STATE OF THE COLONIES. 509 territory. The boundaries of the colonies, which now form the United States, were subjects of controversy on every side, except where nature's highway, the ocean, precluded all ideas of appro priation. Ignorance of American geography laid the foundation for disputes respecting the boundaries of adjoining provinces, though granted by the same sovereign, and still more so respect ing the extent of territory claimed by different nations. The former might be adjusted in civil courts; but the latter, where there was no common umpire, to whom an appeal could be made, were generally referred to the sword. For seventy years, wars had succeeded wars, without settling arfy points in controversy. At length, a great and decisive effort took place, in which a com plete trial of strength was made by the naval powers. In this, the law of war decided differently from the new law of nations, in favor of prior occupants ; the sword settled all claims of territory, in such a manner, that the English, who were the last occupiers of a part, became the sole possessors of almost the whole North American continent, to the exclusion of their vanquished rivals, who had a prior possession in its northern and southern extremi ties. 43* CHAPTER LIV. Origin of the troubles which led to the American revolution.- -Assumption of the power of exclusive legislation by the British Parliament. Financial embarrass' ments of Britain. Schemes for raising a revenue in America. Restrictions imposed on the trade of the Colonies. Discontent of the colonists. Embarrass ments caused by the oppressive and impolitic measures of the ministry .The Stamp Act passed. Indignation and resolute opposition of the colonists THE troubles which led to the American Revolution proceeded from two general causes ; an excessive desire of dominion in the British government, and a jealousy, in the colonists, of ministerial designs against their rights and liberties. It cannot be disputed that the legislature in Great Britain, as well as the executive power, by divers acts of parliament, which had all the appearance of selfishness and tyranny,' gave, at an early period, sufficient ground of jealousy to the colonies. On the pretence of expenses incurred for the defence of America, the British government claimed a right of internal taxation, unknown to the English con stitution ; and proceeded to frame new laws, which declared that the sole right of legislation was vested in the parliament of Eng land. In this case, the subjects of the British empire in the western part of the world were considered not as citizens, but as vassals, under absolute authority to a legislature, in which they had none to represent them. The recent war with France and Spain had added an enormous weight of debt to the national burdens, and the peace that was but lately concluded, had given England an addition of territory, without making her in reality any richer. As soon as peace gave the nation time to reflect, it was found that the flattering ideas of conquest could not remove the uneasy feelings which the pressure of so many millions of debt had occasioned. It was expected that the debts would have been lessened, the taxes reduced, and the burdens lightened ; but the hot fever of war had so weakened the whole frame of the constitution, thaf the nation, soon after the peace, appeared, as it were, in the second stage of a consumption. The -conductors of the last war, who had prosecuted it upon the plan which the elder Pitt had bequeathed to their hands, were obliged ignomini- ously to drop it, for want of capacity to carry it on. They ratified a peace, as inglorious as the war had been successful. RESTRICTIONS ON THE TRADE OF THE COLONIES. 611 Though an indifferent peace is preferable to even a successful state of war, yet, when a nation is laden with a burden of enor mous debt, contracted for its own defence, wisdom and political prudence will certainly vindicate them in making their enemies, when in their power, pay as much as possible of the debt. The negotiators of the peace were considered by the bulk of the natives, a set of adventurers, who, when they were sensible of their incapacity to carry on the war, were determined to conclude a peace, with as much profit to their own private interest as possible. The government, since the conclusion of the peace, had been projecting schemes for raising a revenue ; but as the number of pensioners was not reduced, and enormous sums were paid to sine cures, all the methods that had as yet been devised, were found ineffectual to answer the intentions of the ministry. They began, at last, to turn their attention to a new subject, which, in conclu sion, brought on disorders in the empire, and at last issued in a civil war, and the revolt of the thirteen colonies. As the merchants in Great Britain had been enriched by their traffic in America, and government had for many years received a large revenue from the trade of that country, the ministers began to imagine that there was an inexhaustible fund of wealth in the colonies to answer their present purposes. Without examining strictly into the consequences which might follow a too precipitate determination in a matter so new and so delicate, they decided at once to raise a new revenue in the American colonies. Their first movement was to prohibit the Americans from exporting their superfluous commodities to the Spanish and French colonies. This trade, which had been formerly winked at, though not strictly agreeable to the British laws of navigation, was of great advantage both to the colonies and the mother coun try. Those articles which would have been as lumber upon the hands of the colonists, and could not have been useful to Great Britain, were sold to the Spaniards and French for ready money, or bartered for valuable commodities, for which there was always a demand in Europe. This enabled the colonies to pay their bills in specie to the merchants at home, or to afford them such merchandise as was equivalent to ready money. What were the secret springs of action which moved the British .egislature to prefer this impolitic statute, is not easy to perceive, unless, by listening to the reports of the British West India merchants, who might conceive that it would enable the French and Spaniards to Undersell them in foreign markets, and of consequence reduce their profits, they were seduced to give way to their solicitations. 512 THE UNITED STATES. In time of war this trade had been carried on by flags of truce between Great Britain and France, as a public benefit to both, till the French West India Islands being shut up by the British fleets, it was conceived that France had more advantage by it than England, and for that reason it was restrained as a treason able practice. But this last reason of restraint had no existence after the peace was concluded. Unreasonable as this law may appear to be, the method of putting it into execution was still more absurd and oppressive. A number of armed cutters were fitted out and stationed upon the coasts of America, to prevent this supposed contraband trade, the captains of which Were to act in the character of revenue officers, and to determine what ships were Hable to the penalties of this act. The greatest part of these new naval revenue officers were utter strangers to the nature of their employment. They fre quently detained ships, which came not within the description of the act; and by these unnecessary detentions, they interrupted trade, without bringing anything into the treasury. When, through their ignorance or insolence, a lawful trader was injured, it was not easy to obtain redress ; the offenders lived upon an element where justice and law have often little influence ; and when they came ashore, it was in bodies too numerous to be called to an account by the civil authority, or in places where their actions were not cognizable by the Taw. None but the lords of the admiralty, or of the treasury, in England, could remove this grievance ; but considering the distance of place, and the manner of application, the whole trade might have been ruined before redress could have been obtained. This was a grievance which the American subjects felt severely. The many unjust acts of violence that followed, tended very much to irritate the minds of both parties, and when they rep resented their cases, it was frequently with great acrimony and aggravation. The English parliament might have easily foreseen these consequences, had they not been infatuated with the hope of raising a large revenue from the Americans. The majority in the House of Commons, but especially the ministry, were yet smarting sore under the blows they had received from the North Briton, and other political pasquinades. A secretary of state had been also, the year before, fined in a court of justice, in a penalty of a thousand pounds, for issuing a legal warrant; and considering the poverty of the exchequer, every similar touch increased the painful feelings of the ministry. They seemed in a state of distraction when they passed this law of restraint upon the trade of America, and it had more the appearance of an act IMPOLITIC MEASURES OF THE BRITISH MINISTRY. 613 of political fury than the marks of judicious legislation. It could answer no other purpose than to assert the dominion of parliament over America, and to irritate the colonies against the mother country. Ever since the ministry of Mr. Pitt, the nation had been in a state of confusion, with regard to political senti ments, and the opposition in parliament against the prime rninistei; Lord Bute, was echoed throughout all England. George Grenville. In 1763, Lord Bute resigned his office as first lord of the treas ury, and was succeeded by Mr. Grenville ; but the factions continued, and, during this new ministry, political animosity came to a great height. It was at this time that the American colonies began to feel the oppressive hand of the mother country. She had not only prevented the Americans from procuring the neces saries of life with the superfluities of their own country, but obliged them to make payment in specie, to the exchequer in England, for the duty on such goods as they were allowed to barter. This was an effectual method of draining money from the colonies, and leaving them nothing for circulation. Wl at was still more oppressive, two weeks after the bill now mentioned was passed, another was proposed, to hinder the distressed colonies from supplying the demand of money for their internal necessities with paper bills of credit, by declaring that no such bills should be a legal tender for payment. This was an exertion of authority beyond all bounds of justice; for it was impossible that the M3 514 THE UNITED STATES. Americans, without trade, money or paper credit, could pay any thing at all. The laws that were at this time made in behalf of the colonies were trifling in their influence, compared with the restraints that were laid upon their trade by the other statutes. The effects of the former were slow and progressive, but those of the latter instantaneous. This was a partiality in the legislature, sufficient to create a belief in the minds of the colonists that the parliament of Britain considered them not as fellow-subjects, but as inferior vassals, not to be regarded in the same manner as the subjects of the mother country. In 1765, a bill was brought into parliament, for laying a stamp duty and other taxes upon the colonies in America. Some of these duties were exceedingly exorbitant. The transactions in parliament were not so secretly carried on, but information of them reached America before the new laws were ready to be put in execution. After the stamp act was read in parliament the first time, a petition was offered to the commons, by Edward Montague, in behalf of the province of Virginia, praying that their House of Burgesses might be continued in the rights and privileges they had so long enjoyed ; and that they might be heard by their council against a bill that might be intended to impose stamp duties on the colony of Virginia. A petition was also presented by the colony of Connecticut, against the stamp act, and praying that the colony might be indulged in the exercise of the power of levying all their internal taxes. Upon a division, it was carried by two hundred and forty-five against forty-nine, that the petitions should not be heard, and the stamp act, after going through all the regular forms, was passed, and received the royal sanction, March 22, 1765. It must be acknowledged, to the honor of the British Parliament, that this bill did not pass without opposition ; the friends of lib erty and of the constitution opposed it in all its stages, and offered such arguments against it as their opponents were not able to answer. The jurisdiction of parliament over the colonies was combatted with arguments which every sober person, under the influence of truth, must confess in his heart to be forcible and conclusive. While the ministry and parliament were deliberating concern- ing the methods to give effect to the stamp act, the leaders among the American colonies had time to kindle a flame in the tempers of the people against it, that neither the art nor power of the king's ministers were afterwards able to quench. Wherever the news of this impolitic and oppressive law reached, it spread THE STAMP ACT. 515 discontent like a conflagration. The ministry were unfortunate in the beginning of this scheme, and unsuccessful in the conclu sion of it. The news of the stamp act came first to New Eng land, a colony the most tenacious of their liberty, and jealous to the last degree of every appearance of despotism. The people of this colony considered themselves as the offspring of progenitors, who had suffered both severely and unjustly at the hands of the mother country, and who had asserted their natural rights and privileges at the risk of their lives and the expense of much blood. They had not forgotten how their fathers had, for the sake of civil and religious liberty, fled to a wilderness, which they had now converted into a fruitful field, from an intolerable spirit ual persecution, which could not be borne ; and they were not disposed to surrender the fruits of their own labor, and that of their ancestors, to the children of those who had banished their fathers from their native country. When the news that the stamp act had received the royal sig nature reached New England, the melancholy that had taken possession of their minds before, broke out into fury and outrage. The ships in the harbors hung out their colors half-mast high, the bells were tolled, the act was printed with a death's head to it, in the place where it is customary to affix the new acts of parlia ment, and cried publicly about the streets, by the name of the "Folly of England, and the Ruin of America" Essays were written against the justice of this law in newspapers. One in particular, the Constitutional Courant, " printed by Andrew Marvel, at the sign of the Bribe Refused, on Constitutional Hill, North America," had a more significant frontispiece than any of the rest. It bore a snake cut in pieces, with the initial name* of the several colonies, from New England to South Carolina, inclusively, to each piece, and above them the words, "JOIN, OR DIE." To these were added several sententious aphorisms, suited to the occasion, which were easily circulated and as easily committed to memory ; and being exceedingly pungent, they had all the force of arguments. There were two things exceedingly grievous in this act to the colonies. The first was that the persons who acted under the law had it in their power to bring an action in court, the cause of which had arisen at one extremity of North America, to the other extremity, at the distance of nearly two thousand miles, without the defendant being entitled to recover damages, although the judge should certify that there was no reasonable causa for the prosecution. The second was, the judge had an interest in giving a sentence in favor of the party suing for the penalties of the act; 516 THE UNITED STATES. he being allowed for commission a very large share in these pen alties. This was injustice, such as the most abject slaves could not easily endure without murmuring. Tn many places the stamp act was publicly burnt, together with the effigies of the chief pro moters of the scheme. On the other hand, the Americans applauded, with eulogiums of the highest strain, the members of parliament who had opposed this obnoxious bill. In several of their meet ings, they voted thanks to General Con way and Colonel Barre, two gentlemen who had defended their cause in the British House of Commons. Colonel Barre. The ministry were now much embarrassed how to carry the stamp act into execution; for when the tidings of this discontent in America arrived in England, there were but few shipmasters found who were willing to take on board such an unpopular cargo as the stamped paper. Those who had the courage to carry any of these tickets of taxation to America, were made sadly to repent when they arrived at their destined port; where, to save their vessels from fire, they were forced to deliver up their exe crated cargoes into the hands of the enraged populace. Others were obliged to shelter themselves under cover of the king's ships. The rich harvest of revenue that was expected to be reaped by English tax-gatherers, was by this storm soon blasted, and the stamp officers, who came from England with conmissions to act as distributors, were made to repent very severely having engaged in such an enterprise. Many of them were compelled to renounce, PATRICK HENRY. 517 in the most public manner and upon oath, all manner of concern in the business; and others hurried back to England; while some, of a more froward disposition, persisting strenuously in putting the act in execution, were treated by the people as enemies of their country. Such was the rage of the multitude, that some persons, who had been appointed, without their consent, to super intend the distribution of the stamped paper, were treated in the same manner. The legislatures of the several colonies proceeded still further. Instead of merely winking at the opposition of the people, they began to encourage it, and in express terms affirmed that the British legislature had no right to tax them. It was granted that the colonists were subjects of the empire ; but they contended for the right to make their own laws, as well as the subjects at home, and that none but themselves had a right to give away their property. They came, at last, to a resolution to petition the par liament against the stamp act; but at the same time that they asked this favor, they did not acknowledge that they were dependent upon the parliament of Britain. This was considered as only asking a favor of equals, without making the submission Patrick Henry. the parliament required, which rendered their petition offensive to the majority of that body. In the House of Burgesses of Vir ginia, resolutions against the stamp act were introduced by Pat rick Henry, who, on this occasion, uttered the bold exclamation, 44 518 THE UNITED STATES. ' { Caesar had his Brutus, Charles I. his Cromwell, and George the Third," which was interrupted by the cry of " Treason ! Trea son!" from all parts of the house, and which he completed by adding, in the firmest and most emphatic tone '-''may profit by their example. If this be treason, make the most of it !" In the meanwhile, the colonists formed associations and ap pointed committees for the sake of a general correspondence, in managing the common affairs of the whole body. From these committees, deputies were appointed to meet in Congress at New York ; and what- showed the unanimity of their sentiments in this general cause, and that they were all of one mind, is, that when the deputies met, they were so well agreed, that they had little more to do than to congratulate one another, and set their hands to one general declaration of their rights, and the griev ances they labored under ; and to draw up a petition expressing a sense of these grievances to the king, lords, and commons of Great Britain. Before the first of November, 1765, when the act was to take effect, there was not a sheet of stamped paper to be had through out New England, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland, or the two Carolinas, except a parcel at New York, which the government, through fear, was obliged to surrender to the corporation of the city, upon condition that they would not destroy it. Thus all business that could not be carried on without stamps, was brought to a stand, except the publication of newspapers, which the printers had the courage to publish without stamps. But in Canada, where the newspapers were stamped, the printers were in a worse situation, for few or none would buy a newspaper, on account of its being stamped, and the whole lay upon their hands. The courts of justice were now shut up, as well as the custom-houses. But the Americans were not slow in projecting schemes against the stamp act. The merchants throughout all the colonies en tered into the most solemn engagements to order no more goods from Great Britain, whatever should be the consequence, and to recall the orders they had already given, if not executed before the first of January, 1766. They resolved, further, not even to dis pose of any British goods sent them upon commission, that were not shipped before that day ; or if they consented to any relaxa tion from these engagements, it was not to take place till the stamp act, sugar act, and paper money acts were repealed. The people of Philadelphia, also, resolved that, till such a repeal should happen, no lawyer should commence any suit for a de mand for money, owing by a resident in America, however OPPOSITION TO THE STAMP ACT. 519 indebted in England, or make any remittances thither. This resolution was adopted by the shopkeepers, who unanimously agreed not to buy any more English goods shipped contrary to these resolutions. Ages to come will be amazed, that separate governments, and so many colonies distinct from each other, should have united so speedily in one interest, notwithstanding the influence of government agents among them, who endeavoied to frustrate all their designs. James II. Queen Anne. George I. George IV. CHAPTER LV. Repeal of the Stamp Act. New laws passed for taxing the colonies. Thetr failure of success. Early efforts of the colonists for the promotion of domestic manu factures. British troops quartered upon the Americans. Opposition of the legislature of New lfork. Dissensions between the legislature of Massachusetts and the Governor. Seizure of the sloop Liberty at Boston. Troubles at that place. British troops ordered to Boston. Consternation of the inhabitants. General convention of the people of Massachusetts. Arrival of the troops at Boston. Proceedings of the British ministry and parliament. Troubles occa sioned by the troops. The Boston Massacre. THE British ministry were at length convinced of the impos sibility of enforcing the stamp act, and it was repealed by Parliament, March 8, 1766. But the satisfaction which this measure gave the colonists, did not remove their apprehensions concerning the designs of the ministry. New laws were passed, in 1767, for the purpose of raising a revenue in the colonies, by duties on the importation of glass and paper, and other commod ities from Great Britain. It appears somewhat surprising, after the recent example of the mischiefs that attended the stamp act, and the consequent repeal of it from a knowledge of those evils, that a measure of a like tendency should have been so speedily adopted, before the chagrin, on account of the former irritation, was worn off the minds of the colonists. Much the same argu ments were used in defence of those measures, that were made in support of the stamp act. These laws met with the same fate that attended the stamp act. The first visible instance of opposition shown to them, hap pened at Boston, October 27th, 1767, when the inhabitants, at a general meeting, agreed to several resolutions for the encourage ment of manufactures, promoting frugality and economy, and for lessening and restraining the use of all superfluities. These resolutions, which were all, in the first instance, prejudicial to the commerce of Great Britain, contained an enumeration of articles which it was determined not to use at all, or in as low a degree as possible. At the same time, a subscription was opened, and a committee appointed for the encouragement of their old manufac tures, and the establishment of new ones. Among these, it was agreed to give particular encouragement to the making of paper and glass, and the other taxed commodities. It was also resolved OFFENSIVE ACTS OF THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT. 521 to restrain the expenses of funerals, and to reduce dress to a degree of primitive simplicity and plainness, and, in general, not to purchase from the mother country anything which could be procured in America. These resolutions were adopted, or similar ones agreed upon, by nearly all the old colonies of the continent The British ministry might, by this time, have perceived that a people of such Spartan spirit were not to be easily frightened into compliance with arbitrary acts of a legislature, where they had none to represent them. A people that have so much public virtue as to become unfashionable for the sake of preserving their political rights, and can restrain their appetites and passions, for the sake of their country, are not easily to be enslaved. What had lately irritated both parties in this dispute, was the law quartering troops on the Americans. It had been ordered, by an act of parliament in the last session, that the people of New York should provide for the king's troops, according to a method expressed in the act ; but the assembly of that province, instead of complying, pursued a measure of their own in disposing of the soldiers. This was so offensive to the ministry, that they retorted with a new law, whereby the governor, council and assembly of New York were prohibited from passing any act of assembly whatever, till they had complied with the terms of the above act of parliament in every particular. This was designed as a lesson to the other colonies, to teach them more reverence to the acts of the British legislature ; but it did not produce the intended effect; for the colonists, who had begun to question the right of the par liament to make laws for them, were not disposed to obey a statute that was specially designed to inform them that they were in a state of vassalage. By these measures, the leading actors on both sides grew more and more heated in their animosities, and scarcely could restrain themselves within the bounds of decency and temper. The spirits of the colonies were now agitated to a high degree of enthusiasm, and they considered almost every new act of parlia ment as a fresh attack upon their freedom, and an insult to their understanding. Upon the llth February, 1768, the general court of Massachusetts sent a circular, signed by their speaker to all the other colonies in North America. The design of this was to show the dangerous tendency of the late acts of parliament, to repre sent them as unconstitutional, and to propose a common union among the colonies in the pursuit of all legal measures to prevent their effects, and to obtain a repeal of them. At this period, and for some years before, the legislature of Massachusetts and the governor had differed in their opinions upon almost every subject 44* N3 522 THE UNITED STATES. that came before them. These altercations were carried on with great asperity on both sides, and both parties seemed more atten tive to keenness of expression and severity of reply, than to strict propriety of conduct. Governor Bernard was considered by the people of Massachusetts as a person who was looking up to the sovereign for a new dignity, and for that reason was more careful to please the ministry, than to study the real advantage of the colony. He had shown an imperious stiffness in his behavior, which did not suit the temper of the sons of the pilgrims. His answers to their petitions and requests were formal, arbitrary, and wilfully disobliging; and instead of endeavoring to mollify the tempers of the legislature, already overheated, he added fuel to the flame, by talking of prerogative, and the determination of the sovereign to support his dignity. It was strongly suspected that the counsels of the king depended much upon the representa tion that the governor had given of the colonies, and that the ministerial vengeance proceeded, in a great measure, from those overcharged accounts of the temper of the people, represented in his letters to the ministers of state. A letter, which the governor received from the Earl of Shel- burne, one of the principal secretaries of state, and which con tained some severe strictures on the behavior of the colonies, was, by the order of the governor, and according to its original design, read in the legislature of Massachusetts. This produced violent debates in the assembly. A committee was appointed to wait upon the governor, and request a copy of Lord Shelburne's letter, and of those he had written himself, concerning the affairs of Massachusetts. These copies being refused, the assembly de spatched a letter to the secretary of state, vindicating themselves at the expense of the governor, whom they charged with misrep resenting them. They also wrote letters to the lords of the treasury, and several other officers of state, wherein they remon*- strated against the late acts of parliament, as contrary to the constitution, and totally subversive of their rights and liberties. So firm an opposition was by no means agreeable to the Jemper of the governor, who probably had given assurances to the secretaries of state, that a sharp rebuke from England would make the colonists return to their obedience. The circular letters that had been written by the secretary of state to the other colonies, were attended with as little success as that which was sent to Boston. The assemblies of the other colonies wrote answers to that of Massachusetts, in which they expressed the warmest approbation of their conduct, and a firm resolution to concur in their measures. Some of the colonies, SEIZURE OF THE SLOOP LIBERTY. also, addressed the secretary of state, and justified the measures taken by the assembly at Boston, and also animadverted with great freedom upon several passages in the requisition contained in his letter. On the 10th of June, 1768, just before the dissolution of the Massachusetts legislature, a great tumult happened at Boston. The board of customs had made a seizure of the sloop Liberty, belonging to John Hancock, one of the principal merchants. The sloop had discharged a cargo of wine, and in part reloaded with oil, without any precise attention being paid to the new laws, or to the custom-house regulations. Upon the seizure being effected the custom-house officers made a signal to the Romney man-of- war, and her boats were sent manned and armed, who cut away the mast of the sloop, and conveyed her alongside the Romney. The people assembled in great multitudes, pelted the commission ers with stones, and broke one of their swords, after which, they attacked their houses, broke the windows, dragged the collector's boat to the common, and burnt it to ashes. The officers of the customs, upon this outrage, took shelter aboard the man-of-war, from whence they removed to Castle William. This transaction occasioned several town meetings, in which a remonstrance was presented to the governor, wherein the people demanded that he should issue an order for the departure of the ship of war out of the harbor. The people were now greatly irritated; they per ceived that the new laws would be enforced by every exertion of the ministry. While matters were in this threatening situation, two regiments of troops were ordered from Ireland, and some detachments from Halifax, to support the royal government at Boston. This threw the whole town into consternation, and raised great commotions; it was considered in the light of an invasion, and animadverted upon in the severest terms. A meeting of the inhabitants was called at Fanueil Hall. They chose one of their late popular representatives as moderator. They then appointed a committee to wait on the governor, to know what reasons he had for the intimations he had given, that the king's troops were expected in that town, and to present a petition desiring that he would issue precepts to convene and assemble the legislature with the greatest speed. The governor answered that his information was of a private nature, and that he could do nothing as to the calling of another assembly for the present year, until he received the king's instructions A committee was also appointed, to consider the present state of affairs, which gave, in their report, a long declar ation and recital of their rights, and the violation of them which 524 THE UNITED STATES. they conceived had been lately made ; and offered several resolu tions, with respect to the legality of raising or keeping up a standing army among them. This report and the resolutions were unanimously agreed to by the assembly. Upon this, a con vention was called to assemble at Boston. The selectmen were ordered to write to all the other towns in the province, to propose their appointing committees for the same purpose. These pro ceedings of the people of Massachusetts were considered as illegal by the ministry. It would appear that both Governor Bernard and the ministry at home did not regard the colonists as having the same benefit of the laws with the people of England, though they imagined they were bound by them in their fullest extent But they seem to have had in idea a distinction between a British freeman and a colonist, which the latter did not admit. Ninety-six towns in Massachusetts appointed committees to attend the convention, but the town of Hatfield refused to com ply with the measure, and gave reasons in a letter. It is plain from this answer that they either had different notions from the rest of their brethren, or were lukewarm in the cause of liberty. When the convention met, their first measure was to send a mes sage to the governor, wherein they disclaimed all authoritative or legislative acts ; and declared that they came freely and volun tarily, at the earnest desire of the people, Jo consult and advise such measures as might promote peace and good order. They then repeated the tale of their grievances, complained that they were grossly misrepresented in Great Britain, and pressed the governor, in the most earnest manner, to call an assembly, as the only means to guard against those alarming dangers that threat ened the total destruction of the colony. The governor admonished them to break up their assembly instantly. He added that if they did not regard his admonition, he must, as governor, assert the prerogatives of the crown in a more public manner ; that they might assure themselves he spoke from instruction ; the king was determined to maintain his entire sovereignty over that province, and whosoever should persist in usurping any of the rights of it, would repent of his rashness. This answer produced another message, wherein they justified this meeting, as being only an assemblage of private persons, and desired explanations as to the criminality with which their pro ceedings were charged. The governor refused to receive that, or any other message from them, as it would be admitting them to be a legal assembly, which he would not by any means allow. The convention then appointed a committee, who drew up a report, in terms of great moderation, which was approved by the ARRIVAL OF BRITISH TROOPS IN BOSTON HARBOR. 525 assembly. In this, they assign the cause of their meeting, and disclaim all pretence to any authority whatsoever, and recommend it to the people to pay the greatest deference to government. After they had prepared a representation of their conduct, and a detail of the late transactions, to be transmitted to their agent at London, they broke up. It appears plain, from the whole of these proceedings, that Governor Bernard was at more pains to provoke the people, than to quiet their discontents. His opinion concern ing the legality of their meeting, seems frivolous and unsatisfac tory; for though the convention was chosen by the people, yet they attempted to perform no public act, but met for advice. On the 29th of September, 1768, the very day the convention broke up, the fleet from Halifax, with two regiments and a detachment of artillery, arrived in the harbor of Boston. There were some disputes concerning quartering the soldiers ; the coun cil at first refused to receive them into the town, as the barracks of Castle William were sufficient for them ; this objection was, at last, got over, and the council allowed them barrack provisions. Soon after, General Gage arrived with the two regiments from Ireland. A tolerable harmony subsisted for some time between the people and the troops, and both the town and province continued for a season very quiet. The ministry, finding that they had a strong majority in parlia ment, was now determined effectually to humble the refractory colonies. The House of Lords, upon the 5th of February, 1769, passed some resolutions, and an address to the king, In these the late acts of the House of Representatives of Massachusetts Bay, which called in question the authority of the supreme legislature to make laws to bind the colonies, were rescinded, and declared illegal, unconstitutional and derogatory of the rights of the crown and parliament. The circular letters written by the same assem bly to the other colonies, were declared to be proceedings most unwarrantable and dangerous. The town of Boston was declared in a state of disorder and confusion; and the resolutions and proceedings at the town meetings at Boston, on the 14th of June, and the 12th of September, 1769, were pronounced illegal and unconstitutional, and calculated to excite sedition and insurrection. The address that followed the above resolutions breathed the same spirit. It expressed the greatest satisfaction with the meas ures that had been pursued, to support the constitution, and to restore in the colony of Massachusetts Bay a due obedience to the authority of the mother country. Upon this persuasion it was earnestly requested that Governor Bernard would transmit the fullest information he could obtain, 526 THE UNITED STATES. of all treasons, or suspicion of treason, committed within his government, since the 30th of December, 1767, together with the names of the persons who were most active in committing such offences ; that his majesty might issue a special proclamation for inquiring into, hearing and determining upon the guilt of the offenders within the realms. This was an opinion very unfavor able to the colonists; it exposed them to two evils of the most severe kind ; their character was to be taken from the report of one man, who was their enemy, and they were to be tried in a strange country, where they might have neither friends nor con nections. Though these resolutions and the address were carried by a powerful majority, they were opposed with great firmness and force of argument by the friends of the colonists ; and there had been few subjects for many years more ably discussed than was this, through the whole of the debate. Both the right and propriety of taxing the colonies was warmly disputed. Both houses of parliament were so bent upon humbling the colony of Massachusetts, that they had proceeded, on the 13th of February, to request the king to call all offenders in that colony to an account before the British courts. Their address is expressed in the strongest terms of loyalty to the king, and severity to the offenders in the colony. The king, in his answer, entered warmly into the spirit of the measures recommended, and breathed ven geance against the leading persons in Massachusetts. It was now manifest that nothing could bring the opposing parties to a proper temper, except an unconditional submission on the part of the colonists. At this time it appeared to almost all ranks of people an easy friatter to settle the difference. Modera tion in the government, equal to the submission of the colonists, might have quieted all the commotions. On the 5th of March, 1770, Lord North, who was now prime minister, brought in a bill for a repeal of the late act imposing a duty upon paper, painter's . colors, and glass, except the duty on tea, which was still con tinued. It would appear that the minister did not intend to be consistent, when he repealed only part of that act. The colo nists had as strong objections to the authority which laid a duty on tea, as that which did the same for paper and glass. They inferred, if this law was complied with, that the parliament would never cease in their requisitions, as long as they could fina anything to tax in the colonies. They therefore considered the partial repeal of the acts as no favor. Meantime, the military, who had been ordered to Boston to enforce the new laws, took up their quarters there, with the strongest impressions that they were sent to quell an actual rebel- THE BOSTON MASSACRE 527 ilon. They therefore began to use freedoms inconsistent with the rules of peace. Their behavior gave great offence to the citizens, who were not a little prejudiced against them, from the belief that they were intended to be a check upon their liberties. It was not that the officers were guilty of any disrespect to the inhabitants; on the contrary, they did all in their power to pro mote a good understanding between the soldiers and the towns men. But those who know the character of troops stationed among strangers, will easily perceive that it is no easy task to restrain them from outrage when a temptation offers. A collec tion of men, gathered not only from the lowest but the basest of the people, who have nothing to restrain them but military disci pline, and who always consider themselves in an enemy's country, wherever they are, will always be ready, upon the smallest relax ation of command, to fall into extravagances. By comparing impartially the accounts given on both sides, it appears that the soldiers had not behaved orderly, nor the townsmen very dis creetly. The private quarrels of individuals soon grew to open outrage. The soldiers paraded the streets with drawn cutlasses and bayonets, and the people provoked them with insults and opprobrious speeches. The soldiers considered the people to be rebels, and the citizens looked upon the soldiers as a banditti of oppressors, sent by government to enslave them. It was no wonder that people, inspired by such different sentiments, should not agree. In this state of mutual irritation between the soldiers and the populace, it was evident that the slightest accident might lead to scenes of open violence, tumult and bfoodshed. These conse quences did not fail to ensue; and the memorable affair of the fifth of March, 1770, known in history as the " Boston Massacre," tended still further to inflame the minds of the colonists against the mother country. The brawls between the soldiers and the Bostonians soon grew serious. A private of the 29th regiment, being provoked by some insulting words from a workman at one of the ropewalks, assaulted him and was overpowered. He ran to his barracks, gathered a body of his comrades, and returned to take his revenge. An affray ensued ; the soldiers were defeated by the ropemakers, and one of their number was dangerously wounded. Great excitement followed throughout the town. The matter was laid before the council, and that body expressed a decided opinion that there would be no tranquillity till the troops were removed. The commanding officer, being either unauthor ized 01 unwilling to take such a step, the irritation and alarm of 528 THE UNITED STATES. the citizens augmented, and every moment was expected to bring on an outbreak of violence. Early on the evening of the fifth, the excitement became wound up to such a point, as to make it certain that an explosion was at hand. Groups of people collected in the streets, and parties of soldiers were hurrying in various directions with unusual activity and marks of preparation. About nine o'clock, the alarm-bell was rung, as if for fire, and immediately large bands of men were seen in motion, brandishing clubs and utter ing imprecations against the soldiers. They collected in large numbers in Dock square. A young man, attempting to pass into Brattle street, was struck at by the sentry near the barracks, and wounded in the head. The mob immediately assaulted the sol diers, but the officers ordered their men into the barracks, and shut them in. The populace followed them to the gate with violent and abusive language. An unknown person, described as " a tall, large man, in a red cloak and white wig," then addressed an inflammatory speech to the rioters, which appears to have pro duced an instantaneous and powerful effect, for the whole body presently rushed through Royal Exchange lane into King street, now State street. At the corner of these two streets stood the Custom House, in front of which a sentry was posted. The mob drove him up the steps, where he loaded his gun and made a show of resistance. The people pressed upon him with violent imprecations, and he shouted for protection to the main guard, Boston Massacre. which were within hearing. Captain Preston, the commander, despatched a corporal and six men to his relief, and immediately followed bimself. The mob had now become encouraged by a THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 529 great accession of numbers, and continued to hoot at the soldiers, pelting them with snowballs, ice and sticks. The soldiers were ordered to load, and form in front of the custom-house. They began to force the crowd away, when one of them received a blow from a club, which brought him to the ground. He immediately rose and fired. All the rest, with one or two exceptions, followed his example. Five men were killed on the spot, or mortally wounded, and several more received severe wounds. The people were immediately alarmed with the report of this massacre; the bells were set ringing, and great numbers soon assembled at the place where the tragical scene had been acted. Their feelings may be better conceived than expressed ; and while some were taking care of the dead and wounded, the rest were in consultation what to do in these dreadful circumstances. But so little intimidated were they, notwithstanding their being within a few yards of the main guard, and seeing the 27th regi ment under arms, that they kept their station, and appeared, as an officer of rank expressed it, ready to run upon the very muzzles of their muskets. The lieutenant-governor soon came into the town-house, and there met some of the council and a number of magistrates. A considerable body of people immediately entered the council chamber, and expressed themselves with a freedom and warmth becoming the occasion. The governor used his utmost endeavors to pacify them, requesting that they would let the matter subside for the night, and promising that justice should be done, and the law have its course. Men of influence and weight with the people were not wanting on their part to procure their compliance, by representing the horrible consequence of a promiscuous and rash engagement in the night. The inhab itants attended to these suggestions ; and the regiment under arms being ordered to their barracks, they separated and returned to their dwellings by one o'clock in the morning. A solemn pro cession was made through Boston at the funeral of the vic tims. On this occasion all the shops were shut up, the bells were ordered to toll in Boston and the neighboring towns, and the bodies that moved from different quarters, met in King street, and were carried together through the main streets, followed "by the greatest concourse of people ever known, all testifying the deepest grief, to a vault provided for them in the middle of the Granary burymg-ground. This tragical occurrence wrought the people of Massachusetts, and particularly the citizens of Boston, to the highest pitch of rage and indignation ; yet no acts of violence ensued. Captain Preston surrendered himself to the civil authority, and was committed to 45 o3 530 THE UNITED STATES. prison to be tried for murder by the laws of Massachusetts. John Adams and Josiah Q,uincy, eminent among the lawyers and pub lic men of the day, had the courage to defend him at the trial. In spite of the bloody scenes which had inflamed the resentment John Adams. of the people, such was the ability of the defence, and so strong was the feeling of self-restraint among the citizens, after the first heats of indignation were passed, that Preston was acquitted, and allowed to go at large unmolested. The soldiers were also severally put upon trial, and likewise acquitted. Justice tri umphed, and the friends of freedom were saved from the lasting reproach of having taken the lives of defenceless men, who had thrown themselves on the civil power for protection. The result gained for the people of Massachusetts the respect of the world ; and no single occurrence did more to advance the cause of Amer ican liberty, than the " Boston Massacre." It caused the imme diate removal of the troops from the town ; and the people, feeling that something had been gained, acquired new confidence in their resolution to resist the encroachments of arbitrary power. The town of Boston resolved to celebrate the anniversary of the 5th of March, that there might be an annual illustration of "the fatal effects of the policy of standing armies, and the natural tendency of quartering regular troops in populous cities in times of peace." On the day of the first celebration, the bells were tolled from twelve to one o'clock, and from nine to ten in the evening ; and, during the evening, figures representing the massa- THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 531 ere, were exhibited from the window of a distinguished citizen at the north end. The solemnization of this anniversary was repeated from year to year ; an oration was delivered by public appointment, and the feeling excited by the event was kept alive till it burst out into the full flame of the revolution. Burke. Pitt. CHAPTER LVI. Discovery of the Hutchinson letters. General congress at Philadelphia. State of affairs in England. Capture of the king's schooner, Gaspee. Destruction of the tea at Boston. Indignation of the ministry. The Boston Port Bill. Non importation resolutions. Fortitude and resolution of the colonists. Proceedings in New Hampshire and Rhode Island. Preparations for hostilities. IN this state of excitement, a singular transaction occurred, which gave double force to the ill temper and animosity that had subsisted between the governor and people of Massachusetts. This was a discovery and publication of some confidential letters, which had been written during the course of the disputes, by the governor and lieutenant-governor and other persons, to the minis try of England. These letters contained a very unfavorable representation of the state of affairs, the temper and disposition of the people, and the views of the leaders in that province ; and tended to show, not only the necessity of the most coercive meas ures, but that even a considerable change of the constitution and system of government was necessary, to enforce the obedience of the colony. These letters had been sent by lieutenant-governor Hutchinson to the ministry, privately and in confidence ; but the people of the colony insisted that they were evidently intended to influence government, and ought therefore to be shown to such persons as had an interest in preserving their privileges. Upon the death of a person in England, in whose hands these letters happened to be lodged, they, by some means which are not yet known, fell into the hands of Dr. Franklin, then in London, as representative of American affairs, and were by him transmitted to Boston in 1772. The indignation and rage which these letters excited in Bos ton can hardly be described. The people found themselves misrepresented and betrayed by those whom they imagined bound in duty to support their interests, and perceived that the late measures of government had proceeded from false information that had been given by their governor and lieutenant-governor. Under the impulses of resentment, the house of representatives passed many violent resolutions. The letters were presented to the council, under the strictest injunctions from the representa tives, that the persons who were to have them should not, by any THE HUTCHINSON LETTERS. 533 means, suffer them, for a moment, out of their own hands. This affront to the governor was adopted by the council, and upon his demanding to see the letters that were attributed to him, that board, under pretence of this restriction, refused to deliver them, but sent a committee to open them before him, that he might examine the hand- writing. To this indignity, he was obliged to submit, as well as to the mortification of acknowledging his signature. The people of Massachusetts were sufficiently irritated before, and needed no new fuel to increase the flame of their resentment. These letters pushed them on to measures of the most spirited nature ; the legislature passed a petition and remonstrance to the king, in which they charged the governor and lieutenant-governor with betraying their trust, and the people they governed; of giving private, partial and false information. They declared them enemies to the eolony, and prayed for their speedy removal from their offices. Meantime, the government of Great Britain showed no disposi tion to abandon their pretensions to the right of taxing the Amer icans. The colonists, on the other hand, were equally inflexible in their determination to resist this attempt. By degrees a plan for expressing the united opinion of the country on this point was matured, and it was resolved to convene a general congress of deputies from the several provinces. This body met at Philadel phia on the 5th of September, 1774, and after deliberating more than a month, passed a series of declarations, which showed their earnest as well as unanimous determination to resist the encroach ments of the British legislature. They protested formally and unreservedly against the taxation of the colonies without their consent, and agreed upon a plan of "non-importation and non- consumption," for the purpose of frustrating the designs of the ministry in regard to commercial duties. They also drew up an address to the people of Great Britain, in which they insisted upon their rights as British subjects, and affirmed that no power on earth had a right to take away their property without their consent. They considered it essential to English liberty that no man should be condemned unheard, or punished for supposed offences, without having an opportunity of making his defence. They considered the proprietors of the soil in America as much masters of their own property, as those of Great Britain, and affirmed that they were not bound to submit to any parliament not of their own election. These declarations, however, had no effect upon the British ministry although their influence in encouraging the colonists was 45* 534 THE UNITED STATES. very manifest. Their resolution to resist the attempts of the mother country to tax them was soon put to the test. The duty on tea had been continued by the ministry for the purpose of maintaining the principle of taxation ; and on the same ground of principle it was resisted by the Americans. It had been foretold, by those in England who struggled hard for the total repeal of the duties, who always declared against internal taxation in America, that the retaining of one duty and the abandonment of the others, could answer no other purpose than the lessening of that scanty revenue, which was scarcely sufficient in its whole amount to answer the expense of the collection. These predic tions were fully confirmed. The discontents of the colonies increased every day, and an universal spirit of opposition to the tea act prevailed throughout the country. The governors of most of the colonies, and the people, were in a continual state of warfare ; and such was the opposition between them, that what the one proposed, the others were pretty sure to contradict. It was generally believed that this evil had its rise in the mother country, and that the governors had their instructions how to behave, from the ministry, which they servilely executed, without considering either the reasonableness of the commands, or the temper of the colonists. It is, however, manifest, that the gov ernors either did not understand, or wilfully disregarded the state of the colonies in their account to the ministry ; for it is hardly possible that the latter would have proceeded so far without false information from their servants. The variances between the governors and people put an end to all regular proceedings ; the assemblies were repeatedly called and suddenly dissolved. It is not to be expected, in such a state of agitation, when the laws were in a great measure suspended, and men left to pursue the dictates of their passions, that things would proceed in an orderly course. The Gaspee, an armed schooner, had been sta tioned at Rhode Island to prevent smuggling, for which that place had been notorious. The vigilance of the officer who commanded the vessel, so enraged the people, that they boarded her at mid night, in a body of two hundred armed men, and after wounding the commander, and forcing him and his men ashore, set fire to the schooner. This greatly incensed the government, and a reward of five hundred pounds, together with a pardon if claimed by an accomplice, was offered for the discovery and apprehension of any of the perpetrators. But no discovery was made. This daring act of some smugglers, was, by the ministerial party, imputed to the whole colony. DESTRUCTION OF TEA IN BOSTON HARBOR. 535 As the colonists refused to import any tea from England, the ministry were forced upon a manoeuvre of their own to introduce the commodity into America. In 1773, an act of parliament allowed the East India Company a drawback upon all teas ex ported from England to the colonies. Under this encouragement large shipments were made by the company to Boston, New York, Philadelphia and other places. It was easy to perceive that the ministry cared little on this occasion for the small duty of threepence a pound, but were only solicitous that the principle of taxation should be established by the landing of the article and the actual payment of the duty. There was now no resource for the colonists but to prohibit the landing. The grand and decisive blow against this measure was struck by the Bosto- nians. The tea-ships had no sooner arrived in Boston harbor, than the bells of the town were set ringing, the citizens turned out in a high state of excitement, and the determination was general that the tea should not be landed. A popular meeting was instantly convened in Fanueil Hall, and the universal feeling and determination of the citizens expressed without disguise. A negotiation was opened with the consignees, to induce them to order the ships back to England, but this failed of its object, and it was at once apparent that by the smallest delay of decisive measures the tea would be landed under the guns of the ships of war. In the midst of the crowd and excitement at Fanueil Hall, the sound of an Indian war-whoop was heard from the gallery, and an exclamation that Boston harbor should be " a tea pot that night." The signal was too plain to be misunderstood. The same evening a band of seventeen men, disguised as Mo hawk Indians, assembled at Gray's wharf, near Fort Hill, boarded the ships, which lay at anchor close to a British man-ofrwar, and threw all the tea overboard. Having performed this most daring feat, without committing any other damage, or any way molesting the crews, they returned on shore undiscovered. Nothing could exceed the surprise and irritation of the British ministry, when intelligence of this event arrived in England. Their scheme of taxation was foiled in an instant by such a master-stroke of audacity on the part of the Bostonians, as had never entered their anticipations. In the other colonies, opposi tion had also been made to the landing and sale of the tea, though by no means in so emphatic and decisive a manner as at Boston. This disagreeable intelligence occasioned a message from the throne to both houses of parliament, wherein appeared the greatest anxiety for the maintenance of the royal authority. The message set forth, that unwarrantable practices were carried 536 THE UNITED STATES. on in North America, and that violent proceedings had lately been pursued in the town of Boston, with a view of obstructing the commerce of the kingdom. It was also signified that his majesty confided in his parliament for the support of his authority. The message was attended with a great number of papers relat ing to the transactions in the colonies. When these documents were laid before parliament, they were aggravated by ministerial comments, which set them forth in the most alarming manner, particularly those which related to the transactions of Boston. It appeared manifest that the storm now gathering against the colonies would fall first upon Massachusetts. The minister, after having moved that the king's message of the 7th of March should be read, opened his plan for the restoring of peace and order in that colony. He stated that the opposition to the authority of parliament had always originated in Massachusetts, which had been ever controlled by the seditious proceedings of the town of Boston ; that, therefore, it became necessary to begin with that town, which, by a late unparalleled outrage, had led the way to the destruction of commerce in all parts of America ; that a severe and exemplary punishment ought to be inflicted for this heinous act. It would, he said, be proper to take away from Boston the privilege of a port, until his majesty should be pleased to restore it. The Massachusetts agent presented a petition to the commons, desiring to be heard in behalf of the colony and the inhabitants of Boston. The house refused to hear the petition, and the biU for shutting up the port of Boston was passed March 31, 1774. After some conciliatory motions had been proposed and rejected, the minister brought in another bill, to which thesBoston port act was only a prologue. It was entitled, " A bill for the better regu lating the government of the province of Massachusetts Bay." This bill was intended to alter the constitution of this province* and to take all share of government out of the hands of the peo ple, and to vest the nomination of counsellors, judges and magis trates of all kinds, in the crown, and in some cases in the king's governor, and all to be removable at the pleasure of the king, This was, at one stroke, undermining the ancient constitution of the colony, and leaving the people no share in their own gov ernment. The agent made another effort in behalf of his province, and attempted to petition for time to receive an answer from America to the account he had sent of these proceedings. The house refused to receive the petition by a large majority. The same natives of America who petitioned against the Boston port bill, THE BOSTON PORT BILL. 537 again renewed their endeavors, by a petition against this. This document was written with great spirit, and in a very warm style, and composed with much judgment. It set forth the apprehensions of the petitioners, as to the effects of this bill in the quarter where it was intended to operate, and was a true prediction of the consequences which actually ensued. This petition, however, was laid on the table without further notice. After the debates were finished, the minister proceeded to give the finishing blow to American liberties by bringing in a "bill for the impartial administration of justice." This act provided that persons in dicted for capital offence in the colonies, might be sent to England for trial. This was the greatest encroachment yet attempted upon the rights of the colonies, and its absurdity and injustice were apparent on the very face of it. What hope of justice could a prisoner entertain who is tried by the laws and judges of one country, for an offence committed in another ? When the Boston port bill arrived in America, it excited the utmost alarm and indignation, not only in Massachusetts, but throughout the colonies. Copies of it were multiplied and circu lated among the people, to show them the tyrannical and ruinous measures of the British government. In Virginia, the legislature appointed a fast, for the 1st of June, the day when the bill was to take effect. In that colony, and in Pennsylvania, the fast was solemnized with every manifestation of public grief. But the citizens of Boston had the deepest cause for concern at this event; it was a blow which menaced them with absolute ruin. Com merce, industry and trade were annihilated by it. They were sentenced, on a short notice of twenty days, to the utter depriva tion of the means of subsistence. On the 1st of June, business ceased at Boston, at twelve o'clock, noon, and the harbor was shut against all vessels. The custom-house was removed to Salem. Sailors, merchants, laborers and artificers were immedi ately thrown out of employment. The immense property in stores, wharves and ships was rendered useless. The rents of houses ceased, for want of the means of payment. Provisions grew scarce, and all persons who depended on their daily labor were threatened with starvation or beggary. A calamity such as this might indeed have been expected to break the spirit of the Bostonians, and bow them to a speedy submission to ministerial rule. But, to the astonishment of the British cabinet, all these sufferings were endured with inflexible fortitude and resolution. No word of submission was uttered, and the inhabitants showed an invincible determination to endure the last extremities sooner than abandon their political rights. In p3 538 THE UNITED STATES. this resolve they were animated by the sympathy and charities of their neighbors. Provisions were sent in from the towns in the vicinity ; and the people of Marblehead generously offered the merchants of Boston the use of their harbor, wharves and ware houses, with their personal assistance in unlading their goods, free of all expense. The flame of patriotism was kept alive by letters and addresses from town meetings and conventions in various parts of the country, and the spirit of resistance against British encroachments waxed stronger than ever. Meantime, Genet al Gage, the commander-in-chief of the British forces in North America, had been appointed governor of Massa chusetts, and arrived at Boston, with a reinforcement of troops, on the 13th of May, 1774. His first proceeding was to involve himself in an altercation with the legislative body, and his next to dissolve them. The committee of correspondence at Boston drew up a declaration, which they entitled a solemn league and covenant, wherein the subscribers bound themselves, in the most solemn manner, to suspend all commercial intercourse with Great Britain, from the last day of the ensuing month of August, until the Boston port bill and other unpopular laws were repealed, and the colony of Massachusetts fully restored to all its rights. They also bound themselves not to consume or purchase any goods whatsoever which arrived after the- specified time. This covenant, accompanied with a letter from the committee at Boston, was widely circulated, and the people not only in New England, but in the other provinces, entered into this new league with the greatest zeal. What was somewhat remarkable is, that similar agreements had been entered into about the same time in various parts of the continent, arid without any previous concert with one another. The title of a solemn league and covenant greatly alarmed General Gage and the friends of the ministry in all parts of the British dominions ; its name and tendency were ominous. It brought to the remembrance of the king and ministers the times when the people of England and Scotland entered into a solemn league and covenant for the defence of their legal rights, a proceeding which had always been remembered by men of arbitrary principles with horror. Gage issued a proclamation on the 29th of June, which showed how much he was alarmed. He styled the league an unlawful, hostile and treacherous combina tion, destructive of the lawful authority of the British parliament, and of the peace, good order and safety of the community. All persons were warned against incurring the penalties due to such aggravated and dangerous offences ; and all magistrates were MILITARY PREPARATIONS OF THE COLONISTS. 539 charged to apprehend and secure for trial such as should have any share in it. Meantime, the southern colonies began also to arm and train their militia. As soon as advice was received of a proclamation issued in England to prevent the exportation of arms and ammu nition to America, measures were taken to procure these articles. For this purpose powder-mills were erected in various quarters. Encouragement was given in all the colonies to the manufacture of arms of every sort. Great difficulties attended these first essays ; and the supply of powder, both from home manufacture and from importation, was for a long time scanty and precarious. But such was the resolution and zeal of the colonists, that they ardently persisted in their undertakings, and success ultimately followed their endeavors. Gage now issued another proclamation against the provincial congress of Massachusetts, which had just convened; but it did not produce the smallest effect upon that assembly, nor in the conduct of the people, who paid an implicit obedience to its determinations. From the natural advantages of its situation and the works thrown up on the neck, Boston had already become a strong-hold. It was also, at the pleasure of the governor, capable of being made a secure prison for the inhabitants, who would thereby become hostages for the province at large. The Bostonians saw the danger, and several schemes were projected to avert it. One of the boldest of these was to burn the town and retire into the country ; but neither this daring enterprise, nor any other decisive proceeding, was ultimately determined on. At Rhode Island, the people seized and carried away all the ordnance belonging to the crown in that colony. The assembly of the province also passed resolutions for the procuring of arms and military stores, and for training and arming the inhabitants. The province of New Hamp shire, which had hitherto shown a moderate temper, and had be haved with more respect to the British government than the other provinces of New England, as soon as they heard of the resolu tions of Rhode Island, and received a copy of the royal proclama tion, pursued the same plan. A body of men assembled in arms, and marched to the attack of Fort William and Mary, at Ports mouth, remarkable only for being the object of the first military operation in New Hampshire. This fort was taken December 13th, and supplied them with a quantity of powder. No other act of hostility or violence happened during the winter of 1774; but a firm determination of resistance was universally spread, and increased every day. The arrival of the king's speech and the 540 THE UNITED STATES. addresses of the new parliament added to the flame that was already kindled. The king's speech, in the opinion of the colonists, cut off all hopes of reconciliation, and made them strain every nerve to provide against the storm they saw gathering against them. It is very remarkable that all the public acts and declarations, which, in England, were recommended as the means of pacifying the colonists, by intimidating them, constantly operated in a differ ent manner. The secretary of state for the American department issued a circular letter forbidding, in the king's name, the election of deputies for the ensuing general congress. In spite of this, the elections took place, unobstructed, throughout the country. CHAPTER LVII. Delusion of the British ministry. The Americans declared rebels. Battle of Lexington. Siege of Boston. Battle of Bunker Hill.- Proceedings of ' Congress. Washington appointed commander-in-chuf. Treachery of Gage towards the Bostonians. Capture of Ticonderoga and Crown Point by the provincials. Lord Dunmore abandons the government of Virginia. THE year 1775, an epoch forever memorable in American his tory, had now arrived. The British government showed no dis position to relax its coercive measures. The colonists exhibited no symptoms of a submissive spirit, and it was evident that a hostile collision must soon take place. What added to the infatuation of the British ministry was the belief, then prevalent in that country, that the Americans were cowards, and would never dare to oppose the British arms in case of extremities. This notion had been encouraged by the rhodomontade of many of the officers of the royal army who had served in America, and who Lord Chatham. had not the penetration to discover, under the homely manners of the American yeomanry, any signs of military spirit. Under this delusion, it was confidently believed in England, that an army of five thousand men could march through the country from one 5-42 THE UNITED STATES. end to the other. Matters were therefore carried, in the cabinet and parliament, with a high hand and an arrogant tone. At tho close of the past year, the king had delivered an address to par liament, full of the most bitter denunciations against the colony of Massachusetts, and avowing a determination to suppress all attempts in favor of American liberty. The parliament concur red in these sentiments by a large majority. The more sagacious among the British statesmen, however, saw the storm coming, and made the most strenuous endeavors to check the rash and precipi tate measures of the ministry. The venerable Earl of Chatham left his retirement, and again entered the House of Lords, where his powerful eloquence was exerted in an attempt to dissuade his countrymen from the design of subduing the colonists by force of arms. He recommended conciliatory measures, and in particular the immediate removal of the troops from Boston. His remon strances, however, had not the slightest effect. Equally unavail ing was the petition of congress to the king, which Dr. Franklin and others now laid before parliament, with a request to be heard in its support. The petition was rejected by a large majority. The lords and commons then passed an address to the king, declaring the people of Massachusetts rebels; and the next day a more decisive blow was struck by the ministers, in procuring the passage of an act restricting the trade of the New England colonies, and depriving them of the Newfoundland fishery. The Bostonians, in the meantime, in spite of their suffering condition, avoided every kind of outrage. Massachusetts had successfully engaged the other colonies to make common cause with her. A new provincial congress met in February, and pub lished a resolution advising the people to furnish themselves with arms, and make every preparation to resist the invading armies which were expected from Britain for the destruction of the colo nies. In all parts of Massachusetts the inhabitants obeyed these hints. Arms and powder were manufactured and stored in various places, military bands organized, and the proceedings in every quarter gave "dreadful note of* preparation." These things did not escape the notice of General Gage. On the 26th of February, having learned that a quantity of military stores had been collected at Salem, he despatched one hundred and forty soldiers in a transport from the castle, to seize them. They landed at Marblehead, and took up their march for Salem. Not finding the stores there, they proceeded to Danvers, but were stopped at a draw-bridge, where a body of thirty or forty militia were drawn up. After some parley and an attempt to pass, the troops returned to Boston without effecting their object. SEIZURE OP MILITARY STORES AT CONCORD. 543 But the flames of war could no longer be kept from bursting out. News arrived in Boston, of the king's speech, of the resolu tions adopted by parliament, and finally of the act by which the people of Massachusetts were declared rebels. The whole province flew to arms ; indignation became fury ; obstinacy, des peration. The idea of reconciliation became chimerical ; neces sity stimulated the most timid ; a thirst of vengeance fired every ; breast. The match was now lighted, the materials disposed,-^ the conflagration near at hand. The fatal moment had arrived ; the signal of war was given. General Gage was informed that the provincials had amassed large quantities of arms and ammu nition in the towns of Worcester and Concord. Excited by the loyalists, who had persuaded him that he would find no resist ance ; considering the cowardice of the patriots, and perhaps not imagining that the sword would be drawn so soon, he resolved to send a few companies to Concord, to seize the military stores. It was said, also, that he had in view, in this expedition, to get possession of the persons of John Hancock and Samuel Adams, John Hancock. two of the most ardent patriot chiefs, and the principal directors of the provincial congress. But to avoid causing irritation and the popular tumults which might obstruct his design, he took his measures with caution and secrecy. He ordered the grena diers and several companies of light infantry to hold themselves in readiness to march out of the city at the first signal ; pretend- 644 THE UNITED STATES. ing that it was in order to review and execute manoeuvres. The Bostonians entertained suspicions, and sent to warn Hancock and Adams to be upon their guard. Gage, to proceed with more secrecy, commanded a certain number of officers, who had been made acquainted with his designs, to go, as if on a party of pleasure, and dine at Cambridge, on the road to Concord. It was on the evening of the 18th of April that these officers dispersed themselves upon the roads to intercept the couriers that might have been despatched to give notice of the movements of the troops. Gage gave orders that no person should leave Boston ; nevertheless, Doctor Warren, one of the most active patriots, had timely intimation of the scheme, and immediately despatched messengers, some of whom found the roads obstructed by the officers; but others made their way in safety to Lexington, a town on the road to Concord. The news was soon divulged; the people flocked together ; alarm bells were rung ; and the firing of cannon spread the agitation throughout the neighborhood. In the midst of this tumult, at eleven in the evening, a strong detach ment of grenadiers and light infantry was embarked at Boston, and landed at Phipps's Farm, whence they marched toward Concord. The troops were under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Smith and Major Pitcairn, who led the vanguard. The militia of Lexington, as the intelligence of the movement of this detachment was uncertain, had separated in the night, But at five in the morning of the 19th, advice was received of the approach of the royal troops. The people who happened to be near, assembled to the number of about seventy, certainly too few to entertain the Nathaniel Green. Falls of Montmorenci. 46* Henry Clay. Richard M. Johnson. BATTLE OF LEXINGTON. 545 design of fighting. The English appeared, and Major Pitcairn cried in a loud voice, " Disperse, you rebels ! lay down your arms and disperse ! " The provincials did not obey ; upon which he sprung from the ranks, discharged a pistol, and brandishing bis sword, ordered his soldiers to fire. The provincials retreated; the English continuing their fire, the former faced about to return it. Meanwhile, Hancock and Adams had made their escape, and it is related that the latter, enraptured with joy, exclaimed, "O! what an ever-glorious morning is this!" considering this first effusion of blood as the prelude of events which must secure the independence of his country. The British advanced towards Con cord. The inhabitants assembled and appeared disposed to act upon the defensive ; but seeing the numbers of the enemy, they fell back and posted themselves on the bridge, north of the town, intending to wait for reinforcements from the neighboring places ; but the light infantry assailed them with fury, routed them, and occupied the bridge, whilst the others entered Concord, and pro ceeded to the execution of their orders. They spiked two pieces of twenty-four pound cannon, destroyed their carriages and a number of wheels for the use of the artillery, threw into the river and into wells five hundred pounds of bullets, and wasted a quantity of flour deposited there by the provincials. These were the arms and provisions which gave the first occasion to a long and cruel war ! But the expedition was not yet terminated ; the militia arrived, and the forces of the provincials were increased by continual accessions from every quarter. The light-infantry, who scoured the country above Concorl, were obliged to retreat, and on enter ing the town, a hot skirmish ensued. A great number were killed on both sides. The light infantry having joined the main body of the detachment, the English retreated precipitately towards Lexington. Already the whole neighborhood had risen in arms. Before the detachment had reached Lexington, its rear guard and flanks suffered great annoyance from the provincials, who, posted behind trees, walls and fences, kept up a brisk fire, which the troops could not return. The English found them selves in a most perilous situation. General Gage, apprehensive of the event, had despatched in haste a reinforcement cf sixteen companies, with some marines and two field-pieces. This body arrived very opportunely at Lexington, at the moment when the royal troops entered the town on the other side, pursued with fury by the provincial militia. It appears highly probable that, without this reinforcement, they would have been all cut to 546 THE UNITED STATES. pieces or made prisoners ; their strength was exhausted as well as their ammunition. After making a considerable halt at Lexing ton, they renewed their march towards Boston, the number of the provincials increasing every moment, although the rear guard of the English was less molested, on account of the two field- pieces, which repressed the impetuosity of the Americans. But the flanks of the column remained exposed to a very destructive fire, which assailed them from every sheltered spot. The royal ists were also annoyed by the heat, which was excessive, and by a violent wind, which blew a thick dust in their eyes. The American scouts, adding to their natural celerity a perfect know ledge of the country, came up unexpectedly through cross roads, and galled the English severely, taking aim especially at the officers, who, perceiving it, kept much on their guard. Finally, after a march of incredible fatigue, and a considerable loss of men, the English, overwhelmed with lassitude, arrived at sunset in Charlestown. Such was the memorable affair, known in American history as the Battle of Lexington. The troops accomplished the object of their expedition by destroying the Concord magazines ; but the immediate consequences of this event were such as the British commander had never anticipated. The news of the conflict ran through the country like an electric shock. The inhabitants rushed from their houses, the laborers quitted their fields, the churches poured forth their congregations, as the messengers of bloodshed and war swept through the towns arrd villages. The first moment of surprise, panic, and consternation, was suc ceeded by the cry of revenge, the call to battle, and the shout of preparation. In Massachusetts and the neighboring colonies, the population immediately rushed to arms. In three days from the battle of Lexington, the roads were covered with armed men marching upon Boston, and within a week the town was invested by an army of twenty thousand men. From the heights of the capital, the British commander viewed with astonishment a line of watch-fires stretching from north to south, and enclosing him within the narrow limits of the peninsula of Boston. It was then he became aware of the immense importance of the blow he had struck, and the critical conjuncture into which this act of rashness had thrown him. But it was now too late to avert (he terrible storm of war. The army of provincials thus suddenly gathered for the siege of the capital, was a heterogeneous mass of population, who rushed from their farms and firesides at a moment's warning, with such weapons as they could hastily snatch. There was. 548 THE UNITED STATES. in consequence, no discipline, knowledge of tactics, or general system of operations among them. Without magazines, camp equipage, or engineering apparatus, they threw up rude entrench ments on the hills which surround Boston on the land side, and maintained their posts in sight of the regular troops of Britain, animated solely with the consciousness of the justice of their cause, and by their ardor to avenge the blood of their country men. The British troops, though at first struck with astonish ment at this sudden apparition of an army, which seemed to have sprung in an 'instant out of the earth, yet soon dismissed their apprehensions, when they compared their own military knowledge, discipline and skill, with the ignorance and imperfect organization of the provincial forces. Their contempt for such an enemy was strengthened by the current persuasion of the native cowardice of the Americans, which, even after the conflict of Lexington, still continued among them. It was not long before the correctness of this belief was put to a severe test. On all sides, preparations were now made for war. The ' Massachusetts provincial congress, on the 5th of May, passed an act, depriving Gage of all authority in the colony, and declaring him a public enemy. His jurisdiction ceased from this moment, except in the capital. Towards the end of the month, large reinforcements of troops, under Generals 'Ho we, Burgoyne and Clinton, arrived at Boston ; and Gage, gathering fresh confidence, issued a proclamation of martial law throughout Massachusetts, offering pardon to all who should lay down their arms, except Samuel Adams and John Hancock. This proclamation, instead of intimidating the inhabitants, only served to embolden and unite them. Hancock was immediately chosen president of the continental congress, which met at Philadelphia on the 10th of May, 1775. Gage remained inactive for some time, expecting the besieging forces would disperse. On the contrary, they pushed their ap proaches nearer to the town. On the night of the 16th of June, a body of one thousand provincials marched into Charlestown, and took post on Breed's Hill, which commands the upper portion of the harbor, and is within a short gun-shot of the north part of Boston. They labored so diligently during the night, that by break of day they had thrown up a redoubt on the brow of the hill, and commenced a slight breastwork, extending down the slope of the eminence toward Mystic river. As soon as day light had discovered their movements, a brisk cannonade was opened upon them from a man-of-war in the stream and a bat tery on Copp's Hill, in Boston. Shot and shells were incessantly BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL. 549 poured in upon them, yet they continued their labor with perfect coolness, till their lines, though hastily and unscientifically plan ned, were as fully completed as their imperfect materials would allow. The British commander-in-chief could no longer rest inactive, but determined instantly to drive the Americans from this post. About noon of the 17th, he despatched three thousand men, con sisting of the flower of his troops, under Generals Howe and Pigot, on this service. They embarked in boats, and landed at Moreton's point, at the foot of the hill. The provincials had now received a reinforcement which increased their numbers to fifteen hundred men. There appears to have been no commander-in- chief; but Doctor Joseph Warren, of Boston, who held the rank of Brigadier General, and Colonel Prescott, were among the com batants. General Putnam was, no doubt, on the spot, though General Putnam. this has been questioned. All that is known of their prepara tions, leads to the conclusion that the different companies posted themselves according to their own judgment, and acted as the emergency dictated, without any general authority to direct their movements. Not having anticipated so speedy an attack from the enemy, they had no field-pieces, and no adequate preparations had been made for supplies of ammunition. In this ill-arranged and unprepared condition, they awaited the approach of twice their number of veteran troops, amply provided with 550 THE UNITED STATES. artillery, and covered by the fire of the ships of war and the Boston battery. The British formed in excellent order, and marched up the hill, halting from time to time, to allow the fire of their artillery to take effect. The heights of Boston, the house-tops, and steeples, were covered with anxious multitudes, gazing, with breathless anxiety and palpitating hearts, on the momentous scene that was passing. The spectacle that ensued was sublime and appalling. The town of Charlestown was set on fire by the British, and its wide mass of wooden houses was quickly wrapped in one vast flame, while the troops marched up the hill to the attack. The provincials, amid clouds of smoke and showers of falling cinders, awaited their approach with perfect coolness ; and reserving their fire till the enemy were within point-blank shot, suddenly poured in so destructive a volley, that the assailants instantly broke then- ranks, and retreated in haste and disorder toward their boats. Their officers, with great exertions, rallied the fugitives, and led them again to the charge. Again the Americans waited their near approach ; again a furious and well-aimed discharge issued from the lines with deadly eifect. Whole ranks of the British were mowed down, and again they fled in disorder. Had the Americans possessed any cavalry, the whole attacking force might have been cut to pieces ; but thejr troops were too ill- organized to allow them to pursue the enemy. Such was the carnage that nearly the whole of General Howe's staff were killed around him, and the general was left alone on the side of the hill. Meantime, Gage, from the Boston side, seeing the criti cal situation of his troops, despatched a reinforcement under General Clinton. A third assault was made. The soldiers, reluc tant to advance, were forced onward by their officers, who pricked them with their swords. The powder of the Americans now began to fail, and their fire slackened. The left flank of the breastwork was carried, and the British artillery raked the inte rior of the intrenchments from end to end. Nevertheless, the provincials maintained their position with the most obstinate bravery, defending themselves with the but-ends of their mus kets after their ammunition was expended. The redoubt was attacked on three sides at once, and at length carried at the point of the bayonet. General Warren received a shot in the breast, and fell dead on the spot. The provincials, overpowered by numbers, abandoned the works, and retreated over Charlestown neck in safety, notwithstanding the shot of a man-of-war and two floating batteries, which completely commanded the isthmus. The assailants remained masters of the field, but their loss was 552 THE UNITED STATES. vastly greater than the advantage gained. More than one third of their men were killed or wounded, making this one of the Death of Warren. bloodiest battles in which British troops had yet been engaged Pitcairn, who commanded the Lexington expedition, was among the slain, and the slaughter of the officers was out of all propor tion to that of the privates. On the other hand, the effects of the battle were equal to a victory to the provincials. Though driven from their position, yet the unexpected firmness, courage, and good conduct their raw troops had exhibited, and the terrible effect of their fire upon the enemy, raised a degree of confi dence among them equal to that of a positive triumph. They encamped on an eminence immediately without the peninsula of Charlestown, so that the British remained closely blockaded as before. The British troops, instructed by this severe lesson, no longer considered their antagonists as cowards. Passing from the extreme of contempt to that of respectful regard for the courage of their enemy, they made no further endeavors to pene trate into the country; and the Battle of Bunker Hill, as this action is now called, checked at once and forever the advance of the British arms in Massachusetts. Meantime, the congress at Philadelphia were taking measures for organizing a military resistance to the British power through out the country. They issued bills of credit, pledging the twelve confederated colonies for their redemption ; prepared for the raising of an army, and published a manifesto, setting forth the cause of their taking up arms. General Washington was appointed commander-in-chief. and repaired immediately to the SIEGE OF BOSTON. 553 seat of war. He fixed his head-quarters at Cambridge, three miles from Boston, and applied himself to the business of disci- House in Cambridge, where Washington resided. plining the troops, and pressing more closely the blockade of the town, which now began to feel the effects of the war. The royal forces in Boston continued closely blocked up by land, and being shut out from fresh provisions and vegetables, they began to feel great distress. The provincials watched the more care fully to keep out supplies, thinking the soldiers would suffer the inhabitants to depart, for fear of a famine ; or, at least, that the women and children would be suffered to remove, which was repeatedly demanded. There is some reason to imagine that Gage considered the inhabitants as necessary hostages for the security of the town, and the safety of the troops. To keep women, old men, and children confined as pledges for their own safety, argued that they were unwilling to fight the provin cials on fair terms. It had often been asserted in England that a few regular troops would march through all America ; but now, a general, with an army of the best troops in the service, was cooped up in a town, and durst not even stay in it without old men, women and children, to guard them ! General Gage at length entered into an agreement with the town's people, that if they would deliver up their arms, they should have liberty to go where they pleased with their property. The arms were accordingly given up ; but, to their amazement and mortification, he refused to let them depart. Many, however, were suffered afterwards to quit the* town at different times, but they were obliged to leave all their effects behind ; so that those who had hitherto lived in affluence, were at once reduced to poverty. The 554 THE UNITED STATES. general congress complained loudly of this conduct, and ranked the sufferings of the inhabitants of Boston among the most grievous and bitter of their complaints. In the mean time, a few private adventurers had accomplished an enterprise, which astonished all Europe. Some persons, belonging to the interior of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York, undertook, at their own risk and without any authority, and without publicly announcing their designs, an expedition of the utmost importance. This was the capture of Ticonderoga, Crown Point, and other forts, commanding the passes between Allen at Fort Ticonderoga. the southern colonies and Canada. Some of those who had embarked in this design, set out with the greatest secrecy, and met others upon their march, who, without any previous concert, were proceeding upon the same project. These adventurers amounted to two hundred and forty men, and were commanded by Colonel Ethan Allen. The Americans arrived before the walls of Ticonderoga early in the morning, while the garrison were sleeping in all the confidence of perfect security. Allen burst into the bedchamber of the commander, and with a drawn sword over his head compelled him to surrender. the place. The capture of Crown Point followed. These important acquisitions were made without the loss of a man. In these forts they found a considerable quantity of cannon, besides some mortars, howitzers and other stores ; they also took two vessels, which gave them command of Lake Champlain, and the possession of materials at Ticonderoga, for building and equipping others. This was as daring an act as had been known VIRGINIA. 555 and clearly showed that the colonists were now in earnest in their opposition. In Virginia, Lord Dunmore, the governor, aroused the spirit of resistance among the people, by his intemperate measures. In April, 1775, he removed the public stores from the magazines at Williamsburg, to the ships of war, and afterwards abandoned his residence, and took refuge on board a king's ship, at Yorktown ; thus virtually abdicating his government. On the 15th of Octo ber, he landed with a party at Norfolk, carried off two pieces of cannon, and damaged several others. These marauding attempts he repeated several times, destroying ammunition and stores. 47* CHAPTER LVIII. General Howe takes the command at Boston. Perilous condition of the American army. Destruction of Falmouth. Expedition to Savannah. Success of the American cruisers. Occupation of Dorchester heights. The British evacuate Boston. Defeat of 'Sir Peter Parker's squadron at Charleston. GENERAL Gage returned to England, in .October, 1775, and the command of the army at Boston fell to General Howe. This officer soon after issued a proclamation, by which those of the inhabitants who attempted to quit the town, without leave, were condemned to military execution. By another proclamation, such as obtained permission to leave the town, were, by severe penal ties, excluded from carrying more than a small specified sum of money with them. He also required the forming of associations, by which the remaining inhabitants should offer their persons for the defence of the place. Such of them as he approved were to be armed, formed into companies, and instructed in military exer cises ; the remainder being obliged to pay their quotas in money towards the common defence. The limited time for which the soldiers in the provincial army before Boston were enlisted, had nearly expired, and it was ne cessary that some measure should be taken for supplying their place. A committee of the general congress were sent to Boston to take the necessary measures, in conjunction with Washington, for keeping the army from disbanding. Of all the difficulties which the Americans encountered in their attempts towards estab lishing a military force, nothing was more important than the want of gunpowder ; for though they used the utmost diligence in collecting nitre, and all the other materials for the manufacture, the results of their own industry and skill were small. They had not yet opened that commerce with foreign states, which subse quently procured them a supply of military stores. The scarcity of gunpowder was so great, that it was said the troops at Bunker's Hill had not a single charge left after that short engagement; and the deficiency in the army before Boston was at one time so great, that nothing but General Howe's ignorance of the circumstance could have saved the besiegers from being dispersed by a single attack. They left nothing undone to supply the defect, and among other temporary expedients, had contrived to purchase, CONFEDERATION OF THE COLONIES. 557 without notice or suspicion, all the powder from the European settlements on the coast of Africa. Meantime, plundering, threatening and hostilities were con stantly carried on along the American coast. The town of Falmouth, in the District of Maine, was doomed to share in those calamities. Some disorder relative to the loading of a lumber- ship, caused the British admiral to issue an order for the destruc tion of the town. The officers who commanded the ships on that occasion, gave two hours' notice to the inhabitants, to provide for their safety, and this time was further enlarged till next morning, under the cover of a negotiation for delivering their artillery and small arms, as the price of saving the town. This, however, they refused to comply with, but they made use of the intermediate time in removing as many of their effects as they could, during the darkness of the night. On the morning of the 18th of October, a cannonade was begun, and continued with little intermission through the day. About three thousand shot, besides bombs and carcases, were thrown into the town, and the sailors landed to complete the destruction, but were repulsed with the loss of a few men. The principal part of the town which lay next the water, consisting of about one hundred and thirty dwelling-houses, two hundred and seventy-eight stores and warehouses, a large new church, and a handsome court-house, with the public library, were reduced to ashes. The destruction of Falmouth provoked the Americans to the highest degree, and probably pushed on the congress of Massachusetts Bay to the daring measure of granting letters of marque and reprisal, and establishing courts of admi ralty, for the trial and condemnation of British ships. In this law, they declared an intention of defending the coasts and navigation of America, extending the power of capture only to such ships as should be employed in bringing supplies to the armies employed against them. From this time, they did all that was in their power to seize such ships as brought supplies to the troops. During the course of the summer, 1775, articles of confederation and perpetual union were entered into between the several colonies, which were already associated, with liberty of admission to those of Quebec, St. John's, Nova Scotia and the two Floridas and Bermudas, They contained rules of general government, in peace and war, both with respect to foreigners and each other. These articles were drawn up by the general congress, and by them transmitted to the different colonies, for the consideration of their respective assemblies. If the articles met their approba tion, they were to empower their delegates to the ensuing congress 558 THE UNITED STATES. to ratify and confirm them; and from that time, the union which they established was to continue firm until, besides a redress of grievances, reparation was made for the losses sustained by Bos ton, for the burning of Charlestown, for the expenses of the war, and until the British were withdrawn from America. When the autumn approached, and appearances of plenty gave the colonists ground to conjecture what might be spared out of the abundance of a plentiful harvest, it was resolved by the congress, that if the. late restraining laws were not repealed within six months, from the 20th of July, 1775, their ports from that time should be open to every state in Europe, which would admit and protect their commerce, free of all duties, and for every kind of commodity excepting onlylteas, and the merchandise of Great Britain and her dependencies. And the more to encourage foreigners to engage in trade with them, they passed a resolution that they would, to the utmost of their power, maintain and sup port such freedom of commerce for two years after its commence ment, notwithstanding any reconciliation with Great Britain, and as much longer as the present obnoxious laws should continue. They also immediately suspended the non-importation agreement in favor of all ships that should bring gunpowder, nitre, sulphur, good muskets fitted with bayonets, or brass field-pieces. By the delays and misfortunes whiclj the transports and vic tuallers from England experienced, the forces in Boston were reduced to great distress. What added to the afflictions which they already suffered, was the mortification of seeing several vessels, which were laden with the necessaries and comforts of life, captured by the provincials in the very entrance of the harbor, whilst the tide and wind disabled the ships of war from preventing it. The loss of most of the coal-ships was severely felt, as fuel could not be procured, and the climate rendered that article indispensable. The houses of Boston were pulled down for fuel. The inhabitants were in a most deplorable condition ; detained against their will, or cut off from all intercourse with their friends, exposed to all the consequences of that contempt and aversion, with which a greater part of them were regarded by the soldiers, and at the same time in want of every necessary of life. The attempts made to procure provisions were not attended with great success. Some vessels were sent to Barba- does, where, by the assistance of the governor, a very moderate quantity was obtained. A detachment of marines, with an armed ship and some transports, were sent to Savannah in Georgia, with a view, as the event showed, to carry off cargoes of rice and other provisions. The militia, however, took to their arms, and would EVACUATION OF BOSTON. 559 not permit the British to land, nor the ships to hold any corre spondence with the shore. In the course of the debate which arose upon this occasion, some officers belonging to the colony were seized and detained on board the ships; and their release being haughtily refused, and other provoking circumstances occurring on both sides, some batteries were speedily erected by the militia on the banks of the river, and an engagement with cannon and small arms took place. Some blood was spilt, and seven loaded vessels belonging to the colony, were burnt in the conflict. Meantime, the besieging forces at Boston waited for the hard frosts of mid-winter, in expectation of attacking the town by crossing over upon the ice. But the uncommon mildi less of the season disappointed these hopes, and they were forced to remain quiet through the winter. The arrival of a copy of the king's speech, with an account of the fate of the petition from the con tinental congress, still further excited the people. They burnt the king's speech publicly in the camp ; and on this occasion they changed their colors from a plain red ground, which they had hitherto used, to a flag with thirteen stripes, as a symbol of the union and number of the colonies. During ,his state of affairs, the American cruisers grew daily more numerous and successful against the transports and store- ships. Among a multitude of other prizes, they had the good fortune to capture one which gave a new impulse to their military operations. This was an ordnance ship from Woolwich, which had separated from her convoy, and being herself of no force, she was taken without defence, by a small privateer, in Boston Bay. This vessel contained several pieces of fine brass cannon, a large quantity of small arms and ammunition, and a mortar, with all manner of tools, utensils and machines necessary for camps and artillery, in the greatest abundance. By this fortunate acquisition, the American troops became sup plied with the very articles of which they had long stood in need. They delayed not a moment to avail themselves of the advantage. On the 2d of March, 1776, a battery was opened at Lechmere Point, directly opposite Boston, from which a heavy bombardment and cannonade were directed against the town with great effect. Many buildings were demolished and set on fire, and the troops and inhabitants were constantly employed in extinguishing the flames. The British commander began to feel alarmed for the safety of his army ; but matters grew rapidly more threatening. Three days after, he saw, with inexpressible surprise, at the dawn of day, the ramparts of a new fortification which had arisen 3 560 THE UNITED STATES. during the niglit on the heights of Dorchester, commanding the town and harbor on the south. The morning mist having magni fied these works to a gigantic size, added much to the consterna tion and amazement of the British officers, who, in their accounts of the siege, affirm that this apparition recalled to their minds Ihose tales of magic and enchantment with which eastern romances are filled. They were ready to imagine that they had got into Fairy-land, where spiritual agency is supposed to supply the place of bodily exertions. They could not help seeing that they were now dealing with a people that were in earnest, and who were not inferior to themselves in enterprise. Both the skill and industry of the colonists began now to be ararming to the British troops ; they perceived that the men whom they had been taught to de spise as cowards, were their equals if not their superiors, both in application and intrepidity. The situation of the king's troops was now very critical. Shot and shells were poured in upon them from the new works. Others were rapidly constructing on the neighboring hills, commanding the town and a considerable part of the harbor. In these circumstances, no alternative remained but to abandon the town, or dislodge the enemy and destroy the new works. General Howe adopted the latter plan. Two thousand men were embarked in transports, and fell down the harbor to the castle, with a design to land on the beach opposite, and carry the works on Dorchester heights by storm. Every preparation was made by the Americans for the defence. Hogsheads filled with stones and chained together were planted on the brow of the hill, to be rolled down upon the ranks of the assailants. The British were aware of the desperate nature of their attempt. Murmurs of irresolution were heard, and exclamations that it would be " another Bunker Hill affair." In this dispirited condition of the troops, a furious storm, which happened during the night, supplied the British commander with a plausible excuse for deferring the attack. A council of war was held, and resulted in a determina tion to retreat from Boston. A fortnight was passed in prepara tions for departure, till, on the 17th of March, 1776, the besieged were quickened in their movements by a new battery erected by the Americans on Nook's Hill, at the northern point of the penin sula of Dorchester. Delay was no longer safe. By ten in the forenoon of that day, all the king's troops, together with such of (he inhabitants as were attached to the royal cause, were em barked and under sail. As the rear guard went on boar/1 the ships, Washington marched into the town, where he was received ATTACK ON FORT MOULTRIE. 561 in triumph by the people, with every demonstration of joy and gratitude. Several ships of war were left in the bay by the British, to protect the vessels which should arrive from England. In this they were not perfectly successful. The great extent of the bay, with its numerous creeks and islands, and the number of small ports that surround it, afforded such opportunities to the provincial armed boats and privateers, that they took a num ber of valuable transport ships, who were still in ignorance that the town had changed its masters. Washington was now in possession of the capital of Massachu setts, but being ignorant of the destination of the fleet, and apprehensive of an attempt upon New York, he detached several regiments for the protection of that city, on the very day on which he took possession of Boston. The royal army were not as yet in a situation which admitted of their undertaking any important expedition. They did not exceed nine thousand effective men, and were in some respects very ill provided. This army, nevertheless, was three times more numerous than had been thought sufficient to conquer all America. Their repulse was a mortifying blow to the schemes of the ministry, who had given out that the sight of a few grenadiers, would frighten all the colonies into a compliance with their measures. Their invincible troops had been obliged to abandon Boston, before a newly-raised militia, who were styled cowards in England. The fleets, transports and victuallers, which had been sent from England, met with bad weather in their passage ; many delays and untoward circumstances befel them, which in a great degree frustrated their designs. A squadron, under Sir Peter Parker, destined for the invasion of South Carolina, sailed from Ports mouth, about the end of the year 1775, but, suffering great delays, did not reach Carolina till May, 1776. In the beginning of June, the fleet anchored off Charleston, and made preparations for attacking the place. Two of the ships mounted fifty guns, four were frigates of twenty-eight, to which were added four more ships of smaller force and a bomb-ketch. The passage of the bar was a work of difficulty and danger, especially to the two large ships, which, though lightened of their guns, both struck on the bar several times. The land forces were commanded by Generals Clinton, Cornwallis and Vaughan. It is somewhat singular, that, at the time General Clinton sailed from Boston, General Lee, at the head of a strong detachment from the army before that place, immediately set out to secure New York. Having succeeded in that object, General Clinton could not be surprised, at his arrival in Virginia, to find Lee in the same state 562 THE UNITED STATES. of preparation in which he had left him at New York. Upon Clin ton's leaving Cape Fear, Lee hastened to secure North Carolina; and at length, upon the farther progress of the fleet and army to the southward, General Lee again, with equal celerity, proceeded to the defence of Charleston. Attack on Fort Moultrje. The British troops landed on Long Island, which lies eastward of Sullivan's, being separated only by a creek, which was deemed passable at low water. The Carolinians had posted some forces with a few pieces or dannon near the northeast extremity of Sullivan's Island. General Lee was encamped with a considera ble body of forces upon the continent to the northward of the island, with which he had a communication by a bridge of boats. Long Island is a naked-burning sand, where the troops suffered much from their exposure to the heat of the sun. Both the fleet and the army were greatly distressed through the badness of the water ; that which is found upon the sea-coast of Carolina being very brackish. Nor were they in any better condition with re spect to the quantity or quality of their provisions. Though the greatest despatch was necessary, on account of these inconve niences, yet such delays occurred in carrying the design into execution, that it was near the end of the month, before the attack on Sullivan's Island took place. This leisure was improved by the provincials, with great diligence, for completing their works. Everything being at length settled for the attack, the bomb-ketch, covered by an armed ship, took her station on the morning of the 28th of June, and began by throwing shells at Fort Moultrie, as the fleet ATTACK ON FORT MOULTRIE. 563 advanced. About eleven o'clock, four other ships brought up directly against the fort, and began a most furious and incessant cannonade. Three ships were ordered to the westward, to take their station between the island and Charleston, with a design to demolish the works of the fort, and, if possible, to interrupt the communication between the island and continent, and cut off the retreat of the garrison. This part of the design miscarried by the unskilfulness of the pilot, who entangled the frigates in the shoals, where they all stuck fast ; and though two of them were got off, it was then too late to be of any service. One was burnt by the crew the next morning, to prevent her falling into the hands of the Americans. The ships suffered excessively from the fire of the batteries, and the slaughter on board was dreadful. Scarcely was ever British valor put to so severe a trial. The battle continued till the darkness of the night compelled the assailants to desist. Sir Peter Parker, after using every effort, finding that all hopes of success were at an end, and the ebbing tide near spent, withdrew his shattered vessels, between nine and ten o'clock in the evening, after an engagment which had been supported for above ten hours with uncommon courage and resolution. One of his ships had one hundred and eleven, and another seventy-nine, killed and wounded. The frigates did not suffer so severely, for the provincials pointed their fire principally at the ships of the line. This defeat was a most unexpected blow to the British. They had never imagined that this insignificant fort would have been able to withstand the heavy fire of their squadron for the space of one hour ; though, upon trial, it was found that after ten hours' severe cannonade, it was as far from being reduced as at the begin ning. The provincials showed, on this occasion,' a degree of skill and intrepidity, which would have done honor to veteran troops ; both officers and men performed their duty to the amaze ment of their enemies, and conducted their fire with such delib eration and design, that almost every shot did execution. Colonel Moultrie, who commanded in the fort, received great and deserved praise from his countrymen. The garrison also received great applause, and a sergeant was publicly honored with a present of a sword, from the president of the congress, for a particular act of bravery. This defence greatly raised the character of the Carolinians and the southern colonies. Sir Peter, with his shattered fleet, made the best of his way to New York. 48 CHAPTER LIX. Declaration oj Independence. British expedition against New York. Battle of Long Island. Escape of the American army. Lord Howe attempts to nego tiate with Congress. New York captured by the British. Action at White Plains. Forts Washington and Lee taken by the British. Conquest of the Jerseys The British reduce Rhode Island. Desperate condition of the Amer ican cause. HITHERTO the colonists had maintained their struggle against the encroachments of the mother country, without abandoning the hope that pacific councils and conciliatory measures might heal the breach between them. But as the British ministry con tinued to manifest the most hostile and arrogant spirit, and showed a fierce determination to reduce them by force of arms to unconditional submission, their feelings became more and more alienated, and they began to despair of any amicable settlement of their difficulties. The news that sixteen thousand German mercenary troops had been hired to make war upon them, added still more to their resentment. Ere long they began to disown the authority of the king, and to declare, in speech and writing, that nothing remained for them but a complete and final separa tion from the British crown. The popular feeling soon found a correspondent expression in public bodies, and at length the continental congress, on the fourth of July, 1776, issued the DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE ; thus dissolving the connection of the colonies with England, and claiming for them a rank among independent nations. This declaration was received everywhere throughout the country with the highest exultation, and the enno bling prospect of a separate national existence now animated the colonists with new courage and resolution to repel their invaders. Washington, meantime, confident that the British would never appear again at Boston, marched his army to New York, antici pating the next attack in that quarter. He was right in his conjecture. The forces that evacuated Boston proceeded first to Halifax, to await reinforcements from England. A grand scheme of conquest was now projected by the British ministry. The execution of it was entrusted to Lord and Sir William Howe, two officers of good character and known abilities, in whom the nation reposed much confidence. A powerful army was THE UNITED STATES. appointed for this service. The whole force was supposed to amount to thirty-five thousand men. Perhaps this might be only the calculation which was made upon paper. It was, how ever in reality, a formidable armament, and a larger army than ever had been sent by any European power to the continent of America. With an army inferior in numbers to this, Alexander the Great made himself master of the whole Persian empire. The British troops were supposed to be the best in the world, and their generals the most skilful. They were well provided with all sorts of provisions, warlike stores and ammunition, and were also supported by a numerous fleet. The general and admiral, beside their military power, were invested with authority as com missioners, by act of parliament, for restoring peace to the colo nies, and for granting pardon to such as should deserve mercy. While Sir William Howe waited at Halifax for reinforcements, he was pressed by the want of provisions. He at last, without waiting for his brother, Lord Howe, departed from Halifax on the 10th of June, 1776, and arrived at Sandy Hook about the end of the month. On their passage, the fleet was joined by six transports with Highland troops, which had been separated from their companions in their voyage. Those that were missing, with about four hundred and fifty soldiers and several officers, were taken by the American cruisers, and carried into Boston. General Howe found the entrance of New York harbor strongly fortified. Long Island, on account of its extent, did not admit of its being so strongly guarded ; it was, however, in a tolerable state of defence, and had considerable encampments at the end of the island next to New York. Staten Island, being of less consequence, was neglected ; this was certainly a great oversight in the provincials. On the 10th of July, the British landed on Staten Island. Their troops were cantoned in the villages, where they received plenty of provisions. General Howe was here met by Governor Tryon, with several other loyalists, who had taken refuge on board a British ship at Sandy Hook. These persons gave him an account of the strength of the provincials. He was also joined by about sixty men from New Jersey, who came to take up arms in the royal cause, and about two hundred militia of the island, who were embodied for the same purpose. This aiforded a flattering prospect to the general, that when the army was landed and collected in force to support the loyalists, such num bers would join him, as would enable him to bring the war to a speedy conclusion. This was a notion that misled both the ministry in England and the officers abroad, and ruined the BRITISH FORCES LAND AT STATEN ISLAND. 567 success of the greatest part of their measures ; they judged of the body of the colonists from a few samples they had of creatures that were under the influence of crown officers, and falsely concluded that all the provincials were of the same temper. Lord Howe arrived at Staten Island ahout the middle of July. His first act was to issue a proclamation, stating his authority to grant pardons to such of the colonists as would return to their allegiance to the king, and promising favors to those persons who should exert themselves in suppressing the rebellion. These documents were widely circulated, but without producing the desired effect. Considerable delay followed, in the expectation of reinforcements. At length, the British forces were augmented by the arrival of Sir Peter Parker and General Clin ton, from Charleston, with some regiments from Florida and the West Indies. It was now determined to make a descent on Long Island. Upon the 22d of August, the fleet having taken necessary measures for covering the descent, the army landed without opposition near Utrecht and Gravesend, on the southwest end of the island, and not far from the Narrows. At that time, General Putnam was encamped with a strong force at Brooklyn, at a few miles distance on the north coast, where his works covered the breadth of a small peninsula, having the East river, which sepa rated him from New York, on his left ; a marsh on the right, with the Bay and Governor's Island in his rear. The armies were separated by a range of hills covered with wood. The direct road across the heights lay through the village of Flatbush, where the hills commenced, and near which was an important pass. General Putnam had detached part of his army to occupy the hills, and- defend the passes. It appears, however, that it was not the plan of the colonists to attempt any decisive battle till they had exercised their troops in skirmishes and taught them a little military knowledge. They knew that the British troops were highly disciplined, and longed for nothing more than an opportunity to put an end to the war by a single stroke. Their safety depended much upon speedy action. The colonists, on the other hand, were as yet raw troops; a sudden attack and a signal overthrow would have dispirited them and frustrated all their hopes. What the British called cowardice, was in them the greatest prudence. They industriously avoided coming to any general action, but contented themselves with wearying and harassing the British, which answered all the purpose of a gen eral engagement. After some time spent in skirmishes, a strong body of the British, under Lord Cornwallis, advanced upon Plat- 48* T3 568 THE UNITED STATES. bush. Major General Grant commanded the left wing, which extended to the coast; and the principal army, under the com mand of General Clinton and Earl Percy, wheeled to the right, and approached the opposite coast at Flatland. When everything was prepared for forcing the hills, General Clinton, at the head of the van of .the army, with fourteen field- pieces, began, on the evening of the 26th of August, his march irom Flatland. Having passed through the part of the country called the New Lots, they reached the road that crosses the hills from Bedford to Jamaica, where, wheeling to the left towards the former place, they seized a considerable pass, which the Ameri cans had, through some unaccountable neglect, left unguarded. The main body, under Lord Percy, with ten field-pieces, followed at a moderate distance, and the way being thus successfully opened, the whole army passed the hills without opposition, and descended by the town of Bedford into the lower country, which lay between them and Putnam's lines. The engagement was begun early in the morning of the next day, by the Hessians, at Flatbush, and by General Grant, along the coast ; and a warm cannonade, with a sharp fire of small arms, was eagerly sup ported on both sides for some hours. During this time, the king's troops gained no advantage, but were on the point of being repulsed, when the fleet made several manoeuvres on their left, and attacked a battery on Red Hook. This movement embar rassed the right wing of the colonists, which was engaged with General Grant, and called off their attention totally from the left and rear, where their greatest danger lay. Those who were engaged with the Hessians were the first that perceived their danger ; they accordingly retreated in large bodies and in good order, with a design to recover their camp. They were, however, attacked furiously by the king's troops, and driven back into the woods, where they were met by the Hessians, and alternately intercepted and chased by the dragoons and light infantry. In these critical circumstances, some of their regiments, though over powered by numbers, forced their way fo the lines ; some kept the woods and escaped. Great numbers were killed, and the dis comfiture of the Americans at this point -was decisive. The right wing of the provincials, engaged with General Grant on the coast, were so late in knowing what was going on in other parts, that they were intercepted in their retreat by some of the British troops, who, in the morning, had not only turned the heights upon their left, but had traversed the whole extent of country in their rear. Such of them as did not flee to the woods, which were the greatest number, were obliged to throw them- Alexander Hamilton. Henry Lee. Jacob Brown. Edward Preble. BATTLE OP LONG ISLAND. 569 selves into a marsh, where many were drowned, or suffocated in the mud. A considerable number, however, made their escape to the lines, though they were much diminished in their flight by the fire of the pursuers. The loss of the Americans on this occasion was very great. Nearly a whole regiment from Maryland, con sisting altogether of young men of the best families, were totally cut off. In this situation there was no hope left, but in a retreat, and even this was exceedingly difficult, under the watchful eye of an active enemy, with a powerful army, flushed with success, almost close to their works. This desperate task was however under taken, and executed with great address by Washington. On the night of the 29th, the American troops were withdrawn from the camp, and with their baggage, stores, and almost all their artillery, conveyed to the water side, embarked, and ferried over to New York, with such silence and order, that the British, though within six hundred yards, knew nothing of the movement. The dawn of day showed them the lines abandoned, the American rear guard in their boats and out of danger. Those who are ac quainted with the usual noise and confusion attending the break ing up of a camp, and the march of so many thousand men, even in open day, must acknowledge that this retreat required an extraordinary address to conduct it, and deserves the name of a master-piece in the art of war. After the retreat from Long Island, General Sullivan, who had been taken prisoner, was sent upon parole, with a message from Lord Howe to the congress. In this he stated, that though he could not treat with them in the character of a congress, he was very desirous of having a conference with some of their members, whom he would consider only as private gentlemen. The answer of the congress was, that being the representatives of the free and independent states of America, they could not with propriety send any of their members in their private characters ; but that, ever desirous of establishing peace upon reasonable terms, they would appoint a committee to know whether he had any authority to treat with persons authorized by congress for that purpose, and what that authority was, and to hear such propositions as he should think fit to make respecting the same. Dr. Franklin, John Adams and Mr. Rutledge, were appointed as a committee upon this occasion, and accordingly waited upon Lord Howe, on Staten Island ; but these negociations came to nothing. The royal army was now divided from the island of New York by the East river, and the troops were impatient to pass that narrow limit. They posted themselves along the coast wherever 570 THE UNITED STATES. they could see or front their enemies, and erected batteries at various points. A fleet, consisting of upwards of three hundred sail, including transports, covered the waters of the bay, while the ships of war hovering round the island, threatened destruction to every part, and were continually engaged with the American batteries. Thus an almost constant cannonade was kept up for many days, and the troops, who had so lately escaped from imminent danger, had little time for repose. At length, the British having settled their plans for the attack of the city, the squadron made a movement in the North River, with a design to draw the attention of the provincials to that side of the island. Other parts were also threatened, to increase the uncertainty of the real point of attack. A detachment of the British took pos session of a small island near Hellgate, and erected a battery on it, to silence one which the provincials had thrown up opposite. This had the appearance of a design to land in that part. Whilst the Americans were in this state of suspense, the first divisions of the British, under Generals Clinton, Cornwallis, Vaughan, Leslie and the Hessian Colonel Donop, embarked at the head of Newtown Bay, which runs deep into Long Island, and where they were out of all view of the enemy. Covered by five ships of war upon their entrance into the river, they proceeded to Kip's Bay, about three miles north of Ne.w York, where, being less expected than in other places, the preparation for defence was not so great. The works were, notwithstanding, tolerably strong and well manned, but the fire from the ships was so severe and well directed, that the fortifications were deserted, and the army landed without opposition. The loss of New York was the immediate consequence. The provincials, harassed by the fire of the men-of-war, aban doned the city on the 15th of September, with their other posts on that part of the island, and retired to the North End, where their principal strength lay. They were obliged to leave a great part of their artillery and military stores behind. They had some men killed and a few taken prisoners, in the retreat. The king's troops suffered considerably, but this loss was concealed as much as possible. Many of the American regiments behaved badly on this occasion. Their late severe losses on Long Island appear to have had an unfavorable effect upon their conduct at this time. Part of the British army took possession of New York, and the rest encamped near the centre of the island, thus occu pying it from shore to shore. Washington took post on the island at Kingsbridge, where he had a communication with the continent. He erected strong works on both sides of the passage. The DANGEROUS POSITION OF THE AMERICAN TROOPS. 571 nearest encampment of the British was on the heights of Haarlem, at the distance of about a mile and a half. Between the two armies were the strong grounds called Morris's heights. In this situation skirmishes frequently happened, and it was found that by degrees the apprehensions of the provincials began to wear away. A few days after the capture of New York, a fire broke out, by which nearly a third part of the city was reduced to ashes ; and unless the exertions of the troops and the sailors of the fleet had preserved the remainder, not a house would have been left stand ing. Some persons, who were thought to have been concerned in the cause of this calamity, were thrown into the flames by the soldiers, and burnt to death, though it could never be ascertained who were the real authors of the conflagration. General Howe, finding that no movements could be made with success upon the island of New York, determined upon a new plan of operation On the llth of October, the greater part of the army embarked in flat boats, passed successfully through the dangerous naviga tion of Hellgate, and landed on Frog's neck, near the town of East Chester. Earl Percy, with two brigades of British troops and one of Hessians, continued in the lines near Haarlem. The chief object of this expedition was to cut off the communication between Washington and the eastern shore, arid if this measure did not bring him to an engagement, to enclose him on all sides in the north end of York Island. The king's troops were now masters of the lower road to Connecticut and Boston, but to gain the upper road it was necessary to advance to the higher grounds called the White Plains. This is a rugged tract of land, and is only part of an ascent to a country which is still higher. When the army advanced to White Plains, it was judged necessary to leave the second division of Hessians, with the regiment of Waldeck, at New Rochelle, to keep a communication to forward the supplies that were to arrive at that place. Washington fore saw the intention of this movement, and provided against it. He perceived the danger his army would be in if the British general succeeded in cooping him up in the island. In such a case he would have been compelled to commit the whole fortune of the war to the hazard of a general engagement. In his present state, this would have been highly imprudent ; his troops were not well recovered from the discouragement occasioned by their late mis fortunes, and in case of a defeat there would scarcely have been a possibility of a retreat. Determined to extricate himself from his dangerous position, Washington immediately put his troops in motion and formed them into a line of small detachments, and 572 CONQUEST OF THE JERSEYS. entrenched camps, which occupied every height and strong post from Kingsbridge to White Plains. The two armies came into contact at White Plains. A general action was expected; but although some severe skirmishing took place, in which several hundreds were killed, no decisive results ensued. Washington knew it to be the main desire of the British commander to draw him into a general engagement, where the superior discipline and experience of his veteran troops would give him an immense advantage over the raw levies of the provincial army. He there fore prudently abstained from hazarding the fortune of the war in a general combat. He abandoned this position on the night of the 1st of November, and took post on higher ground towards North Castle. Howe, finding it impossible to force Washington to a general engagement, altered his plans again, and resolved to drive the Americans from York Island. Fort Washington stood on the western shore of the island, and Howe directed his first operations against it. The fort was tolerably strong, but could not resist heavy artillery. It was summoned to surrender, but the officer who commanded it replied, that he was determined to defend it to the last extremity, and a general assault was resolved upon. Four attacks were made at the same time. The British troops crossed the East river in flat boats, and were supported by a numerous, powerful and well served artillery. The garrison, deficient in ammunition, could make but a feeble defence, and the place fell into the hands of the enemy. Fort Washington having been reduced, Lord Cornwallis was sent with a strong body of men to attack Fort Lee, on the opposite side of the river. The garrison of two thousand men abandoned the fort, and left their stores, artillery and tents behind them. After these decisive advantages, the British overran the greatest part of the Jerseys without opposition, the provincials every where flying before them, till, at length, the invading army extended their winter cantonments from New Brunswick to the Delaware. It was thought that, had they possessed the means of passing the Delaware, they might have taken Philadelphia, where the people were in great panic and consternation ; but the Americans had the foresight to destroy or carry off all the boats upon the river. During these proceedings in the Jerseys, General Clinton, with some British and Hessian troops, and a squadron of ships under Sir Peter Parker, were sent to make an attack upon Rhode Island. They succeeded easily in this enterprise. Upon the 8th of December, the provincials abandoned the island, and the British and Hessian troops took possession of it without any loss, and at the same time blocked up Commodore Hopkins's THE UNITED STATES. 573 squadron, in Providence river. The British squadron and troops continued here during the winter, finding better quarters than at New York. Hitherto the king's forces had succeeded in all their attempts since their landing on Staten Island. The American army was reduced to a handful of men, fleeing before a victorious enemy. The struggle seemed finally closed, and nothing appeared to be left for the colonists but unconditional submission. 49 CHAPTER LX. Expedition against Canada. Capture of St John's and Montreal. Arnold's march through ihe wilderness of Maine. Junction of Montgomery and Arnold. Attack on Quebec, and death of Montgomery. Failure of the enterprise. Canada evacuated by the Americans. Desperate state of the American cause. Firmness of Washington. Success of the Americans at Trenton and Princeton. The British retreat through the Jerseys. Expedition against Philadelphia. Battle of Brandywine. Capture of Philadelphia by the British. Battle of Germantown. Attack of Red Bank. The forts on the Delaware evacuated.* Washington goes into winter quarters at Valley Forge. Death of Montgomery. DURING the course of the events related in the preceding chapter, the Americans were also carrying on an expedition against Can ada. The British parliament had passed a law, establishing the Roman Catholic religion in that country, which greatly alarmed the colonists. They considered this law, which bore the name of the Quebec Act, as a stratagem, intended to seduce the papists in Canada into the designs of the British government, and excite them to take up arms and fall upon the back settlements of the New England provinces. As the success of a former expedition to the lakes had given spirit to the Americans, and Ticonderoga EXPEDITION AGAINST CANADA. 575 and Crown Point were now in their hands, congress resolved to make a bold push for Canada. It was determined to improve the opportunity while the British were shut up in Boston, in 1775. Accordingly, a body of New York and New England troops, to the .amount of two thousand men, under Generals Schuyler and Montgomery, were embodied for this service. Batteaux and flat boats were built at Ticonder- oga and Crown Point, to convey them through Lake Champlain to the river Sorel, by which they were to enter Canada. Schuyler proceeded to Albany, to conclude a treaty with the Indians, which he had been negotiating for some time; but being from illness unable to return, the whole conduct of the enterprise fell upon Montgomery. His first measure was to detach the Indians from the British service; and being strengthened by the arrival of reinforcements and artillery, he prepared to lay siege to the fort of St. John. This fort was garrisoned by nearly all the regular troops then in Canada, and was well provided with stores, ammunition and artillery. The parties of the provincials were spread over the adjacent country, and were everywhere well received by the Canadians. While matters were in this situation, Ethan Allen, who seems to have acted rather as a volunteer than as a person obedient to any regular command, undertook to surprise Montreal. He set out upon this hazardous enterprise at the head of a small party of provincials and Canadians, without the knowledge of the com- mander-in-chief. His attempt was unsuccessful. The Canadian militia, supported by a few regular troops, met the adventurer at some distance from Montreal, defeated his troops, and took him prisoner, with forty others ; the rest of the party escaped into the woods. Allen and his fellow-prisoners were by the order of Sir Guy Carleton, governor of Canada, loaded with chains, and in that condition sent to England. Meantime, Montgomery pressed the siege of St. John's, but Carleton was indefatigable in his endeavors to raise forces for its relief. Colonel M'Clean with some Scotch and Canadians, to the number of one hundred, were posted near the junction of the Sorel with the St. Lawrence. Carleton used his utmost diligence to effect a junction with M'Clean, and then to march to the relief of St. John's; but his purpose was defeated by the activity of the provincials. He was attacked at Longueil, in attempting to cross the river from the island of Montreal, by a party of Ameri cans, who easily repulsed the Canadians, and frustrated his whole plan, St. John's surrendered, and Montgomery immediately ap proached Montreal. A capitulation was proposed by the principal 576 THE UNITED STATES. French and English inhabitants, including a sort of general treaty, which Montgomery refused, as they were in no state of defence to entitle them to a capitulation, and were on their side unable to fulfil the conditions. The Americans took possession of Montreal upon the 13th of November, 1775. Sir Guy Carleton. It was now the season of the year when troops usually go into winter quarters ; and in such a climate as that of Canada, this step appeared more especially necessary. It seems a task beyond the ordinary powers of man, for troops to march in that season through a wild and uncultivated country, covered with forests, thickets and deep snows. Yet the Americans, encouraged by their good fortune, pushed on to attempts altogether beyond their strength. Their success upon the lakes seduced them into the hopes of capturing the city of Quebec, and they seem to have forgotten or despised the dangers and fatigues of an inclement season, in the prospect of finishing with glory so important an enterprise. The provincials had now the whole command of the lakes. General Prescott had been obliged to enter into a capitu lation, by which the whole of the naval force, consisting of eleven armed vessels, was surrendered into their hands. While Montgomery was carrying on the war in Upper Canada, an expedition of the most novel and daring description was undertaken against the lower part of the province, from the New England side, by a route that had hitherto been unexplored, and considered as impracticable. About the middle of September, ARNOLD'S EXPEDITION TO QUEBEC. 577 Arnold, at the head of two regiments, consisting of about eleven hundred men, marched from the camp at Cambridge to Newbury- port, where vessels were ready to carry them to the mouth of the Kennebec. Upon the 22 A of the same month, they embarked in boats at Gardner's Town, on the Kennebec, and proceeded up -the river. The Kennebec is a rapid stream, and its shores are rocky ; the navigation was continually interrupted by falls, and the carrying places were difficult to traverse. In this passage the boats were frequently rilled with water and overset, in conse quence of which their arms, ammunition and provisions were to a great extent lost or spoiled. Besides the labor of loading and reloading at the carrying places, the troops were obliged to carry the boats on their shoulders, sometimes a dozen miles. That part of the detachment which was employed in managing the batteaux, marched along the banks of the river, and the boats and the men being disposed in three divisions, each division encamped together every night. The march by land was not more pleasant than the passage by water. They had thick woods, deep swamps, steep mountains and precipices to encounter, and were upon many occasions obliged to cut their way through the thickets for miles together. From all these impediments, their progress was very slow, being in general from four or five to ten miles a day. The constant and severe fatigue caused many of them to fall sick. Provisions grew at last so scarce that some of the men ate their dogs, their shoes, the leather of their cartridge-boxes, and whatever else could be converted into food. When they arrived at the head of the Kennebec, which was upwards of one hundred and fifty miles from their point of departure, and, according to their way of travelling, must have been much more distant, they sent back their sick. One of the colonels took that opportunity of return ing with his whole division, from a dread of starvation. This was done without the knowledge of the commander-in-chief, who had marched forward to explore the way. By this desertion Arnold's detachment was reduced about one third. They, how ever, proceeded with unabated resolution, and at length reached the heights of land which border Canada on the south, and after a few days' farther march, they emerged from the wilderness at the head of the river Chaudiere, which runs into the St. Law rence near Quebec. This little army, every individual of which was nearly reduced to a skeleton, had still a long march to Quebec, though their greatest hardships were now over. On the 3d day of November, an advanced party obtained some provisions, and they soon after came to a house, the first they had seen for thirty-one days, having spent the whole time in traversing a 578 THE UNITED STATES. hideous wilderness, without seeing an inhabitant. Then suffer ings may be easily imagined. The Canadians on the frontier received them with the same good will that Montgomery and his army had experienced. They supplied them liberally with all sorts of provisions and necessaries. Arnold published an address to the people, signed by General Washington, similar to one which had been issued before by Schuyler and Montgomery. They were invited to unite with the other colonies, and to range themselves under the standard of liberty. When Arnold reached Point Levy, opposite Quebec, the inhab itants were in a wavering situation;, the English subjects were disaffected, and the French were not to be trusted with the defence of the city. There were no troops in the place till M' Clean's newly raised regiment of emigrants arrived from the Sorel. Some marines, whom the governor had requested from General Gage at Boston, were refused, on account of the lateness of the season and the danger of navigation. The Canadian militia had been lately embodied by the lieutenant governor. The river alone saved Quebec from an immediate capture, as the inhabitants had taken the precaution to secure all the boats in the stream. But after some days' delay the Americans procured a number of canoes and crossed the St. Lawrence, under cover of a dark night, not withstanding the vigilance of the ships of war in the river. The inhabitants now began to think of securing their property; the disaffected, both English and Canadians, finding the danger pres sing, united for their common defence. Had the city been taken by surprise it is highly probable that the malecontents would have joined the conquerors ; but as it was now doubtful whether the attack would succeed, they considered it the wisest course to remain true to those who had the possession. The inhabitants were embodied and armed, and the sailors landed from the ships. to man the batteries. The besieged were considerably superior in numbers to the besiegers, and Arnold had no artillery. It is probable that he depended upon the disaffection of the inhabitants, but being disappointed in this, nothing remained practicable but to guard the roads and cut off supplies from the city, till Mont gomery should arrive. Arnold manoeuvred for some days upon the heights near Quebec, and sent two flags to summon the in habitants to surrender, but they were fired at, and no message was admitted ; upon which he withdrew his troops into close quarters, During these proceedings. Montgomery had received large supplies for his army at Montreal, and was advancing upon Quebec. Yet he found his progress beset with great difficulties. ATTACK ON QUEBEC. 579 His army was composed wholly of raw soldiers, transported suddenly from the plough to the field, unused to discipline, and entirely deficient in military skill. He left some troops at Montreal and other posts, and sent detachments into different parts of the province, to encourage the Canadians, and forward supplies of provisions. With the remainder he pushed on to join Arnold His march lay over bad roads ; the first snows of winter had fallen, and the weather was severe. The troops suffered intense hardships, which they encountered with great resolution. Early in December, Montgomery effected a junction with Arnold, at Point aux Trembles, and proceeded to visit Quebec. He wrote a letter to the governor, magnifying his own strength, commenting on the weakness of the garrison, the impossibility of relief, and recommending an immediate surrender. The flag which carried this letter, was fired upon, as well as every other which was sent, so that all communication was cut off between the besiegers and the inhabitants. It was a hopeless attempt in Montgomery to invest a fortified place with a number of troops not superior to those who defended it. His only prospect of suc cess seems to have depended upon the effect which his warlike preparations and the violence of his attack might have produced upon the inhabitants, who, being hastily embodied, might be struck with panic; or he might have hoped, in case his first attack should miscarry, to weary out the garrison with continual alarms. He accordingly commenced a bombardment with five small mortars, which continued for some days ; but his metal was too light to produce any considerable effect against the formidable walls of Quebec. Meanwhile, the snow lay deep upon the ground, and such was the severity of the weather, that human strength seemed incapable of withstanding it in the open field. The New York troops felt these sufferings most keenly, and did not show so much steadiness and resolution as the hardy New Englanders, who had traversed the wilderness with Arnold. These men exhibited amazing constancy and intrepidity. Montgomery found at last that some decisive blow must imme diately be struck, and resolved to storm the place. On the 31st of December, under cover of a violent storm of snow, he disposed his little army into four divisions, of which two made false attacks against the upper town, whilst Montgomery and Arnold conducted the real assault at the other extremity of the place. By this means the alarm was excited in both towns, and might have disconcerted the most experienced troops. From the side of the river St. Lawrence, and round to the Basin, every part seemed equally threatened. Montgomery, at the head of the New York 580 THE UNITED STATES. troops, advanced against the lower town, under Cape Diamond: but, in consequence of some difficulties which had retarded his approach, the signal for engaging had been given, and the garri son alarmed before he could reach the spot. He, notwithstanding, pressed on in a narrow file in a straitened path, having a precipice down to the river on one side, and a high rock hanging over him on the other. Having seized and passed the first barrier, accom panied by a few of his bravest men, he marched boldly to attack the second. This was much stronger than the first, and was defended by a battery of cannon loaded with grape shot. The troops, however, rushed with impetuosity to the attack. Mont gomery was killed at the first assault. His aide-de-camp fell at his side, with most of the officers and soldiers near him. The attempt was at once foiled by this disaster, and the remainder of the troops instantly retreated. In the meantime, Arnold was not idle in his quarter. With an intrepidity that would have done honor to veteran troops, his division attacked that part of the town called the Saut, at Mate- lot, and having penetrated through St. Roques, they stormed a strong battery, which they carried after an hour's sharp engage ment. Here Arnold was wounded, his leg being shattered by a bullet, and his men were obliged to carry him back to the camp ; but these troops did not retreat hastily upon the departure of the commander, like the New York detachment. Arnold's place was supplied by other officers, who, with no less intrepidity, continued the attack. They were as yet ignorant of Montgomery's death, and were so far from being dejected by their own loss, that they pushed on with greater vigor, and made themselves masters of another battery. Had all the provincial troops on this occasion been equal to those of New England, notwithstanding the misfor tunes they sustained by the loss of their general officers, they would doubtless have taken the city. On the retreat of Montgomery's division, the garrison had time to turn their whole attention to Arnold. The situation of the assailants was now such that in attempting a retreat, they were obliged to pass a considerable distance within fifty yards of the walls, exposed to the whole fire of the garrison. A strong detach ment, with several field-pieces, issued through a gate which com manded that passage, and attacked them furiously in the rear, while they were already engaged with the troops which poured upon them in every other quarter. In these desperate circum stances, without a possibility of escape, attacked on all sides, and under every disadvantage of ground as well as numbers, they ATTACK ON QUEBEC. 581 obstinately defended themselves for three hours, and at last surrendered. After the unsuccessful attack of Quebec, the besiegers imme diately quitted their camp, and retired three miles from the city, where they strengthened their quarters as well as they were able, being apprehensive of an assault from the garrison ; but the one army was as unfit for pursuing, as the other was to sustain a severe attack. The governor wisely contented himself with the unexpected advantage he had obtained, without hazarding the fate of the province by a rash enterprise. Quebec was out of danger, and the supplies that were expected, would not fail to relieve the whole province. Arnold, who was now commander-in- chief, saw the perils of his situation. The weather continued uncommonly severe, and the hope of assistance was distant. Notwithstanding, the provincials bore all with patience and resolution. General Arnold. Arnold, who had hitherto displayed uncommon abilities in his march into Canada, discovered on this occasion the vigor of a determined mind, and a genius full of resources. Wounded and defeated, he put his troops in such a condition as to keep them still formidable ; and instead of appearing as one who had met with a repulse, he continued to threaten the city, by turning the siege into a blockade, and effectually obstructed the arrival of supplies of provisions and necessaries for the town. He despatched an express to General Wooster, who was at Montreal, to bring succors, and take upon him the command ; but this could not immediately be done. It appears, from the whole of his oper ations, that Carleton considered it a dangerous expedient to attack v3 582 THE UNITED STATES. Arnold in the field, though he had nearly double the number of his troops ; and that, had it been in the power of General Wooster to send a suitable reinforcement, the fate of Quebec would still have been doubtful. Had not Arnold been wounded, notwithstanding the death of Montgomery, it is not improbable that Quebec would have been taken that evening. The American forces, after having blockaded Quebec for five months, found it impossible to reduce the city. The British received reinforcements in the spring, which augmented the num ber of their troops to thirteen thousand men. The small-pox, together with the hardships of the season, had reduced the num bers of the Americans so low that it was found necessary to withdraw from Canada. They accordingly retreated from the province by the way of Lake Champlain, and by the end of June, 1776, Canada was completely evacuated by the American armies. Retreat across the Jerseys. The cause of the Americans now appeared utteny hopeless. The British were victorious everywhere ; and the defeated and dispirited continentals were flying before their pursuers. Wash ington had not more than fifteen hundred or two thousand men under his command ; and the people of the Jerseys, struck with panic at the overwhelming disasters that had almost annihilated the last vestige of resistance to the British arms, dared not offer him the smallest assistance. The destitution and suffering of the American troops in their retreat, can hardly be exaggerated. In midwinter they executed long and painful marches, half naked. and without shoes to their feet. Their route for miles through the country was marked by tracks of blood, and there was scarcely a tent in the whole army. Having, at length, crossed the Delaware, they deemed themselves in safety from the pursuit of BATTLE OF TRENTON. 583 their enemies, and halted for repose. The British, finding all the boats on the river removed by the Americans, cantoned them selves at Bordentown, Trenton, and other places on the Delaware, with a design to penetrate into Pennsylvania as soon as possible. Desperate as his condition was, Washington did not despair but exhibited, at this trying moment, a degree of fortitude and resolution that never was surpassed. He saw that nothing could save the country but some bold and successful stroke. To turn round and face his victorious enemy with the inconsiderable force under his command, seemed a most hopeless act of desperation ; but as his numbers were diminishing every day, he determined to lose no time in attempting to retrieve his fortunes. He formed the bold resolution of recrossing the Delaware, and attacking the British post at Trenton. On the evening of the 25th of December, Washington crossing the Delaware. 1 T76, the Americans, by a rapid movement, crossed the Delaware, and appeared before the town so suddenly that the enemy had no intelligence of their approach till the attack was begun. The place was garrisoned by a body of Hessians and British light horse, amounting to fifteen hundred men. The whole were killed or taken prisoners, with the exception of six hundred of the cavalry who escaped to Bordentown. Colonel Rahl, who com manded the Hessians, was killed. The loss of the Americans did not exceed five men, three of whon were frozen to death on the march. Washington sent off his prisoners to Philadelphia, and took post at Trenton, where he was joined by considerable 584 THE UNITED STATES. numbers of the inhabitants. A strong force of the British, under Lord Cornwallis, marched from Princeton to attack him. Wash ington was much inferior in strength to his antagonist, yet he was unwilling to retreat without striking another blow. The two armies were divided by only a small stream, and cannonaded each other till night. The British waited for the morning, in expectation of a complete victory. After dark, on the evening of the 2d of January, 1777, Washington ordered a line of fires to be kindled in front of his camp, to deceive the enemy, and then with drew his army ih perfect order and silence. He made a rapid march to Princeton, and early in the morning, before Cornwallis suspected he had removed from his^encampment. he attacked and routed the British force at that place, capturing three hundred prisoners. These successful exploits, performed in the midst of the most discouraging reverses, had a prodigious effect throughout the continent. They gave new confidence to the Americans, roused them from their despondency, brought new recruits to the stand ard of Washington, and raised his military reputation, which had been somewhat depressed by the disasters at New York. The British retreated with their whole force to New Brunswick. The American militia turned out, and in the short space of a month, the invading armies were nearly expelled from the Jerseys. It must be added that the British and Hessians were guilty of the most shameful atrocities while they overran the country, plunder ing, robbing, burning and ravaging, in a manner too shocking to relate. Early in 1777, Washington found himself at the head of a respectable army, amounting to above seven thousand men. The British were much superior, but Washington, by judiciously selecting strong points of defence, contrived to frustrate every attempt of his enemy to penetrate again into the Jerseys. Sir William Howe took the field, at the head of a very strong force, and by marching and countermarching through the months of June and July, made every possible manoeuvre to bring his antagonist to battle ; but Washington foiled all his endeavors so successfully that Howe gave up his design, and determined to make an attempt upon Philadelphia by sailing up Delaware Bay. The British army was therefore embarked, and in the beginning of August arrived at the Capes of Delaware. Here, for some unknown cause, the British commander altered his plan, and the squadron put to sea again, sailed up the Chesapeake, and landed the troops in Maryland. Washington immediately broke up his PHILADELPHIA OCCUPIED BY THE BRITISH. 585 camp before New York, and advanced southward to meet the British. From the eastern shores of the Chesapeake, the British army moved towards Philadelphia, on the 3d of September. Washing ton had crossed the Delaware, determined to risk a battle in defence of the city. His army consisted of about eight thousand effective men. On the llth of September, the two armies met at Brandy wine creek, near the Delaware. The British marched to the attack in two columns, led by General Knyphausen and Lord Cornwallis. Another column attacked the right wing of the Americans. Washington, deceived by false intelligence, delayed to make the proper dispositions for repelling the assault of Corn wallis. The right flank of the Americans was turned, and the troops compelled to retreat. The result was a defeat of the Americans, with the loss of twelve hundred killed and wounded ; among the latter were La Fayette and General Woodford. The loss of the British was not above half that of the Americans. After this victory the British continued to advance, and gained possession of all the roads leading to Philadelphia. Many partial actions took place, but it was found impossible to defend the city. Sir William Howe entered Philadelphia in triumph on the 26th of September, 1777. Congress retired to Lancaster, and after wards to Yorktown. Most of the British army was cantoned in Germantown, Washington, having received reinforcements, attacked this place on the 4th of October. He drove the British into the village, but the latter took possession of a strong stone house, from which they could not be dislodged. The morning was foggy, and this em barrassed the movements of the Americans. Nearly one half their troops were obliged to remain inactive. After a severe conflict the assailants found it necessary to retire. The retreat was per formed in haste, and Lord Cornwallis, with the British light horse, pursued the Americans for some miles. The loss of the British was about five hundred ; that of the Americans, one thousand. Soon after the battle, the British retreated from Germantown. The approach to Philadelphia from the sea was strongly guarded by forts on the Delaware, but the British were aware that without the command of the river, the possession of the city would be of little value. Accordingly, early in October, a force of two thousand men, under Count Donop, attacked the fort at Red Bank, which was garrisoned by four hundred men, under Colonel Greene. The Americans defended the place with such bravery that they compelled the assailants to retire with the loss of four hundred men, including their commander. The British 50 586 THE UNITED STATES. also attacked Fort Mifflin with no better success, losing two ships, one of them of sixty-four guns, which was burnt. In spite of these repulses, the British renewed their attempts, and brought so strong a force to the attack, that it was found necessary to evac uate the forts on the Delaware in November. Some of the Amer ican armed vessels escaped up the river, but many of them were taken or burnt. Various military movements took place during the remainder of the season, but none of them produced any decisive result. About the middle of December, Washington's army went into winter quarters at Valley Forge, about sixteen miles from Philadelphia. Here they built huts in the midst of the woods, and passed the winter amid continual suffering and privation. Many of them were without blankets and almost destitute of clothes. Provis ions, too, were scarce. Yet neither the sufferings of hunger nor cold could shake their constancy to the cause of their country. They submitted to all without murmurs or insubordination. CHAPTER LXI. Burgoyne'' s expedition. The States invaded from Canada. Alliance between the British and the savages. Burgoyne reaches Lake Champlain. His proclama tion to the Americans.- Capture of Ticonderoga. Retreat of the Americans. Their naval force destroyed at Skenesborough. Battle of Hubbardton Barbari ties of the Savages. Murder of Miss M' Crea. Siege of Fort Stanwix, by St. Leger. Defeat of the militia under General Herkimer. Stratagem of the Americans. Retreat of St. Leger from Fort Stanwix. Advance of Burgoyne' s army. Victory of the Americans at Bennington. General Gates takes the command of the northern army. Burgoyne crosses the Hudson, and encamps at Stillwater. Battle of Freeman's Farm. The Indians abandon Burgoyne' s army. Battle of Bemus's Heights. Burgoyne retreats to Saratoga. Clinton's expedition up the Hudson. Burning of Esopus. The British army surrounded at Saratoga. Surrender of Burgoyne. Clinton retreats to New York. EARLY in 1777, the British ministry struck out a new plan, that of forming a line of military communication between New York and Canada. They considered the New England people as the soul of the confederacy, and promised themselves great advantages by the project of severing them from all communication with the neighboring states. They hoped, when this was accomplished, to be able to surround them so effectually with fleets, armies, and Indian allies, as to compel their unconditional submission. These views led to the scheme for the invasion of the provinces from Canada. The regular troops, British and German, allotted to this service amounted to upwards of seven thousand. They were equipped with the finest train of brass artillery ever seen in a British army, [n addition to the regulars, it was supposed that the Canadians, and the loyalists in the neighboring states, would send large reinforcements, well calculated for the peculiar nature of the service. Arms and accoutrements were accordingly provided to supply them. Several nations of savages had also been induced to take up the hatchet, as allies to the British ; but the policy as well as the humanity of employing them, was questioned in Great Britain. The opposers of the scheme contended that Indians were capricious, inconstant and intractable ; their rapac ity insatiate, and their actions cruel and barbarous. On the other hand, the zeal of the British ministry for reducing the revolted colonies was so violent, as to cause them, in their excessive wrath, ADVANCE OF BURGOYNfi's ARMY. 589 to forget that their adversaries were men. In their opinion the only method of speedily crushing the rebellion of the Americans, was to involve them in such complicated distress, as would render their situation intolerable. The counsels of cruelty prevailed. Presents were liberally distributed among the savages. Induced by these, and also by their innate love of war and plunder, they poured forth their warriors in immense numbers. The whole army was put under the command of Lieutenant General Burgoyne, an officer of distinguished abilities, whose spirit of enterprise and thirst for military fame were notorious. He was accompanied by Major General Philips, of the artillery, who had established a solid reputation during the late war in Germany, and by Major General Reidesel, and Brigadier General Specht, of the German troops, together with the British Generals Frazer, Powel, and Hamilton, all officers of distinguished merit. The army arrived at Quebec in the spring of 1777. The British had undisturbed possession of the northern part of Lake Champlain. Their marine force on the lake, with which in the preceding campaign they had destroyed the American ship ping, was considerable. A portion of the army was to be left in Canada for its internal security, and Sir Guy Carleton's military command was restricted to the limits of that province. Though the British ministry attributed the preservation of Canada to his abilities, in 1775 and 1776, yet, by their arrangements for the grand expedition, he was only called upon to act a secondary part to Burgoyne. His behavior on this occasion was moderate and dutiful. Instead of thwarting or retarding a service which was virtually taken out of his hands, he applied himself to sup port and forward it with the same diligence as if the arrangement had been entirely his own and committed to himself for execu tion. The plan of the expedition was this. Burgoyne, with the main body, was to advance by the way of Lake Champlain, and force his way to Albany, or, at least, so far as to effect a junction with the royal army from New York. A detachment was to ascend! the St. Lawrence, to Lake Ontario, and from that quarter to pene trate towards Albany, by the way of the Mohawk. This body was put under the command of Lieutenant Colonel St. Leger. and consisted of about two hundred British troops, a regiment of New York loyalists, under Sir John Johnson, and a large body of savages. Burgoyne set out from Quebec and advanced rapidly to Lake Champlain, where he embarked his army, and landed at Crown Point in June. Here, on the 20th, he met the Indians, and 50* w3 590 THE UNITED STATES. welcomed them with a war-feast, and a speech well calculated to excite them to take part with the royal army. He pointedly for bade them to shed blood except in battle ; and commanded that aged men, women, children and prisoners, should be held sacred from the knife and hatchet, even in the heat of actual conflict. A reward was promised for prisoners, and a severe enquiry threat ened for scalps ; though permission' was granted to take them from those who were previously killed in fair conflict. These restric tions, however, were not sufficient to restrain their savage barbarities. Burgoyne then issued a proclamation, designed to spread terror among the inhabitants. The numbers of his Indian associates were magnified, and their eagerness to be let loose upon their prey described in high-sounding words. The force of the British armies and fleets, prepared to crush every part of the revolted colonies, was also displayed in swelling terms. All the calamities of war were denounced against those who should be found in arms against the invaders, and pardon and protection were promised to such as should submit. This proclamation was further filled with pompous rhodomontade, and did little more than provoke the ridicule of the Americans. On the 30th of June, the general issued orders, of which the following words are a part: "The army embarks to-morrow to approach the enemy. The services required in this expedition are critical and conspicu ous. During our progress, occasions may occur, in which diffi culty, nor labor, nor life, are to be regarded. This army musi not retreat." From Crown Point, the British proceeded to attack Ticon- deroga. On their approach, they advanced with equal caution and order on both sides of the lake, while their naval force kept in its centre. In a few days, they had surrounded three-fourths of the American works at Ticonderoga, and at Mount Indepen dence ; and had also advanced a battery on Mount Defiance so far towards completion, that in twenty-four hours it would have been ready to open. In these circumstances, General St. Clair, the commanding officer, resolved to evacuate the poet; but con ceiving it prudent to take the sentiments of the general officers, he called a council of war. It was represented to this council that the garrison was not sufficient to man one half the works; that as the whole must be on constant duty, it would be impossible for them to sustain the necessary fatigue for any length of time; and that, as the place would be completely invested on all sides within a day, nothing but an immediate evacuation of the post could save the men. The situation of General St. Clair was highly embarrassing. Such was the confidence of the American people ACTION AT SKENESBOROUGH. 591 in the fancied strength of this post, that to retreat without risking a battle, could not fail of drawing on him the denunciation of the whole country. On the other hand, to stand still, and by suffering himself to be surrounded, to risk his whole army in the defence of a single post, was contrary to the true interests of the states. In this trying situation, with the unanimous approbation of the council, he adopted the heroic resolution of sacrificing his personal reputation to save his army. The confident countenance of the garrison had induced their adversaries to proceed with caution While from this cause they were awed into respect, the retreat of the Americans was completed with so much secrecy and expedi tion, that a considerable part of the stores was saved, and the whole would have been embarked, had not a violent gale of wind prevented the boats from reaching their station. The works abandoned by the Americans, were chiefly the old French lines constructed in the late war, which had - been repaired the year before, and were in good order. New works were begun on the mount ; but there was neither time nor strength of hands to com plete them. Much timber had been felled between the East creek and the foot of the mount, to retard the approaches of the British. All the redoubts on the low ground were abandoned, for want of men to occupy them. These works, together with ninety-three pieces of ordnance, and a large collection of provisions, fell into the hands of the British. The retreating army embarked as much of their baggage and stores as they had any prospect of saving, and despatched it, under convoy of five armed gallies, to Skenesborough. Their main body marched towards the same place by way of Castleton. The British instantly pursued. General Frazer, with the light troops, advanced on the main body of the Americans. General Reidesel was also ordered, with the greater part of the Brunswick troops, to march in the same direction. Burgoyne, in person, con ducted the pursuit by water. The obstructions to the navigation not having been completed, were soon cut through. The two frigates, the Royal George and the Inflexible, together with the gun-boats, came up with, and attacked the American gallies, near Skenesborough falls. On the approach of the frigates, all oppo sition ceased. Two of the gallies were taken, and three blown up. The Americans set fire to their works, mills and batteaux. They were now left in the woods, destitute of provisions. In this forlorn situation, they made their escape up Wood Creek to Fort Anne. Frazsr pursued the retreating Americans, and on the 7th of July, came up and attacked them at Hubbardton. They made a gallant SUCCESS OF THE BRITISH TROOPS. 593 resistance, but after sustaining considerable loss, were obliged to give way. Lieutenant Colonel Hall, with the 9th British regiment, was detached from Skenesborough, to take post near Fort Anne. An engagement ensued between him and a few Americans ; but the latter, after a conflict of two hours, set fire to the fort, and retreated to Fort Edward. The destruction of the gallies and batteaux of the Americans at Skenesborough, and the defeat of their rear, obliged St. Clair, in order to avoid getting between two fires, to change the direction of his main body, and to wheel about from Castleton to the left. After a fatiguing march of seven days, he joined General Schuyler, at Fort Edward. Their com bined forces, including the militia, not exceeding in the whole four thousand four hundred men, were, on the approach of Burgoyne, compelled to retire farther into the country, bordering on Albany. Such was the rapid torrent of success, which, in this period of the campaign, swept away all opposition from before the royal army. The officers and men were highly elated with their good fortune. They considered their toils to be nearly at an end; Albany was within their grasp, and the conquest of the adjacent provinces reduced to a certainty. In Great Britain, intelligence of the progress of Burgoyne diffused a general joy. As to the Americans, the loss of reputation which they sustained in the opinion of their European admirers, was greater than their loss of posts, artillery and troops. They were stigmatized as wanting resolution. Their unqualified subjugation, or unconditional sub mission was considered near at hand. The opinion now prevailed that the war in effect was over, or that the further resistance of the colonies would serve only to make the terms of their submi^s- sion more humiliating. The terror which the loss of Ticonderoga spread through the New England states was great; yet no dis position to purchase safety by submission appeared in any quarter. The people did not sink under the apprehensions of danger, but acted with vigor and firmness. The royal army, after these successes, continued for some days in Skenesborough, waiting for their tents, baggage and provision. In the meantime, Burgoyne put forth a proclamation, in which he called on the inhabitants of the adjacent country to send a depu tation of ten or more persons from their respective townships to meet Colonel Skene at Castleton, on the 15th of July. The troops were at the same time busily employed in constructing a road and clearing a creek, to open a passage for the conveyance of their stores. A party of the royal army, which had been left behind at Ticonderoga, was equally industrious in carrying gun- 594 THE UNITED STATES. boats, provisions and vessels, over land into Lake George. An immensity of labor in every quarter was necessary ; but animated as they were by past successes and future hopes, they disregarded toil and danger. From Skenesborough, Burgoyne directed his course towards Fort Edward, on the Hudson. Though the distance in a right line is but a few miles, yet such was the wildness of the country, and such were the difficulties thrown in his way by the Americans, that the army advanced hardly more than a mile a day. The Americans, under the direction of Schuyler, had feHed large trees on both sides of the road, cover ing it, with their branches interwoven. The face of the country was likewise so intersected with creeks and marshes, that the British had no less than forty bridges to construct, one of which was built with logs over a morass two miles in extent. The opinion formed by General Burgoyne as to the effect of his march from Skenesborough to Fort Edward, on the American garrison, was verified by the event ; for, being apprehensive of having their retreat cut off, they abandoned their fort and burnt their vessels. The navigation of Lake George being thereby left free, provisions and ammunition were brought forward from Fort George to the navigable parts of the Hudson. This was a dis tance of fifteen miles, and the roads were difficult. The intricate combination of land and water carriage,- together with the insuffi cient means of transportation, and excessive rains, caused such delays, that, at the end of fifteen days there were not more than four days' provisions brought forward, nor above ten batteaux in the river. The difficulties of this march through the wilderness were encountered and overcome by the royal army with a spirit and alacrity which could not be exceeded. At length, on the 30th of July, after incredible fatigue and labor, Burgoyne' s army reached the Hudson at Fort Edward. Their exultation, on accomplishing what for a long time had been the object of their hopes, was now unbounded. While the British were retarded in their advance by the com bined difficulties of nature and art, events took place which proved the wisdom and propriety of the retreat from Ticonderoga. The army, saved by that measure, still kept between the inhabi tants and their invaders. This abated the panic of the people, and became a point of union for their defence. On the other hand, had they stood their ground at Ticonderoga, they must inevitably either have been cut to pieces or made prisoners. A few days after the evacuation, Schuyler had issued a proclama tion, calling to the minds of the inhabitants the late barbarities of the royal army in the Jerseys j warning them that they would BARBARITIES OF THE SAVAGES. 595 be dealt with as traitors if they joined the British, and requiring them to repair with their arms to the American standard. Nu merous parties were employed in felling tree,s and throwing obstructions in the way of the advancing army. At first, an universal panic intimidated the inhabitants ; but they soon recov ered. The laws of self-preservation operated in their full force, and diffused a general activity through the adjacent states. The formalities of convening, drafting, and officering the militia, were in many instances dispensed with. Hundreds seized their firelocks and marched, on the general call, without waiting for the orders of their commanders. The inhabitants had no means of security, but to abandon their habitations and take up arms. Every indi vidual saw the necessity of becoming a soldier. The terror excited by the Indians, instead of disposing the inhabitants to court British protection, had a contrary effect. The friends of the royal cause, as well as its enemies, suffered from the indiscriminate barbarities of the savages. Among other instances, the murder of Miss M'Crea, excited an universal Murder of Miss M 1 Crea. horror. This maiden, in the innocence of youth, and the bloom of beauty, the daughter of a loyalist, and engaged in marriage to a British officer, was, on the very day of her intended nuptials, massacred by the savage auxiliaries of the British army. This barbarity inflamed the American people, and blackened the royal cause. The cruelties of the Indians and the cause in which they were engaged, were associated together, and presented in one view to the alarmed inhabitants. In conjunction with other circum stances, it impressed on the minds of the inhabitants a general conviction that a vigorous, determined opposition, was the. only 596 THE UNITED STATES. means for their preservation. Could they have indulged the hope of security and protection, while they remained peaceably at their homes, they would have found many excuses for declining to join the army ; out when they contrasted the dangers of a manly resistance with those of a passive inaction, they chose the former, as the least o two unavoidable evils. All the feeble aid which the royal army received from their Indian auxiliaries was infi nitely overbalanced by the odium which it brought on their cause. Men of abilities and of eloquence, thus influenced, harangued the inhabitants in- their several towns, and set forth in high color ing the cruelties of the savage auxiliaries of Great Britain, and the fair prospects of capturing the whole force of their enemies. From the combined influence of these causes, the American army soon amounted to upwards of thirteen thousand men. While Burgoyne was forcing his way towards Albany, St. Leger was cooperating with him in the Mohawk country. He had ascended the St. Lawrence, crossed Lake Ontario, and com menced the siege of Fort Stanwix. At his approach, on the 3d of August, General Herkimer collected about eight hundred of the militia of the parts adjacent, for the relief of the garrison. St. Leger, aware of the consequences of being attacked in his trenches, detached Sir John Johnson, with some loyalists and Indians, to lie in ambush, and intercept the advancing militia. The stratagem took effect. Herkimer and his militia were sur prised on the 6th of August, but several of the Indians were killed by their fire. A scene of confusion followed. Some of Herkimer' s men ran off; but others posted themselves behind logs, and continued to fight with bravery and success. The loss on the side of the Americans was one hundred and sixty killed. Among them was their gallant leader. St. Leger availed himself of the terror excited on this occasion, and endeavored, by strong representations of the Indian barbarities, to intimidate the garrison. He sent messages, demanding the surrender of the fort, and stating the impossibility of their obtaining relief, as their friends under Herkimer were entirely cut off, and that Burgoyne had forced his way through the country, and was daily receiving the submission of the inhabitants. He represented the pains he had taken to check the Indians, and promised that, in case of an immediate surrender, every man in the garrison should be spared. He particularly enlarged on the circumstance "that the Indians were determined, in case of their meeting with further opposition, to massacre not only the garrison, but every man, woman and child in the Mohawk country." Colonel jGansevoort, who com manded in the fort, replied, " that he was determined to defend it SIEGE OF FORT STANWIX. 597 to the last extremity, against all enemies whatever, without any concern for the consequences of doing his duty." Colonel Willet and Lieutenant Stockwell undertook to give information to the neighborhood, of the state of the garrison. These two adventurous officers passed by night through the besiegers' works, and, at the hazard of falling into the hands of savages, made their way for fifty miles through dangers and difficulties, in order to procure relief. In the meantime, the British carried on the siege with such industry, that, in less than three weeks, they had advanced within one hundred and fifty yards of the fort. The brave garrison, in its hour of danger, was not forgotten. General Arnold, with a brigade of troops, had been previously despatched by Schuyler for their relief, and was then near at hand. A person, who had been taken up by the Americans on suspicion of being a spy, was promised his life, on consideration that he should go and alarm the Indians with mag nified representations of the numbers marching against them. This took immediate effect, although St. Leger used every art to retain them. Part of the savages decamped at once, and the remainder threatened to follow, if the British did not immediately retreat. St. Leger was forced to comply, and on the 22d of August, the siege of Fort Stanwix was raised. From the disorder occasioned by the precipitancy of the Indians, the tents and much of the artillery and stores of the besiegers fell into the hands of the Americans. The discontented savages, exasperated at their ill fortune, are said, on their retreat, to have robbed their British associates of their baggage and provisions. While the fate of this post was in suspense, it occurred to Bur- goyne that a sudden and rapid movement forward would be of the utmost consequence. As the principal force of his enemy was in front, between him and Albany, he hoped, by advancing on them, to reduce them to the necessity of fighting, or of retreating to New England. Had they retreated up the Mohawk, they would, in case of St. Leger' s success, have put themselves between two fires. Had they retreated to Albany, it was supposed their situation would have been worse, as a cooperation from New York was expected. Besides, in case of that movement, an opportunity would have been given for a junction of Burgoyne and St. Leger. New England seemed to be the only quarter left for their escape. The principal objection against Burgoyne's project was the difficulty of getting provisions for his troops. To keep up a communication with Fort George, so as to obtain from that garrison regular supplies, at a distance daily increasing, was wholly impracticable. The ad vantages 'which were expected 51 x3 598 THE UNITED STATES. from the proposed measure, were too dazzling to be easily relin quished. Though the impossibility of drawing provisions from stores in their rear was known and acknowledged, yet a hope was indulged that they might be elsewhere obtained. Burgoyne expected great resources from the plentiful farms of Vermont. Every day's account induced him to believe that one portion of the inhabitants in that country were panic-struck, and that another, and by far the most numerous, were friends to the royal cause, and only waited for the appearance of a protecting power to show themselves. Relying on this intelligence, on the 14th of August, he detached a body of five hundred troops, with one hundred Indians and two field-pieces, .toward that quarter. This force was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Baum ; and its immediate purpose was to seize upon a magazine of supplies, which the Americans had collected at Bennington, and which was guarded only by the mil tia. Baum was instructed to avoid all danger of being surrounded, or of having his retreat cut off. On approaching Bennington, he found the American militia stronger than he had supposed. He, therefore, took post in the vicinity, entrenched his party, and de spatched an express to Burgoyne, with an account of his situation. Colonel Breyman was detached to reinforce him. Though every exertion was made to push forward this reinforcement, yet, from the impracticable face of the country and defective means of transportation, thirty-two hours had elapsed before they had marched twenty-four miles. General Stark, who commanded the American militia, instead of acting only on the defensive, determined to attack the enemy. On the 16th of August, he fell upon Baum in his entrenchments, before Breyman could arrive. After a sharp action, the entrench ments were carried, and the whole detachment made prisoners. Thus a body of raw militia, without bayonets or artillery, attacked and routed five hundred regular troops, advantageously posted behind entrenchments, furnished with the best arms, and defended with two pieces of cannon. Breyman, with his regi ment of one thousand German troops and two field-pieces, arrived just as the battle was decided and the Americans had dispersed in pursuit of the fugitives. The tide of success seemed to be instantly turned, and the victory was about to be wrested from the hands of the Americans. But, in this critical moment, a fresh regiment of militia, under Colonel Warner, made its appearance. The Americans rallied, and the battle commenced anew. Both parties fought Avith great courage ; but on the approach of night, the Germans gave way, and were utterly routed. The victory of BATTLE OF BENNINGTON. 599 the American militia was complete. The loss of the enemy was nine hundred and thirty-four men, one thousand stand of arms, four brass cannon, two hundred and fifty dragoon swords, twelve drums, eight loads of baggage, and twenty horses. Baum died of his wounds. The American loss did not exceed one hundred men. This unexpected success reanimated the drooping spirits of the Americans, and at once turned the tide of war against the inva ders. It was the first occurrence, which, for a long time, had taken place in favor of the American northern army. From December, 1775, it had experienced a series of misfortunes tread ing on each other's heels, and a succession of defeats succeeding defeats. Almost every movement had been a retreat. The transactions after this period present a remarkable contrast. Fortune, which, previous to the battle of Bennington, had not for a moment quitted the British standard, seemed, after that event, totally to desert it. Congress had placed General Gates at the head of the northern army. His arrival, on the 19th of August, gave fresh vigor to the exertions of the inhabitants. The militia, flushed with their recent victory, flocked in great numbers to his standard, and were soon animated with a hope of capturing the whole British army. A spirit of adventure burst forth in many points. While Burgoyne was urging his preparations for advanc ing towards Albany, an enterprise was undertaken by General Lincoln, to recover Ticonderoga and other posts in the rear of the British. He detached Colonel Brown, with five hundred men, to the landing at Lake George. The colonel conducted his operations with so much address, that, on the 18th of September, he surprised all the outposts between the landing at the north end of Lake George and Ticonderoga. He also captured Mount Defiance and Mount Hope, the French lines, and a block house, two hundred batteaux, several gun-boats, and an armed sloop, together with two hundred and ninety prisoners, and at the same time released one hundred Americans. His own loss was trifling. When the stores for thirty days' subsistence were brought for ward from Lake George, Burgoyne gave up all communication with the magazines in his rear, and, on the 14th of September, crossed the Hudson. This movement was the subject of much discussion. Some accused the impetuosity of the general, and alleged that it was premature, as he was not yet sure of aid from New York ; but he pleaded the peremptory orders of his superiors. Burgoyne, after crossing the Hudson, advanced southward along its bank, and in four days encamped at Freeman's Farm, about two miles from Gates's army, which was then posted near Still- 600 THE UNITED STATES. water. The Americans, elated with their successes at Bennington and Fort Stanwix, thought no longer of retreating, but advanced to meet the enemy. The first battle of Stillwater was fought on the 19th of September. The action began a little before noon, between the scouting parties of the two armies. The comman ders, on both sides, supported and reinforced their respective parties. The conflict, though severe, was only partial for an hour and a half; but after a short pause, it became general, and continued for three hours, without any intermission. A constant blaze of musketry -was kept up, and both armies seemed deter mined on death or victory. The Americans and British alter nately drove and were driven by each other. Men and officers dropped every moment. Several of the Americans mounted the trees, and, as often as they could distinguish an officer's uniform, took him off by deliberate aim. Few actions have been charac terized by more obstinacy in attack or defence. The British repeatedly tried their bayonets, but without their usual success. At length, night put an end to the effusion of blood. The British lost upwards of five hundred men, including killed, wounded and prisoners. The Americans, inclusive of the missing, lost three hundred and nineteen. Thirty-six, out of forty-eight British matrosses were killed or wounded. The 62d British regiment, which was five hundred strong, when it left Canada, was reduced to sixty men. This hard-fought battle decided nothing apparently ; yet hardly anything could have been more disastrous to the British. The resolution and obstinacy with which the Americans had faced their veteran troops, struck them with the most alarming appre hensions. Burgoyne, who, up to this time, had persisted in the delusive notion that the Americans were cowards, found all his hopes and calculations confounded by this unexpected display of courage. In his confidential letters to the Secretary of State, at this period, he reluctantly confesses that his opinion as to the military character of the enemy had totally changed. Moreover, this indecisive battle was soon followed by important consequen ces. Of these, one was the diminution of the zeal and alacrity of the Indians in the British army. The dangerous service in which they were engaged, was by no means suited to their habits of war. They were disappointed of their expected plunder, and saw nothing before them but hardships and danger. Fidelity and honor were too feeble motives in the minds of savages to retain them in such a profitless service. By deserting in the season when their aid would have been most useful, they furnished a second instance of the impolicy of depending upon them. Very BATTLE OF BEMUS'S HEIGHTS. 601 little more perseverance was exhibited by the Canadians and other British provincials. They also abandoned the British standard, when they found that instead of a flying and dispirited enemy, they had a numerous and resolute force opposed to them, These desertions were not the only disappointments which Bur- goyne experienced. From the commencement of the expedition, he had promised himself a strong reinforcement from New York. He depended on its being able to force its way to Albany, and to join him there or in the vicinity. This cooperation, though attempted, failed in the execution, while the expectation of it con tributed to involve him in some difficulties to which he would not otherwise have been exposed. On the 21st of September, Burgoyne received intelligence in cipher, that Sir Henry Clinton, who then commanded in New York, intended to make a diversion in his favor, by attacking the fortresses on the Hudson, between New York and Albany. In answer to this, he despatched to Clinton a trusty person with a full account of his situation, and instructions to press the imme diate execution of his design, and to assure him that he should be able to hold his present position till the 12th of October. The reasonable expectation of succor from New York, founded on this intelligence, made it disgraceful for Burgoyne to retreat, and at the same time improper to urge offensive operations. In this posture of affairs, a delay of two or three weeks became neces sary. In the meantime, the provisions of the royal army were lessen ing, and the confidence and mmfbers of the American army increasing. The New England people were fully sensible that their all was at stake, and at the same time sanguine, that by vigorous exertions on their part, Burgoyne would be so entangled that his surrender would be unavoidable. Every moment made the situation of the British more critical. From the uncertainty of receiving further supplies, Burgoyne, on the 1st of October, lessened the soldiers' provisions. On the 7th no intelligence of the expected cooperation had arrived, and Burgoyne marched to force a passage round the left of the Americans, at Freeman's Farm. The body of troops employed for this purpose, consisted of fifteen hundred chosen men, commanded by Generals Burgoyne, Philips, Reidesel and Frazer. As they advanced from the camp at Bemus's Heights, they were checked by a sudden and impetuous attack of the Americans, under Arnold. The British grenadiers sustained it with great firmness. The Americans extended their attack along the whole front of the German troops, who were posted on the right of the grenadiers; and they also marched a large body 602 THE UNITED STATffS, round their flank, in order to cut off their retreat. To oppose this bold enterprise, the British light infantry were directed to form a second line, and to cover the retreat of the troops into the camp. In the meantime, the Americans pushed forward a fresh and strong reinforcement, to renew the action on Burgoyne's left. That part of his army was obliged to give way ; but the light infantry and 24th regiment, by a 'quick movement, came to its help, and saved it from total ruin. The British camp being now exposed to great danger, the troops began to retreat within the lines. Arnold's corps followed close upon their heels, and attacked the works defended by Lord Balcarras at the head of the light infantry ; but the Americans, having an abbatis and many other obstructions to cross, were compelled to retire. Arnold joined another regiment, and attacked the lines and redoubt defended by Breyman, at the head of the German grenadiers. The assailants pushed on with great intre pidity, in the face of a tremendous storm of grape shot, and carried the works. Arnold was one of the first who entered them. Brey man was killed, and his troops were driven from their post. They gained their tents, about thirty or forty yards from their works ; but, on finding that the assault was general, they gave one fire, after which some retreated to the British camp, and others threw down their arms. The night put an end, to the action. This day was fatal to many brave men. The British officers suffered more than their common proportion. Among their slain, General Frazer, on account of his distinguished merits, was the subject of particular regret. Sir James Clark, Burgoyne's aid-de camp, was mortally wounded. The general himself had a nar row escape ; a shot passed through his hat, and another through his waistcoat. Majors Williams and Ackland were taken pris oners. The loss of the Americans was inconsiderable. Arnold, to whose courage they were much indebted for the success of the day, was among the wounded. They took more than two hun dred prisoners, besides nine pieces of brass artillery, and the encampment of a German brigade, with all their equipage. The royal troops remained under arms the whole of the next day, in expectation of another battle; but nothing more than skirmishes took place. The position of the British army, after the battle at Bemus's Heights, was so dangerous, that an imme diate retreat was necessary. This hazardous movement was exe cuted in the course of a single night, and the sick and wounded in the hospitals were abandoned to the Americans. Gates now saw a fair prospect of capturing his enemy, without exposing his army to the dangers of another battle. His measures were therefore KAVAGES OF THE BRITISH UNDER CLINTON. 603 principally designed to cut off the retreat of the British and pre vent their receiving any further supplies. Burgoyne entrenched himself at Saratoga. In the meantime, Clinton had been making an attempt to relieve him from New York. On the 5th of October, he con ducted an expedition up the Hudson. This consisted of about three thousand men, with a suitable naval force. After making many feints, he landed at Stony Point, marched across the hills, and attacked and took Forts Montgomery and Clinton, on the river. He then proceeded to ravage the country, and a detach ment, under General Vaughan, sacked the fine village of Esopus, burning every house to the ground. Charity would lead us to suppose that these devastations were designed to answer military purposes. Their authors might have hoped to divert the attention of General Gates, and thus indirectly relieve Burgoyne ; but the artifice did not take effect. The preservation of property was only a secondary object with the Americans. The capture of Burgoyne's army promised such important advantages, that they would not suffer any other consideration to interfere with it. Gates did not make a single movement that lessened his chance of effecting this grand object. The passage of the North River was made so practicable by the capture of the two forts, that Clinton, with his whole force, amounting to three thousand men, might have reached Albany, and penetrated to Gates's encampment, before the 12th of October, the day till which Burgoyne had agreed to wait for aid from New York. While the British were laying the country waste, they might, by pushing forward about one hundred and forty miles in six days, have brought the Americans between two fires, at least twenty-four hours before the surrender of Burgoyne. Why this opportunity was neglected, has never yet been satisfactorily explained. Gates now posted fourteen hundred men on the heights oppo site the fords of Saratoga, two thousand more in the rear of the British, to prevent a retreat to Fort Edward, and fifteen hundred at a fort higher up. Burgoyne, receiving intelligence of these movements, concluded that Gates meant to turn his right flank. This, if effected, would have entirely enclosed him. To prepare for a retreat to Lake George, he ordered a detachment of arti ficers, with a strong escort of British and loyalists, to repair the bridges, and open the road leading thither. Part of the escort was withdrawn on other duty; and the remainder, on a slight attack by an inconsiderable party of Americans, took to flight. The workmen, thus left without support, were unable to effect 604 THE UNITED STATES. their purpose. The only practicable line of retreat which now remained was hy a night march to Fort Edward. Before this attempt could be made, scouts returned with the intelligence that the Americans were entrenched opposite those fords on the Hud son, over which it was necessary to pass, and that they were also in force on the high ground between Fort Edward and Fort George. They had, at the same 'time, parties along the whole shore, and posts so near as to observe every motion of the royal army. Their lines now extended nearly in a circle round the British, and they were, by the nature of the ground, in a great measure secured from attacks. The royal army could not long remain stationary for want of provisions ; nor could it advance towards Albany, without attacking a force greatly superior in number ; nor could it retreat without crossing a river, in the face of the enemy. Burgoyne now found his condition truly desperate ; abandoned in the most critical moment by his Indian allies, unsupported by the force from New York, his army weakened by the timidity and desertion of the Canadians, worn down by a series of incessant efforts, greatly reduced in their numbers by repeated battles, and invested by an army nearly three times their number. A continual cannonade annoyed his camp, and rifle and grape shot fell in all parts of the lines. The soldiers, nevertheless, retained a great share of fortitude. The i2th of October at length arrived. The day was spent in anxious expectation. But as no prospect of assistance appeared, and their provisions were nearly expended, the hope of receiving any in due time for their relief, could not be further indulged. On the evening of that day Bur goyne took an account of the provisions left in his carnp, and found only a scanty subsistence for three days. In this state of distress a council of war was called, and it was made so general as to comprehend both the field officers and the captains. Their unanimous opinion was that their present situation justified a capitulation on honorable terms. A negotiation was then opened with the American commander, which ended in Burgoyne's surrendering his whole army, on condition that they should be transported to England, and not serve against the Americans during the war. As soon as the capitulation was signed, on the 16th of October, the Americans marched into their lines, and were kept there till the royal army had deposited their arms at the place appointed. The delicacy with which this business was conducted reflected honor on the American general. Nor did the politeness of Gates end here. Every circumstance was withheld that could look like an ostentation of triumph in the American SURRENDER OF BURGOYNE. 605 army. The captive general was received by his conqueror with respect and kindness. A number of the principal officers of both armies met at General Gates' s quarters, and for a while seemed to forget, in social and convivial pleasures, that they had been ene mies. The British troops partook liberally of the plenty that reigned in the American army. It was the more acceptable to them, as they were destitute of bread and flour, and had only as much meat left as was sufficient for a day. Surrender of Burgoyne. By this capitulation, five thousand seven hundred and ninety men were surrendered prisoners. The sick and wounded left in camp, when the British retreated to Saratoga, together with the numbers of the British, German and Canadian troops, who were killed wounded or taken, and who had deserted in the preceding part of the expedition, were reckoned at four thousand six hundred and eighty-nine. The whole royal force, exclusive of Indians, was probably much above ten thousand. The stores which the Americans acquired were considerable. The captured artil lery consisted of thirty-five brass field-pieces. There were also four thousand six hundred and fifty-seven muskets, and a variety of other useful articles, which fell into their hands. The regular troops of Gates's army amounted to nine thousand and ninety- three, the militia, to four thousand one hundred and twenty nine, Of the former, two thousand one hundred and three were sick, ov on furlough, and five hundred and sixty-two of the latter were in the same situation. The number of the militia was constantly fluctuating. The general exultation of the Americans, on receiving the agreeable intelligence of the capture of Burgoyne, disarmed them Y3 606 THE UNITED STATES. of much of their resentment. The burnings and devastations which had been practised by the invaders, were sufficient to have inflamed their minds ; but private feelings were in a great measure absorbed in the general joy at the ultimate success of the Ameri can arms. Immediately after the convention was signed, Gates moved down the river to stop the devastations of the British on the Hudson ; but on hearing of the fate of Burgoyne, they retired to New York. About the same time, the British who had been left in Burgoynci's rear as he advanced from Canada, destroyed their cannon, and, abandoning Ticonderoga, retreated towards Montreal. The whole country, after experiencing for several months the ravages of war, was in a moment restored to perfect tranquillity. Great was the surprise and mortification of the British ministry, on receiving the intelligence of the fate of Burgoyne. The expe dition had been undertaken with the most confident hopes of success. The quality of the troops he commanded was such, that, by their bravery, and his zeal, talents and courage, it was presumed that all the northern parts of the United States would be subdued before the end of the campaign. The good fortune which for some time followed him justified these expectations ; but the catastrophe proved the shallowness of the ministerial views and the presumption of their gejieral. The capture of Burgoyne was the main event on which the course of the revolu tion turned. While it encouraged the Americans to persevere, by well grounded hopes of final success, it increased the em barrassment of that ministry which had so ineffectually labored to compel their submission. Opposition to their measures at home gathered hew strength, and formed a stumbling-block in the road to conquest. This prevented Great Britain from acting with that collected force, which an union of sentiments and councils would have enabled her to exert. Hitherto, the best informed Americans had entertained doubts of success in establishing their independ ence' but henceforward their language was, "that whatever might be the event of their present struggle, they were forever lost to Great Britain." Nor were they deceived. Much effect was produced, in the early part of the struggle for independence, by the writings of Thomas Paine, an author whose ingenuity and vigorous intellect, added to the command of a simple and forcible style of writing, gained him great influence with the multitude of readers. At this period of his life he labored under none of the odium which subsequently fell upon his name, on account of his irreligious works. He came to America in 1774, and his pamphlet, entitled " Common Sense," THOMAS PAINE. 607 which he published soon after hostilities broke out, was so popular and effective that the legislature of Pennsylvania voted him a reward of five hundred pounds. His other revolutionary writings, the "Rights of Man," the "Crisis," and many more, had much effect in strengthening the cause of independence. Thomas Paine. CHAPTER LXII. franklin's mission to the French Court. Alliance with France. A French fleet under D'Estaing, arrives in America. The British evacuate Philadelphia. Battle of Monmouth. Misconduct of General Lee. Narrow escape of the British squadron. ^Expedition of the Americans and French against Rhode Island. Inactivity of D^Estaing. Failure of the expedition. Catastrophe of Colonel Baylor's regiment. Abortive expedition against Florida. Georgia invaded by the British. Capture of Savannah, and subjugation of the whole State. Franklin. THE capture of Burgoyne's army led the way to important con sequences in Europe. Congress had, at an early date, attempted negotiations with the European powers; but the disasters of the campaign of 1776, and the early part of the following year, ren dered the affairs of the revolution too unpromising to admit of a successful result. Dr. Franklin, who had proceeded to Paris shortly after the Declaration of Independence, was received with civility by the French court, and laid before them the plan of a treaty of alliance drawn up by Congress. The jealous spirit which had always subsisted between France and England, offered a strong motive for the cabinet of Versailles to take up the cause of the colonies, and aim .a deadly blow at their ancient rival. But TREATY OF ALLIANCE WITH FRANCE. 609 the victorious march of Burgoyne from Quebec to the Hudson, had completely discouraged the friends of American indepen dence in Europe, and all hope of successful resistance on the part of the colonists was considered at an end. The intelligence that soon followed, completely reversed this impression. The capture of a whole British army was an achievement so striking and brilliant, that it immediately arrested the attention of all Europe, and impressed the people with a full confidence in the courage and perseverance of the Americans. Under the influence of these impressions, Franklin pushed his negotiations so ably, that the wavering policy of the French cabinet was fixed, and France entered into a treaty of alliance, offensive and defensive, with the thirteen American colonies, agreeing not to lay down her arms till their independence should be acknowledged. On the 6th of February, 1778, this treaty was signed by the .American commis sioners, Franklin, Deane and Lee. It is not unworthy of notice, Silas Deane. as an interesting anecdote of Franklin, that on the day he accom plished this important work, which set the seal to American independence, he arrayed himself in the identical suit of clothes which he had worn in the British House of Lords, when his plea in behalf of the colonies brought upon his head a torrent of foul and intemperate abuse from the king's solicitor, Wedderburne. On that occasion, the philosopher is said to have suffered the attack with firm complacency, making, however, the significant remark "his master shall pay for it." 52 610 THE UNITED STATES. The Marquis de la Fayette, a young Frenchman, had, at an early period of the struggle, embraced the American cause, and signalized himself by his courage in the field. The new treaty was now to afford the Americans the assistance of a formidable fleet and army. A squadron, of twelve ships of the line and four frigates, was immediately despatched from Toulon, under the Count D'Estaing. On the 9th of July, 1778, they arrived in the Delaware. Meantime, war had broken out between France and Great Britain, in consequence of the treaty of alliance. The British, despairing of being able to hold Philadelphia, evacuated the city on the 18th of June, shortly before the arrival of the French fleet, and took up their march across the Jerseys for New York, under the command of Sir Henry Clinton. Wash ington, having penetrated into their design, had previously detached a force to cooperate with the Jersey militia in obstruct ing their progress. The British were encumbered with an enor mous baggage, which, together with the impediments thrown in their way, greatly retarded their march. The American army having, in pursuit of the British, crossed the Delaware, six hun dred additional men were immediately detached under Colonel Morgan, to pursue the British. Washington halted his troops when they had marched to the vicinity of Princeton. When Clinton had advanced to Allentown, he determined, instead of keeping the direct course towards Staten Island, to move towards the sea-coast, near Sandy Hook. Washington, on receiving intelligence that Clinton was proceeding towards Monmouth, despatched one thousand men, under General Wayne, and sent La Fayette to take command of the whole advanced corps, with orders to seize the first opportunity of attacking the enemy's rear. General Lee, who, having been lately exchanged, had joined the army, was first offered this command ; but he declined it, as he was against hazarding an attack. The whole army followed at a proper distance for supporting the advanced corps. Clinton, sus pecting the approach of the Americans, placed his grenadiers, light infantry and chasseurs, in his rear, and his baggage in his front. Washington increased his advanced corps with two brigades, sending Lee, who now wished for the command, to take charge of the whole ; and followed with the main army. On the morn ing of the 28th of June, he ordered Lee to attack the enemy. When Washington had marched about five miles to support the advanced corps, he found Lee retreating at the head of his troops, and without having struck a blow. Washington, highly excited, rode up to him, and demanded what he was about. Lee answered BATTLE OF MONMOTJTH. 611 with warmth and unsuitable language. Washington then ordered Stewart's and Ramsey's battalions to form a line and check the advance of the enemy. Lee was then asked if he would com mand on that ground ; to which he consented. A warm cannon ade immediately commenced between the advanced troops of the British army and the two battalions. These stood their ground till they were intermixed with a part of the British army. Lieutenant Colonel Ramsey, the commander of one of them, was wounded and taken prisoner. General Lee continued till the last on the field of battle, and brought off the rear of the retreating troops. The day was intensely hot, and the men suffered greatly. The check the British received, gave time to make a disposition of the left wing and second line of the American army in a wood, and on the eminence to which Lee was retreating. Here some cannon were placed by Lord Stirling, who commanded the American left wing ; which, with the cooperation of some parties of infantry, effectually stopped the advance of the British in that quarter. General Greene took a position on the right of Stirling. The British attempted to turn the left flank of the Americans, but were checked. They also made a movement to the right with as little success ; Greene, with his artillery, repulsed them. Wayne now advanced with a body of troops, and kept up so severe and well-directed a fire, that the British were soon com pelled to give way. They retired, and took the position that Lee had before occupied. Washington resolved to attack them, and ordered General Poor to move round upon their right, and General Woodford to their left ; but this attack could not be made before it was dark. The troops remained upon the ground during the night, with the intention of attacking early the next morning ; and the main body lay on their arms in the field, to be ready for supporting them. Washington reposed himself in his cloak under a tree, in hopes of renewing the action the next day ; but these hopes were frus trated. The British troops marched away in the night, in such silence, that General Poor, though very near them, knew nothing of their departure. They left behind them four officers and about forty privates, all so badly wounded, that they could not' be removed. The British, on the 30th of June, pursued their maich without further interruption, and soon reached the neighborhood of Sandy Hook. The American General declined all further pur suit of the royal army, and soon after drew off his troops to the border of the Hudson. The loss of the Americans at the battle of Monmouth, was about two hundred and fifty. The loss of the 612 THE UNITED STATES. royal army, inclusive of prisoners, was about three hundred and fifty The emotions of the mind, added to fatigue, in a very hot day, had such a fatal effect, that some of the Americans and fifty -nine of the British, were found dead on the field of battle, without any marks of violence upon their bodies. Sir H. Clinton. It is probable that Washington intended to take no further notice of Lee's misconduct; but the latter could not brook the expressions used by Washington at their first meeting, and wrote him two passionate letters. This occasioned his being arrested and brought to trial. He was found guilty of misbehavior and disobedience of orders, and suspended from his command for a year. Soon after the action of Monmouth, Washington took post at the White Plains, a few miles beyond Kingsbridge ; and the British, though not far distant, did not molest him. The two armies remained in this position from an early day in July, till late in the autumn ; when the Americans retired to Middlebrook, in Jersey, where they quartered themselves for the winter, in huts, in the same manner as they had done at Valley Forge. Immediately on the departure of the British from Philadelphia, congress, after an absence of nine months, returned to that city. On the 6th of August, 1778, they were called upon to give a public audience to a minister plenipotentiary from the court of France. The person appointed to this office was M. Gerard, the same who had been employed in the negotiations antecedent to the treaty. ARRIVAL OF THE FRENCH FLEET. 613 The British had barely completed the removal of their fleet and army from the Delaware to New York, when they received intelligence that a French fleet was on the coast. The first object of D'Estaing was the surprise of Lord Howe's fleet in the Dela ware ; but the French arrived too late. In naval history there are few more narrow escapes than that of the British fleet on this occasion. It consisted only of six sixty-four gun ships, three of fifty, and two of forty, with some frigates and sloops. Most of these had been on long service and were in a bad condi tion. Their force, when compared with that of the French fleet, was so greatly inferior, that had the latter reached the mouth of the Delaware in seventy-five days after leaving Toulon, their capture was inevitable. This was prevented by the various hindrances which retarded D'Estaing in his voyage to the term of eighty-seven days ; in the last eleven of which, Lord Howe's fleet not only quitted the Delaware, but reached the harbor of New York. D'Estaing, disappointed in his first scheme, sailed for Sandy Hook, where he arrived on the llth of July. The sight of the French fleet roused all the active passions of their adversaries. Transported with indignation against the French, for interfering in what they called a domestic quarrel, the British displayed a spirit of zeal and bravery, which could not be exceeded. A thousand volunteers were despatched from their transports to man their fleet. The masters and mates of their merchantmen at New York took their stations at the guns like common sailors. Others put to sea in light vessels to watch the motions of the enemy. The officers and privates of the army con tended with so much eagerness to serve on board the men-of-war, as marines, that it became necessary to decide the honor by lot. D'Estaing came to anchor and continued without the Hook for eleven days. During this time, the British had the mortification of seeing the blockade of their fleet, and the capture of about twenty vessels under English colors. On the 22d of July, the French fleet appeared under weigh. It was an anxious moment for the British. They expected an immediate attack. Nothing less than destruction or victory would have ended the contest. If the first had been their lot, the vast fleet of transports and victuallers and the army must have fallen. But the attack never took place. The pilots of the French fleet declared it impossible to carry the large ships over the bar; and D'Estaing, by the advice of Washington, sailed for Newport. By his departure, the British had a second escape ; for had he remained at the Hook but a few days longer, the fleet of Admiral Byron must have fallen into his hands. That officer had been sent from England 52* z3 614 THE UNITED STATES. to relieve Lord Howe, who had solicited to be recalled; and Byron's fleet was designed to reinforce that which had been previously in service on the coast of America. Byron had met with bad weather, and his ships were separated by storms. They now arrived in a dispersed and shattered condition. Within eight days after the departure of the French fleet, four British ships of the line arrived singly at Sandy Hook. The next attempt of D'Estaing was against Rhode Island, of which the British had been in possession since December, 1778. A combined attack by sea and land was projected, in which it was agreed that General Sullivan should command the American land forces. Such was the eagerness of the people of New Eng land to cooperate with their new allies, and so confident were they of success, that some thousands of volunteers engaged in the service. The militia of Massachusetts were under the com mand of General Hancock. The royal troops on the Island, having been lately reinforced, were about six thousand. Sullivan's force was about ten thousand. Lord Howe followed D'Estaing, and came within sight of Rhode Island the day after the French fleet entered the harbor of Newport. The British fleet exceeded the French in number of ships, but was inferior in effective force and weight of metal. On the appearance of Howe, the French admiral put to sea with his whole fleet. to engage him. While the two commanders were exerting their naval skill to gain re spectively the advantages of position, a strong gale of wind came on which greatly damaged both fleets. In this conflict of the elements, two large French ships were dismasted. A partial engagement took place, but no vessel was captured on either side. The British suffered less in the storm than their adversaries ; yet enough to make it necessary to return to New York. The French fleet came to anchor on the 20th of August, near Rhode Island ; but sailed on the 22d for Boston. Before their departure, Generals Greene and La Fayette went on board the admiral ship to consult on measures proper to be pursued. They urged D'Estaing to return with his fleet into the harbor; but his principal officers opposed the measure. He had been instructed to go to Boston if his fleet met with any misfortune. His officers insisted on his ceasing to prosecute the expedition against Rhode Island. The American officers protested against withdrawing the fleet to Boston, and there is little doubt that by a diligent cooperation of the land and sea forces, Rhode Island might have been sub dued. To. the great dissatisfaction and chagrin of the Americans, they were unable to prevail upon the French commander, and the opportunity of striking a decisive blow was lost. In conse- EXPEDITION TO RHODE ISLAND. 615 quence, it became necessary for the Americans to retreat from the island. Sullivan drew off his army from the camp with great order, but he had not been five hours at the north end of the island, when his troops were fired upon by the British, who had La Fayette. pursued them on discovering their retreat. By degrees the action became general, and near twelve hundred Americans were en gaged, and the British were repulsed. The loss on each side was between two and three hundred. Lord Howe's fleet, with Sir Henry Clinton and four thousand troops on board, being seen off the coast, Sullivan hurried the evacuation of Rhode Island. As the sentries of both armies were within four hundred yards of each other, the greatest caution was necessary. To cover the design of retreating, the show of resist ance was kept up, and on the night of the 28th of August, the army decamped from the island in such perfect order that not the smallest article of camp equipage was left behind. With the abortive expedition to Rhode Island, there was an end to the plans of this first campaign of the allies. The Amer icans had been intoxicated with hopes of the most decided success from their united arms, but in every instance they were disap pointed. Lord Howe, with an inferiority of force, not only pre served his own fleet, but defeated all the attempts of D'Estaing. The French fleet gained no victories for the Americans ; jet : ts arrival was of some service to their cause, by deranging the plans of the British. Clinton, finding that the Americans had left 616 THE UNITED STATES. Rhode Island, returned to New York ; but despatched General Grey to New Bedford and the neighborhood, where several Amer ican privateers resorted. Here the British landed, and destroyed seventy sail of shipping and other small craft. They also burnt magazines, wharves, stores, warehouses, vessels on the stocks, and many dwelling-houses. They then proceeded to Martha's Vine yard, where they destroyed a few vessels, obtained considerable plunder in arms and cash, with three hundred oxen and two thousand sheep. One of the most disastrous events which occurred at this period of the campaign, was the surprise and massacre of an American regiment of light dragoons, commanded by Colonel Baylor. While employed in a detached situation, to intercept and watch a British foraging party, they took up their lodging in a barn near Tappaan, on the Hudson. General Grey commanded the British. He acquired the name of the "No-flint General," from the com mon practice of ordering his men to take the flints out of their muskets, and trust to the bayonet. A party of militia, which had been stationed on the road by which the British advanced, quit ted their posts without giving any notice to Colonel Baylor. This disorderly conduct was the occasion of the disaster which .fol lowed. Grey's men proceeded with such silence, that they cut off a sergeant's patrol, and surrounded Tappaan, without being dis covered. They then rushed in upon Baylor's regiment while they were in a profound sleep, and incapable of defence. The surprised dragoons cried for quarter. But, unmoved by their supplications, the British despatched nearly the whole of them with the bayonet. A few escaped, and others, after having received from five to eleven wounds, were restored in a course of time to perfect health. Baylor himself was wounded, but not dangerously. He lost in killed, wounded and taken, sixty-seven privates out of one hundred and four. In the summer of 1777, an expedition was undertaken against Florida, which had been ceded by Spain to Great Britain in 1763. General Robert Howe, who conducted this enterprise, had under him about two thousand men, a few hundreds of whom were conti nental troops, and the remainder militia of South Carolina and Georgia. They proceeded as far as St. Mary's river without much opposition. At this place the British had a fort, which, on the approach of the Americans, they destroyed, and after some slight skirmishing, retreated towards St. Augustine. The climate was more fatal to the Americans than any opposition from their enemies. Sickness and death raged to such a degree, that an 618 THE UNITED STATES. immediate retreat became necessary ; but before this was effected, they lost nearly one-fourth of their whole number. Hitherto, the conquest of the states had been attempted by pro ceeding from north to south ; but that order was now reversed, and the southern states became the theatre of war. Georgia, being one of the weakest states in the union, and at the same time abounding in provisions, was marked out as the first object of attack. Lieutenant Colonel Campbell, an officer of courage and ability, embarked from New York for Savannah, November 27th, 1777, with a force of about two thousand men, and a fleet under Commodore Hyde Parker. At the same time, Major Gen eral Prevost, who commanded the royal forces in East Florida, was directed to advance into the southern part of Georgia. The fleet from New York effected a landing about the middle of December, near the mouth of the river Savannah. From the landing-place, a narrow causeway of six hundred yards in length, with a ditch on each side, led through a swamp. A body of the British light infantry moved forward along this causeway. On their advance they received a heavy fire from a small party, posted for the purpose of impeding their passage ; but the British forced them to retreat. General Howe, the American comman der, posted his little army, consisting of about six hundred regu lars and a few militia, between the landing-place and Savannah, with the river on his left, and a morass in front. This disposition checked the approach of the British. While Campbell hesitated in his attack, he received intelligence from a negro, of a private path through the swamp, on the right of the Americans, where he might pass unseen. Sir James Baird, with the light infantry, was despatched by this route to turn the right wing of the Americans, and attack their rear. As soon as it was supposed that Baird had cleared this passage, the British in front advanced to the assault. Howe, finding himself attacked in front and rear, was obliged to retreat. The British pursued and gained a com plete victory. Upwards of one hundred of the Americans were killed. Thirty-eight officers, four hundred and fifteen privates, forty-eight pieces of cannon, twenty-three mortars, the fort, with its ammunition and stores, the shipping in the river, a large quan tity of provisions, with the capital of Georgia, were all, in the space of a few hours, in the possession of the conquerors. The broken remains of the American army retreated up the river Savannah for several miles, and then took shelter by crossing into South Carolina. Campbell acted with great policy in securing the submission of the inhabitants of Georgia. He not only put an end to military SUBJUGATION OF GEORGIA. 619 opposition, but removed for some time every trace of republican government in the colony, and paved the way for the reestablish- ment of a royal legislature. Georgia, soon after the reduction of its capital, exhibited a singular spectacle. It was the only state of the union in which, after the declaration of independence, a legislative body was convened under the authority of the crown of Great Britaia CHAPTER LXI1I. Marauding expeditions of the British in Virginia and Connecticut. Adventure of General Putnam. Exploits of Paul Jones. Capture of Stony Point. Expe dition of Saltonstall and Lovell to the Penobscot. Campaign in the South Invasion of South Carolina. Repulse of D'Estaing from Savannah. Pulaski and Kosciusko. Capture of Charleston by the British. Ravages of war in Carolina. Barbarity of Tarleton. Arrival of DeTiernay and Rochambeau from France. Transactions in the Jerseys. Continental paper currency. Gates appointed to the command in the- south. Defeat of the Americans at Camden. Sufferings of the Carolinians. Battle of King's Mountain, and defeat of the British. A British force arrives in the Chesapeake. Capture of Mr. Laurens. Continental money. THE predatory excursions of the year 1779, were begun early in the summer. An expedition to the Chesapeake, under the com mand of Sir George Collier, of the navy, and General Ma thews, of the army, served no other purpose than to alarm and distress the towns of Portsmouth, Suffolk, and other places in Virginia. The pleasant line of towns bordering Long Island Sound, in Con necticut, were the next objects of plunder and conflagration. About the beginning of July, Governor Tryon, with a number of ADVENTURE OF GENERAL PUTNAM. 621 disaffected Americans, and General Garth, with a ravaging party of British troops and Germans, landed at New Haven, took pos session of the town, plundered and insulted the inhabitants, on whom every outrage was perpetrated. Leaving New Haven, they repaired to Fairfield, where they landed on the seventh of the month. This place suffered a still more cruel fate. The houses were rifled, the inhabitants abused, and after the general pillage and burning of everything valuable in the town, some of these miserable victims were found half distracted in the swamps and fields, whither they had fled in the agonies of despair. This band of marauders were by no means satiated by the distresses of New Haven and Fairfield ; the neighboring towns of Norwalk and Greenfield suffered a similar fate ; the waste of property in shipping and merchandise was there still greater. The whole coast, equally defenceless and exposed to their ravages, expected the same horrors. General Putnam, with about one hundred and fifty men, was attacked at Horse Neck, by Tryon, at the head of a body of fifteen hundred British. Putnam took his station on a high ground near the meeting-house, and by a well-directed fire, kept the enemy in check for some time. At length, finding their force overwhelming, and a strong body of dragoons close upon him, ready to charge, he ordered his men to withdraw rapidly into a neighboring swamp inaccessible to cavalry. Being mounted himself, he plunged fearlessly down a steep flight of a hundred Adventure of Putnam. stone steps on the side of the hill. The dragoons dared not follow him, and before they could descend by another route, Putnam was in safety, far beyond their reach, notwithstanding a shower of 53 A4 622 THE UNITED STATES. bullets which were discharged at him. Arriving at Stamford, he raised the militia, and pursued Tryon, who shortly retreated to New York. In naval affairs, the Americans had met with much success by means of their small privateers, which greatly annoyed the com merce of the British, and benefitted the colonists by the capture of many valuable prizes, not only of merchant ships, but aiso of store-ships and transports, laden with arms, ammunition and supplies, for the British armies. The most famous among the American naval commanders, was John Paul Jones, a native oi Scotland, who had settled in Virginia previous to the breaking out of the revolution. He received the first appointment of Lieuten ant in the American navy, and was so successful in his early cruises with a small vessel, in 1776, that he was sent by congress to France the next year, where he obtained a larger vessel, and in 1778. sailed for the coast of Scotland. Here he kept the coun try in a constant state of alarm, captured Whitehaven, with two forts and twenty pieces of cannon, and burnt the shipping in the harbor. He returned to Brest with two hundred prisoners. In 1779, he put to sea again, in the frigate Bon Homme Richard, and on the 23d of September, fought his celebrated action with the British frigate Serapis, off Flamborough Head, on the coast Paul Jones. of England. The Serapis was much superior in strength to the Richard. This was the most desperate naval battle ever fought. The ships were grappled together, and the guns met muzzle to BATTLE OF STONY POINT. 623 muzzle. Jones's ship lost one hundred and fifty men killed and wounded, most of the latter mortally. The loss of the Serapis was quite as great. Victory decided for the Americans ; but the Bon Homme Richard was so shattered, that she sunk immediately after, and the victors saved themselves on board their prize. Meantime, Washington had kept himself on the defensive in New Jersey, but without a movement for any capital stroke after the derangement of a well-concerted plan of an attack on New York. He had expected the aid of the French squadron from the West Indies ; the militia of several states had been collected to assist in the design; the army was in high spirits; sanguine expectations were formed; and everything promised success to the enterprise. But the Count D'Estaing, instead of cooperating with Washington and covering his attempt on New York, thought proper to attempt the reduction of Georgia, on his way. His attack on Savannah, his unexpected repulse and retreat, which we shall presently relate, not only retarded, but totally prevented the movements contemplated by Washington, whose designs caused great alarm to Clinton, and induced him to order the evacuation of Newport, and draw off all his troops from that quarter. These circumstances put it out of the power of Washington to prosecute the scheme he had meditated. The militia were dismissed, and many of the regular troops returned home as usual at the expiration of their term of enlistment. Clinton had made several attempts to draw the American commander from his strong post in the Jerseys, by desultory invasions and depreda tions on the defenceless sea-coast. But Washington knew the advantages he might lose by weakening the main body of his army, and was too wise to be ensnared by the manoeuvres of the British commander. The cause of Sir George Collier's speedy recall from ravag ing the coast of Virginia, was a design to unite him with General Vaughan, in an expedition up the Hudson. Vaughan, who had before distinguished himself in that quarter, still commanded on the Hudson. On the arrival of Collier with his fleet, they united, and immediately made themselves masters of Stony Point, and the post on Verplank's Neck. These forts had been dismantled the preceding autumn, by Clinton, but the Americans had in part repaired the works. In their defence they behaved with resolu tion ; but as their numbers were inconsiderable and their works unfinished, they soon surrendered. Washington ordered a detach ment, under General Wayne, to attempt the recovery of Stony Point. This enterprise was conducted in a bold manner. The 624 THE UNITED STATES. soldiers were directed not to load their pieces, but to depend on the bayonet. One man, who appeared discontented at the order, was instantly shot. Though this summary mode of punishment was severe, it was designed to prevent the effusion of blood. Doubtless, had the British been early alarmed by the fire of the American arms, the carnage would have been greater. Battle of Stony Point. The works had been repaired and strengthened with great expedition, and two British regiments, some loyal Americans, and several companies of artillery were left as a garrison by General Vaughan. On the evening of the 5th of July, after a difficult and hazardous march, Wayne surprised and recovered the fort at Stony Point, in spite of the resolute defence of the British. The acquisition of this post was more creditable than useful to the Americans. An attempt to maintain it would have been fruitless. It had been previously determined, in a council of war, that on the success of Wayne, the works should be demolished and the stores brought off, which was accordingly done. Several manoeuvres took place about this time near New York and the more central parts of the country, which kept up the spirit of enterprise and the honor of the American arms ; but a more important affair occupied the public attention in the east ern states. A Colonel Maclean had been sent with a party ot British troops from Halifax, to land at the mouth of the Penob- scot. He erected a fort and established a strong post in a con venient situation for harassing the trade and distressing the settlements in the neighborhood. When this intelligence was received at Boston, the hardy and enterprising men of Massachu- EXPEDITION TO THE PENOBSCOT. 625 setts made immediate preparation to dislodge the enemy. Within ten days after Maclean's attempt was known at Boston, the Warren, a handsome new frigate, commanded by Commodore Saltonsta.ll, and seventeen other public and private ships, were equipped and ready for sea. They were accompanied by a number of transports, with a considerable body of land forces, who embarked in high spirits, and with the sanguine expectation of a short and successful campaign. The expedition was princi pally conducted by the legislature of Massachusetts. The mem bers of the continental navy board would not consent to hazard the public ships, unless the commanding officers were ordered to execute their design immediately. They were apprehensive that any delay might give opportunity for the British to send a supe rior force from New York. By the dilatory conduct of the Americans, they did not reach the Penobscot till the 25th of July, 1779. A few days afterwards, Sir George Collier, with a heavy squadron from New York, appeared for the relief of Maclean. General Lovell, who commanded the American land troops, was a man of little military experience, and took no effective measures to dislodge the British from their post, or in any way to complete an undertaking that required decision, promptitude and judgment. Commodore Saltonstall showed even less activity, talent and decision than Lovell. Thus, by the shameful delay of both, and to the mortification of the brave officers who accom panied them, the expedition terminated in the disgrace of both army and navy, and the total destruction of the fleet. On the first appearance of Collier, the American shipping moved up the river, with a show of resistance, but in reality to enable the men to escape by land. Two of their best ships fell into the hands of the British ; the remainder were burnt by the crews. The panic-stricken troops, after leaving their own ships, chagrined at the conduct of Saltonstall and Lovell, made their escape through the woods, in small parties of soldiers and sailors. After much fatigue, hunger and difficulty, they reached the settlements on the Kennebec, and brought the intelligence of their own defeat. It was not in the power of the infant states to repair their mar itime loss during the war ; and to complete the ruin of their little navy, some of their best ships were lost in the defence of Charleston, the year following, as will be seen hereafter. What added to the mortification caused by this last calamity was, that these ships were prepared and ready to sail, in order to prosecute a very flattering expedition projected by the navy board, in the eastern department, when they received an express order from Congress to send them to South Carolina. 53* 626 THE UNITED STATES. The hazardous situation of Georgia, and the imminent danger of South Carolina, had spread a wide alarm. General Lincoln had been sent forward to take the command in the southern department. He reached Savannah a short time after Colonel General Lincoln. Campbell's arrival there ; bat he found himself not in so eligible a situation as might have been wished. The number of troops under his command fell far short of his expectation ; the artillery and stores were insufficient ; and every difficulty was enhanced by the want of order and discipline in the militia, who refused to submit to the necessary subordination of armies ; they left their posts and retired at pleasure. Lincoln maintained his character for bravery and good conduct under a variety of disappointments. He was, however, forced into a circuitous march from place to place, by the rapid movements of General Prevost through the state of Georgia, until he was obliged to move with more serious prospects towards Charleston. The British seized a moment of advantage ; suddenly crossed the Savannah at different points, and penetrated into South Carolina, with little or no opposition. A party under Colonel Moultrie, consisting chiefly of militia, on seeing themselves surrounded on all sides by British troops, retreated hastily, and secured themselves within the city of Charleston. Prevost hav ing succeeded even beyond his most sanguine expectations, and prompted by the importunities of the loyalists, formed the bold resolution of marching directly upon Charleston. He crossed the SIEGE OF SAVANNAH, 627 river Ashley on the llth of May, 1779, and within a few days, summoned Charleston to surrender. He had every assurance from the disaffected Americans that the city would submit with out resistance. Prevost did not immediately succeed to the full completion of his hopes ; but, on the first summons, the citizens assured him that no opposition should be made, provided they might be permitted to continue in a state of neutrality till the conclusion of the war. This was the only instance in America of an offer made so derogatory to the honor of the union. No single state, whatever might have been its distress, ever expressed a wish, during the contest, to be bound to a neutral repose, while the other states were making every sacrifice in support of the common cause. The conduct of the citizens of Charleston cannot be accounted for, but from the momentary panic to which communities are liable, when sudden danger presses upon them. Prevost, en couraged by success, and animated with the hope of subduing Charleston, rejected the offer of neutrality, and all further negoti ation ceased. The city immediately recovered its former spirit, and preparation was made on both sides for the most vigorous attack and defence. Lincoln had been slow in his movements, in consequence of a belief that Prevost had no farther design in crossing the Savannah than to procure forage and provisions. But soon finding more serious consequences were to be expected, he pushed onward his whole force with so much alacrity that Prevost thought it pru dent to withdraw from Charleston, lest his retreat should be cut off. He encamped his troops on the islands near the harbor, in anxious expectation of reinforcements from New York. This being delayed until the advance of the summer heats and the sickly season of that country, all active hostilities were suspended for 1779 in Carolina. Affairs in Georgia requiring his presence, Prevost repaired thither soon after the siege of Charleston was raised. He left a force in Port Royal, to encourage his friends by keeping up the appearance of some permanent establishment in that province. But early in the autumn, the unexpected arrival of the squadron under Count D'Estaing, on the southern coast, gave the most flattering promise to the Americans of a new turn of affairs in Georgia and the Carolinas. D'Estaing, on his arrival in the Savannah, in September, 1779, landed his troops with all possible expedition, and in conjunction with the Americans, laid siege to the capital of Georgia. On the 16th of September he demanded a surrender of Savannah. The place was not very strongly fortified, but Prevost resolved not to 628 THE UNITED STATES. yield but at the last extremity. He returned a polite, but evasive answer to the French commander ; and had the address to obtain a truce of twenty-four hours to deliberate. In this interval, the arrival of Colonel Maitland, with a body of troops from Port Royal, put an end to the deliberation. The most resolute defence was made, and D'Estaing proceeded to bombard the place. On the llth of October, an attempt was made to carry it by storm, but the assailants were repulsed with great slaughter. They, however, kept up the appearance of a blockade until the 16th, when they requested a truce to carry oif their dead and wounded. This was readily granted. The conflict had been bloody, indeed, and both sides equally wished for repose. Soon after, the French and Americans took advantage of a dark -and foggy night, and retreated with all possible precipitation, breaking down the bridges as they passed, to prevent a pursuit. D'Estaing had now an opportunity to survey the condition of his fleet when he found the sailors sickly and dispirited ; nor was the army less so, from the unhealthiness of the climate, and the failure of their late enterprise. D'Estaing himself had been wounded in the course of the siege, and had lost several of his best officers and many men. This disaster deeply aflected the French commander. He left the coast of Georgia, and shortly afterwards gave up all his designs of conquest in America, and left the country, never to return. Among those who fell at the siege of Savannah, was Count Pulaski, a Polish nobleman, cele brated for his bravery and enterprising spirit, not only in America, but in his own country. He had once, amid the fierce contests of the Polanders, seized on the person of the king of Poland, and for a time held him his prisoner, though he had only two or three associates. One of these betrayed him, and the king was rescued. The count was obliged to fly his country, and a few years after he repaired to America. Pulaski was not the only officer of his nation who distinguished himself in the American war. Kos- ciusko. for his firmness, valor, and sufferings, merits particular notice. He was amiable and virtuous, as well as brave, and maintained a character that will not be passed over in silence in the history of either Poland or America. From the unavoidable inactivity of the Americans in some parts of the continent, and the misfortunes that had attended their arms in others, in the summer of 1779, Sir Henry Clinton was left without any impediment to prosecute his expedition to the southern colonies. The opulence of the planters there, the want of discipline in their militia, the difficulty of reinforcing them, and the sickly state of the inhabitants, promised an easy SURRENDER OF CHARLESTON. 629 conquest, and a rich harvest to their invaders. In December, 1779. Clinton embarked from New York, with a strong body of troops, and a squadron under Admiral Arbuthnot ; but they pro ceeded slowly on their way; and it was not until the ensuing spring was far advanced that the admiral arrived before Charles ton. The first summons to surrender, on the 16th of April, 1780, was rejected by General Lincoln, the American commander, though it announced the threat of a cannonade and storm. The most vigorous operations then ensued on both sides, but with great advantage in favor of the British, till the eighth of May, when Clinton again summoned the American commander to prevent the further effusion of blood, by an immediate surrender. He warned him that, " if he refused this last summons, he should throw on him the charge of whatever vindictive severity an exas perated soldiery might inflict on the unhappy people." Lincoln summoned a council of war, who were unanimously of opinion that articles of capitulation should be proposed. Some of the terms offered were rejected, others were mutilated, and all relaxa tion or qualification being refused by the British commander, it was unanimously agreed that hostilities should re-commence. Accordingly, an incessant fire was kept up from the 9th to the llth of May, when an address from the principal inhabitants of the town and a number of the country militia expressed their satisfaction with the terms already offered by Clinton. At the same time, the lieutenant-governor and council requested that negotiations might be renewed, and that they might not be sub jected to the horrors of a city taken by storm. The militia had thrown away their arms ; the troops on the lines were worn down with fatigue, and their provisions were exhausted. Thus closely invested on every side, a disaffected, factious party within, no hopes of succor from without, and all possibility of retreat cut off, Lincoln again offered terms, and Charleston was surrendered on the 12th of May, 1780. Though the conditions were not the most favorable to the inhabitants, nor honorable to the soldiery, yet, perhaps, they were as lenient as could be expected from an enemy confident of suc cess. The continental troops were to retain their baggage, but to remain prisoners of war until exchanged. Seven general officers were among 'the prisoners. The inhabitants, of all conditions, were to be considered as on parole; but they soon experienced the severities usually felt by a conquered city. All who were capable of bearing arms were enrolled in the British service ; and the whole state was laid under heavy contributions. Before Clinton left Charleston, some new and severe regulations were B4 630 THE UNITED STATES. established, that could not well be justified either by the letter or the spirit of the capitulation. All persons in the city were for bidden the exercise of their commercial pursuits, excepting such as were friends of the British government. Confiscation and death were threatened, by proclamation, to any who should be found in arms, unless in support of royal authority. Clinton, vainly flattering himself, that he had entirely subdued one wealthy colony at the extremity of the continent, and that everything was in a hopeful train for other brilliant strokes of military prowess, left the command of the southern forces to Lord Cornwallis, and repaired to New York, from whence he imme diately detached a strong body, under the command of Lord Rawdon, to Carolina. Marches, countermarches, bloodshed, pillage and massacre, had for some months distressed all parts of the state, and whichever party gained the advantage, the inhabi tants were equally wretched. But a particular detail of the miseries of the southern states through this period would be more painful than entertaining to the reader, and is a task from which every writer of humanity would wish to be excused. Imagination may easily paint the distress, when surveying a proud and potent army, flushed with recent success, and irritated by opposition from an enemy they despised ; their spirit of revenge continually stimulated by the refugees who followed them, embittered beyond description against their countrymen. No 1 partisan distinguished himself on either side more than Colonel Tarleton, who became notorious in the ravage of the Carolinas. He was equally conspicuous for bravery and barbarity, and had the effrontery afterwards in England to boast, in the presence of a lady of respectability, that he had killed more men, and ravished more women, than any man in America. Sumter, Morgan, Marion, Lee, and other brave officers, continually counteracted the intrigues of the loyalists, and attacked, harassed and frequently defeated the British parties. Nor did the repulse in Georgia, the loss of Charleston, nor the armament sent to the Chesapeake by Sir Henry Clinton, to aid Lord Cornwallis, check, in the smallest degree, the vigorous efforts of these spirited leaders. France had this year given a new proof of her zeal in favor of American independence. The Count de Rochambeau arrived, on the llth of July, 1780, at Newport, with six thousand land forces, and a numerous squadron commanded by Admiral de Tiernay. They brought the promise of further and immediate support. Some ineffectual movements were made on both sides, in consequence of these expectations ; and on the arrival :>f the British Admiral Graves, at New York, with six sail of the line FINANCIAL EMBARRASSMENTS OF CONGRESS. 631 and some transports, an attempt was made by Sir Henry Clinton, with the assistance of these fresh reinforcements, to attack the French at Rhode Island. This plan was frustrated by Wash ington, who now threatened New York with an attack. This de sign, however, was counteracted by the intelligence from the West Indies, that the French Admiral, De Guichen, had sailed directly for France, instead of repairing with all his fleet, as was expected, to aid the united operations of Washington and Rochambeau. Ad miral de Tiernay died soon after at Newport. It was thought by many that this brave officer fell a sacrifice to chagrin and disap pointment. After the failure of these brilliant hopes, little more was done through the summer, in the middle and eastern states, except by skirmishing parties, which served only to keep up the hope of conquest on the side of Britain, while it preserved alive some military ardor in the American army. While thus situated, the British troops were frequently de tached from New York and Staten Island, to make inroads and destroy the settlements in the Jerseys. The most important of their movements was in June, 1780, when General Knyphausen, with about five thousand regular troops, aided by some new levies, advanced upon the right wing of the American army, under General Greene. Their progress was slow until they arrived at Springfield, where they were checked by a party of Americans. After various manosuvres and skirmishes, Greene took post on a ridge of hills, from whence he detached parties to prevent the ravages of the enemy; who committed all sorts of havoc wherever it was in their power, and retreated towards Elizabethtown. This detachment from the British army fin ished their marauding excursion, and recrossed to Staten Island in July. The year 1780, witnessed a combination of powers in Europe against Great Britain. Spain had now declared war, and acted with decision; and many new indications among other nations threatened both the maritime and internal state of Great Britain with serious troubles. At the same time neither the pen of the historian nor the imagination of the reader can fully depict the embarrassments suffered by congress, by the commander-in-chief, and by men of firmness and principle in the several legislative bodies, at this period. These embarrassments were caused chiefly by financial troubles. Specie was scarce, and the decline in the value of paper money tended strongly to diminish confidence in all public bodies. One of the first proceedings of congress, after the commence ment of hostilities, was to provide money, the sinews of war. 632 THE UNITED STATES. There was hardly any specie in the country, and it was impossi ble to obtain loans in Europe on the credit of an insurgent people struggling for political existence. The only expedient was the establishment of a paper currency, and this was effected in 1776, Above twenty millions of paper dollars were issued the first year, and, by the end of the year 1781, more than three hundred and fifty-seven millions were issued. 'This money had nothing but the authority of congress to give it value, and although no means existed for its redemption, yet such was the patriotism of the people, that it continued to pass current, in spite of a constant depreciation, till the close of the struggle. The ultimate holders of the bills received nothing for them. Yet, as the decline in their value was gradual, and the less common to every one, the proceeding amounted to nothing more than a new form of taxa tion. The continental currency proved one of the most efficient means of the salvation of the country, and perhaps history does not afford another instance of so bold and gigantic a scheme of finance. Immediately after the news reached congress, that Charleston had surrendered, the Baron de Kalb, a brave and experienced- Russian officer, who had been some time in the American service, was ordered to Virginia, with sanguine hopes of checking the further progress of the British arms. General Gates, the success ful conqueror in the north, was now vested with the chief com mand in the southern states ; it was an appointment very popular. The presence of an officer of his fame and experience at once emboldened the friends of independence and intimidated the wavering and disaffected. The renowned soldier, who had cap tured one British general and his army, was at this time viewed with peculiar awe and respect by the others. De Kalb had been previously despatched from head-quarters ; he led a detachment of fourteen hundred men; halted a few weeks in Virginia, and proceeded to, Carolina, where he sooii after met General Gates. After the junction of Gates and De Kalt, these officers, with unexampled patience and fatigue, marched an army of several thousand men through a barren country, that afforded no subsistence except green fruits. They reached the borders of South Carolina, and encamped at Clermont on the 13th of August, 1780. On his arrival in the vicinity of the British head-quarters, Gates published a proclamation, invi ting the patriotic inhabitants of South Carolina to join him. His situation at Clermont was not very advantageous, but his design was, by a sudden movement, to fall unexpectedly on Lord Rawdon, who had fixed his head-quarters at Camden. This BATTLE OF CAMDEN. 633 place was about thirteen miles from Clermont, on the borders of the Santee, from whence the communication was easy to the in terior parts of the country. Cornwallis had gained intelligence of the movements of the American army, and had arrived at Camden himself, intending with a sudden blow to surprise Gates. He effected his purpose with a facility beyond his own expectations. The two armies met at Camden, on the night of the fifteenth of August. Mu tually surprised by the sudden necessity of action, a loose skir mish was kept up until morning, when a general engagement com menced. The British troops were not equal in number to the Americans, including their militia, while the renowned char acter of General Gates heightened the confidence of his troops. The onset on both sides began with equal spirit and bravery, and was continued with valor equally honorable to both parties, until the militia gave way, threw down their arms and fled. The order of the army was immediately broken, and the utter defeat of the Americans was the immediate consequence. De Kalb was mortally wounded, and died rejoicing in the services he had ren dered America. The proportion of slain among the Americans was much greater than among the British. Brigadier General Gregory was killed, with several other brave officers. The total rout of the Americans was completed by the pursuit and destruc tion of a corps at some distance from the scene of the battle, com manded by Colonel Sumter. Censure for a time fell heavily on General Gates, for the pre cipitation of his retreat. He scarcely halted until he reached Hillsborough, an hundred miles from the field of battle. Yet neither the courage nor the fidelity of the long tried veteran could be called in question; the strongest human fortitude has fre quently suffered a momentary eclipse from that panic under which the mind of man sometimes unaccountably falls, when there is no real or obvious cause of despair. Gates, though he had lost the day at Camden, lost no part of his courage, vigilance, or firmness. After he reached Hillsborough, he made several efforts to collect a force sufficient again to meet Cornwallis in the field ; but the public opinion bore hard upon his reputation. He was immediately superseded, and a court martial appointed to inquire into his con duct. He was fully justified by the result of this military investi gation, and treated with the utmost respect by the army and by the inhabitants, on his return to Virginia. Cornwallis did not reap all the advantages he had expected from his victory at Camden. His severity did not aid his designs, though he sanctioned by proclamations the summary execution 54 634 THE UNITED STATES. of the unfortunate men who had, by compulsion, borne arms in the British service, and were afterwards found enlisted under the American banner. Many of these persons suffered immediate death. Their houses were burnt, and their families obliged to fly, naked, to the wilderness to seek some miserable shelter. From the desultory movements of the British after the battle of Camden, and the continual resistance and activity of the Ameri* cans, attack and defeat, surprise and escape, plunder, burning, and devastation, pervaded the whole country, when the aged, the helpless, the women, and the children, alternately became the prey of opposite partisans. But the defeat of Major Ferguson, a favor ite British officer, early in the autumn of 1780, was a blow that discovered at once the spirit of the people, and displayed to Corn- wallis the general disaffection of that part of the country where he had been led to place the most confidence. Ferguson had for several weeks taken post in Tryon county, near the mountains in the western part of Carolina. He had there collected a body of royalists, who, united with his regular detachments, spread terror and dismay through all the adjacent country. This aroused to action all the patriots who were capable of bearing arms. A body of militia collected in the highlands of North Carolina, and a party of riflemen, forming a numerous and resolute band, determined to drive him from his strong hold at King's Mountain. The Ameri cans were under various commanders, who had little knowledge of each other, yet they combined their operations with so much skill and resolution that they totally defeated the British. This action was fought on the 7th of October, 1780. Ferguson with one hundred and fifty of his men were killed, and seven hundred made prisoners, from whom were selected a few, who, from motives of public zeal or private revenge, were immediately exe cuted. This bloody deed was done by some of those fierce and uncivilized chieftains, who had spent most of their lives in the mountains and forests. While Cornwallis was thus embarrassed by various unsuccess ful attempts in the Carolinas, Clinton made a diversion in the Chesapeake, in favor of his designs. A body of about three thousand men was sent thither, under General Leslie. He was directed to take his orders from Cornwallis ; but not hearing from him for some time after his arrival, he was at a loss in what manner to proceed. In October, he received letters from Corn wallis, directing him to repair to Charleston, to assist with all his forces, in the complete subjugation of the Carolinas. Early in the year 1780, the Hon. Henry Laurens, of South Car olina, late president of congress, was entrusted with a mission to MISSION TO HOLLAND. 635 Holland, to negotiate a treaty with the Dutch, but he was unfor tunately captured on his voyage by the British, and sent to England, where he experienced all the suffering of a severe imprisonment in the tower of London, usually inflicted on state criminals. CHAPTER LXIV. Treason of General Arnold. Capture and execution of Major Andre. Fidelity of three American soldiers. Catastrophe of Captain Hale. Adventure of Champe. Revolt of the Pennsylvania line. Mutiny of the Jersey troops quelled. Hos tile movements of Spain against Great Britain. Conquest of West Florida by the Spaniards of Louisiana. Conduct of the Dutch government. War between Great Britain and Holland. Imprisonment of Mr. Laurens in London. Mis- sion of Mr. Adam* to Holland. Major Andrf. THE year 1780 was marked by the treason of General Arnold, who deserted the American cause, sold himself to the enemies of his country, and engaged in the British service. He was a man without principle from the beginning; and before his treachery was discovered, he had sunk a character, raised by impetuous valor attended with success, without being the possessor of any other intrinsic merit. He had accumulated a fortune by pecula tion, and squandered it discreditably, long before he formed the plan to betray his country. Montreal he had plundered in haste ; but in Philadelphia he went to work deliberately to seize every thing he could lay hands on, which had been the property of the disaffected party, and converted it to his own use. He entered TREASON OF GEN. ARNOLD. 637 into contracts for speculating and privateering, and at the same time made exorbitant demands on congress, for compensation for his services. In his speculations he was disappointed by the common failure of such adventures ; in the other attempt he was rebuffed and mortified by the commissioners appointed to examine his accounts, who curtailed a great part of his demands as unjust, and for which he deserved severe reprehension. Involved in debt by his extravagance, and reproached by his creditors, his resent ment wrought him up to a determination of revenge for this public ignominy. West Point. The command of the important post at West Point, on the Hudson, had been given to Arnold. No one suspected, notwith standing the censures that had fallen upon him, that he had a heart base enough treacherously to betray his military trust. Who made the first advances to negotiation, is uncertain ; but it appeared, on a scrutiny, that Arnold had proposed overtures to Clinton, characteristic of his own baseness, and not very honor able to the British commander, if viewed apart from the usages of war, which too frequently sanction the blackest crimes. His treacherous proposals were listened to, and Clinton authorized Major Andre, his adjutant general, a young officer of great integ rity and worth, to hold a personal and secret conference with the traitor. The British sloop of war Vulture had been stationed for some time at a convenient place in the river to facilitate the design ; it was also said that Andre and Arnold had kept up a friendly correspondence on some trivial matters, previous to their personal interview, which took place on the twenty-first of Sep. tember, 1780. Andre was landed in the night near West Point 54* c4 638 THE UNITED STATES. on a beach, without the military boundaries of either army. He there met Arnold, who communicated to him the state of the army and garrison at West Point, the number of men considered as necessary for its defence, and a return of the ordnance, and the artillery corps. These accounts he gave Andre in writing, V) ith plans of all the works. The conference continued so long that it did not finish in time for the safe retreat of Andre. He was conducted, though without his knowledge or consent, within the American posts, where he was obliged to conceal himself in company with Arnold, until the ensuing morning. The Vultute, in the meantime, from which he had been landed, shifted her station while he was on shore, and lay so much exposed to the fire of the Americans, that the boatmen whom Arnold had bribed to bring Andre to the confer ence, refused to venture a second time on board. This rendered it impossible for him to return to New York by water ; and he was reduced to the necessity of hurrying, like a disguised criminal, through the posts of his enemies. Furnished with a passport from Arnold, under the name of Anderson, he had nearly reached the British lines, when he was suddenly arrested within the American posts, by three private soldiers. He was instantly aware of his desperate situation, taken in the night, in a dis guised habit, under a fictitious name, with a plan of the works at West Point concealed in his boots, containing the situation, the numbers and the strength of the American army. He offered a purse of gold, an elegant gold watch, and other very tempting rewards, if he might be permitted to pass unmolested to New York. But his captors, rejecting all pecuniary rewards, had the fidelity to convey their prisoner immediately to the head quarters of the American army. Such instances of patriotism and such contempt for private interest, when united with duty and obligation to the public, are so rare, that the names of John Paul- ding, David Williams and Isaac Yanwert ought never to be forgotten in American history. When Arnold was first apprized of the detection of Andre, he was struck with astonishment and terror. He called for a horse, mounted instantly, and rode down a craggy steep, never before passed on horseback. He took a barge, and showing a flag of truce, passed the fort at Verplank's Point, and soon found himself safe beneath the guns of the Yulture. Before he took leave of the bargemen, he made them very generous offers, if they would act as dishonorably as he had done; he promised them higher and better wages, if they would desert their country, and enlist in the service of Britain ; but they spurned at the offer. Arnold EXECUTION OF MAJOR ANDRE. 639 got safe to New York, and wrote to Washington in behalf of his wife. In this letter he endeavored to justify his own conduct and urged the release of Andre, with much insolence. He also shortly afterwards published an address to the people of America, fabricated by his new masters, and couched in very insolent and overbearing language. He cast many indecent reflections on congress, on the French nation, and on the alliance between America and France. Soon after his arrival in New York, he received the price of his treason, ten thousand pounds sterling, in cash, with a general's commission under the crown of Great Britain. A court-martial of the American officers was convened for the trial of Andre. Much influence was exerted to save his life, even by the Americans. He was, however, convicted of being a spy, and agreeably to the common usages of war, condemned to death. He was hanged at Tappaan, on the 2d of October. The fate of Andre was lamented by his enemies ; his sufferings were soothed by the politeness and generosity of the commander-in-chief and the officers of the American army; while the unfortunate Nathan Hale, an American officer, who was captured while attempting to gain intelligence of the designs of the British, in the same clandestine manner, had been hanged in New York, in 1776, without a day to prepare himself for death. This event took place soon after the action on Long Island. The dilemma to which Washington was reduced, and the situation of his army, rendered it necessary for him to gain some intelligence of the movements of the British. This being intimated to Captain Hale, a young man of unimpeachable character, and rising hopes, he generously offered to risk his life for the service of his coun try. He ventured into the city, was detected, and acknowledged that he was employed in a business that could not be forgiven by his enemies. Without the smallest token of compassion from any one, he was cruelly insulted, and executed with disgraceful rigor. The Americans would willingly have exchanged Andre for Arnold, but the British commander-in-chief would not consent to give up the traitor. A bold and desperate scheme was planned by Sergeant Major Champe, of the American dragoons, in New Jersey, to seize Arnold by a stratagem. Champe, by a connivance with his commanding officer, deserted from the camp and galloped towards the shores of the Hudson, just above New York. He was so hotly pursued by several of the American troopers, who were not in the secret, that he was obliged to leap from his horse into the river, and swim on board a British vessel of war in the stream. He was sent to New York, and joined a body of troops 640 THE UNITED STATES. which Arnold was raising. Here he had nearly matured his plan for seizing Arnold in the night and conveying him across the river in a boat, when the design was suddenly frustrated by the general's changing his quarters. Champe remained for some time with the British, but found no other opportunity for executing his design. He subsequently had the good fortune to get back in safety to the American army. Sergeant Major Champe's adventure. In addition to the alarming circumstances already recapitulated, the most dangerous symptoms were exhibited in the conduct of a part of the army, towards the end of the year 1780. The revolt of the whole Pennsylvania line spread a temporary dismay throughout the country. On the 1st of January, 1781, upwards of a thousand men, belonging to that portion of the army, marched in a body from the camp, in the Jerseys. Others, equally disaffected, soon followed them. They took post on an advantageous ground, chose for their leader a sergeant major, a British deserter, arid saluted him as their major general. On the third day of their revolt, a message was sent from the officers of the American camp; this they refused to receive ; but to a flag which followed, requesting to know their complaints and intentions, they replied, that "they had served three years; that they had engaged to serve no longer; nor would they return or disperse until their grievances were redressed and their arrearages paid." General Wayne, who commanded the line, had been greatly beloved and respected by the soldiers, nor did he at first doubt but that his influence would soon bring them back to their duty. He did everything in the power of a spirited and judicious officer, REVOLT OF THE PENNSYLVANIA LINE. 641 lo quiet their clamors, in the beginning of the insurrection : but many of them pointed their bayonets at his breast ; told him to be on his guard ; that they were determined to march to congress to obtain a redress of grievances ; that though they respected him as an officer and loved his person, yet, if he attempted to fire on General Wayne. them, "he was a dead man." Sir Henry Clinton soon gained intelligence of the confusion and danger into which the Ameri cans were plunged. He improved the advantageous moment, and made the revolters every tempting offer. But the intrigues of the British officers, and the measures of their commander-in-chief, had not the smallest influence ; the revolted troops, though dissat isfied, appeared to have no inclination to join the British army. They declared, with one voice, that if there was an immediate necessity to call out the American forces, they would still fight under the orders of congress. Several British spies were detected, busily employed in endeavoring to increase the ferment, who were tried and executed with little ceremony. The prudent conduct of the commander-in-chief, and the dis position which appeared in government to do justice to their demands, subdued the mutiny. A committee was sent from con gress to hear their complaints and as far as possible to relieve their sufferings. Those whose term of enlistment had expired, were paid off and discharged ; the reasonable demands of others were satisfied ; and a general pardon was granted to the offenders, who cheerfully returned to their duty. But the contagion and 642 THE UNITED STATES. mutinous example of the Pennsylvania line, had spread in some degree its dangerous influence over other parts of the army; it operated more particularly on a part of the Jersey troops, soon after the pacification of the disorderly Pennsylvania soldiers, though not with equal success and impunity to themselves. A few of the principal leaders of the revolt were tried by a court- martial and found guilty. As a second general pardon, without any penal inflictions, would have had a fatal effect on the army, two of them suffered death for their mutinous conduct. This example of severity put a period to every symptom of open revolt, though not to the* silent murmurs of the army. They still felt heavily the immediate inconveniences of the deficiency of almost every article necessary to life; they. had little food and seldom any covering, except what was forced from the adjacent inhabi tants by military power. France had acknowledged the independence of America ; and the whole house of Bourbon now supported the claim of the United States, though there had yet been no direct treaty between America and Spain. It had been the general expectation, for some time before it took place, that Spain would soon unite with France in support of the American cause. From this expectation, the Spaniards in South America had prepared themselves for a rup ture, a considerable time before any formal declaration of war had taken place. They were in readiness to take the earliest advan tage of such an event. They had accordingly seized Pensacola, in West Florida, and several British posts on the Mississippi, before the troops stationed there had any intimation that hostilities were declared, in the usual style, between England and Spain. Don Bernard de Galvez, the Spanish governor of Louisiana, had proclaimed the independence of America, in New Orleans, at the head of all the forces he could collect, as early as the 19th of August, 1779, and had proceeded immediately to surprise and conquer, wherever he could, the unguarded British settlements. The British navy, generally masters of the ocean, had, early after hostilities commenced, beaten some of the Spanish ships, inter cepted the convoys, and captured or destroyed several of the homeward bound fleets of merchantmen. But by this time the arms of Spain had been successful in several enterprises by sea; at the Bay of Honduras and in the West Indies they also soon gained several other advantages. Galvez had concerted a plan with the governor of Havana, to surprise Mobile. He encoun tered storms, dangers, disappointments and difficulties, almost innumerable. This enterprising Spaniard recovered, however, in some measure, his losses; and receiving a reinforcement from POLICY OF THE DUTCH GOVERNMENT. 643 Havana, with a part of the regiment of Navarre, and some other auxiliaries, he landed near Mobile, and reduced the whole province of West Florida, in May, 1781. It was indeed some time after the accession of Spain, that any other European power explicitly acknowledged the independence of the United States; but Mr. Izard, who was sent by congress to Tuscany, and Mr. William Lee, to the court of Vienna, in 1778, inspired with that lively assurance which is sometimes the pledge of success, had met with no discouraging circumstances. Holland had a still more difficult part to act than France, Spain, or perhaps any other European power, who actually had adhered to. or appeared inclined to favor the cause of America. Her embarrassments arose in part from existing treaties with Great Britain, by which the latter claimed the Dutch republic as their ally. The unfortunate capture of Mr. Laurens, the American envoy, prevented for a time all public negotiations with Holland. He had been vested with discretionary powers, and had suitable instructions given him, to enter into private contracts and negoti ations, as exigencies might offer, for the interest of his country, until events had ripened for his full admission as ambassador of the United States of America. The British commander knew not the rank of his prisoner, until the packages thrown overboard by Mr. Laurens were recovered by a British sailor. Notwithstand ing the resentment of the British envoy at the Hague, the conduct of the Dutch court remained for some time so equivocal, that neither Great Britain nor America were fully satisfied with their determinations. It is true a treaty with the United States was for some time postponed ; but the answer of the Dutch govern ment to the remonstrances of Sir Joseph Yorke, the British envoy, not being sufficiently condescending and decided, his resentment daily increased. He informed his court, in very strong terms, of the effect of his repeated memorials, of the conduct of the Dutch government, and of that of the principal characters of the Batavian provinces. Great Britain soon after, in the recess of parliament, amidst all her other difficulties, at war with France/ Spain and America, and left alone by all the other rxrvers of Europe to decide her own quarrels, declared hostilities against the Netherlands ; and a long manifesto from the king was sent abroad in the latter part of December, 1780. The capture of Mr. Laurens was, however,- no small embar rassment to the British ministry. Their pride would not suffer them to recognise his public character ; they dared not condemn him as a rebel ; the independence of America was too far 644 THE UNITED STATES. advanced, and there were too many captured noblemen and officers in the United States, to allow of such a step, lest imme diate retaliation should be made. He was confined in the Tower, forbidden the use of pen, ink and paper, and all social intercourse with any ons ; and was even interdicted converse with his young son, who had been several years in England for his education. Immediately after the news of. the capture and imprisonment of Mr. Laurens, the American congress directed John Adams, who had a second time been sent to Europe in a public character, to leave France and repair to Holland, there to transact the affairs with the States-General, which had before been entrusted to Mr. Laurens. Mr. Adams's commission was enlarged. From a confi dence in his talents and integrity, he was vested with ample powers for negotiation, for the forming treaties of alliance and commerce, or the loan of monies, for the United States of America. Not fettered by precise instructions, he exercised his discretionary powers with judgment and ability. Thus, in strict amity with France and Spain ; on the point of a treaty of alliance with the Batavian Republic, and in the meantime Sweden and Denmark balancing and nearly determined on a connexion with America, the foreign relations of the United States in general wore a very favorable aspect. . CHAPTER LXV. Cessation of the continental currency. Invasion of Virginia by Arnold. Greene* a campaign in the Carolinas. Victory of the Americans at the Cowpens. Battle of Guilford Vicissitudes of the American army. Battle oj Eutaw Springs. Cornwallis marches towards Virginia. Designs of Washington upon New York. New plan of the campaign. Washington marches towards the south. Arrival of De Grasse in the Chesapeake. Battle between De Grasse and Admiral Graves. Siege of Yorktown. Surrender of Cornwallis. Arnold's expedition to Connecticut. British treatment of American prisoners. Conclusion of the campaign in the south. Change of ministry in England. American Independ ence acknowledged. Troubles in the American army. General peace. Ameri can army disbanded. Surrender of Cornrvallis. THE year 1781 witnessed an important change in the financial system of the United States. The continental paper money, issued by congress, ceased to circulate. The sums emitted now amounted to upwards of three hundred and fifty millions of dollars, in addition to what had been counterfeited by the British and introduced into the country. The utter impossibility of pro viding any means of redeeming these bills had been so long apparent, that nothing could hinder their constant and rapid depreciation. At last, when they had sunk to the value of one hundred and twenty for one, they were, by common consent, thrown aside. The necessity for this measure was so obvious, 55 D4 646 THE UNITED STATES. that it excited little murmuring and no disturbance. Trade had heen opened with the French and Spanish West India islands, by which means a considerable supply of gold and silver was intro duced into the country. A subsidy of six millions of livres was obtained from the king of France ; and ten millions more were borrowed from the Dutch, for which the French king became security. The finances of the country soon assumed a more promising aspect. The British were determined to push the war vigorously in the south. General Leslie, who had been sent to the Chesapeake, towards the close of 1780, with a force of two thousand men, had marched to Charleston, by order of Cornwallis. An addi tional force of sixteen hundred men was despatched from New York, under Arnold, now a brigadier general in the British service. In January, 1781, they made a descent on the coast of Virginia, burning, plundering and ravaging in every direction. Washington detached La Fayette, with twelve hundred American troops, against Arnold. A French ship of the line and two frig ates accompanied them to the Chesapeake. They captured a British forty-four gun frigate and ten other vessels. An engage ment ensued between the British fleet under Admiral Arbuthnot and the French under D'Estouches, off the Capes of Virginia. The action was not decisive, but the French ships were so much crippled that they were forced to put back to Rhode Island, with out accomplishing the main object of the expedition. A British fleet, with two thousand additional troops under General Philips, arrived in the Chesapeake. They formed a junction with Arnold's force, captured Petersburg, Williamsburg and Yorktown, destroy ing tobacco and other merchandise to an immense amount. The command of the American army in the south had been transferred from General Gates to General Greene. The army, in the beginning of the year 1781, amounted to no more than two thousand men, half of whom were militia. They had been for a long time without pay, and were very deficient in clothing. The army of Cornwallis was much superior in numbers and discipline his troops were well clothed and regularly paid ; and when Greene first arrived, they were flushed with recent successes, particularly the defeat of Gates at Camden. It is true the death of Major Ferguson, and the rout of his party, was a serious disappoint ment, but not of sufficient consequence to check the designs and expectations of a British army, commanded by officers of the first military experience. The inhabitants of the Carolinas were divided in opinion ; bitter, rancorous and cruel in their animosities, and many of them without any fixed political principles. Fluctul BATTLE OF THE COWPENS. 647 ating and unstable, sometimes they were the partisans of Britain, and huzzaed for royalty; at other times, they were the militia of the state in continental service, and professed themselves zealots for American independence. But General Greene, with remarkable coolness and intrepidity, checked their licentious conduct, and punished desertion and treachery by necessary examples of severity ; and thus in a short time he established a more regular discipline. The British troops had yet met with no check, which in any degree damped their ardor, except the defeat of Ferguson. The most important movement which took place for some time after this affair, was an action between Morgan and Tarleton, in Janu ary, 1781. General Morgan was an early volunteer in the Amer ican warfare ; he had marched from Virginia to Cambridge, at the head of a body of riflemen, to the aid of Washington, in 1775. General Greene, convinced that no officer could more effectually accomplish any bold undertaking, ordered Morgan, with a consid erable force, to march to the western parts of South Carolina. Cornwallis, having gained intelligence of this movement, de spatched Tarleton in pursuit of Morgan. In a few days, they met near the river Paulet. General Morgan had reason to expect, from the rapid advance of Tarleton, that a meeting would have taken place sooner ; but by various manoeuvres he kept his troops at a distance, until a moment of advantage might present. The^ Americans had kept up the appearance of retreat, until they reached a spot called the Cowpens. Tarleton came up, and a resolute engagement ensued on the 17th of January, when, after a short conflict, the British were totally defeated, with the loss of above eight hundred killed, wounded and prisoners. The loss of the Americans was only twelve killed, and sixty wounded. Tarle ton's defeat was a blow entirely unexpected by Cornwallis, and induced him to march from Wynesborough, to the Yadkin, in pursuit of Morgan, with the hope of overtaking him and recovering the prisoners. The British troops endured this long and fatiguing march, under every species of difficulty, crossing rivers, swamps, marshes and creeks, with uncommon resolution and patience. Greene, on hearing that Cornwallis was in pursuit of Morgan, left his post near the Pedee, under the command of Gen eral Huger, pushed rapidly forward with a small party, one hun dred and fifty miles, and joined Morgan before Cornwallis arrived at the Catawba. In this pursuit Cornwallis cut off some of the small detachments, not in sufficient force for effectual opposition. General Davison made a successful stand on the banks of the Catawba, with three or four hundred men ; but the British fording 648 THE UNITED STATES. the river unexpectedly, he was himself killed and his troops dis persed. The passage of the river by the British army was no farther impeded. Greene had ordered Colonels Huger and Williams, whom he had left some days before at the Pedee, to join him with their troops ; however, it was but a short time after this junction, before Greene had the strongest reason -to conclude that the safety of his troops lay only in retreat ; nor was this accomplished without the utmost difficulty. His march was frequently interrupted by steep ascents and unfordable rivers. But he adroitly escaped a pursuing arid powerful army, whose progress was, fortunately for the Americans, checked by the same impediments, and at much less favorable moments of arrival.- The freshets swelled, and retarded the passage of the British army, while they seemed at times to suspend their rapidity in favor of the Americans. After a flight and pursuit of fifteen or twenty days, supported by the most determined spirit and perseverance on both sides, Greene reached Guilford, about the middle of February, where he ordered all the troops he had left near the Pedee, under officers on whom he could depend, to repair immediately to him. Cornwallis. Greene and Cornwallis lay at no great distance from each other ; but Greene kept his position as much as possible concealed, as he was not yet in a situation to venture upon a decisive action ; and though he was obliged to move earlier towards the British encampment, no engagement took place until the middle of March. ACTION AT GU1LFORD. 649 In the meantime, by his ability and address, he eluded the vigi lance of his enemies, and kept himself secure by a continual change of posts, until strengthened by fresh reinforcements of the North Carolina and Virginia militia. The few continental troops he had with him, joined by these and a number of volunteers from the interior of the mountainous tracts of the western wilder ness, induced him to risk a battle. On the 15th of March, 1781, the two armies met at Guilford, and seemed at first to engage with equal ardor ; but, as usual, the raw militia were intimidated by the valor and discipline of the British veterans. Almost the whole corps of Carolinians threw down their arms and fled, many of them without even discharg ing their firelocks. This deranged the order of the American army ; yet they supported the action with great spirit and bravery for an hour and a half, when they were entirely broken, and obliged to retreat with the utmost precipitation. Both armies suffered much by the loss of many gallant officers and a con siderable number of men. Cornwallis kept the field and claimed the victory ; but the subsequent transactions discovered that the balance of real advantage lay on the other side. Cornwallis soon decamped from the neighborhood, and marched with all possible expedition toward the eastern parts of North Carolina. He found many difficulties in his way, but pursued his route with great per severance. His army cheerfully sustained the severest fatigujgj| but, as they had frequently done before, they marked their way with the slaughter of the inhabitants, through a territory of many hundred miles in extent from Charleston to Yorktown. It was afterwards computed that fourteen hundred widows were made, during this year's campaign only, in the district Ninety-Six. A detail of all the small rencounters that took place this year in both the Carolinas, would only fatigue the reader. It is enough to observe that the Americans, under various leaders, were con tinually attacking, with alternate success and defeat, the chain of British posts planted from Camden to Ninety-six ; and as Greene himself expressed his sentiments in this embarrassed situation, "We fight, get beaten; rise and fight again; the whole country is one continued scene of slaughter and blood." Fierce encoun ters were still kept up between the British detachments posted on advantageous heights, and on the banks of deep and unfordable rivers which intersected each other, and the hardy chieftain who led the Carolinian bands over mountains, declivities, swamps and rivers to the vicinity of Charleston. Thence they were often obliged to retreat back from the borders of civilization, again to seek safety in the dreary wilderness ; until the British, wearied by 55* 650 THE UNITED STATES. a perpetual course of hostilities without decision, drew in their cantonments, and took post, about the beginning of September, at the Eutaw Springs, nearly fifty miles from Charleston. General Greene, when near the waters of the Congaree, where the two armies were separated at the distance of only fifteen miles, had attempted to bring the enemy to a close engagement; but there appeared at that time no inclination in the British com mander to meet him. Greene now found the enemy were about to take a new position. This induced him to follow them by a cir cuitous march of seventy or eighty miles. Desultory skirmishes continued through the month of August ; and in the next month, Greene again renewed his challenge, and advanced to the Springs, where the main body of the British troops were collected. He had with him only about two thousand men; but these were commanded by some of the best of his officers. They attacked the British encampment on the 8th of September. The battle was severe, but the Americans obtained the advantage. The loss of the British amounted to eleven hundred men; that of the Americans to five hundred. Colonel Stewart, the British com mander, claimed the victory, though it was a drawn battle. Greene suffered the loss of many brave soldiers, and some very valuable officers. Colonel Campbell, of Virginia, fell towards the termination of the action, and had time, after the mortal wound, only to observe, that, " as the British fled, he died contented." Stewart wrote to Sir Henry Clinton a detail of the affair, in the pompous style of a victor ; but notwithstanding he arrogated so much on the occasion, the action at Eutaw Springs put a period to all further offensive operations in that quarter ; and the British troops after this, seldom ventured beyond the boundaries of Charleston. Besides the numbers slain in this action, four or five hundred of the British troops were taken prisoners. The Ameri cans suffered equally, and perhaps in greater proportion to their numbers than the British. After this action, Greene retired again for a time to the heights bordering on the Santee. He had accomplished much during the year. He opened the campaign with the most gloomy prospects ; he closed it with honor to him self and great advantage to the country. Cornwallis, soon after the battle of Guilford, marched to Wil mington, in North Carolina. In the expectation that the force left in South Carolina, under Lord Rawdon, would be able to hold the Americans in check in that quarter, he turned his attention to Virginia. The conquest of that state by the British, appeared to be the most efficacious method of striking a blow which should overwhelm all the southern colonies. Their force was strong. BRITISH FORTIFY THEMSELVES AT YORKTOWN. 651 The Americans had no considerable army in Virginia. Washing ton lay in his cantonments about New York, where the hostile attitude of Clinton demanded his constant vigilance. With these inviting prospects, Cornwallis marched from Wilmington, in April, 1781, and with some occasional resistance from small parties of the Americans, reached Petersburg, in Virginia, on the 20th of May. Here he was joined by the British forces under General Philips, and shortly after by a reinforcement of fifteen hundred men from New York. Cornwallis now found himself at the head of an army amount ing nearly to ten thousand men, a force sufficiently formidable to bear down all opposition. The troops of the Americans did not exceed three thousand men, two-thirds of whom were militia. These were commanded by La Fayette, who retired as Cornwallis advanced. After crossing James river, the British marched and countermarched for some weeks. They took Charlotteville, and destroyed a great quantity of stores. Cornwallis then fell back upon Richmond, and on the 26th of June, retreated to Williams- burg. La Fayette had the address to make his force appear much greater than it really was ; and by keeping in an imposing atti tude, he compelled his adversary to act with caution. Many skirmishes took place, but no decisive action ensued. About the first of July, Cornwallis received letters from Clinton, stating his fears of being attacked in New York, and requesting a reinforce ment from the army of Cornwallis. He recommended that the troops remaining in Virginia, should take post in some strong situation, till the danger at New York had passed. To comply with these suggestions, Cornwallis resolved to retreat toward the shores of the Chesapeake. Portsmouth, near Norfolk, where the British had a strong garrison, was first fixed upon as the station for the army ; but on account of the fleet, Yorktown was after ward found a preferable spot. The troops were therefore removed from Portsmouth to Yorktown, and here the whole British army fortified themselves in July, 1781. The detachment, however, to reinforce Clinton was not sent away. Cornwallis expected to be further strengthened by the speedy arrival of a British squa dron from the West Indies. Washington, in the meantime, had been eyeing the movements of Cornwallis in the south with great anxiety. During the early part of the season, he had hopes of striking an important blow, by attacking New York, in conjunction with the French land and sea-forces, and a strong body of militia, to be suddenly raised for that purpose. The failure of several of the states to forward their militia in season, and the arrival of three thousand German 652 THE UNITED STATES. troops at New York, caused this design to miscarry. Washing ton felt the deepest mortification at this disappointment ; yet, before long, he had cause to regard it as one of the most fortunate events of his life. He was soon enabled to employ his army with the most brilliant success in another quarter. Early in August, intelligence was received that a powerful French fleet, under the Count de Grasse, was to sail immediately from the West Indies for the Chesapeake, with several thousand land troops on board. Washington now saw an opportunity for making a most important change in the campaign. Cornwallis had shut himself* up in Yorktown, and Washington discerned at once the possibility of uniting his army with the French in Vir ginia, and overpowering his enemy at a single stroke. This plan required great skill and address ; but the American commander accomplished it with an ability that has seldom been equalled. To abandon the neighborhood of New York with all his forces, would lay the country open to the incursions of the strong British army in that city ; but a stratagem of Washington obviated the danger from this source. He wrote letters to the officers at the south, stating his inability to assist them with any part of his army, as he was about to make an immediate attack on New York. These letters were intercepted by the British, as had been foreseen, and Clinton was completely deceived as to the real intentions of Washington. Fearing an immediate attack, he dared not send aid to Cornwallis, but left that officer to his fate. Washington, by a variety of well-combined mano3uvres, kept New York and its dependencies in a continual state of alarm for several weeks, when, towards the end of August, judging that the proper conjuncture had arrived, he suddenly broke up his camp, made a rapid march across the Jerseys and Pennsylvania, to the head waters of the Chesapeake, embarked the army in boats, descended the bay, and landed safely in Virginia. He reached Williamsburg on the 14th of September. In the meantime, the fortunate arrival of a French fleet under the Count de Grasse, in the Chesapeake, on the 30th of August, hastened the decision of important events. No intelligence of this had reached New York ; nor could anything have been more un expected to the British admiral, Sir Samuel Hood, who arrived soon after in the Chesapeake, than to find a French fleet, of twenty- eight sail of the line, lying there in perfect security. About the same time, near twenty British ships of the line, from the West Indies, joined the squadron under Admiral Graves, before New York. This fleet sailed for the Chesapeake, and entered the bay six days after the arrival of the Count de Grasse. The French SIEGE OF TORKTOWN. 653 squadron had not been discovered by the British commander, nor had he gained any intelligence that de Grasse was on the Ameri can coast, until the morning of the fifth of September, when the English observed them in full view within Cape Henry. The fleets were nearly equal in strength, and a spirited action ensued ; equal gallantry was exhibited on both sides, but neither could boast of victory. Both squadrons were considerably injured, and one British seventy-four was rendered totally unfit for service, and set on fire by the crew. The English, indeed, were not beaten, but the French gained a double advantage ; for while the Count de Grasse remained at a distance, watched by the British navy, he secured a passage for the fleet of the Count de Barras from Rhode Island, and gained to himself the advantage of blocking up the Chesapeake against the enemy. Barras brought with him the French troops from Rhode Island, amounting to about three thou sand men. These joined La Fayette, whose numbers had been greatly reduced. This reinforcement enabled him to support him self by defensive operations, until, in a short time, they were all united under the command of the Count de Rochambeau. The British fleet continued a few days in the Chesapeake. Their ships were so much injured, that a council of war pronounced it neces sary to return to New York. In the meantime, Clinton wrote letters full of specious pro mises, to buoy up the hopes of Cornwallis, by strong assurances that no time should be lost in sending forward a force sufficient for his relief. He informed him that a fleet, under the command of Lord Digby, who had recently arrived at New York, would sail for the Chesapeake by the fifth of October ; that Clinton him self was nearly ready to embark with a large body of troops. These flattering assurances from the commander-in-chief induced Cornwallis to avoid a general action. His situation had been for some time truly distressing. Embarrassed between his own opin ion and the orders of his superior, flattered by the promise of timely relief, in such force as to enable him to cope with the united armies of France and America, he waited the result, and would not suffer himself to be impelled by any circumstances to risk his army beyond the probability of success. The mouth of the river at Yorktown was blocked up by the French fleet ; the American army, in high health and spirits, strengthened by daily recruits, led on by Washington, in conjunction with a French army, under Rochambeau, an officer of courage, experience, and ability, were making rapid advances. On the 28th of September, they left Williamsburg, and on the 6th of October, 12,000 strong, they opened their trenches before Yorktown. 4 654 THE UNITED STATES. Cornwalhs determined, notwithstanding the difficulties that pressed upon him, to make a desperate defence. His army was worn down by sickness and fatigue, but there was no want of resolution or valor ; his officers were intrepid and his men brave. They acquitted themselves with spirit, and kept their ground from the sixth to the sixteenth of October without despairing. But the besiegers pressed their attacks with such vigor, that Cornwallis at length plainly saw he had only to choose between an immediate surrender, and an effort to escape and save a part of his army by flight. He determined on the latter expedient. For this purpose, he passed, on the night of the sixteenth, the greatest part of his army from Yorktown across the river to Gloucester, leaving only a detachment behind to capitulate for the- town's people, the sick, and the wounded. But fortune did not favor the enterprise. The boats had an easy passage, but, at the critical moment of landing the men, the weather suddenly changed from a calm to a violent storm of rain and wind, which carried the boats down the river, with many of the troops, who had not time to disembark. It was soon evident that the intended passage was impracticable ; and the absence of the boats rendered it equally impossible to bring back the portion of the army that had passed. The troops were dispersed by the storm by which the boats were driven down the river, though some of them returned to Yorktown the 'ensuing day. Desperate as was the situation of the British, a faint resistance was still made, by an order to Colonel Abercrombie to sally out with four hundred men, to advance, attack, and spike the cannon of two batteries of the besiegers, which were nearly finished. This was executed with spirit and success, but attended with no important consequences. The besiegers continued their vigorous operations, without the smallest intermission, until prepared for the last assault on the town, which they began on the morning of the 17th. In this hopeless condition, the British works in ruins, most of the troops sick, wounded or fatigued, and without rational expecta tion of relief from any quarter, Cornwallis found it necessary to propose terms of submission. The officers appointed on the part of the Americans to draw up the articles of capitulation, were the Count de Noailles and Colonel John Laurens, a son of the American ambassador at this time confined in the tower of London, and very severely treated. By a strange concurrence of events, Lord Cornwallis, constable of the tower of London, was now on the point of becoming a prisoner, with his army, under the dictation of the son of Mr. Laurens. The capitulation was signed on the 19th of October, 1781, and the SURRENDER OF CORNWALLIS. 655 whole army, consisting of upwards of seven thousand men, were surrendered prisoners of war. The British were permitted only the same honors of war that Cornwallis had granted the Ameri cans on the surrender of Charleston. The officers were allowed their side arms, but the troops marched with their colors cased, and made their submission to General Lincoln, precisely in the same manner as his army had done to the British commander a few months before. Within five days after the surrender of all the posts that had been held by Lord Cornwallis, a British fleet from New York, under Lord Digby, with Sir Henry Clinton and seven thousand troops on board, entered the Chesapeake, in full confidence of success; but, to their inexpressible mortification, Cornwallis had fallen, and they could only show themselves and retreat. By the capitulation of Cornwallis, all the shipping in the harbor was left to the disposal of the Count de Grasse, with the excep tion of the Bonetta sloop of war. This was granted to the British to carry their despatches to New York. It included the liberty of conveying as many of the troops as it was convenient, to be exchanged for an equal number of Americans. The humanity of Cornwallis prompted him to avail himself of this liberty, to ship off, instead of soldiers, the most violent of the loyalists, who were terrified beyond description at the thought of falling into the hands of their countrymen. After the return of the Bonetta, she also was to be delivered to the French Admiral. Nothing could exceed the exultation that appeared throughout America on the capture of the British army at Yorktown. The thanks of congress were presented to the Count de Rochambeau, General Washington, and the Count de Grasse. Public rejoicings took place throughout the country, and thanksgivings were offered in the churches. While the French and American armies were advancing to the siege of Yorktown, Arnold, at the head of a body of British, made an incursion from New York into Connecticut On the 6th of September, 1781, he landed at New London. A party of his troops, led on by Colonel Eyre, attacked Fort Griswold, at the entrance of the harbor. The garrison defended themselves with great courage, but after a severe action, the fort was carried by assault. A British officer, on entering the place, enquired who commanded. Colonel Ledyard answered, "I did; but you do now," at the same time surrendering his sword. He was imme diately run through the body. After this barbarous murder, many of the soldiers were also butchered, offering no resistance. New London and Groton were then set on fire, with such of the ship- 656 THE UNITED STATES. ping as had not escaped up the river. After a marauding excur sion of eight days, the British returned to New York, having gained nothing but a reputation for useless and wanton cruelty. In consequence of the capture of Lord Cornwallis and some other decided successes in the southern states, a general exchange of prisoners soon after took place. Many of the captured Americans had been sent to Great Britain, where they were treated with almust every severity, short of death. Some of them were trans ported to the East Indies; others put to menial services on board ships ; but after some time those who were conveyed to England might be deemed' happy, when their sufferings were contrasted with those of their countrymen who perished on board the prison ships in America, under the eye of the British commanders. No time will wipe off the stigma that is left on the names of Clinton and Howe; for posterity will remember that during six years of their command in New York, eleven thousand Americans died, mostly from ill treatment, .on board the Jersey prison ship at that place. Nor was the proportion smaller of those who perished in their other jails, dungeons, and prison hulks. Upon the restoration of tranquillity in Virginia, General Wayne was ordered with the Pennsylvania line, to march with the utmost despatch to South Carolina, to the aid of Greene, who had yet many difficulties to encounter. The distance from the central states, and the long service at the southward, had exposed the American commander and his army there to indescribable suffer ings. After the action at the Eutaw Springs, we left Greene on the High Hills of San tee, to which place he repaired to secure and recruit the remainder of his army. After a short stay he advanced towards Jacksonborough. There the light troops from Virginia, that had been under Laurens and Lee, joined him ; but the whole army was so destitute of ammunition and every other necessary for hostilities, that they had scarcely the means of supporting themselves in a defensive condition. Some small skirmishes ensued, without much advantage to either party. It was fortu nate for the Americans that their enemies were now almost as much reduced in number as themselves. Yet the various causes of distress among this small remnant of continental soldiers, were almost innumerable. They were in an unhealthy climate, always unfriendly to northern constitutions; they were almost without the means of supporting human life. Their general had disaffec tion, discontent and mutiny, to combat in his own army. The Maryland line, particularly, indulged a mutinous spirit to an alarming extreme, which it required all the address of the comman- der-in-chief to suppress. In this wretched situation, Greene and RAVAGES OF THE BRITISH IN GEORGIA. 657 his little army continued through the winter of 1780 ; and such was the severe and vigilant duty of the officers, that, for seven months, the general himself was hardly able to take off his clothes for a night. The advance of Wayne, with his detachment from Virginia, which reached South Carolina before the close of 1781, had been impatiently expected. Without this, it would have been impossible for Greene to have held out much longer. Some pro visions, clothing and other necessaries reached the army in the ensuing spring. This partially relieved the American comman der from the complicated distresses he had suffered the preceding winter. Wayne did not continue long in South Carolina, but marched forward, by order of Greene, to cross the Savannah. He was reinforced by a party from Augusta. Though Georgia was con sidered by the British as completely subjugated, yet there was a considerable number of the inhabitants who still took part with congress, and continued to send a delegation of members to that body, through all the hostile movements and changes, for several years. Georgia was relieved at a time when the inhabitants least expected it. Animated by the successes in Virginia, the advance of Wayne was rapid, and his arrival on the borders sur prised Clarke, the British general, who commanded at Savannah. On the first rumor of the approach of the Americans, orders were given by Clarke to the officers commanding his outposts, to burn and destroy everything on the banks of the river, and retire with the troops within the works, in the suburbs of Savannah. These orders were obeyed. After this waste of property, and the destruction of their crops, the Georgians not only suffered from hunger, fatigue and the attacks of British partisans, but also from the irruptions of the Creek Indians, and other savages in the Brit ish service. The inhabitants were reduced to despair, but the speedy arrival of Wayne's detachment revived their sinking spirits, and roused them to new exertions in defence of their country. The people from every quarter flocked to the standard of Wayne. After crossing the Savannah, he was attacked by Colonel Brown, who had marched with a considerable party from the city. This body of troops fell suddenly on Wayne's advancing forces; they fought with great spirit and valor, but were soon defeated and driven back by the Americans. A few days after this, a very large body of the Creek Indians, headed by a British officer attempted in the night to surprise Wayne in his quarters. But this vigilant officer was in greater readiness for their recep tion than they expected. The assailants gained little advantage by their sudden onset. The battle was bloody, but did not con- 56 658 THE UNITED STATES. tinue Jong. The Indians were put to flight with great loss. The low state of British affairs in the Carolinas, and the advance of a body of American troops, were circumstances so discouraging to the invaders, that they did not think proper to make any vigorous resistance. A period was soon put to these hostilities, that had for several years ravaged the southern states. Savannah was evacuated by the British on the 21st of July, and they were driven finally from the Carolinas, in December, 1782. When the British parliament met after the news of the surren der of Cornwallis, the total defeat of the expedition to the Chesa peake, and the declining aspect of affairs in the southern colonies, the speech from the throne was yet manifestly dictated by the spirit of hostility. The king, though he. lamented in the preamble of his speech the loss of his brave officers and troops, and the unfor tunate termination of the campaign in Virginia, still urged the most vigorous prosecution of the war, and of such hostile mea sures as might extinguish what he called "the spirit of rebellion." But these views encountered great opposition. It was said in parliament, that " the enormous expense, the great accumulation of public debt, occasioned by the contest with America, the effu sion of blood which it had occasioned, the diminution of trade, and the increase of taxes, were evils of such magnitude, as could be scarcely overlooked by the most insensible spectator. Further efforts to reduce the revolted colonies to obedience by force, under the present circumstances, would only increase the mutual enmity, so fatal to the interests of Great Britain and America, forever prevent a reconciliation, and would weaken the efforts of Great Britain against the house of Bourbon and other European ene mies." Thus, the colonies alienated, Ireland in a state of despera tion, Scotland little less discontented, a considerable part of the West Indies lost to Great Britain, and the affairs of the East Indies in the most deranged and perturbed state, it was impossible for the existing ministry, the ostensible agents of these complicated evils, longer to maintain any degree of popularity. A detail of the expenses of the fruitless war with America, was laid before the house of commons, and though many arguments were used in favor of the ministry, no subterfuge could screen them, nor any reluctance they felt, retard their resignation. This was called for from every quarter, in terms severe and sarcastic. The hollow murmur of discontent at last penetrated the ear of royalty, and compelled the king to listen to the voice of the nation in favor of peace. A motion was made in the house of com mons, by General Conway, for an address to the king, requesting him to put an immediate end to the destructive war in America. INDEPENDENCE ACKNOWLEDGED, AND TREATY OF PEACE. 659 This motion was lost, only by a single vote. But the object was not relinquished; the address was again brought forward, and finally carried. After various expedients, Lord Cavendish moved that the house should resolve that the enormous expenses of the nation, the loss of the colonies, a war with France, Spain, Hol land and America, without a single ally, was occasioned by a want of foresight and ability in his majesty's ministers, and that they were unworthy of further confidence. In consequence of which, on the 20th of March, 1782, Lord North resigned his place, and declared to the house of commons, that the present administration from that day ceased to exist. Thus, after the blood of thousands of the best soldiers in England had been shed, after the nation had been involved in expenses almost beyond calculation, her trade ruined, and the national character disgraced, Great Britain abandoned the contest as utterly hopeless. A new administration was formed, under the direction of the Marquis of Rockingham, the members of which were opponents of the American war. All active prosecution of hostilities ceased from this time. Negotiations were opened with the American ministers, and at length, on the 30th of November, 1782, provisional articles of peace between Great Britain and America were signed by Messrs. Franklin, Adams, Jay and Laurens, on the part of the United States, and Messrs. Fitzher- burt and Oswald, on the part of Great Britain. By these articles, the independence of the states was fully acknowledged. The definitive treaty between Great Britain and the United States was signed at Paris, on the 3d of September, 1783, by Messrs. Franklin, Adams and Jay, on the part of America, and David Hartley, on the part of Great Britain. A treaty of peace between Great Britain, Spain and Holland, was also concluded on the same day. Peace had been signed with France on the 20th of January, 1783 ; and thus a general pacification was accomplished. The war of the American Revolution cost Great Britain not only the total loss of the colonies, but fifty thousand men, and one hundred millions sterling. Meantime, the deranged state of the American finances, in con sequence of a depreciating currency, the difficulty of obtaining loans of moneys and various other causes, had sufficiently im pressed the people with a deep sense of their danger. These circumstances had led the army to submit to a delay in the payment of their wages during the war, notwithstanding their personal sufferings. But, on certain intelligence that peace was at hand, that it had been proposed to disband the aimy by fur loughs, and that there was no appearance of a speedy liquidation 660 THE UNITED STATES. of the public debts, many of the officers and soldiers grew loud in their complaints and bold in their demands. They called for an immediate payment of all arrearages, and insisted on the fulfilment of the commutation proposed by congress some time before, on the recommendation of Washington. He had requested that the officers of the army might be secured seven years' whole pay, instead of half pay for life, which had been previously stipu lated. This proposal, after reducing the term to five years, con gress had accepted. The soldiers also demanded a settlement for rations, clothing, and proper consideration for the delay of the payments which .had long been due. They chose a committee from the army to wait on congress, to represent the general uneasiness, and to lay the complaints of, the army before them, and to enforce the requests of the officers, most of whom were supposed to have been concerned in the business. Anonymous addresses were scattered among the troops, and the most inflam matory resolutions drawn up and disseminated through the army ; these were written with ingenuity and spirit, but the authors were not discovered. Reports were everywhere circulated that the military department would do itself justice ; that the army would not disband until congress had acceded to all their demands ; and that they would keep their arms in their hands until they had compelled the states to a settlement, and congress to a compliance with all the claims of the public creditors. In answer to the address of the officers of the army, congress endeavored to quiet the complaints by expressions of kindness, encouragement and hope. Several months passed in this uneasy situation ; the people were anxious, the officers restless, the army instigated by ambitious and interested men. Washington, both as commander-in-chief, and as a man who had the welfare of his country at heart, did everything in his power to quiet the complaints, and to dissipate the mutinous spirit of the army. By his assiduity, prudence and judgment, the sedition was stilled for a short time. But the fire was not extinguished ; the secret dis satisfaction, that had rankled for several months, at last broke out into open insurrection. On the 20th of June, 1783, a part of the Pennsylvania line, with some other troops, marched from Lancaster to Philadelphia. There they were joined by some discontented soldiers in the bar racks within the city, who had recently returned poor, emaciated and miserable, from the southern service. This seditious host surrounded the state-house where congress was sitting, placed guards at the doors, and threatened immediate outrage unless their demands were complied with in the short space of twenty- FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES. 661 four minutes. Congress, thus rudely assaulted, resented the affront, and judged it improper to continue longer in a city where they could not be sure of protection. They agreed to leave Philadelphia immediately, and to meet on the 26th at Princeton. Washington, very far from countenancing any of the measures of the mutineers, lost not a moment after he was informed of these riotous proceedings; he ordered General Robert Howe to march with a body of fifteen hundred men to quell the mutineers. Aided by the prudent conduct of the magistrates of Philadelphia, matters were not carried to the extremities apprehended; the refractory soldiers were soon reduced to obedience ; tranquillity was restored without bloodshed. Some of the ringleaders were taken into custody, but soon after received a pardon from con gress. The most decided steps were immediately taken, not only to quell the clamors of the rioters, but to do justice to the claims of the soldiers. The commutation was finally agreed on ; five years' full pay was granted, instead of half-pay, during the lives of the officers of the army. To this was added a promise of a large quantity of land in the western territory, to be distributed among them according to their rank in the army. Yet they were not satisfied ; their complaints were loud ; the grievances and the merits of the army were strongly urged. The distressed state of the American finances was highly alarming ; congress was without revenue, or fiscal arrangements that promised to be sufficiently productive; without power or energy to enforce any orders until the consent of each individual state was obtained. There had been a violent opposition to a proposal for raising a revenue, by an impost of five per cent, on all goods imported from foreign countries. As this was an experiment, it was limited to twenty-five years. Had the expe dient been adopted, it might have prevented many subsequent difficulties and embarrassments. Meantime, Sir Guy Carleton had taken command of the royal forces in North America. On the 25th of November, 1783, all the British troops evacuated the city of New York. General Carleton embarked the same day; and Admiral Digby sailed for England, with the remainder of tho fleet, that had for many years infested the sea-coasts of America. Thus the shores of the Atlantic states, that had so long been dis tressed by the ravages of the British navy, were left in repose. No sufficient apology was, however, yet made for the detention of the western posts ; they were long retained ; and this breach of faith was afterwards attended with very important consequences. Under the frivolous pretences of non-compliance, on the part of 56* F4 662 THE UNITED STATES. the United States, with some articles stipulated in the definitive treaty, a long line of posts in the western territory was still held by the British. Washington, in full possession of the confidence of the people, the applause of his country, the love of the army, the esteem of all the friends of liberty throughout the world, disbanded his troops without inconvenience or murmur on their part. By order of the commander-in-chief, the peace was celebrated at New York on the 1st day of December, 1783 ; and on the twenty-third of the same month Washington resigned his commission to con gress and retired to private life. Before the separation of the army, the general took an affection ate leave of his faithful soldiers, and of each of his officers singly, at New York. His farewell to his brave associates through the perilous scenes of the war, was attended with singular circumstan ces of affection and attachment. His address to the army was energetic and impressive. While the sensibility of the commander- in-chief appeared in his countenance, it was reciprocated in the faces of both officers and soldiers ; and in the course of this solemn farewell, tears stole down the cheeks of men of courage and har dihood, long inured to scenes of slaughter and distress, which too generally deaden the best feelings of the human heart, Washington* CHAPTER LXVI. Defects of the old confederation. Stagnation of trade. Insurrection of Shays, in Massachusetts. Necessity for a new system of government. The convention of Philadelphia. Formation of the federal constitution. Washington first presi dent. Organization of the federal government. United States bank established. Rise of party spirit. The whiskey insurrection in Pennsylvania. Indian war. Defeat of Harmer and St. Clair. Wayne's campaign. Defeat of the sav ages on the Miami. Treaty with Spain respecting the Mississippi. Jay's treaty with Great Britain. THE contest for political freedom was over, the United States of America had become an independent nation, and John Adams was received as American minister to the British court in 1785. But a task almost equally difficult remained, to settle the domestic affairs of the country on a permanent basis. While the war con tinued, the mighty pressure of foreign hostilities had operated as a bond of union upon the various members of the confederacy ; but that pressure being now removed, the necessity was imme diately felt for a more durable form of government. The states had carried on the war with unanimity, it is true, but the ties that united them were loose and precarious. They formed but a tem porary confederacy, and not a systematic union. The powers of congress were not legislative but advisory; almost everything depended on the will of the separate states. It was easy to per ceive that this system of general administration could last no longer than the immediate exigency to which it owed its origin. During the first years that elapsed after the peace, the revolu tionary confederation continued. Congress sent forth annual requisitions to the states for the sums of money wanted for the public service, while each state collected its own revenue. The first evil of this system was felt in the embarrassment of trade. Congress having no power to levy duties or regulate commerce, all mercantile transactions were loose and uncertain. The gov ernment being without an efficient head, no treaties of commerce, on a permanent basis, could be made with foreign powers; and for the same reasons, no public loans could be raised nor credit estab lished, nor debt funded. Foreign commerce became almost annihi lated, and the supplies of the precious metals were cut off. Thus, without specie or paper currency, trade was almost at an end, SHAY'S INSURRECTION. 666 and property of every description depreciated in value to a ruinous extent, When taxes were to be paid, any article useful to man was received in lieu of money. The general distress soon led to murmurs, and from thence to internal tumults. This uneasy and refractory spirit had for some time shown itself in the states of New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, and some other portions of the union, but Mas sachusetts seemed to be the chief seat of discontent. Bristol, Middlesex, and the western counties, Worcester, Hampshire and Berkshire, were violently disturbed by seditious movements. The people met in county conventions in 1786, drew up addresses to the general court, with a long list of grievances, some of them reai, others imaginary. They published many resolves, most of which were absurd in the extreme. They censured the conduct of the officers of government, called for a revision of the constitution of Massachusetts, voted the senate and judicial courts to be griev ances, and proceeded, in a most daring and insolent manner, to prevent the sitting of the courts of justice in Hampshire and Berk shire. These disturbances were for a time truly alarming, and gave cause for serious apprehensions that civil convulsions might spread through the whole country. The high-handed and threat ening proceedings of the insurgents assumed every day a more formidable aspect. There were among them many veteran sol diers, who had been very serviceable in the field during the revolu tionary war. They assembled in great numbers, and seemed to bid defiance to all law, order and government. In the winter of 1786, several thousand of these persons, armed and embodied, appeared in the neighborhood of Springfield. They chose for their leader Daniel Shays, a person who had been a subaltern officer during the war ; threatened to march to Boston, and by compulsory measures to oblige the general court to redress the grievances of the people, which they alleged were brought upon them by enormous taxation and other severities. They, however, thought proper to send forward a petition, instead of marching, sword in hand, to the capital. In this situation of affairs, Governor Bowdoin was empowered by the legislature to order a military force to march against the insurgents, under the command of General Lincoln. But before the troops from the eastern counties had collected at Worcester, great numbers of the insurgents had embodied and marched, with Shays at their head, to Springfield, on the 25th of January, 1787, with a design to attack the arsenal at that place. This was defended by General Shepard, who took every precaution to prevent the shedding of blood. He expostulated with their lead, 666 THE UNITED STATES. ers, and warned them against the fatal consequences of persever ance in their rebellious proceedings. The insurgents, however, marched against the arsenal, but Shepard, by a single discharge from his cannon, dispersed their whole body, and they immedi ately took to flight. A few days afterward they again collected from all quarters, and took a position on the heights of Pelham. Lincoln arrived immediately after at Springfield, and took com mand of all the state forces. He detached a party to Middlefield, who captured a body of sixty of the rebels, with a quantity of stores. He then marched, in pursuit of Shays, towards Pelham. The insurgent leader, aware of his desperate situation, attempted to negotiate for a pardon. Lincoln replied only by summoning him to surrender. Shays, finding l\e could not deal with Lincoln, despatched a petition to the general court, jointly with several of his officers, proposing to lay down his arms on condition of a gene ral amnesty ; but from the insolent style of the petition, it was rejected. Shays was now at the head of two thousand men, and the insurrection appeared so threatening that another strong body of militia was sent to reinforce the army of the state. The rebels maintained a menacing attitude till February, when they began to lose heart, finding that the insurrection spread no further. One of their leaders abandoned them, and shortly after, they retreated from Pelham and marched towards Petersham. It was now the depth of winter, and the most intense cold prevailed. Lincoln pursued them rapidly in their retreat, against a furious northerly snow storm. At Petersham he came suddenly upon the rebel army, attacked, and completely dispersed them. Small bodies of the insurgents had made their appearance in other places, but they were quickly routed by the militia. On the 26th of February, a body of those who had fled into the state of New York appeared again in the county of Berkshire, and plun dered the town of Stockbridge. The militia of the neighborhood turned out and attacked them at Sheffield. After a sharp action, the rebels were defeated. Shays, after his rout at Petersham, was unable to make any stand against the forces of the government, and was soon driven out of the state. The insurgents everywhere laid down their arms, and tranquillity was speedily restored. No person suffered capital punishment in consequence of this rebel- tion. Shays himself received a full pardon the following year, and passed the remainder of a long life in obscurity, entirely forgotten by the world. The necessity for a consolidated system of government became more and more pressing. Congress at first called upon the states to enlarge their powers j this was done by some, but others fet- FORMATION OF THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION. 6G7 tered their grants with so many restrictions, that no general improvement of the system was effected. The more sagacious and reflecting among the American statesmen at length became convinced that the old system of the confederacy had become totally inadequate for the purposes of government, and that the only hope of the country lay in a perfect union of the states under a single head. The first proposal of a federal system was made by Mr. Madison, in the legislature of Virginia. This proposal was encouraged by men of influence in every quarter of the coun try, and was received with such general favor as to bring forth a resolution in congress, recommending a convention of delegates to be held at Philadelphia, on the second Monday in May, 1787, for the purpose of re-modelling the government. This suggestion was complied with by all the states, and the convention met at the time appointed. Washington was president of the convention. They held a session of nearly four months, with closed doors, and agreed on a plan of general government. This they reported to congress, recommending that it should be submitted to a separate convention in each state for ratification. In this quiet and simple manner was formed and ushered into the world that most noble of all political works, the CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. Convention at Philadelphia forming the Constitution. At the present day, we are hardly able to understand how a scheme so absolutely necessary to the welfare of the country, could have found any opposers. Yet the constitution, although recommended by Washington, Franklin, Adams, and the whole host of revolutionary patriots, aroused a numerous band of enemies. Here we notice the origin of those factions which have, 668 THE UNITED STATES. down to the present day, disturbed the tranquillity, and at times threatened the safety of the country. Parties began to form, de fending and opposing the federal constitution, and great strife and animosity were excited. The friends of the constitution, how ever, who took the name of federalists, were much the more numerous party, and far exceeded their opponents in talent, influence and general respectability. John Adams, residing in London as American minister, published, in 1787, a most able work, entitled "Defence of the American Constitution" Madison, Hamilton and Jay wrote " The Federalist," a series of essays, dis playing with great acuteness the excellencies of the new system. These writings had a powerful effect, and the general voice pro nounced loudly in favor of the federal government. Ten of the thirteen states gave their adhesion to it before the 14th of July, 1788, and it was on that day ratified by congress. The other states had liberty to join the Union or continue as separate govern ments. They did not hesitate long. New York acceded July 26, 1788. North Carolina in November, 1789, and Rhode Island in May, 1790. The government of the new American republic was to go into action on the 4th of March, 1789. George Washington was elected first President of the United States, and John Adams Vice President. The first congress met at New York on the 4th of March, and proceeded without delay to raisfc a revenue by imposing duties on importations ; to constitute a federal judiciary by estab lishing a supreme court ; to organize the executive administration by creating the departments of war, foreign affairs and the treas ury. The navy of the United States did not exist. The next ob jects were, to fund the national debt, assume the individual debts of the states, and establish a national bank. The payment of the demands of the revolutionary soldiers was provided for, and measures taken to build up the national credit. Hamilton, the secretary of the treasury, regulated the administration of the finances with talent and foresight. Aided by his labors, the fiscal concerns of the United States were soon placed on a re spectable footing. Hamilton proposed a national bank, and this institution was incorporated by congress in February, 1791, with a capital of ten millions of dollars, and a charter for twenty years. The public securities, which had before depreciated to one eighth of their nominal value, now rose to par ; confidence was restored ; property rose in value, and trade rapidly revived. Party spirit, however, the bane of popular governments, mixed its bitterness with the sweets of returning prosperity. The federal system now having become the government of the coun- "WHISKEY INSURRECTION " 669 try, all citizens were federalists, yet the appellation continued to be applied as the badge of a party, although the dissensions arose upon new topics. Hamilton, the author of the new financial sys tem, was regarded by his friends as the main instrument of the successful change which had redeemed the national honor, and res cued the declining fortunes of the people. By his enemies, on the contrary, he was denounced as a monarchist, because he had pro posed in the convention that the president and senate should hold their offices during good behavior. Hamilton's plans of finance were, in some degree, copied from British institutions ; and this, though without the smallest reason, was urged against him as a reproach. The country, meantime, was enjoying unexampled prosperity ; yet so absurd is faction, that the supporters of the fed eral government were stigmatized as the enemies of the people, combined in a plot for the ruin of the republic. An unfortunate disturbance, which broke out in Pennsylvania, tended to exasperate parties still more. Congress had imposed an excise on the distillation of spirits. This law was particularly displeasing to the people on the west of the Alleghany mountains, and led to the troubles known as the "Whiskey Insurrection." The people in this quarter had strongly disapproved of the federal constitution, and particularly of Hamilton's system of finance. In September, 1791, a delegation of the malecontents met at Pitts- burg, and denounced as enemies to the country all who should obey the excise law. The revenue officers were obstructed in their duty, and, though the law was revised and softened by con gress in May, 1792, the opposition continued as strong as ever. The government, by adroit manoeuvres, kept the disaffected quiet for some time, but in 1794 they proceeded to open violence. On the 15th of July, the marshal, while upon duty, was shot at by a band of armed men. The next day the house of the inspector was attacked by a body of five hundred rioters, who set fire to several buildings, robbed the mail, and committed other outrages. The laws of the country were now openly set at defiance. It was calculated that the insurgents could muster a force of seven thousand men. Washington, in this emergency, acted with circumspection and coolness, but also with decision and energy. He made a requisition on the governors of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Vir ginia, for fifteen thousand militia, and on the 7th of August, issued a proclamation commanding the insurgents to disperse before the first day of September. The government of Pennsylvania took the same step. The militia assembled from the several states under the command of Governor Lee, of Virginia, and marched into the disturbed district. The insurgents fled before them 57 G 4 670 THE UNITED STATES. without making the slightest opposition. No blood was shed ; a few of the most obstinate characters, refusing to declare their sub mission to the laws, were arrested for trial, but the inhabitants in general quietly returned to their duty as citizens. Thus, in a few months, the government of the United States, by prompt resolu tion and firm proceedings, suppressed a dangerous insurrection without the loss of a life, or any act discreditable to the character of the free institutions of America. The arts of demagogues availed nothing against the power of the laws and the self-respect of the American people. In the meantime, the country was threatened with an Indian war. The savages on the northern borders could muster the for midable force of five thousand warriors ; half of these were in open hostility to the United States. They'had fire-arms, and were now much more formidable than at the early settlement of the coun try. Pacific overtures were made to the northwestern Indians, but without success ; and in 1790 a force of fourteen hundred men, mostly militia, under General Harmer, marched against the Indian towns on the Scioto and Wabash. Some of the settlements were burnt, and the country laid waste ; but several detachments of the troops were attacked and cut off by the savages. These successes so encouraged them, that they repeated their incursions upon the American settlements, and the country suffered more than ever. A new army of two thousand men was raised in 1791, and placed under the command of General St. Clair, governor of the northwest ern territory. The troops reached the banks of the Ohio in Septem ber, and marched towards the Indian villages 011 the Miami. As they approached the enemy's territory, a body of sixty militia deserted : a regiment was despatched in pursuit of them, which reduced the army to fourteen hundred men. Within about fifteen miles of the Miami villages, they were attacked by the Indians at sunrise on the 4th of November. At the first surprise, the militia in the outposts were driven into the main camp in the utmost disorder., The main body made a resolute defence, but the savages in great numbers were screened by the woods and thickets, and committed great slaughter among the troops. They were repeatedly harged with the bayonet and driven off, but they constantly returned to the fight in such numerous parties that the Americans were forced to retreat to Fort Jefferson, about thirty miles off. More than six hundred of the troops were killed and wounded. The loss of the Indians is not known. The Americans likewise lost four hun dred horses, six pieces of cannon, and all their baggage, stores and ammunition. This was the most serious defeat which the Americans ever received from the natives : it was in a great meas- WAYNE'S VICTORY OVER THE INDIANS. 671 ure owing to the ill behavior of the raw troops, who threw away their arms most disgracefully. The Indians, on the contrary, fought with the most heroic courage and obstinacy. Congress, determined to suppress the Indian hostilities, author ized a further levy of troops, increasing the army to five thousand men, which were put under the command of General Wayne. He advanced into the Indian territory, in the autumn of 1793, and erected a fortification on the spot where St. Clair had been de feated, which he named Fort Recovery. The season was too far advanced for military operations, and he wintered in the neigh borhood. The early part of the summer was spent in attempts to negotiate with the enemy, and cautious movements on the part of the Americans. At length, on the 8th of August, 1794, he reached the rapids of the Miami with a force of three thousand men. Here, in the neighborhood of the Indians, he made another overture for peace, which was rejected. He then moved cautiously down the river to meet the enemy, who were strongly posted in a fortifica tion skirted by a thick wood and the rocky bank of the stream. On the 20th of August, Wayne attacked them in their intrench- ments. where they had collected above two thousand warriors. General Wayne's victory over the Indians. After an obstinate battle of an hour, the Indians were defeated and driven from their fort with great loss. They took refuge in a wood, under the guns of a fortification which was still held by the British troops, although within the territory of the United States. For sev eral days Wayne continued in the neighborhood, destroying the Indian corn-fields and laying waste their country. By these deci sive measures the savages were thoroughly intimidated, and an effectual stop was put to their incursions. On the 3d of August, 672 THE UNITED STATES. 1795, a treaty was concluded at Greenville, which established peace between the Indian tribes and the United States, and restored peace and tranquillity to the frontier settlements. In the foreign relations of the country, some difficulties arose with the Spaniards, who at that time held possession of Louisi ana. They had used their endeavors, while the treaty of 1782 was in progress, to prevent the extension of the boundaries of the United States westward. They were unable, however, to accom plish this, and the Americans became possessed of the territory on the upper part of the Mississippi. The Spaniards holding the outlet of the river,' refused the free navigation of it to the settlers upon its banks. The inhabitants of the west, who were cramped in their commerce by this restriction,, and who regarded the river as a great highway, free for the use of all who dwelt upon its banks, uttered loud murmurs, and made demonstrations of pro ceeding to extremities against the Spaniards of Louisiana. There was reason for some time to fear that a war with Spain would grow out of these conflicting claims, but the government of the United States took such prudent measures as averted all hostili ties. Mr. Thomas Pinckney was sent as envoy extraordinary to the Court of Madrid, and in the year 1794, he concluded a treaty with the king of Spain, by which the navigation of the Missis sippi was formally granted to the United States. Mr. Adams, the American minister at London, had attempted, before the establishment of the federal government, to negotiate a treaty of commerce with Great Britain; but the circumstances of the country were unpropitious, and the negotiation failed. Aftei the federal constitution had secured to the United States an effi cient and respectable government, the attempt was renewed by Mr. Jay, who was sent envoy extraordinary to London in 1794. He concluded a commercial treaty with Great Britain which was ratified the same year. This treaty settled all the disputes then existing between the two countries ; it provided for the surrender of the American posts still held by the British, opened a limited trade with the British West Indies, and made arrangements for the payment of debts and claims due from one country to the other. Mr. Jay considered the treaty as the best that could be made in actual circumstances, and altogether highly beneficial to the United States. Yet a violent clamor was raised against it by a numerous party in the country, because it did not contain a stipulation that "free ships should make free goods." This was a popular maxim with the American merchants, but the British were strenuous in opposing it and the American government, pos sessing no navy, and as yet without weight or influence as a COMMERCIAL TREATY WITH GREAT BRITAIN. 673 maritime power, were forced to waive the point for that time. In spite of argument and prudential considerations, however, the opposition in every quarter was so formidable, that although the treaty was ratified by the president and senate, the appropri ations for carrying it into effect were voted in the house of repre sentatives by a very small majority. The treaty took effect with I he most beneficial consequences. The posts were given up to the United States, and compensa ion was made to the whole body of British creditors by the payment of six hundred thousand pounds sterling by the American government, in full for all debts due from citizens of the United States. Thus ended all the con troversies which grew out of the war of the revolution. 57* George III. CHAPTER LXVII. Commencement of the French Revolution. War between France and England. Genet's mission to the United States. Unwarrantable conduct of that minister and his successor, Adet. John Adams elected president. Intrigues of the French Directory. Hostilities with France. Exploits of the frigate Constellation. Treaty with Bonaparte. Death of Washington. Purchase of Louisiana. Prosperity of the United States. Naval war with Tripoli. Loss of the frigate Philadelphia. Bombardment of Tripoli. General Eaton's expedition from Egypt. Capture of Derne. Peace with Tripoli. Mr. Jefferson chosen Presi dent. Death of Hamilton. Burr's conspiracy. Progress of party. Impress ment of American sailors by the British. Attack on the Chesapeake. Paper blockades. Napoleon's Berlin and Milan decrees. The British orders in council. Depredations on American commerce. Embargo. Mr. Madison elected pres ident. Erskine's treaty. Affair of the President and Little Belt. Reparation for the attack on the Chesapeake. Revocation of the Berlin and Milan decrees. War declared against Great Britain. Desperate nature of the contest. Opposition of parties. Repeal of the orders in council. Overwhelming power of the British navy. Baltimore mob. Affair of John Henry. THE year in which the federal constitution went into effect, was marked by the birth of an event in Europe, which exercised the most momentous influence, not only in that country, but upon the whole of the civilized world. The French revolution began in 1789, and its effects were so rapid and important that Europe and America were speedily involved in war. Although the origin and progress of this great political convulsion possess the deepest interest to the general reader, and a knowledge of them is in some degree necessary in order to understand the full import of the transactions recorded in the remaining portion of this history, yet the subject is too copious to be introduced here. We can only touch lightly upon the main facts. The French nation had imbibed republican notions by their alliance with America. The brilliant success of a nation which had fought for liberty and established a free government, dazzled a lively people, ever suscep tible of enthusiastic and quick impressions. The government of France was arbitrary ; the titled orders were insolent and oppres sive; the court was profligate, and the whole nation was sinking under an intolerable load of debt. The sudden rise of the American republic was the only stimulant wanting to arouse them. A new order of things was called for. The States General, or popular THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 675 assembly of the nation, met at Versailles, in 1789, to consult upon measures adapted to the exigencies of the times. From moderate beginnings they proceeded to radical changes in the government A written constitution was formed; restrictions were placed on royal authority, and the political rights of all citizens secured. But, unfortunately, the French people had neither the wisdom, the intelligence, the moderation, nor the virtue of the Americans of 1776. The work, begun judiciously, soon ran into precipitate extravagance, criminal excesses, and at length into the most furious and reckless political fanaticism. The throne was over turned, the king beheaded, one form of government succeeded another, and one party triumphed over another, while no real government or authority prevailed, except that of epidemic terror or the momentary sway of a faction or a demagogue. War broke out between France and England in 1793. The French were at this time so infatuated with their new politics, that they imagined themselves destined to revolutionize the whole world. It was their wish to draw the United States into their quarrel with England. The American people wished success to the French in their struggle for liberty ; and the first appearance of the French revolution was hailed by the republicans of the west as the dawning of European freedom. The bloody excesses of the French revolutionists soon damped these reasonable hopes, and at length utterly disgusted all sober and reflecting people. Soon after the execution of Louis XVI., Mr. Genet was sent as minister to the United States. This man was of an ardent tem per and fired by the common enthusiasm of the revolutionary French. He seems to have regarded his office as a mission to stir up the people of the United States to a war with the enemies of France. Genet landed at Charleston, eight hundred miles from the seat of government. This was done for the purpose of sounding the disposition of the people, and concerting his plans before his interview with Washington, whose prudence and firmness were likely to be obstacles in the way of the hair-brained Frenchman. At his first landing, he proceeded to acts violating the rules of international law, by commissioning armed vessels from Charles ton to cruise, against the British. Before his arrival was known by the government, a resolution had been taken to adopt a strictly neutral position in the contest. The British minister at Philadel phia complained of Genet's proceedings, and Washington sent instructions, accompanied with rules for the observation of neu trality, to the governors of all the states. Genet resented this, and attempted to excite a popular clamor against it. He issued 676 THE UNITED STATES. publications designed to excite opposition to the laws, by appeals to the passions and caprices of the multitude. He affirmed, like other disturbers of the public tranquillity in more recent times, that authority did not reside in the government, but in the people separate from the government. These wild and mischievous notions were caught up by many unthinking people, and Genet soon had a party of adherents, who encouraged him to such inso lent behavior, that Washington refused to hold any dealings with him, and obliged his government to order him home. Genet's successors, Fauchet and Adet, were more moderate in their conduct, but their designs were the same, and troubles soon followed, though in a different quarter. The French Directory, rinding they could not stimulate thie Americans to a war with England, began to view them with a hostile eye. Complaining that the Americans allowed their ships to be searched by British cruisers in pursuit of French property, they issued orders for the capture of all American vessels. This was tantamount to a declaration of hostilities ; yet, as the United States at this period had no navy, the insult could not be promptly resented. Mr. Charles C. Pinckney was sent minister to France, to accommodate matters by negotiation. The Directory refused to receive him ; he was ordered to quit the French territory, and informed that the French would not receive another American minister until after a "redress of grievances." In the meantime, the election of president approached in the autumn of 1796. Adet, the French minister, addressed a note to the secretary of state, couched in the most extraordinary language, utterly inconsistent with the rules and courtesy of diplomacy, and intended solely to inflame the popular passions. This strange document, insolent to the government, and palpably designed to influence the pending election, was sent by the writer to a printer on the day it was penned, November 15th, and circulated widely throughout the country. Like an over-charged gun, however, it recoiled upon its manager. So impertinent an interference in the domestic politics of the country disgusted all judicious people, and Adet's intrigues had no small influence in causing the election of John Adams, the one among all the candidates whom he had the strongest reason to dislike. Under the administration of President Adams, three envoys extraordinary, Pinckney, Marshall and Gerry, were sent to Paris, to attempt a second negotiation, in 1797. The Directory, under frivolous pretexts, delayed to accredit them publicly, but in an indirect manner demanded a large sum of money as a requisite to begin the negotiation. This being promptly refused, Pinckney DEATH OF WASHINGTON. 677 and Marshall were ordered to quit the country, but Gerry was allowed to remain. The intelligence of these proceedings excited the highest indignation in the United States, and the government ordered the capturing of all armed French vessels. On the 9th of February, 1799, the American frigate Constellation, of thirty- six guns, commanded by Captain Truxton, being on a cruise among the West India Islands, fell in with the French fngate 1'Insurgente, of forty guns, and captured her after an engagement of an hour and a quarter. This was the first time an American frigate had taken a ship of superior force. On the 1st day of February, 1800, the Constellation fought another battle with the French frigate La Vengeance, of fifty- four guns. After four hours' fighting, the French ship was silenced, but a squall suddenly springing up, enabled her to escape, and she arrived at Curasao in a shattered condition, with one hundred and sixty men killed and wounded. The insults of the French government nearly united all parties in defence of the national honor. Popular addresses poured in upon the president from every quarter of the union, assuring him of every necessary support in the stand he had taken. Congress voted to raise an army. Washington was appointed to the com mand, and the United States assumed a dignified attitude. This firmness had its effect across the Atlantic. Three other envoys, Messrs. Ellsworth, Davie, and Murray were sent to Paris in 1800. The government of France was now in the hands of the First Consul, Bonaparte, who received the envoys with respect, and entered upon this business with the promptness and despatch which always characterized that extraordinary man. On the 30th of September, 1800, a treaty was concluded, which settled all differences between France and America. On the 14th of December, 1799, Washington died, after an ill ness of a single day. This event caused a general mourning throughout the United States. The new seat of government on the banks of the Potomac was called by his name, and the city of Washington became the capital of the United States in 1800. In 1803, the United States received a large acquisition of territory, by purchasing from France the whole of the region west of the Mississippi, then called Louisiana, which included not only the present state of that name, but Arkansas, Missouri, Wisconsin, Iowa, and the vast wild region of the west. This country had been recently ceded to the French by the Spaniards ; and Bona parte, who wanted money more than colonies, transferred it to the United States for the sum of fifteen millions of dollars. The people of the United States now promised themselves a 4 678 THE UNITED STATES. period of lasting tranquillity. The government had been settled upon a secure, basis, the Indians quieted, the friendship of Tomb of Washington at Mount Vernon. England, France and the other great European powers secured by amicable treaties commerce and industry began to thrive with wonderful rapidity, the national revenue increased, and every external appearance denoted an increasing and permanent pros perity. But events were already in progress which soon dis turbed the tranquillity of the nation, and before long involved the United States in foreign war. The treaties with France and England opened a wide field of commerce to the American mer chants, into which they immediately entered with that enterprise and activity which have now become their strong characteristics. The sea was soon covered by their ships, and American commerce was ere long exposed to the depredation of the belligerent Euro pean powers; it had no protection abroad, as the United States could hardly boast of possessing a ship of war. The American navy during the war of the revolution consisted of a few small frigates and minor craft. Most of these were lost; and after the capture of Charleston, the navy came entirely to an end, by the sale of the remainder as worthless. For many years the government did not possess a single ship; but in 1794 an act of congress authorized the building of six frigates. These were the Constitution, the President, the United States, the Constellation, the Congress, and the Chesapeake. Some smaller vessels were soon NAVAL WAR WITH TRIPOLI. 679 added, and the navy was not long idle. We have mentioned the cruises of the Constellation against the French. The next mari time hostilities arose with one of the Barbary powers. The Ameri can commerce had speedily found its way into the Mediterranean, and became exposed to the insults of the piratical African states. The Bashaw of Tripoli, in 1799, demanded a heavy tribute of the United States, and being refused, he captured five American vessels. In August, 1801, the United States schooner Enterprise, Capt. Sterrett, fell in with a Tripolitan cruiser off Malta, and after an obstinate action of two hours, captured her. Captain Ster- rett's instructions did not allow him to make prize of the vessel ; accordingly, after cutting away her masts, and throwing her guns overboard, he gave her up to the crew, leaving them sail and rig ging sufficient to carry them into port. From this time till 1803, the United States kept several ships of war in the Mediterranean, and some small actions took place off Tripoli. In August, 1803, Commodore Preble was despatched with a squadron, consisting of the Constitution and Philadelphia frigates, the Argus, Siren and Nautilus brigs, and the Vixen and Enterprise schooners. On their arrival off Tripoli, the Philadelphia, in chasing a vessel into port, struck on a rock, and before she could be got off, was surrounded by the Tripolitan gun-boats and compelled to surrender. On a change of wind she was set afloat and towed into the harbor of Tripoli. The American squadron sailed for Syracuse to refit. While at this place, a scheme was planned to retake or destroy the Philadelphia. This expedition was entrusted to Lieutenant Stephen Decatur. He sailed from Syracuse in a small schooner, with seventy-six men, accompanied by the brig Siren. On the 16th of February, 1804, they arrived off Tripoli. The schooner entered the harbor at night, and ran alongside the Philadelphia before it was discovered that she was an enemy. The Americans boarded her, sword in hand, soon cleared her decks, and gained entire possession of the ship. The castle, the batteries and the Tripolitan flotilla opened a tremendous fire upon them, and the harbor was soon covered with launches approaching to the rescue; but Decatur and his men set fire to the Philadelphia and escaped to sea in safety. The American squadron having arrived from Syracuse, pro ceeded to the attack of Tripoli. On the 3d, the 7th, and 29th of August, the town was cannonaded, and assaults were made on the shipping in the port. The Tripolitan batteries mounted one hundred and fifty guns, and the town was defended by an army of forty-five thousand Arabs. The enemy sustained much dam age, and several of their gun-boats were captured. On the 4th of THE UNITED STATES. Burning of the Philadelphia. September, the Intrepid, a fire-ship, was sent into the harbor under the command of Lieutenants Somers, Wadsworth, and Israel. She was charged with one hundred barrels of powder and three hundred shells, to be exploded under the enemy's bat teries, while the crew escaped in a boat. Before this could be done, two galleys, of one hundred men each, suddenly shot along side the Intrepid, and she instantly blew up, with the most terrible effect, destroying both her crew and enemies. It is not known whether accident or the self-devotion of the Americans caused this awful catastrophe. The negotiations with the Bashaw proving fruitless, the American government determined to push the war with additional rigor. An opportunity for a naval enterprise soon presented itself. Hamet, the ex-bashaw, had been expelled by his brother, and was now an exile in Upper Egypt! General William Eaton was despatched to gain him over to the Americans. Hamet com manded an army of Mamelukes, then at war with the Turkish government. Eaton visited the ex-bashaw and brought him into his plan. Hamet furnished the American general with a strong body of Arabs, well mounted, and seventy Greek soldiers, With this force, Eaton left Alexandria on the sixth of March, 1805, for an expedition across the sandy desert of Barca. In a march of a thousand miles, the troops endured a degree of peril and suffering hardly equalled in romance, and on the 25th of April, arrived before the town of Derne, in the Tripolitan territory. Eaton's TREATY WITH TRIPOLI. 681 expedition had become known to the bashaw, and his army was within a day's march of the place when the invaders approached it. No time was to be lost; the town was summoned to sui- render; but the commandant returned for reply, "My head, or yours!" Eaton stormed the walls on the 27th, and Derne was taken by as motley an armament as ever was combined under the American flag, Arab cavalry, Greek infantry, and Ameri can ships, which arrived in the bay in season to assist in the capture. Hamet set up his government in Derne, and the Arabo- Ameri can army fortified themselves in the new capital. On the 18th of May, the Tripolitan army arrived and assaulted the place, but after a contest of four hours, they were repulsed, and withdrew to the mountains, although they outnumbered their opponents ten to one. Many skirmishes followed, and on the tenth of June, another general battle was fought. The small American vessels in the harbor kept up a well directed fire, and checked every ad vance of the Tripolitans. The next day the Constitution arrived, and struck such terror into the enemy that they fled instantly to the desert, leaving most of their baggage behind them. The whole history of the Tripolitan war is colored with a high degree of ro mance; but we have not space for the details. General Eaton dis tinguished himself by uncommon talent and courage. Finally, in June, 1805, a treaty was concluded with the Bashaw. This treaty was negotiated by Mr. Lear, the agent of the American government. Had the business of the war been entrusted to the sole management of Eaton, there is every reason to believe he would have penetrated to Tripoli, liberated the American captors without ransom, deposed the Bashaw, reinstated Hamet, and concluded an advantageous commercial arrangement for the United States. By the treaty, Hamet was left to his fate, and sixty thousand dollars were paid for the release of the American prisoners. The domestic politics of the United States, in the meantime, had become more and more disturbed by party spirit. In 1801, Thomas Jefferson became President, and Aaron Burr Yice-Presi- dent There had been no choice by the electors, and in conse quence of an original provision of the constitution, which has since been amended, thirty-six ballotings took place in the house of representatives before the president was chosen. The two par ties which divided the country, were now known as the " federalists and democrats." Jefferson and Burr, the successful candidates, were both of the latter party; but Mr. Burr, during the election, was suspected of intriguing to supplant Jefferson, and in conse- 58 682 THE UNITED STATES. quence, declined in favor with his political associates. He attempted to regain his lost influence by entering into a canvass for the office of governor of New York. In this scheme he was opposed by Hamilton, who had been long his political antagonist. His opposition defeated the attempt, and Burr determined on re venge. He challenged his rival to a duel, and Hamilton fell, at Hoboken, on the llth of July, 1804. This tragical occurrence entirely destroyed what remained of Burr's popularity ; but the restless spirit and ambition of the man were not in the least quieted. He conceived a scheme as daring as it was magnificent, the establishment of a new empire in the southwest, of which he was to be the head. The stupendous rev olutions which were then convulsing Europe, agitated all minds. Bonaparte crossing the Alps. The brilliant fortune of Bonaparte, who, from an obscure soldier, had suddenly become the supreme ruler of the most powerful kingdom in Christendom, dazzled every imagination. Great changes seemed to menace the whole world; arid it was no wonder that Burr, a man of unquestionable talent and courage, insatiable ambition, and intriguing temper, should believe him self able to become the Napoleon of the west. He began by tampering with Eaton and Truxton, then preeminent for their achievements in the American army and navy. His designs were at first darkly hinted, but he succeeded in gaining many partisans to his scheme, some of them persons of wealth and influence. The common belief was that he designed to erect an independent state beyond the Alleghanies, either out of the Ameri can territories, or by revolutionizing the Spanish provinces. In December, 1806, he assembled a number of the most desperate of CONSPIRACY OF AARON BURR. 683 his followers, on the Ohio, and proceeded down the river. The rumor of his expedition had caused a great excitement in the country, but hy adroit management, Burr contrived to avoid all obstruction from the legal authorities. The federal government had sufficient knowledge of his designs, to warrant his arrest, and, on his passage down the Mississippi, he was stopped at Natchez, and cited before the supreme court at that place, on the 2d of February, 1807. His accomplices were arrested at New Orleans and elsewhere. Burr made his escape from Natchez in disguise, but was overtaken and captured on the Tombigbee, and carried prisoner to Richmond. The grand jury found true bills for trea son against Burr, Blannerhassett, and some others. Their trial took place before the circuit court of the United States at Rich mond, on the 27th of August, 1807. From a want of precise and legal evidence they were acquitted, though no doubt existed as to the fact of their being engaged in a mad and lawless under taking. The restless, intriguing and ambitious Aaron Burr sunk at once into an obscurity from which he never afterwards emerged. Thomas Jefferson. Mr. Jefferson was re-elected president in 1804. Party spirit, at this period, had abated none of its fierceness ; and the Americans, as if their domestic affairs were not sufficient to occupy their attention, almost universally took sides, as far as freedom of speech was concerned, in the contest then raging between France and England. They had soon matters of serious interest to entangle them with one of the parties. The right of searching American ships and impressing British sailors from them, had been strongly insisted on by the British ; and this right, although in the highest degree repugnant to the feelings of the American people, had not been contested by the treaty of 1794. Such a license could not fail to be scandalously abused by the British cruisers, who were then the undisputed lords of the ocean. It 684 THE UNITED STATES. was not long before a gross insult was perpetrated upon the American flag. On the 22d of June, 1807, the American frigate Chesapeake, a few hours after she had sailed from Norfolk, was attacked by the British frigate Leopard, for the purpose of taking from her a number of her crew, alleged to be British sailors. After receiving several broadsides, and having a number of men killed, she struck her colors. Four men were taken from her, one of whom was hanged as a British deserter. The Chesapeake was of inferior strength to her antagonist, and was not armed for a cruise ; yet, Captain Barren, her commander, was considered as not having acted .with becoming spirit in surrendering his ship without making a more resolute defence. This gross and wanton outrage inflamed the whole population of the United States with indignation, and for the moment extin guished all party spirit in the national feeling which it aroused. The president issued a proclamation, ordering all British ships out of the waters of the United States. The British government disavowed the act of Admiral Berkley, who commanded the squadron to which the Leopard belonged, and removed him from his command on the American station; but the claim of the right of search and impressment was not abandoned. The American commerce continued to be annoyed by British ships of war, which captured American vessels whenever the dishonesty or caprice of their commanders prompted f them. The sources of these troubles were soon enlarged. The system of " paper block ades" was adopted by the British; the whole coast of a country was laid under a commercial interdict by a single proclamation ; and American ships, entering the ports of France and other coun tries in possession of the French, were captured and condemned by the British. Napoleon resented this arrogant assumption of power, and retorted it upon his enemy. From the imperial camp at Berlin, on the 21st of November, 1806, he issued his famous decree, com plaining of the violation of the rights of nations by the British government, and declaring it necessary to enforce against them their own maritime code. The British islands were therefore declared in a state of blockade, and all intercourse with them was forbidden to neutral nations. Against the Berlin decrees the British government issued, on the 7th of January and llth of November, 1807, their Orders in Council, declaring in a state of blockade all ports in Europe from which the British flag was excluded, and all trade in the products or manufactures of such countries, contraband. Napoleon again retorted by a decree, dated at Milan, on the 17th of December, 1807, declaring that every OUTRAGES ON THE COMMERCE OF THE UNITED STATES. 685 ship, of whatever nation, which should submit to a search from an English vessel, should be liable to capture and condemnation as English property. The same penalty was denounced against all ships holding any intercourse with Great Britain or her colonies, or any country occupied by British troops. The French emperoi, however, affirmed that these regulations should be annulled as soon as the British government should renounce their own barba rous system of maritime war, which had provoked his retalia tion. In this manner the American commerce became the prey of the two most powerful nations of Europe. Year after year these unjustifiable outrages were repeated by both nations upon the commerce of the United States. Every insult of the British was followed by one of equal enormity from the French, on the plea that the quiet submission of the Ameri cans to the interference of the British, was an act of hostility to their enemies. The commerce of the Americans suffered, and the national character was disgraced by the inability of the govern ment to prevent these outrages. While continually exposed to insult and plunder, the American shipping had no protection from the navy of the United States, which consisted only of a few frigates and brigs. During Jefferson's administration, a new scheme of maritime defence was concerted. Instead of large ships, a numerous fleet of gunboats had been built. These vessels, which were of very little service at home, and good for nothing abroad, soon fell into utter disrepute, and brought the navy of the United States into discredit. The reckless and adventurous spirit of the American merchants prompted them to the most hazardous adventures, and in spite of the hostile fleets of Great Britain and France, the Atlantic was still covered with American ships. Such of these as escaped the piracies of the belligerent powers, made profits so enormous, that the avarice of the traders received a tenfold stimulant. More than a thousand American vessels were captured before the year 1812. To check these proceedings, congress, in the winter of 1807, passed an act laying an embargo, by which all trade with Great Britain, France and other nations, was interdicted. The most violent clamors were raised throughout the country, especially in the maritime towns, by this act. The embargo was denounced as unconstitutional, and the two parties which divided the country were inflamed into the most bitter animosities. The commerce of the United States became in an instant reduced to a mere coasting trade, and the stagnation of business was felt by hundreds of thousands. The embargo, however, although de fended by a majority of the people, did not answer the expecta- 58* 1 4 686 THE UNITED STATES. tions of its friends. The temptations to evade it were so strong^ that great numbers of cargoes were despatched illegally from the ports of the United States. In the eastern parts of the Union, the emba.rgo was particularly hateful to the people, and here it encountered the most serious opposition. After a trial of about a year, it was therefore partially repealed, and an act of non-inter course with Great Britain and France substituted in its place. In 1809, James Madison became president of the United States. Shortly after his accession, Mr. Erskine, the British minister at Washington, proposed an arrangement for the settlement of the disputes between .the two countries. He agreed that the Orders in Council should be revoked, as far as concerned the United States, provided the non -intercourse with Great Britain should be repealed. He also offered reparation for the attack on the Chesa peake, and agreed that an envoy extraordinary should be sent by Great Britain to conclude a treaty for the full adjustment of all affairs depending between the two powers. These proposals were immediately embraced by the American cabinet, and a treaty was signed and ratified on the 19th of April, 1809. In consequence of this, the president issued his proclamation, announcing that he had received official information that the Orders in Council would be repealed on the 10th of June, and that the trade between the United States and Great Britain might be renewed on that day. So severe had been the pressure of tha commercial restrictions, that this announcement caused as much joy throughout the coun try as a proclamation of peace. The event was celebrated every where by public rejoicings and illuminations, and all parties united in applauding the measure and its promoters. This universal exultation, however, was soon followed by the most mortifying disappointment. The British government, as soon as they heard of the treaty, disavowed it, and recalled their minister, on the plea that he had transcended his instructions. Erskine was succeeded at Washington by Mr. Jackson, who renewed the negotiation, but in so insulting a style towards the American government, that they refused to hold any intercourse with him, and he was shortly afterward recalled. The British, in the meantime, continued their depredations and insults upon -the American shipping; but their outrages did not always escape punishment. On the 16th of May, 1811, the Brit- ish sloop-of-war Little Belt, fell in with the United States frigate Piesident, off the Capes of Virginia. It was a dark evening, and the ships did not understand each other's force. Commodore Rogers, who commanded the President, hailed the Little Belt, and was answered by a shot. Broadsides were then fired by both WAR DECLARED WITH ENGLAND. 687 ships, till the Little Belt was silenced, with thirty-two men killed and wounded. Captain Bingham, of the Little Belt, represented this as a hostile attack upon his ship, and affirmed that the Pres ident fired the first gun. The British government demanded satisfaction, and a court of inquiry was ordered by the Americans. Full evidence appeared that the British ship began the attack, and after a clear statement of the case by Mr. Monroe, the secre tary of state, the British minister pressed the matter no further. Not long after this, reparation was made by the British gov ernment for the attack on the Chesapeake. The men taken from her were given up, and a pecuniary compensation made to the families of the killed and wounded. No disposition, however, was manifested to remove the main cause of the troubles still existing between the two countries. The Orders in Council were not revoked, and it became evident that some decisive measures must be determined on, to save the commerce of the United States from total ruin. On the 1st of May, 1810, congress passed an act, declaring that if either Great Britain or France, should, before the 3d of March following, cease to violate the neutrality of the United States, the non-intercourse should be repealed with regard to that power. In consequence of this, the French government informed the American minister at Paris that the Berlin and Milan decrees would be revoked on the 2d of November, 1810. Intercourse with France was therefore opened by a proclamation from the president. When the American minister at London pressed the British government to follow this example, he was answered that no proof existed of the repeal of Napoleon's decrees. In fact, the repeal had never been formally made public at Paris, although the capture of American vessels by the French ceased at the time specified. At length, after much negotiation, Napoleon published his act of repeal on the 28th of April, 1811. The British cabinet then, in consequence of promises repeatedly given to follow the example of France, revoked conditionally their Orders in Council, on the 23d of June, 1812 ; but it was too late ; war with Great Britain had already been declared by the United States. The patience of the American government and people had become exhausted. All their negotiations with the British resulted in little more than chicanery and equivocation. It was evidently the wish of their government to protract the settlement of affairs as long as possible. The American commerce offered a rich harvest of plunder for the British cruisers, and the American crews were a constant source for the supply of recruits for tfeei/navy ,b'y im*- pressment. ^Qiousands of sailors, with the l^al eyidense-'of 4 Iks 688 THE UNITED STATES. citizenship in their pockets, were taken forcibly from American ships and compelled to serve in the British navy. Remonstrances against these outrages were vain ; the Americans had no naval force sufficient to make them feared or respected abroad, and the British despised them, as a people who might be plundered and insulted with impunity. Nothing, short of a decidedly hostile attitude in the people of the United States, appeared likely to offer a remedy for these evils. Accordingly, President Madison con- j vened congress on the 4th of November, 1811, and after recapitu- "ff lating the wrongs which the United States had suffered from the + belligerent powers of Europe, recommended that the country should be put into a state of defence. Measures were accordingly taken by congress for strengthening the ,army and navy, but so feeble were the hopes of national defence or glory from the latter / source, that appropriations were made only to repair three small Vj frigates and build three others. On the 14th of March, 1812, a loan of eleven millions of dollars was authorized. /The prospect of a war with England shook the country with violent party dissensions. No one denied that grievous wrongs / and insults had been sustained from that power, yet the opposition to the war was very strong. The commercial towns of the f Eastern states, which had the most to suffer from hostilities, were, of course, the most strenuous in opposing it. The extravagant gains of commerce, in spite of the enormous hazards attending it, offered still an irresistible lure. The country, moreover, was in a / wretched state of defence, with fifteen hundred miles of sea-coast unprotected by anything deserving to be called a navy. The maritime strength of the British, on the other hand, surpassed everything known in history, ancient or modern ; it comprised, at this period, above one thousand ships of war. The whole coast of the United States would lie at their mercy, and not an American J sail would be seen upon the ocean. Such were the disheartening representations made, and not without reason, by the advocates of a pacific policy. ) The feeling of resentment, however, against Great Britain was so deep and general, and the persuasion that force alone would \ compel her to do justice, was so strongly grounded in the minds ' of the greater part of the American people, that their ardent f temperament overlooked the desperate odds against them in the . struggle. The popular disposition was so clearly manifested, that the president, on the 1st of June, 1812, sent a message to congress, directly proposing the question of hostilities for their serious con sideration. The wrongs suffered by the United States at the hands of the British, were declared to be intolerable, and without Andrew Jackson. Martin Van Burcn. William Henry Harrison. John Tyler PARTY EXCITEMENT. 689 any prospect of redress or discontinuance. It was admitted, also, that France had deeply injured the country, and still owed reparation. The point was then submitted, whether the Ameri can nation should continue passive under these aggressions, or take up arms in defence of their rights. The result of this com munication was, that the committee on foreign relations reported a bill declaring war with Great Britain. The bill passed in the, house of representatives by a majority of thirty, and in the senate by a majority of six. On the 18th of June, 1812, it was signed by the president, and the United States were at war. Had the intelligence that the Orders in Council were rescinded, reached this country earlier, it might have delayed, but probably would not have prevented ultimately, the declaration of war. The main causes of discord between the two nations would have continued; the impressment of American seamen; the habitual disregard of the neutral rights of the United States, and the unreserved contempt which the British, in their overbearing naval strength, had always shown towards those unable to oppose them on the ocean, would not have been removed. At this period they no more dreamed of encountering resistance from an American navy, than from the navy of the Portuguese or Neapolitans. The victories of Aboukir and Trafalgar had set the seal on British naval glory and supremacy; and the assertion that "Britannia rules the waves," had become sober fact, and not poetry. On the other hand, the Americans had as little expectation of acquiring strength on the ocean, as their adversaries had of losing it. The small navy of the United States appeared small, indeed, when compared with the thousand ships of Britain. The calculations, however, of very sagacious men are often strangely contradicted by the course of real events. It was a secret, but unerring instinct which impelled the American people to a war with the mightiest naval power of the world. The chance of the war was mos,t desperate for the United States in the outset; army, navy, revenue, military experience, unanimity of feeling in the people, consolidation and strength in the government, all were wanting. The opposition did not fail to descant upon these topics, and prognosticate the ruin and disgrace of the country. The heats of party raged more stron gly than ever, and soon broke out into serious disturbances. Balti more was convulsed with the proceedings of a mob, which, on the 20th of June, 1812, attacked and pillaged the office of a news paper which had been filled with violent invectives against the war. The papei was removed and printed in Georgetown, but continued to be circulated in Baltimore. On the 28th of July, the 690 THE UNITED STATES. mob assaulted the house of one of the editors, which was defended by a number of armed men. Stones were thrown, and at length muskets fired ; a person in the street was killed, and the assailants were about to batter the house with a cannon, when they were pacified by the interference of the citizens. The people in the house surrendered themselves to the civil authorities and were lodged in jail ; but the next night the jail was assaulted and broken open. General Lingan, one of the persons confined, was killed, and eleven other persons were shockingly beaten and abused. All parties condemned and lamented these excesses; and such measures were taken by the citizens of Baltimore as prevented any repetition of them. About this time an affair came to light, which the American government took occasion to represent as a discreditable intrigue on the part of the British authorities. While the unpopular embargo law was in operation, the governor of Canada had de spatched a secret emissary, named John Henry, into the eastern states, to sound the disposition of the people, who were repre sented as entertaining a disposition to dissolve the union and revolt against the federal government. He was instructed to obtain interviews with the leading men, and to do all in his power to excite their disaffection. Henry does not appear to have dis closed his mission to any person in the United States, but he wrote despatches to the governor, amusing him with the gossip which he had picked up on his journey. Not being rewarded by the British government for his services, he disclosed the whole affair to the American cabinet, who paid him fifty thousand dollars for the correspondence which he offered as evidence of the plot. These papers were published by the American government, and gave rise to much discussion, not only in the United States, but in Great Britain. Lord Liverpool, the British prime minister, defended the proceeding in the house of lords, but it was gener ally considered as no way honorable to the British government. . CHAPTER LXVIII. Indian war. Battle of Tippecanoe. Intrigues of Tecumseh. Capture of Mack" inaw by the British. Invasion of Canada by General Hull. Surrender of Detroit. Siege of Fort Wayne. General Harrison appointed to the command of the northwestern army. Defence of the northern frontier. Dearborn's armistice. Attack of Queenstown. Dastardly conduct of the militia. Failure of Smyth's campaign. Affairs on the lakes. Success of the Americans at sea. Cruise of Commodore Rogers. Capture of the Alert. Narrow escape of the Constitution. Capture of the Guerriere Frolic Macedonian Java and Peacock. Success of the American privateers. Capture of the Guerriere. THE hostilities with Great Britain were preceded by a military expedition against the Indians of the Northwest. The Shawa- nese, in the Indiana territory, had commenced incursions upon the frontier settlements, under the instigation of a chief called the Prophet. In the autumn of 1811, the outrages and murders' of these savages had proceeded to such an alarming extent, that the government found, it necessary to send a military force against them. General Harrison, governor of Indiana, took the command of a force of regulars and militia at Vincennes, and marched into the territory of the savages. On the 6th of November, he arrived 59 K4 692 THE UNITED STATES. in the neighborhood of the Prophet's town, on the Tippecanoe, ob tained an interview with the chief, and, in the hope of negotiating a peace the next day, agreed to a truce. Notwithstanding this, Harrison, like a prudent commander, encamped for the night in order of battle, and directed his men to rest on their arms. The precaution was not superfluous. The treacherous savages were preparing to surprise their enemies ; they waited in perfect silence till just before break of day, when they judged all suspicion would be lulled and the troops overpowered with sleep. In an instant the American camp was aroused by a tremendous war- whoop from a body of savages within a short distance of theii line. So furious was their attack, that many of them forced theii way through the line of regulars and mounted riflemen in the rear of the American left, and penetrated into the centre of the camp, where they were killed. The woods in front of the line were full of Indians, and a charge was made upon them by the cavalry; but so overwhelming was the savage force, that the cavalry were repulsed, and their commander, Major Davies, was mortally wounded. A company of infantry then charged with fixed bayonets, and dislodged the savages from the wood. The fire of the enemy now almost completely surrounded the Ameri cans. Captains Spencer and Warwick were killed, and the attack of the savages was pushed with the greatest impetuosity. The troops, however, stood their ground with perfect coolness and bravery until daylight approached and enabled them to recon noitre the position of their assailants. A well-directed charge was then made by the infantry, which broke their line ; and the cavalry dashing in upon them at the decisive moment, put their whole force to the rout. They instantly fled from the field, with the loss of one hundred and fifty killed and wounded. The Americans lost thirty-nine killed, and had one hundred and twenty-six wounded. Harrison then burnt the Indian town, and laid waste the country. These acts of severity so intimidated the savages, that the Prophet was soon abandoned by all his fol lowers; and the various tribes which had been seduced into hostilities with the United States by his intrigues, sued for peace. The victory of Tippecanoe checked the Indian hostilities in this quarter, but various savage tribes, on other parts of the frontier, still menaced the tranquillity of the settlements. The most powerful among the Indian chiefs was Tecumseh, a Shawa- nese, who was inspired with the most deadly enmity against the Americans. He visited in person all the tribes west of the Mis sissippi, and on Lakes Superior, Huron and Erie, exciting them to war. After the commencement of hostilities between the United INVASION OF CANADA. 693 States and Great Britain, he, joined the British with all the force he could muster. The hostile demonstrations of the savages in the northwest, drew the attention of the government first to that quarter ; and two months before the declaration of war, the presi dent had called upon the state of Ohio for twelve hundred militia, which were immediately furnished, and rendezvoused at DaytoiL To this force were added several regiments of regulars, and the whole, amounting to twenty-five hundred, were placed under the command of General Hull, and directed against the enemy in the neighborhood of Detroit. After a march of two hundred miles through swamps and woods, Hull arrived at Detroit in the beginning of July. The British had received early intelligence of the declaration of war, and were prepared to receive him. On the 12th of July, he crossed the river into the Canadian territory, and issued a procla mation, calling upon the inhabitants to submit. There was no great British force in this quarter, but the negligence of the American government had been so great, that no preparations for the campaign had been made upon the frontier. The important post of Mackinaw was neglected, and the garrison knew nothing of the war till a body of a thousand British and Indians appeared before the place, and summoned it to surrender. There were but fifty-seven men to defend it, who, of course, were compelled to submit. This was a double disaster to the Americans, as they not only lost a most important military post, but all the Indian tribes in the neighborhood rose at once against them, and the whole "northern hive" came swarming on the flanks of Hull's army. The movements of Hull were characterized by slowness and indecision. While he commanded a force much superior to the enemy, he remained inactive for above three weeks at Sandwich, near Maiden. All this time, the General states, was consumed in making gun-carriages and other preparations for the siege of Maiden. In the meantime, the British had reinforced their posts, recruited their ranks with militia and Indians, and put everything in a state to repel their invaders. As the British gained confi dence, the Americans iost it. Hull's incapacity, irresolution and sluggish movements, had disheartened the whole army. Disas ters soon began to fall upon them. On the 4th of August, a detachment of two hundred men, sent to escort a supply of pro visions for the army, was defeated at Brownstown, by a party of Indians. A council of war was held, and decided that an imme diate attack ought to be made upon Maiden. In consequence, Hull issued a general order for the attack on the 7th of August. But on the next day, to the astonishment of every one, the army 694 THE UNITED STATES. was ordered to re-cross the river and encamp at Detroit. It was now pretty evident that the general was deficient in courage as well as capacity. The order was obeyed, though with a most sullen reluctance. As if these proceedings were not sufficiently absurd, Hull, on the following day, detached a body of six hun dred men, under Colonel Miller, across the river again. This party engaged a body of British and Indians, near Maguaga vil lage, and drove them off the ground with considerable loss. The Indians were commanded by Tecumseh. Miller proceeded to Brownstown, but was immediately afterwards ordered back to Detroit, and Canada was a second time evacuated. The British now began to assume offensive operations. Gen eral Brock, who commanded at Maiden, had a force of thirteen hundred men. On the 14th of August, he erected batteries oppo site Detroit, within point-blank shot of the fort, without any molestation from the Americans. The next day, he summoned Hull to surrender, and being refused, opened his fire upon the town. After a cannonade of two days, the British crossed the river, and took post about three miles from Detroit. It is probable that Brock did not design an immediate attack, but hearing that a detachment of three hundred men had been recently sent away from Detroit, he determined to assault the place. The American army was stationed in the fort and town, in the most favorable situation for receiving the enemy. A sharp conflict was expected, when, on a sudden, to the astonishment of every one, the whole force was ordered to march into the fort, where their arms were stacked, and the artillery were forbidden to fire. Here, crowded into a narrow compass, every shot of the enemy took effect, and Hull ordered the white flag to be hoisted in token of surrender. The surrender of Detroit is the most disgraceful transaction that ever tarnished the American flag. The imbecility or coward ice displayed by General Hull was probably never surpassed in the whole history of military transactions. Nothing could exceed the mortification of the people of the United States, when the capture of Hull's army became known. He was openly de nounced as a traitor, who had sold his country for British gold. A court martial convicted him of cowardice and un-officer-like conduct, and sentenced him to death. But, in consideration of his revolutionary services, the president remitted the penalty. His name was stricken from the rolls of the army, and he was allowed to pass the remainder of his life in retirement and dis grace. During Hull's campaign the evidence of his incapacity was so manifest to his officers, that many of them wrote private letters , > DEFENCE OF THE NORTHERN FRONTIER. 695 to the governor of Ohio, predicting the impending disasters, and urging the sending forward of reinforcements. In Ohio and Kentucky three thousand of the militia were raised, and marched *br Detroit, but on their arrival at Cincinnati on the 27th of Au gust, they received the news of Hull's surrender. This caused some delay. Further drafts of militia were made in Pennsylva nia and Virginia, and the whole force was put under the com mand of General Harrison. The army marched from Cincinnati, and on the third of September arrived at Piqua, on the Great Miami, where Harrison received intelligence that Fort Wayne was besieged by the Indians. A body of five hundred men was de spatched for its relief, and in a few days the whole army marched for the same place. The Indians, hearing of Harrison's approach, raised the siege and decamped. The army arrived at Fort Wayne on the 12th of September. A detachment sent for the pur pose destroyed all the Indian towns on the forks of the Wabash. Shortly after this, General Winchester arrived and took command of the army, which caused much discontent in the ranks, but Harrison used all his efforts to assuage it, and the troops acqui esced. Winchester marched towards Fort Defiance, where the British and Indians were in considerable force. Hearing of his approach, they retreated, and the Americans took possession of Fort Defiance on the 20th of September. On the 24th of September, General Harrison received from Washington his appointment to the command of the northwestern army, with orders to provide for the security of the western fron tier ; to re-capture Detroit, and to invade Canada : a,n arduous duty, when we consider that the utmost negligence and inca pacity marked almost all the proceedings of the war department. The season was now far advanced, and the American posts were spread along a very wide extent of frontier. To penetrate into Canada was impracticable ; and, after calculating his means, Har rison was forced to abandon the scheme of attacking Detroit. Several actions were fought with the Indians, but no decisive advantage was gained, except the destruction of the Indian towns, and the waste of their corn-fields. Some preparations, in the meantime, had been made for the defence of other portions of the northern frontier. Bodies of mili tia and regulars were stationed at Plattsburg, Sackett's Harbor, Black Rock and Buffalo. The chief command in this quarter was assigned to General Dearborn. On the 4th of August, Sir George Prevost, the governor general of Canada, proposed to General Dear!>orn a suspension of arms, grounded on the repeal of the orders in council, which it was supposed might lead to 59* 696 THE UNITED STATES. pacific measures. Dearborn agreed to an armistice on his own frontier, to continue till the pleasure of the president should be known. The president refused td sanction it, but during the short time of its continuance, it enabled the British to detach a large portion of their troops to Detroit, and the result was the capture of Hull's army. Hostilities were immediately re sumed all along the frontier. On the 21st of September, a small party of Americans, under Captain Forsyth, made an incursion into Canada, defeated a body of the enemy, captured a village, and brought off a considerable quantity of military stores. To retaliate for this, a body of four hundred British assembled oppo site Ogdensburg, on the St. Lawrence, and cannonaded the town, but they were driven off by the militia. Upwards of three thousand of the New York militia, under Gen eral Van Rensselaer, had been collected on the Niagara frontier. Their head quarters were at Lewistown, eight miles below the falls. On the llth of October they made an attack upon Q,ueens- town, on the opposite bank of the river. A detachment of regulars was sent from Black Rock to assist in the attack. The British had received intelligence of the design some time previous, and sent reinforcements to Queenstown from Fort George. As soon as the Americans embarked to cross the river, a heavy fire was opened upon them, and the current being very strong, the boats were thrown into disorder. The first that gained the shore was a body of one hundred men, under Colonel Van Rensselaer, who stormed the fort and silenced the enemy's batteries. Reinforce ments were soon received by both parties, and the conflict was renewed with great severity. The British were repulsed, and General Brock, in attempting to rally his troops, fell, mortally wounded ; but being again joined by a reinforcement of several hundred Indians, the British returned to the attack, in which they were once more repulsed. General Yan Rensselaer now re-crossed the river, to expedite the passage of the troops, but, to his great mortification, the militia, at the critical moment, refused to pro ceed, alleging that the general had no authority to lead them be yond the territory of the United States. This cowardly behavior lost the victory to the Americans. They, however, bravely stood their ground at Queenstown, till, overpowered by numbers, they were obliged to re-cross the Niagara, with the loss of above three hundred prisoners and six hundred killed and wounded. The British also suffered severely, but their exact loss is not known. General Brock, a brave and able officer, was much lamented. General Van Rensselaer resigned his command, and was suc ceeded by General Smyth, of the regular army. He assented a AFFAIRS ON THE LAKES. 697 body of about four thousand men at Buffalo, and despatched some small parties into Canada, who destroyed a few fortifica tions. But his plans for a general invasion came to nothing. Buffalo. Thus closed the Niagara campaign of 1812, to the utter disap pointment and mortification of the militia, who had been drawn from their homes, in the severity of winter, by the hope of accom plishing some brilliant achievement. The exasperation of the soldiers, at what they conceived to be the cowardice of General Smyth, was wrought up to so high a pitch, that acts of violence occurred, and his life was endangered. The opinion of the pub lic was not more favorable to him. In the meantime, some ma noeuvres took place upon the Champlain frontier, but nothing of importance was done. The disasters of Detroit and Q,ueenstown had depressed the spirits of the people ; and the army of the north went into winter quarters at Plattsburg. On the great lakes there had been a small naval force on both sides. In November, Com modore Chauncey sailed from Sackett's Harbor with seven small schooners, mounting forty guns. The British had about double this armament on the lake. Chauncey fell in with the Royal George, of twenty-six guns, and chased her into Kingston, where he was repulsed by the batteries. The Americans kept the com mand of the lake, but the season was too late for further opera tions. On Lake Erie, the Americans had but a single armed vessel at the beginning of the war, which was surrendered at De troit. On the 9th of October, Lieutenant Elliot, of the navy, crossed over from Black Rock and cut out two British vessels from under the guns of Fort Erie. One of them, an armed vessel ? was burnt, 69S THE UNITED STATES. and the other, with a valuable cargo of furs, was secured under the batteries of Black Rock. The disasters of the campaign were, however, compensated by the unexpected successes which now began to shed a lustre upon the American navy. Within one hour after the official intelligence of the declaration of war reached New York, on the 21st. of June, Commodore Rodgers sailed from that place with his squadron, consisting of the frigates President, United States and Congress, the Hornet sloop, and Argus brig of war, in pursuit of the British homeward bound Jamaica fleet. On the 24th, they gave chase to the. British frigate Belvidera. The President out sailed the rest of the squadron and soon came up with the enemy ; but on opening her fire, a gun burst on board the President, which killed and wounded sixteen persons', and shattered the main and forecastle decks in such a manner that their guns could not be used. The commodore himself was among the wounded. This accident enabled the Belvidera to escape. The cruise was con tinued, but the Jamaica fleet could not be found. Rodgers, after scouring the seas in the neighborhood of the British Channel, the Azores and Madeira, returned to Boston on the 31st of August, having made prize of several merchant vessels. The Essex, of thirty-two guns, Captain Porter, sailed from New York on the 3d of July, captured a transport with two hundred soldiers, and on the 13th of August, fell in with the Alert, a British sloop of war. Notwithstanding the inferiority of force, such was the confidence of the British naval commander in their own prowess at this period, that the Alert ran immediately along side the Essex, and engaged her with three cheers. In eight minutes the Alert struck her colors, with seven feet water in her hold. She was taken possession of, and brought safe into port. On the 30th, towards dark, the Essex discovered an enemy's frigate, and lay by during the night, with lights hoisted, but in the morning the enemy was not to be seen. The Essex arrived ill the Delaware on the 7th of September. The naval action, however, first in importance, though not in date, was that of the frigate Constitution, now so memorable in the annals of the American navy. She sailed from Annapolis, under the command of Captain Isaac Hull, on the 12th of July, on a cruise to the north, and on the 17th fell in with an enemy's squadron, consisting of a ship of the line, four frigates, a brig and a schooner, which immediately gave her chase. At sunrise the next morning it was found that the enemy were gaining upon her. and preparations were made for. a battle. The wind died away, and all the ships put out their boats and commenced tow- CAPTURE OF THE FRIGATE GUERRIERE. 699 ing. The Constitution then practised another expedient; the water being shallow, anchors were carried out ahead, and the ship warped up to them. This was speedily imitated by the British, who were now within gun-shot. In this manner the chase continued till the morning of the 20th, when, a fresh breeze springing up, the Constitution left her pursuers behind, and arrived safely at Boston, having owed her preservation to the superior skill and good conduct of her captain and crew. The Constitution, thus fortunately saved to the American navy, was now destined to lead the way to a series of exploits which shed a renown upon the national character, and laid the founda tion of the naval greatness of the republic. On the 2d of August, she left Boston on a second cruise, and on the 19th of the same month, a day forever memorable in American history, she fell in with the British frigate Guerriere, Captain Dacres. The Consti tution immediately bore down upon her. The Guerriere lay to, and waited the approach of her antagonist, confident of the usual success which had ever favored the British arms upon the ocean. On nearing each other, both ships manoeuvred to gain an advan tageous position, but the Constitution, by superior seamanship, had the ultimate advantage. Broadside after broadside was fired by the Guerriere, but Captain Hull, with that coolness and sagacity which are the characteristics of the American sailor, paid no attention to the shot of the enemy till he had laid his ship in the right position, when he immediately opened so well-directed a fire, that in thirty minutes the Guerriere was completely dismasted, with not a spar standing above her deck, and surrendered by firing a gun to leeward, having no flag to haul down. She had fifteen killed and sixty-three wounded; the Constitution had seven killed and seven wounded. Never had a British ship experienced such effect from an enemy's gunnery. The Constitution was so little damaged, that she was fit for action immediately after ; but the Guerriere was so cut to pieces, that she could not be carried into port ; she was accordingly blown up the next day. The arrival of the Consti* tution at Boston, on the 28th of August, produced a burst ol exultation among the people, which would seem utterly extrava gant when considered as caused merely by the capture of an enemy's frigate. But at this period the invincibility of the British upon the ocean, was a belief of so long standing, so firmly fixed in the minds of most men, and had been so fully confirmed by the uniform and brilliant successes of their navy, that the achievement of Captain Hull acted at once like the dispelling of a charm. The Guerriere was a ship of high reputation, and her L4 700 THE UNITED STATES commander a man of preeminent courage. He had repeatedly announced his strong desire to meet an American frigate, and wrote an inscription of defiance on the sails of his ship. The ease with which she had been captured by the Constitution, the skill and intrepidity of the American sailors, the superiority of their gunnery, and the unshaken confidence with which they had gone into action with an enemy so formidable in reputation, all contributed to swell the importance of the victory far beyond its apparent magnitude. Captain Hull was received with the high est honors at Boston. The wharves were crowded with immense throngs of people as he landed. All parties united in welcoming him with the most enthusiastic cheers ; for although there were many who disapproved of the war, none were found insensible to the enthusiasm excited by a deed of 'so much gallantry. Honors awaited the victors in all parts of the country ; many legislatures voted them thanks, and congress granted the crew of the Consti tution fifty thousand dollars for the loss of their prize. On the 8th of October, Commodore Rodgers, with the President, United States, Congress and Argus, left Boston on a cruise. They were separated by a gale of wind, and on the 15th the President and Congress captured a British packet, with nearly two hundred thousand dollars in specie. They returned to Boston on the 30th of December. The Argus captured some valuable merchant ships. A brilliant victory awaited the. frigate United States, under the command of Captain Decatur. On the 25th of October, near the Azores, she encountered the British frigate Macedonian, Captain Carden, a new vessel of superior equipment. The Mace donian, having the weather-gage, kept at long-shot, and this prevented the United States from using the greater part of her guns, which were carronades. But as soon as the United States was able tc close with her enemy, the action began in earnest, and the Macedonian soon had her mizen-mast shot away and her othei vpars and rigging damaged. She struck, after an action of an hour and a half from the first shot, with the loss of thirty-six killed and sixty-eight wounded. The United States had four killed and seven wounded. The United States arrived at New York with her prize on the 4th of December. Captain Decatur was greeted with honors similar to those which had been bestowed upon Captain Hull. But naval suc cesses now came thickening upon the Americans. The sloop of war Wasp, Captain Jones, sailed from the Delaware, on the 13th of October. On the 18th, at dawn, she descried six merchantmen, convoyed by the British sloop of war Frolic j four of the mer chantmen were armed. The Wasp bore down upon them and CAPTURE OF THE FROLIC AND PEACOCK. 701 engaged the Frolic within a few yards distance. After an action of forty-three minutes, the Frolic was captured by boarding. Both her masts were shot away, and she lay an unmanageable wreck on the water, having lost thirty men killed and fifty wounded. The loss of the Wasp was only four killed and four wounded. This battle was fought against odds more unfavorable to the Americans than any one that had preceded it. The Con stitution and United States were somewhat superior in strength to their antagonists, but the Wasp was inferior by four guns. Both the Frolic and Wasp were so disabled that they were cap tured by the Poictiers seventy-four, which had been in sight during the action. The Constitution again put to sea, from Boston, in October, under the command of Captain Bainbridge. She was accompa nied by the Hornet sloop of war, and both were bound on a cruise to the Pacific Ocean. At St. Salvador, the Hornet was left to blockade a British packet, and the Constitution proceeded on her voyage alone. On the 29th of December, on the coast of Brazil, she fell in with the British frigate Java, and engaged her, first at long shot, and then in close action. At the end of two hours, the Java surrendered, having suffered the severe loss of sixty killed and above one hundred wounded. Captain Lambert, her commander, was mortally wounded. The Java was uncom monly well manned, having one hundred supernumerary seamen on board, together with a British general and other land and naval officers, bound to the East Indies. Of the Constitution's crew, nine were killed and twenty-five wounded. The Java was set on fire, and her prisoners were landed at St. Salvador on pa role. The Constitution, having received considerable damage, returned to Boston. The Hornet, under Captain Lawrence, in the meantime, had remained off St. Salvador, blockading the Bonne Citoyenne packet, a vessel of superior force. But though a challenge was sent to the British commander, he did not think fit, having treas ure in his charge, to risk the chance of a battle. After blockading her for eighteen days, the Hornet was chased off by a seventy- four, which had been sent for to relieve the Bonne Citoyenne, On the 24th of February, 1813, the Hornet fell in with and engaged the British brig of war Peacock, off the river Demerara.* After an action of fifteen minutes, the Peacock was so completely cut to pieces that she was found to be sinking, and hoisted a signal of distress. Endeavors were made by the crew of the Hornet to save her by throwing overboard her guns and plugging the shot holes, which had riddled her in every part. But she 702 THE UNITED STATES. sunk so quickly that nine of her crew were drowned, with three of the Hornet's men. The Peacock had lost her captain and four men killed, with thirty-three wounded. The loss of the Hornet was one killed and two wounded. No action has displayed the superiority of the American gunnery more than this. During the whole of the conflict, another British brig of war lay at anchor within sight; and the Hornet was cleared for another action, The brig, however, got under way and escaped. The Hornei returned to New York. Capture of the Peacock. In addition to the above naval successes, the commerce of the British had suffered severely from the American privateers during the year 1812. In less than five months from the declaration of war, the prizes brought into the ports of the United States were computed at two hundred and fifty, and the number of prisoners at three thousand. Very few of the American merchantmen had fallen into the hands of the enemy, and the only public vessels lost, were the schooner Nautilus, captured after a long chase by a squadron of frigates, and the brig Vixen, captured by the South ampton frigate. Stephen Decatur. Oliver Hazard Perry. De Witt Clinton. Daniel Booiu. CHAPTER LXIX. Unsuccessful negotiations for peace. Increase of the navy. Massacre at the river Raisin. Siege of Fort Meigs. Capture of York and Fort George. Disasters ofStoney Creek and Beaver Dam. Attack on Sackett's Harbor. Defence of Fort Stephenson by Major Croghan. Harrison's campaign in the north-west. Cap ture of Maiden and Sandwich. Battle of the Thames. Death of Tecumseh. Perry 1 s victory on lake Erie. Campaign of the northern army. Wilkinson's expedition against Montreal. Miscarriage of Wilkinson and Hampton. Failure of the campaign. Evacuation of Fort George. Burning of Newark and Buf falo. Blockade of the Chesapeake and Delaware. Bombardment of Lewistown. Devastations committed in the Chesapeake. Attack on Craney Island. Cap ture of Hampton and Portsmouth. Loss of the Chesapeake and Argus. Cap ture of the Boxer and Dominica. Blockade of the United States and Macedonian. Embargo. War with the Indians of the south. Irruptions of the Creeks. Massacre of Fort Mimms. Defeat of the Indians at Tallashatchee, Talladega and Tallapoosa. Final defeat of the savages at Tallapoosa. Opening of the northern campaign. Defeat of Wilkinson at Odletown. Attack of Oswego. Capture of a British force at Sandy Creek. Invasion of the Niagara frontier by the Americans. Capture of Fort Erie. Battles ofChippewa and Bridgewater. Siege of Fort Erie, by the British. Sortie of the garrison. Retreat of the British. Izard assumes the command. Evacuation of Canada, and end of the campaign. Affairs of the north-west. M 'Arthur's expedition to the Thames. CONGRESS, as soon as they convened, in November, 1812, author ized the American minister at London to attempt a negotiation for peace, by giving assurances that a law should be passed for bidding the employment of British subjects in American ships, in case the British would reciprocate the regulation ; thus removing the ground of complaint between the two countries on the subject of impressment The British government refused to listen to this proposal, and avowed a determination not to abandon the right of impressment, on which, it was asserted, the naval power of the empire depended. A second proposal for an armistice was made by Admiral Warren, under the sanction of his government, which the American cabinet were willing to agree to, in case the British would concede the point of impressment. This was refused. Notwithstanding this, a law was passed by congress forbidding* the employment of British seamen in American vessels, after the close of the existing war. The brilliant success of the Americans on the ocean had made the naval service exceedingly popular ; and provision was made 60 704 THE UNITED STATES. by congiess for the construction of four ships of the line, six frigates and six sloops of war for the Atlantic navy, and as many vessels on the lakes as the public service might require. A further loan of sixteen millions, and an issue of five millions of treasury notes were authorised. But, as no extraordinary means of reve nue were provided, the loan was negotiated on very unfavorable terms. Mr. Madison was this year reflected president, and El- bridge Gerry was elected vice-president. In the plan for the northern campaign of 1813, General Harrison strongly urged upon the government to establish an efficient naval force upon Lake Erie, without which he affirmed it to be impos sible to prosecute the war against Canada with any prospect of success. All preparations, however, for building and equipping a fleet had been so utterly neglected, that no hope existed of obtain ing the command of the lake in season to begin the campaign at an early day. Harrison had nearly ten thousand militia and regulars at his disposal, but the march to Detroit led nearly two hundred miles through a swampy wilderness. He arrived at Upper Sandusky early in January, 1813, where he assembled about one thousand five hundred men, and despatched Winchester to the rapids of the Miami. Having received information shortly after, that the Indians threatened to burn Frenchtown, on the river Raisin, he detached, on the 17th, Colonel Lewis, Avith a force of six hundred and fifty men, to defend the place. On their march, this detachment defeated a body of the enemy at French- town, and were afterwards joined by Winchester's troops. Winchester, who took the command at Frenchtown, received information that a strong body of British and Indians was about to march from Maiden ; yet he was so negligent of his duty that no preparations were made to receive them ; and when the enemy approached Frenchtown, on the night of the 21st of January, there was not even a picket guard posted on the road. Immedi ately after daylight, the place was attacked, and a considerable body of the Americans completely routed. A part of the forces, however, which had been stationed behind pickets, defended themselves with resolution. But General Winchester and Colonel Lewis being made prisoners, the British represented to them that nothing but an immediate surrender could save the troops who still held out, from being massacred by the Indians. The gene ral, influenced by these representations, sent a flag of truce, ordering the remainder of the troops to surrender. The enemy being vastly superior in numbers, and the ammunition of the Americans nearly expended, they surrendered, on condition of being protected by a guard, and having their sick and wounded MASSACRE AT THE RIVER RAISIN. 705 sent the next day to Amherstburg. Colonel Procter, the British commander, agreed to these terms ; but the catastrophe which fol lowed is horrible to relate. The miserable captives were massa cred by the savages with the most shocking barbarity. Officers and soldiers were tomahawked in cold blood, or burnt alive in the houses where they attempted to shelter themselves. The man gled carcasses of these victims of savage atrocity were strewed over the country. To the eternal disgrace of the British officers, no attempt was made to prevent these inhuman deeds, or to arrest them while the bloody work was going on. The massacre of the river Raisin was never defended, nor is it capable of defence. This dreadful disaster impeded for some time the operations of the Americans. Harrison fortified his position at the rapids, and named it Fort Meigs. On the 28th of April, a strong force of British and Indians laid siege to the place. A heavy cannonade was directed against it for several days, which the garrison could not return with equal spirit, being short of ammunition. A body of one thousand two hundred Kentuckians advanced for its relief, and a detachment of them captured the batteries of the besiegers on the left bank of the river. The commander of this detach ment, however, had so little military skill, that he made no use of his victory, but allowed the enemy to rally and defeat him. The garrison then made a sortie, drove the enemy from their batteries, spiked the cannon, and took forty prisoners. Some days of inaction followed, and the British commander, finding his Indian auxiliaries leaving him, raised the siege, and decamped on the 9th of May. The besieging force amounted to about two thousand ; the Americans to one thousand two hundred, mostly militia. On the Ontario frontier a partisan warfare was begun by the capture of Elizabethtown, on the St. Lawrence, by the Americans; which the British soon retaliated by taking Ogdensbnrg. A strong American force, under General Dearborn, was concentrated at Sackett's Harbor in April; and as soon as the lake was clear of ice, Dearborn, with a body of one thousand seven hundred men, embarked in the squadron of Commodore Chauncey for an expe dition against York, the capital of Upper Canada. On the 27th of April, they arrived at York, and landed immediately in front of the fortifications. The British had collected a body of one thou sand eight hundred regulars, militia and Indians to oppose their landing. A smart action ensued between them and Major For- syth's rifle corps, who were the first that set foot on shore ; but the British were held in check till the whole American army had been drawn up in order upon the beach, under the direction of 706 THE UNITED STATES. General Pike, who then led his troops onward in the face of a heavy fire from the fortifications. He drove the enemy before him, stormed and carried their advanced batteries, and was push ing forward to the main works, when a tremendous explosion took place from the enemy's magazine, which hurled upon the troops immense masses of stone and timber. Great havoc was made in the American ranks by this discharge, and General Pike Death of General Pike. was mortally wounded. Colonel Pearce now took the command, and the enemy's regulars having retreated, the town was surren dered by capitulation with the militia. All the land and naval forces were made prisoners of war, and the public stores given up. A large ship of war on the stocks was burnt. Private property was spared. The prisoners amounted to about three hundred. The killed and wounded of the enemy exceeded four hundred. The American loss was three hundred and twenty killed and wounded, the greater part by the explosion of the magazine. It is not known whether this was caused by accident or design. The loss of General Pike, a gallant and intelligent officer, was deeply regretted. He survived but a few hours. The Ameri cans set fire to the Parliament house, an act which was most severely retorted upon them in the sequel. They had, however, some provocation for a deed otherwise unjustifiable. Over the chair of the speaker of the Canadian legislature, was found sus pended a human scalp. This savage trophy and stimulant to 707 barbarities will go far to excuse what was done by the friends of those who suffered at the river Raisin. From York, the expedition proceeded, on the 5th of May against Fort George, at the outlet of the river Niagara. Having received reinforcements, which increased their force to four thou sand men, they landed on the 27th of May, and captured the fort, before the enemy had time to set fire to the magazine. They were pursued several miles into the country by the American light troops, and sustained a loss, in defending the fort, of three hundred killed and wounded. Of the Americans, eight were killed, and one hundred and sixty wounded. The British retired to Beaver Dam, where they were joined by reinforcements from Forts Erie and Chippewa. General Chandler was despatched from Fort George, on the 1st of June, to cut off their retreat. On the 5th, he encamped on Stony Creek, near the enemy ; and at two o'clock the next morning, he was suddenly attacked. Generals Chandler and Winder were made prisoners. The Americans lost four pieces of cannon, and withdrew from the spot on the following day. A British squadron, under Sir James Yeo, appeared on the lake opposite their encampment on the 8th, and they were compelled to retreat to Fort George, with the loss of a part of their baggage. A further disaster took place at Beaver Dam, by the capture of a party of five hundred men, who had been sent thither to disperse a body of Indians. Colonel Boarstler, who commanded the detachment, shamefully surren dered his troops to an inferior force of the enemy. Dearborn shortly after withdrew from the command of the northern army, and General Boyd took the command at Fort George. The British collected in great force in the neighborhood, but made no regular attack. On the llth of July, the post at Black Rock was surprised and taken by the British, and the buildings set on fire. The Americans made another expedition to York, on the 28th, and destroyed a quantity of public stores which had been again collected at that place. While the American forces were absent from Sackett's Harbor, an attack was made by the enemy upon that place. On the 27th of May, a hostile squadron appeared in sight, and the mililia were called to arms. The whole force mustered was about one thousand men. On the morning of the 29th, Sir George Prevost> with one thousand picked men, landed at the mouth of the har bor, in front of a battery defended by a body of militia, who, after one fire, were seized with a panic, and fled. The enemy then advanced toward the town. Other bodies of militia and regulars made a vigorous defence, but were compelled to give ground, 60* M4 708 THE UNITED STATES. The British pressed on, but the retreating troops threw themselves into th6 houses, and poured in so destructive a fire upon the ad vancing columns, that the British soon began to falter. General Brown, who commanded the militia, perceiving this, practised a stratagem, by leading a file of men toward the enemy's rear, Socket? s Harbor. . through a wood, but in such a manner as to be seen. This took immediate effect. The British, fearful of being surrounded, re treated instantly to their boats, and reembarked with such precip itation, as to leave their wounded and some prisoners behind. A part of the American barracks and stores were set on fire, in consequence of a false report that the British had obtained the victory. Commodore Chauncey 's squadron, consisting of the frigate Gen eral Pike and some smaller vessels, encountered the British fleet, under Sir James Yeo, on the 7th of August. Chauncey, by skil ful manoeuvreing, obtained the weather-gage of the enemy, who, therefore, bore away. The Americans pursued, but during the night, two of their vessels foundered in a heavy blow. Chauncey put into Niagara, and on a second cruise again met the snemy, who captured two of his small vessels, but no general action took place. In the meantime, the British were still active on the northwest ern frontier. Fort Meigs was again threatened by a large body of British and Indians, in July ; but, toward the end of the month, they raised the siege and proceeded to Fort Stephenson, on the ATTACK ON FORT STEPHENSON. 709 Sandusky, in hopes of surprising that place, which was slenderly fortified, and garrisoned by only one hundred and sixty men. General Harrison, suspecting the design of the enemy, despatched an express to Major Croghan, who commanded at the fort, order ing him to set fire to it and retreat to head-quarters ; hut before the express could arrive, the Indians had surrounded the place. On the 1st of August, a flotilla of gun-boats appeared in sight, having on board five hundred British troops, under General Procter. The Indians amounted to eight hundred. The British landed, and summoned the fort to surrender. Major Croghan answered by a most determined refusal. A smart cannonade was then opened from the gun-boats, which continued during the day and following night. All the artillery of the garrison was one six- pounder, but this was served with so much adroitness and effect, that, perhaps, no single piece of ordnance was ever more success ful in war. It was fired and shifted from place to place, by which the enemy were led to believe that there were several pieces within the fort. The shot of the enemy being directed chiefly against the northwestern angle of the fort, Major Croghan rightly conjectured that they designed to storm the works at that point. The gun was accordingly placed in a masked position, so as to rake the whole of the ditch on that side. The British, hav ing kept up a heavy fire all the next day, moved on to the assault under cover of the smoke and darkness. Feints were made in other quarters, to draw off the attention of the garrison from the Major Croghan's defence at Lower Sandusky. real point of attack ; but the Americans did not fall into the snare. . A column of three hundred and fifty men, led on by Procter, immediately advanced to the attack, and leaped into the ditch. 710 THE UNITED STATES. The cannon was instantly unmasked, and a single discharge pro duced such a slaughter among the assailants, that they retreated immediately in great disorder. A column of the enemy, which made an attack in another quarter, were also received by so well- directed a fire of musketry, that they broke their ranks and fled into the woods. The whole body decamped precipitately at three in the morning, leaving many valuable articles behind them. Their loss in killed, wounded and prisoners, amounted to one hundred and fifty. Major Croghan, who made this gallant de fence, was one of the youngest officers in the army. He received the thanks of congress, and the commission of lieutenant-colonel for his bravery. The regular army, under Harrison, did not exceed two thousand men. Having received authority from the war department to call out the militia, he made a requisition upon Governor Shelby, of Kentucky, for a reinforcement. Shelby raised thirty-five hundred men, put himself at their head, and marched to Upper Sandusky early in September. Harrison, now having a respectable force at his command, determined upon the invasion of the enemy's terri tory. Most of the troops were embarked at Lower Sandusky, from whence they crossed Lake Erie, and on the 27th of Septem ber landed at Maiden. The town immediately fell into their hands. Procter, who commanded at that post, retreated toward the Thames. His force consisted of seventeen hundred regulars and Indians, besides the militia. Harrison pushed forward, and took Sandwich on the 29th. Here he was joined by a regiment of mounted Kentuckians, under Colonel Johnson. The army con tinued in pursuit of the enemy, and on the 4th of October, a skirmish began with a body of Indians at the fork of the Thames. The Indians were defeated and a large quantity of arms and public stores captured. On the 5th of October, Procter drew up his whole army in order of battle, across a narrow isthmus, between the Thames and .a swamp. The situation was well chosen, and covered with a wood of beeches. The British regulars were posted with their left on the river, supported by the artillery. The Indians, under Tecumseh, took their station in the thickest part of the wood, with the swamp on their right. Harrison placed his mounted men opposite the Indians, and drew up his infantry in three lines facing the British. The action commenced, but the strong posi tion of the Indians rendered it impossible for the cavalry to turn their flank, as they designed. Harrison, therefore, changed his plan of attack, and ordered the cavalry to charge the British line m front, with the hope of breaking their ranks. They accord- BATTLE OF MORAVIAN TOWN. 711 ingly drew up in four columns of double files, and charged the front of the enemy. A heavy fire from the British infantry checked their advance in the first onset, but they speedily re covered themselves, and dashed upon the enemy's line with such impetuosity that they were instantly broken. The cavalry then wheeled into their rear, and poured in upon them so destructive a fire that the battle was decided in a few minutes. Eight hun dred British regulars laid down their arms and surrendered. The Indians on the left, made a more obstinate resistance. Johnson's cavalry were repulsed by a most destructive fire. He then dismounted his men, and formed them on foot. The con test was renewed with great resolution, and Governor Shelby, with his infantry, joining in the attack, the Indians at length gave way and dispersed. The victory was complete. Procter made his escape with a squadron of dragoons ; all the remainder of his forces were either captured or dispersed. The battle was so quickly decided, that but few were killed on either side. The Americans had twenty-nine killed and wounded, and the British thirty-four. The loss of the Indians was more severe, though the precise number is not known. Tecumseh, their bold and daring Death of Tecumseh. leader, fell, bravely fighting in the thickest of the battle. This decisive stroke at once cut off the communication between the hostile savage tribes and the British posts, and broke up their confederacy against the United States, They did not recover 712 THE UNITED STATES. from this defeat during the remainder of the war. Harrison, hav ing thus annihilated the British army by this brilliant victory, returned to Detroit on the 7th of October. "While these events were in progress, the Americans were prose cuting the war upon Lake Erie with equal success. Early in the spring of 1813, measures were taken to construct a navy. Two brigs and several schooners were soon upon the stocks at the port of Erie, and they were launched on the 2d of August. Commo dore Perry took command of this squadron, and sailed for Maiden, in search of the British fleet ; but finding the enemy's force supe rior to his own, .he returned to Put-in Bay. On the morning of the 10th of September, the enemy's squadron was discovered standing out of the harbor of Maiden. Perry immediately put his squadron under way, and got clear of the islands at the head of the lake before they approached. The American fleet consisted of the Lawrence and Niagara, of twenty guns each, the Caledonia of three, the Ariel of four, the Somers of two, and three gun-boats of one each. The British force comprised the Detroit of twenty- one, the Queen Charlotte of eighteen, the Lady Prevost of Perry's Victory on Lake Erie. thirteen, the Hunter of ten, the Little Belt of three, and one gun-boat. A sudden change of wind gave the Americans the weather- gage. Perry formed his line of battle, and the engage ment began at noon. The commodore's brig, the Lawrence, being in the hottest of the action, suffered severely, and the wind dying PERRY'S VICTORY. 713 away, she was exposed to almost the whole fire of the without any support from the others. At the end of two hours, all her guns were dismounted, and nearly the whole of her crew killed or wounded. The commodore, still undismayed, put off in his hoat, through a heavy fire of musketry from the enemy, to bring up the Niagara, which, by the help of a sudden breeze, he was enabled to do. Meantime, the Lawrence had struck her colors, but the enemy were unable to take possession of her, and the remainder of the American squadron being brought into action, she hoisted her flag again ; the battle was renewed, and the whole British fleet surrendered. Twenty-seven men were killed and ninety-six wounded on the part of the Americans, and forty-one killed and ninety-four wounded on that of the British. No action hitherto fought, had showed greater bravery on both sides than this. Captain Barclay, the British commander, was an officer of great courage and experience, and had lost an arm in the battle of Trafalgar. Tin's was the first instance in which the Americans had obtained a victory over an enemy's fleet ; and so brilliant a triumph is still more remarkable for having been obtained by a young and inex perienced officer, entirely without practical knowledge of naval tactics, over one of Nelson's veteran commanders. It tended to exalt still more highly that confidence and pride in their navy, with which the Americans had been inspired by their Atlantic victories. On the Ontario frontier, General Wilkinson had been appointed to the chief command. A scheme had been concerted to invade Canada, in the direction of Montreal, by concentrating the army at Sackett's Harbor, and conveying them in boats down the St. Lawrence. Towards the end of October, seven thousand troops were collected at that place, and four thousand more from Platts- burg, under General Hampton, were expected to join them on their route down the river. On the 5th of November, the flotilla, with the troops on board, proceeded down the St. Lawrence. The voyage was found more difficult than had been anticipated. Bodies of the enemy were stationed at all the narrow passes, and a force of fifteen hundred of the enemy, with an armed squadron, hung perpetually on their rear. At a long and dangerous rapid on the river, a severe action took place on the llth, both by land and water. Neither party gained any decisive advantage, but the Americans repulsed the enemy, passed the rapids safely the following day, and arrived near St. Regis, where General Hamp ton, according to the plan of the campaign, was to have joined them with the Plattsburg army. But here the whole enterprise 61 N4 714 THE UNITED STATES. was brought to a stand by the information that Hampton could not proceed. A council of war decided that the invasion must be given over, and the army went into winter quarters at French Mills, near St. Regis. Great was the mortification felt throughout the country at such a termination of the campaign. The united force of Wil kinson and Hampton was supposed to amount to ten thousand men ; a force sufficient, under able direction, to have accomplished the most important results. Wilkinson, however, showed no capacity, and the whole undertaking was badly planned and out of season. The hazards of the voyage, down a river full of straits and intricate passages, and lined with hostile batteries, had not been calculated ; and the oversight of leaving behind them an enemy's fleet and an army of four- thousand strong at Kingston, exhibited little military science in those who planned the expedi tion. The junction of Hampton's forces could not be relied upon, as they were short of supplies and had impassable roads to traverse, a circumstance which appears to have been unknown or not duly estimated by the commander-in-chief. Hampton, in the meantime, had crossed the Canada line, on the 21st of October ; but his movements were slow. The enemy had felled trees across the roads, and broken down the bridges. On the banks of the Chatauque, he found a strong body of British and Indians entrenched behind a breastwork, which he attacked, but was unable to force. The general was ignorant of the coun try and had no efficient command over his troops, who evinced a great degree of insubordination. No information had been received of the movements of the expedition on the St. Lawrence, and the army fell back within the American lines, on the 27th of October. It is difficult to say which of the two displayed the most wretched generalship, Wilkinson or Hampton. The latter officer shortly afterward resigned his command to General Izard. Fort George was still held by a body of New York militia, under General M'Clure. The militia returned home at the expi ration of their time of service, and on the 10th of December, there were only one hundred men left for its defence. The fort was therefore abandoned and destroyed. M'Clure thought it necessary. on this occasion, to burn the neighboring village of Newark, a useless act of inhumanity, for which he was severely censured not only by the people of the United States, but also by the gov ernment. The frontier in this quarter being thus weakened, the enemy, on the 19th, crossed the river and surprised Fort Niagara, massacring the whole garrison of three hundred men. most of whom were invalids. After burning Lewiston, Manchester and BLOCKADE OP THE AMERICAN COAST. 715 some other settlements, they returned to Canada. On the 30th of December, another party attacked Buffalo. The militia turned out, but fled without firing a shot, on the charge of the enemy. The village was taken, and reduced to ashes. On Lake Ontario, Burning of Buffalo. both parties had augmented their naval force, but the season passed in manoeuvring without battles. The only captures made from the British were five transports with three hundred troops on board. The successes of the American navy on the Atlantic had already won for it a brilliant reputation during the first year of the war, yet they could be of little effect in defence of the exten sive maritime frontier of the United States, against the over whelming strength of the British navy. By formal orders of the British government, the coast of the United States, from Rhode Island to Virginia, was declared in a state of blockade. On the 4th of February, Admiral Cockburn arrived in the Chesapeake, with two ships of the line, three frigates, a brig and a schooner. A small squadron at the same time blockaded the Delaware. Coasters were burnt, and a petty warfare was carried on against the villages bordering on the sea. On the 16th of March, the squadron demanded .a supply of provisions from the inhabitants of Lowistown, a village near the mouth of the Delaware, which being refused, the ships cannonaded the place, and attempted to land and set it on fire, but the inhabitants beat them off with a single eighteen pound cannon. In the Chesapeake, the British destroyed Frenchtown. Havre de Grace, Fredericktown and Georgetown; and being reinforced by the arrival of another squadron, under Admiral Warren, with a number of troops on 716 THE UNITED STATES. board, an attack was projected upon Norfolk. On the 20th of June, thirteen large ships appeared in the mouth of James's river, and on the 22d, an assault was made on Craney Island, at the entrance of Norfolk harbor. The barges from the ships attacked a breastwork towards the sea, defended by an eighteen pounder and one hundred and fifty men; while a large body of troops landed on the continent, and attempted to cross the narrow chan nel which separates it from the island. The attack of the barges was received with so skilful a fire from the eighteen pounder that many of them were sunk, and the remainder took to flight. The land troops, in attempting to cross the strait, were encountered by a body of four hundred Americans, with four pieces of cannon, who repulsed them with great slaughter. The British lost about two hundred men, killed, wounded 'and missing. On the 25th of June, they made an attack on the little town of Hampton, eighteen miles from Norfolk. The place contained nothing to attract the notice of the enemy; but the expedition appears to have been projected by the British admiral in a fit of irritation at his repulse from Norfolk. The town was bombarded by the barges and tenders, but they were repelled by the American batteries. A party of two thousand men were then landed, who succeeded in capturing the town, after the loss of about fifty men. The place was pillaged, and the defenceless inhabitants treated with a degree of revolting barbarity, that stamps infamy on the names of Cockburn and Beckwith, who commanded this gang of brutal ravishers. Neither age nor sex were spared, and the deeds of that day were felt by the enemy to be of so disgraceful a char acter, that Beckwith, the British general, gave a formal assurance to the Americans that his troops should not be landed again. The remainder of the exploits of the blockading squadron, this season, consisted in the pillage of the small town of Portsmouth, in North Carolina, which was captured in July, by a force of three thousand men, under Admiral Cockburn. In the summer of 1813, the Americans experienced the first disaster that fell upon their navy, hitherto so triumphant. The frigate Chesapeake, that doomed ship, whose history had ever been connected with misfortune, lay at Boston, ready for a cruise. The Shannon, a British frigate, was in the bay, and challenged the Chesapeake to a combat. On the 1st of June, the Chesapeake put to sea and engaged the Shannon off Boston light. After a short action, the ships fell foul of each other, in a manner very advantageous to the Shannon, who swept the decks of the Ches apeake almost clear of men, by a raking fire. Nearly all the American officers were wounded, and the commander, Captain CAPTURE OF THE BOXER AND DOMINICA. 717 Lawrence, mortally. The Chesapeake was then captured by boarding, but not till after a most bloody conflict. Seventy-eight of her men were killed, and ninety-seven wounded. Of the crew of the Shannon, twenty-four were killed and fifty-six wounded. The Chesapeake was carried into Halifax. No capture of a single ship ever caused so much exultation to the British as this. Captain Broke, the commander of the Shannon, received the honor of knighthood for his exploit, a thing without parallel in British history. The performance was indeed a brave one. The ships were of equal nominal force, yet the crew of the Chesa peake were mostly raw recruits, without proper discipline or sub ordination. The necessity of fighting immediately on putting to sea, placed them at a great disadvantage. Another calamity soon after befel the American navy, in the loss of the brig of war Argus. On the 14th of August, while cruising in the English channel, she fell in with the British brig Pelican, which had been fitted out for the express purpose of engaging her. After an action of an hour and a half, the Argus was captured. Lieutenant Allen, her commander, was killed. The confidence of the British in their navy began to revive, but during the re mainder of the war they were not able to capture any American ship without a vast superiority of force, and their naval triumphs began and ended with these two victories. Success, as usual, soon appeared on the other side. On the 4th of September, the United States brig Enterprise, Captain Burrows, fell in with the British brig Boxer, Captain Blythe, of the same force ; after an action of forty minutes, during which the British colors had been nailed to the mast, the Boxer surrendered by ceasing her fire. The loss of the Enterprise was one killed and thirteen wounded. The Boxer had fourteen wounded ; the number of her killed is not known. Both captains fell in the action and were laid in the same grave at Portland, in Maine, near which place the battle was fought. An action between two schooners deserves particular notice, for the desperation and gallantry with which the Americans achieved a victory over a vastly superior force. On the 15th oi August, the privateer Decatur, of seven guns, fell in with the British gov ernment schooner Dominica, of fifteen guns, and engaged her for two hours. The Decatur then ran into and boarded her enemy. After a desperate conflict, hand to hand, the Dominica was taken. The Decatur was the better manned of the two, but the great inequality of force in other respects, renders this one of the most brilliant naval achievements upon record. During all this season the ships of war United States, Macedo nian and Hornet, were blockaded by a strong squadron of British 61* /18 THE UNITED STATES. in the port of New London, to which they had escaped while attempting to put to sea from New York. The blockade was kept up during the war, and the two frigates were forced to remain idle. The Hornet eluded the vigilance of the enemy some time after, and was enabled to add another to the numerous tri umphs of the American navy. Congress held a summer session this year, commencing on ths 24th of May. To make up for the deficiency in the revenues, laws imposing a direct tax and an excise were passed. These measures, from their great unpopularity, were much less produc tive of income than had been expected. A loan of seven millions and a half, for the succeeding year, was authorized. At the regu lar session the ensuing winter, an^ embargo was laid upon all shipping, except armed vessels and foreigners in ballast; the restriction was even extended to the coasting trade. This very severe measure was adopted to defeat the practice of supplying the enemy with provisions, which had been done in the boldest manner by many persons with whom avarice was stronger than patriotism. This restriction, however, did not continue long. The continent of Europe was thrown open to British commerce by the overthrow of Napoleon, affording them other sources of supply, and in April, 1814, the embargo was repealed, as no longer necessary. In the meantime, war was carried on -with the savages of the south. As early as September, 1812, hostilities against the United States had been begun by the Creeks. In the summer of the following year, General Jackson, with two thousand five hun dred Tennessee militia, made an incursion into the territory of the Choctaws and Chickasaws, which discouraged them for a time, and the militia returned home. But, on the 30th of August, the Indians suddenly fell upon fort Minims, on the Alabama, and massacred nearly three hundred men, women and children ; aftei which they laid waste all the settlements in the neighborhood. The Tennessee militia were again raised, and Jackson marched against the enemy. At Tallashatchee, General Coffee, with a de tachment of nine hundred men, fought a desperate battle with the Indians, of whom about two hundred were killed, being nearly every warrior of their whole body. On the 9th of December, Jackson, with his whole force of two thousand men, attacked and routed the savages at Talladega. More than three hundred of them were killed, but the greater part made their escape. The Indians also sustained defeats in other quarters, but subsequently rallied, and collected a large force on the Tallapoosa. Here they were attacked by Jackson on the 23d of January, 1814, and de- 719 feated with a heavy loss. Two days after this, while crossing the river, he was attacked in his turn by the enemy, but without success. He reached Fort Strother on the 27th of January, where he was detained some time by the want of supplies. On the 14th of March, Jackson set out on another expedition. The Indians had fortified a very strong position on the Talla- poosa, which had never yet been attacked. It was almost entirely surrounded by the river, and accessible only by a narrow neck of land, which was defended by a thick breastwork of timber with a double row of portholes. Jackson's force amounted to nearly three thousand men ; the number of the Indians is not known. On the 27th of March, an attack was made by storming the breast-work, while another party were drawn up on the opposite side of the river, to cut oft' the retreat of the Indians. Major Montgomery, of the regulars, was killed, while scaling the ram parts ; and the savages fought with the utmost desperation. The attack of the Americans, however, was so impetuous, that the Indians were driven from the walls, and attempted to retreat across the river. Here they were intercepted, and Jackson despatched a flag of truce, with an interpreter, summoning them to surrender. The flag was fired upon, and the battle re-com menced. The Americans set fire to the thickets in which the savages had sheltered themselves, and the slaughter continued till dark, when the survivors made their escape. Five hundred and fifty-seven of their warriors were found dead on the field of battle, and great numbers were drowned in the river. The courage and resolution with which the Indians had maintained this conflict against a vastly superior force, never were surpassed. The Americans lost fifty-five killed, and had one hundred and forty- six wounded. This victory completely overthrew the strength and the hopes of the Creeks. Peace was immediately made, and the country became tranquil. On the opening of the campaign of 1814 in the north, General Wilkinson left his quarters at French Mills and retired to Platts- burg. On the 20th of March he attacked a post of the enemy at Odletown, near the Canada line, but his operations wero so un skilful that he was repulsed with a loss of one hundred killed and wounded. Wilkinson's incapacity became now so evident, that he was removed from the command of the army, and his place supplied by General Izard. On the 25th of May, the enemy attacked Oswego, on Lake Ontario. The fort was in a ruinous condition, with but five guns and a garrison of three hundred men. The British, one thousand five hundred strong, under Lieutenant General Drummond, attempted to land in their boats, 720 THE UNITED STATES. under cover of the fire of the squadron, but were repulsed by the Americans. The next day the assailants took a more favorable position, and succeeded in landing. The garrison abandoned the fortification, and conveyed all the naval stores in the village to a place of safety. The British destroyed the ordnance of the fort and some other trifling articles, which cost them about one hun dred men killed and wounded. On the 29th of May, a fleet of boats, laden with naval stores, on their passage from Oswego to Sackett's Harbor, was chased into Sandy Creek by the British gunboats, which ran up the creek and landed a body of two hundred men. The American party, con sisting of about two hundred and fifty riflemen and Indians, placed themselves in ambush on the banks, and on the approach of the British suddenly rose and poured in upon them so destruc tive a fire that the whole body surrendered. Two post captains and six lieutenants were among the number. Three gunboats and several smaller craft were also captured ; the Americans lost not a single man. On the Niagara frontier nothing was done till near midsummer. On the 2d of July, a body of between three and four thousand Battle of Chippewa. men, under Generals Brown, Scott, and Ripley, crossed from Black Rock to Fort Erie and captured that place, which was defended by only a small garrison. The British, about three thousand in number, under General Riall, were posted in a strong BATTLES OF CHIPPEWA AND BRIDGEWATER. 721 position at Chippewa. General Brown, the American Com mander-in-chief, advanced to meet the enemy, and on the 5th of July, the armies came to a general engagement on the plains of Chippewa. The conflict began with skirmishes, which continued from morning to the middle of the afternoon, when the British commander moved his whole force out of his lines, and a sharp action ensued. A brigade of volunteers on the American left gave way before the force of the British regulars, and exposed the flank of Scott's brigade. Ripley's troops were then brought up, and a battalion under Major Jessup made so resolute a stand, that the British right was driven back. Scott's brigade pushed on, and the enemy, finding themselves repulsed at every point, retreated slowly till near Chippewa, when they took to flight, in great hurry and disorder. The batteries of Chippewa checked the further advance of the Americans, and the flying enemy ral lied under their guns. Night put an end to the battle. The loss of the Americans in killed, wounded, and missing, was three hundred and twenty-eight ; that of the British was four hundred and fifty-three, besides forty-six prisoners. The American troops were mostly raw recruits ; the British, on the contrary, were ex perienced veterans, which the pacification of Europe had enabled their government to send to America from their conquering armies in Spain and Portugal. General Riall abandoned Chippewa, and retreated to Fort George. Brown advanced upon him, and several manoeuvres on the part of both armies ensued. The battle of Bridgewater was fought on the 25th of July. The British were posted on a height defended by a strong battery of nine pieces of artillery. Late in the afternoon, General Scott, who had been detached to observe the movements of the army, discovered them in this position, and began an attack, which continued for above an hour, when a party, under Major Jessup, gained the British rear, captured their general with many other officers, and threw their line into confu sion. The enemy's batteries, however, kept up their fire; their numbers were still vastly superior to the Americans, and night had come on. The ranks of General Scott were rapidly wasting away under the enemy's fire, when Ripley's brigade arrived to his relief. That officer immediately determined to stonn the enemy's artillery on the height. For this purpose he detached Colonel Miller, with the twenty-first regiment, to assault the bat tery, while he made a simultaneous attack upon the British in fantry on the left. Miller's troops rushed to. the assault at the point of the bayonet, and the cannon were taken in a few minutes. Ripley at the same moment drove the enemy from the top of the o4 722 THE UNITED STATES. hill. The British, having received reinforcements, rallied, and came again to the charge, and were again driven down the hill by the American bayonets. Again they rallied, charged, and were put to flight again. With the most obstinate resolution they once more brought up their whole force, and made a desperate onset A fierce and sanguinary conflict was maintained for some time. The battle continued till past midnight, but nothing could over come the steadfast bravery and coolness of the Americans, who, after great slaughter on both sides, once more drove their enemies off the field, and the firing ceased at all points. . ( Battle of Bridgervater. The battle of Bridge water is one of the most remarkable recorded in modern history. Fought in the night, by the dim light of the moon, amid the solemn roar of the Cataract of Niagara, it is hardly to be surpassed for the obstinate and deter mined courage displayed by the combatants. The American troops were chiefly from New England, on their first campaign. The British had gone through the wars of the peninsula under Wellington. Eight hundred and sixty Americans were killed, wounded and missing. The British lost eight hundred ami seventy-eight, including prisoners. They claimed the victory, but on what grounds it is difficult to understand, as the Ameri cans remained in possession of the field of battle, and captured their general and artillery. Generals Brown and Scott were both wounded during the action, and were carried off the field. The BATTLE OF BRIDGEWATER. 723 command devolved upon General Ripley. Most of the horses having been killed, it was found impossible to remove the cannon taken from the enemy, to the American camp ; they were there fore destroyed. The victory at Bridgewater, although it caused great exultation throughout the country, and, in connexion with that of Chippewa, redeemed the American arms from the disgrace of Wilkinson's campaigns, yet did not disable the enemy from further offensive operations. By proclaiming martial law, the ranks of the British army were recruited, and General Drummond, who now took the command, found himself at the head of so superior a force, that the Americans withdrew to Fort Erie, and put that post in a state of defence. Here, on the 5th of August, General Gaines took the command. The British advanced, threw up works and besieged the place, and at two o'clock on the morning of the 15th, made a sudden and furious attempt to carry Fort Erie by storm. They advanced in three columns ; the right and left were repulsed with great slaughter, but the centre column, after a bloody conflict and two repulses, at length scaled the ramparts, and gained possession of the bastion. At this moment a quantity of powder in the bas tion accidentally exploded, destroying great numbers on both sides; this caused such a panic among the British, that the Americans succeeded in driving them out of the works. The battle continued till after daylight, but the assailants were com pletely repulsed. This unsuccessful attack cost the British a loss of nine hundred and fifteen men in killed, wounded and prisoners. The American loss was but eighty-four. A cannonading ensued for some days. The enemy were con stantly receiving fresh troops and strengthening their works. The Americans received no additions to their force, already far infe rior to that of the besiegers. Gaines, having been wounded by the bursting of a shell, resigned the command, and General Brown resumed it on the 2d of September. The fire of the ene my's batteries had now become so severe, that the American commander determined upon the desperate enterprise of making a sortie from the fort, and attacking an enemy superior in num- bers. On the If th of September, the troops marched out in two divisions, under Generals Porter, Davis, Ripley and Miller. They advanced to the assault with such promptness and resolution, that the batteries were taken after a short conflict. The cannon were then spiked and the works demolished. The Americans returned to the fort with three hundred and eighty prisoners, having effected their entire object, and destroyed the fruit of forty-seven days' labor on the part of the enemy. This brilliant achievement cost 724 THE UNITED STATES. the .Americans five hundred and twenty-seven men in killed, wounded and missing. The loss of the British, as stated in their own official account, was six hundred and nine. They claimed a victory, as usual, hut in a few days they thought it best to retreat. Early in October, the army at Fort Erie was strengthened by nearly five thousand men from the camp at Plattsburgh, and the chief command was assumed by General Izard. The enemy, by this time, had fallen back beyond the Chippewa. Izard moved towards that place, and destroyed a quantity of stores at Lyon's creek. The ene"my, however, were so strongly entrenched at Chippewa, that their lines could not be forced, and they could not be enticed to a battle in the open fisld. From the lateness of the season, nothing more could be done. Fort Erie was, therefore, destroyed, Canada evacuated, and the American army was can toned for the winter at Black Rock', Buffalo and Batavia. These were the last operations during the war on the Niagara frontier. In the northwest, an attempt had been made, without success, to surprise the British at Mackinaw. But towards the end of the season, an incursion was made into Canada, by a body of eight hundred volunteers from Kentucky and Ohio, under General McArthur. They marched from Detroit to the Thames, dispersed a corps of militia, captured and destroyed a quantity of public stores, and returned with a number of -prisoners, and the loss of only one man. CHAPTER LXX. Capture of Eastport and Castine. Bombardment of Stomngion. British expedi tion up the Chesapeake. Battle of Bladensburg. Capture of Washington and Alexandria. Attack on Baltimore. Repulse of the British. Cruise of th* Essex. Capture of the Epervier . Cruise of the Wasp. Capture of the Rein deer and Avon. Cruise of the Constitution. Capture of the Cyane and Le vant. Loss of the President. Capture of the Penguin. Invasion of Sir George Prevost. Attack of Plattsburg. McDonough's victory on Lake Cham- plain. Defeat of Prevost. Close of the northern campaign. British expe dition to New Orleans. Arrival of a British force at Pensacola. Conduct of the pirates of Barataria. Attack on Fort Bowyer. Capture of Pensacola by General Jackson. Defence of New Orleans. Landing of Packenham's army. Battle of the 8th of January, and defeat of the British. Negotiations for peace. Mediation of the Emperor of Russia rejected by the British. Com missioners sent to Gottenburg. Negotiations of Ghent. Exorbitant demands of the British. Domestic affairs of the United States. Disagreements respect ing the New England militia. Hartford Convention. Peace of Ghent. Gen eral reflections on the war. THE Atlantic blockade, in the spring of 1814, was extended by the British government along the whole coast of the United States ; and a disposition was now manifested to urge the war against the eastern part of the union more actively than had been done at the beginning of the contest. During the years 1812 and 1813, no hostilities had been waged by the British troops against the eastern frontier, and the coasting trade in that quarter suffered little interruption. The policy of the enemy was now changed. On the llth of July, a strong British force, under Admiral Hardy, captured Eastport, in Passamaquoddy Bay, and established themselves in the place till the end of the war. From hence, the squadron proceeded to the coast of Connecticut, and on the 9th of August, attacked Stonington. The force consisted of one seventy -four, a frigate, a gun-brig, and a bomb-ketch. The town was defended by a battery of three guns. The admiral, having given three hours' notice of his attack, that the peaceable inhabitants might be removed, opened his fire upon the town towards evening. The cannonade continued till midnight with out doing any damage. Early in the morning, the attack was renewed by throwing rockets and shells from the barges at the east side of the town. The Americans removed an eighteen pounder to this point, and by a few discharges obliged the brig 62 ' 726 THE UNITED STATES. and the barges to haul off. The British repeated the bombard ment on the 10th and 12th, with no other effect than to injure thirty or forty buildings. On the 13th, finding it impossible to capture the place, the squadron put to sea. Not a man was hurt among the Americans. An immense quantity of shells and shot were thrown on shore, and picked up by the inhabitants. On the 1st of September, another armament from Halifax cap tured the town of Castine, in Penobscot Bay. The frigate John Adams, which had just put into the Penobscot for a harbor, lay at Hampden, thirty-five miles up the river. The militia turned out, as the British proceeded up the river, but made no resolute stand. Captain Morris, of the John Adams, finding it impossible to save his ship, blew her up. On the 9th of September, a de tachment took possession of Machias. No effort was made by the inhabitants of the state to expel the enemy from these ports during the war. Meantime, on the Chesapeake, transactions of the highest im portance were in operation. The defenceless condition of the bay, and the unprotected situation of Washington, induced the British to plan an expedition against that city. Such an event might have been foreseen, and it reflects great discredit on the American cabinet not to have provided a more efficient defence for the capital of the United States. Requisitions were made on the neighboring states for bodies of militia, but the forces sup plied were small in number, and not of a character to be relied upon in the field. Early in August, the enemy's fleet received strong reinforcements, and there could be no doubt that a very important blow was about to be struck. The forces of the enemy were divided into three bodies. A strong squadron ascended the Potomac, another threatened Baltimore, while the main body moved up the Patuxent, to the town of Benedict, where they landed five thousand strong, on the 19th of August, and marched toward Washington. To oppose this force, the Americans had about fifteen hundred regular troops, and a few thousand volunteers and militia, under General Winder. A battle was fought on the 24th of August, at Bladensburg. The militia, as usual, were unable to stand the assault of the British regulars, and many regiments broke and fled in confusion. Commodore Barney, with a corps of marines and artillery, made a brave defence, but was over powered and taken prisoner. The Americans retreated to Wash ington, and from thence to Georgetown. The advanced guard of the British, under General Ross, entered Washington towards evening. The British set fire to the capitol, the president's house, the public library, and many private dwellings. The RETREAT OF THE BRITISH FROM BALTIMORE. 727 Americans had previously destroyed the buildings at the navy yard, with a frigate on the stocks. The city was abandoned by the British, on the evening of the 25th, with the honors of a victory, which they sullied by acts of vandalism worthy only of barbarians. The destruction of libraries and architectural struc tures not connected with the purposes of war, stamps disgrace on a people who boast of their humanity and civilization. No sub stantial benefit was derived by the enemy from the capture of Washington, but the mortification of. this disaster sunk deep into the minds of the American people. The British squadron in the Potomac proceeded up the river without obstruction. The commander of Fort Warburton, who might have impeded their passage, shamefully abandoned his post. Alexandria fell into the hands of the enemy on the 29th, and was pillaged of all the merchandise and shipping in the place. The British descended the river without any serious molestation from the inhabitants. These successes encouraged them to make an attempt upon Baltimore, flattering themselves with the expectation of acquiring an immense booty on easy terms. On the llth of September, the squadron appeared at the mouth of the Patapsco, within fourteen miles of Baltimore. General Ross landed his army of five thousand men, the next morning, at North Point, and marched towards the city. A body of three thousand militia, under General Strieker, advanced to meet him. A skirmish took place between the advanced parties, in which General Ross was killed. Colonel Brook then took the command of the British, and a general action followed. Some bodies of the militia gave way and fled in disorder, and General Strieker, finding himself in danger of being outflanked, fell back on the main body of General Smith, the commander-in-chief. The loss of their general discouraged the British. After ma noeuvring all the following day in front of the American lines, without making an attempt to force them, they retreated during the night. During these proceedings, an attack was made by the squadron on Fort M' Henry, which commands the approach to Baltimore by the river. All day of the 13th an incessant bom bardment was directed against the fort, and during the night some of the rocket-vessels and barges succeeded in getting into the river above the fort. The garrison, however, maintained their post with such firmness, and kept up so heavy a fire, that the enemy were repulsed. The squadron fell down to North Point, where the troops were taken on board, and the next day the whole force of the enemy descended the Chesapeake. An attempt was made to surprise a body of two hundred militia 728 THE UNITED STATES. at Bellair, on the eastern shore, near the head of the Chesapeake. A detachment of two hundred and fifty seamen and marines, under Sir Peter Parker, landed near the place, but were so warmly received by the militia, that they were compelled to retreat with the loss of their commander and above forty killed and wounded. The Americans had three wounded. The transactions in the Chesapeake were the last successes of the British during the war. The remainder of the military and naval occurrences resulted in victory to the Americans. The very disasters they had suffered in this quarter were the means of gaining subsequent triumphs for their arms. The destruction of their capitol aroused the people of the United States to a firmer spirit of resistance against the enemy, and animated them with that resolution which, at Plattsburg and New Orleans, wiped out the disgrace at Washington. But before we take up the sub ject of these two campaigns, some further exploits of the navy demand our notice. The frigate Essex, Captain Porter, had been ordered, in 1812, to accompany the Constitution and Hornet to the Pacific Ocean. The Essex only, of the three, proceeded on her destination. She doubled Cape Horn in February, 1813, and in a cruise of six months, completely destroyed the British whale fishery in the Pacific Ocean, capturing property to the value of two millions five hundred thousand dollars. One of his prizes Captain Porter converted into a ship of war, mounting twenty guns, and named her the Essex Junior. He visited the Washington Islands, where he refitted his ships and left a number of prizes. From thence he sailed for Valparaiso, where, shortly after his arrival, he was blockaded by two British ships of war, which had been sent into the Pacific in pursuit of him. On the 28th of March, 1814, the Essex made an attempt to get to sea, but unfortunately, in rounding the point of the harbor, she was struck with a squall, which carried away her maintopmast. Captain Porter, therefore, ran into a small bay, within pistol shot of the shore, where, according to the rules of warfare, being in a neutral harbor, he could not be attacked. The British commodore, however, violated the rights of neutrality by immediately engaging the Essex. His force was vastly superior to the Americans. His two ships, the Phrebe and the Cherub, mounted seventy-eight; the Essex mounted but forty-six. The unmanageable condition of the Essex enabled the British ships to take the most advantageous positions for raking her, so that the entire broadsides of the enemy took effect, while the Essex could bring but three guns to bear upon them. Still she maintained the conflict for three hours, when, having Francis Marion. Arthur St. Clair. William Bainbridge. CRUISE OF THE WASP. 729 fifty-eight of her crew killed and sixty-six wounded, she surren dered. The loss of the Essex reflected no discredit on the American navy, and fortune soon returned to her favorite banner. On the 29th of April, 1814, the American sloop of war Peacock, Captain Warrington, fell in with the British brig Epervier, of equal force, and captured her after an action of forty minutes. The Peacock had but one man killed and two wounded. The Epervier had eight killed and fifteen wounded. This was a valuable prize, having one hundred and twenty thousand dollars in specie on board, all which, with the two ships, were brought safe to port. The cruise of the sloop of war Wasp was marked by the most brilliant achievements, though a sad fate befel her unfortunate crew. She sailed on her first cruise early this year, under Cap tain Blakely, and, after making seven prizes, she fell in with the British brig of war Reindeer, near the British Channel. An action of two hours ensued, during which the Reindeer made several attempts to board, which were promptly defeated. The crew of the Wasp then boarded the Reindeer, and captured her after a short conflict. The Wasp had five killed and twenty-one wounded ; the Reindeer twenty-five killed and forty-two wounded. After setting fire to her prize, the Wasp put into L' Orient, to refit. Sailing from this place, she fell in with a fleet of merchantmen, under convoy of a seventy-four. One of them was taken and sunk after removing her cargo. On the evening of the same day, the 2d of September, two sail were discovered, on one of which the Wasp bore down. This was the British brig of war Avon, which the Wasp captured after an action of forty-five minutes. While the boats were lowering to take possession of the prize, a second ship was seen close a-board, and several others not far oif. The Wasp was therefore compelled to abandon the Avon, and she sunk immediately after her crew had been taken off by the British ships which came to her relief. She had thirty-nine killed and wounded, the Wasp only three. Some days after, the Wasp captured the brig Atalanta, of eight guns, which arrived safe ih the United States, but the Wasp was heard of no more. A British frigate was reported as having sustained a severe action with an American ship, about this time, in the same neighborhood, from which the frigate escaped in a very crippled condition. The Constitution, under Captain Stewart, again left Boston on a cruise, on the 17th of December, 1814, and on the 20th of Feb ruary, 1815, she encountered two British ships, the Cyane frigate, and the Levant sloop of war, both of which she captured. The British lost seventy-seven killed and wounded ; the Constitution 730 THE UNITED STATES. but fifteen. This victory, gained over a superior force, must be allowed equal to any previous exploit of this fortunate ship. The Cyane was brought into port, but the Levant, having put into Port Pray a, in the Cape Verd Islands, was retaken by the British, in defiance of the laws of nations. The frigate President, Captain Decatur, sailed from New York, on the 14th of January, 1815. The harbor was then blockaded by a British squadron consisting of a seventy-four and three frigates. The President struck on the bar in going out, by which accident she sustained some damage. The next morning, the enemy's squadron gave her chase. The President outsailed them all except the Endymion frigate, which came up with her, and an action took place. It lasted two hours and a half, when the Endymion was beaten off. The President then made sail, but was too much crippled in the action to escape the other ships. As soon as they came up, the President surrendered. The British exulted much at this victory, and many of their writers pretended to believe that the Endymion accomplished it alone, though she was three hours' sail in the rear of the other ships when the President struck to them. The last naval victory of the war, like the first, fell to the Americans. On the 23d of March, 1815, the Hornet, while on a voyage to the Indian Ocean, fell in with the British brig of war Penguin, off the island of Tristan Da Cunha. After an action of twenty minutes the Penguin struck, with forty- two killed and wounded, The Hornet had one killed and eleven wounded. The Penguin was so much damaged that she was destroyed the next day. The British had this year projected a serious plan for the inva sion of the United States from Canada, by the way of Lake Champlain, unmindful of the calamitous issue of Burgoyne's expedition by the same route. Their army in Lower Canada was greatly augmented by arrivals of troops from Wellington's victo rious legions in the south of France, and a scheme was organized for making an irruption in this quarter with so strong a force as to bear down at once all opposition. The northern frontier was now very weakly defended ; the bulk of the army under General Izard had been ordered to Niagara, and the force left at Plattsburg did not exceed fifteen hundred regulars, many of whom were invalids and recruits. Sir George Prevost, the British com- mander-in-chief, having concentrated his troops in the latter part of August, found himself at the head of an army of twelve thou sand men. With this force he invaded the American territory, and took possession of the town of Champlain on the 3d of Sep- BATTLE OP LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 731 tember. He issued a proclamation designed to seduce the people from their allegiance, by stating that the British arms were directed only against the American government and their sup porters, and not against the peaceful and unoffending inhabitants. In this design he was disappointed. The devastations of the British on the coast of the Atlantic had united the people in defence of their territory, and the militia of New York and Ter- mont took up arms, without distinction of party, to repel the invaders. General Macomb was at the head of the American land forces, and Commodore McDonough commanded the fleet on Lake Champlain, which lay at anchor in the bay of Plattsburg. It was evident that the first attacks of the enemy would be made against this place. A force of about three thousand militia had been raised and stationed principally on the roads approaching Plattsburg. On the 6th of September, two columns of the enemy attacked a body of militia, seven miles from Plattsburg ; these raw troops broke and fled, and the enemy approached within a mile of the town. The -Americans crossed the river Saranac, which flows in front of the place, broke down the bridges, and left Plattsburg to its fate, intrenching themselves on the opposite bank. The British took possession of the town, and attempted to pass the river several times, but without success. They then erected batteries opposite the American works, and several days were passed in cannonading and skirmishing at the bridges and fords. On the morning of the llth of September, the British squadron, consisting of the frigate Confiance, the brig Linnet, the sloops Chub and Finch, and thirteen galleys, mounting in all ninety-five guns, with one thousand men, stood into the bay of Plattsburg. The American squadron, comprising the sloop-of-war Saratoga, the brigs Eagle and Ticonderoga, the schooner Preble and ten galleys, mounting eighty-six guns, with eight hundred men, were then at anchor in the bay. The British came to anchor in line of battle, abreast of the American squadron, three hundred yards distant. At nine o'clock, a general engagement, both by sea and land, commenced. For two hours the ships maintained an equal contest, when the American commodore, finding his starboard guns nearly all dismounted, practised a skilful mano3uvre by dropping his stern anchor, and cutting his bower cable ; his ship immediately swung round and brought her larboard broadside to bear upon the enemy, who, having suffered equally, attempted the same manoeuvre, but without success. The British commodore, unable to sustain the fire of the Saratoga, struck his colors in a 732 THE UNITED STATES. few minutes, and the brig immediately followed the example. The sloops had previously surrendered, and three of the galleys were sunk ; the remainder made their escape. 4i Battle, of Plattsburg. In^he meantime, the enemy's batteries had opened a vigorous fire upon the American lines, which was returned with equal spirit. In the height of the cannonade, the British made three attempts to cross the Saranac, two at the bridges near the town, and another at a ford three miles above. In all these attempts they were repulsed with great slaughter. The battle between the two squadrons, which took place in sight of both armies, arrested for a short time, their attention. The capture of the British ships was received with the most enthusiastic cheers by the Americans, while it speedily damped the courage of the ene my. The cannonading, however, continued till sunset, when Sir George Prevost, finding his troops defeated at all points, drew off his artillery from the batteries, and raised the siege. At two in the morning, the whole army precipitately retreated, and reached Chazy, eight miles distant, before their flight was discovered. More than eight hundred deserters left them on their march, and came into the American camp. The whole loss of the British was about twenty-five hundred men ; that of the Americans only ninety-nine. The British left behind them their sick, wounded, cannon, ammunition and provisions. The victory at Plattsburg must be recorded as one of the most brilliant in American history. A land army, composed mostly of PROGRESS OF THE WAR IN THE SOUTH. 733 raw militia, repulsed the most powerful force of British veterans that had been collected in America during the war : while, at the same moment, the American squadron captured a British squa dron superior both in guns and men. The killed and wounded in the enemy's ships, amounted to one hundred and ninety-four, including Commodore Downie, the commander. The American loss was one hundred and ten. The prisoners amounted to eight hundred and fifty-six, a greater number than that of the Ameri can crews when they commenced the action. Thus closed the campaign in the north. While the war in the north was thus drawing to a termination, with such brilliant success on the part of the United States, the last hostile expedition of the British was in progress at the south ern extremity of the union, and the result was equally glorious to the American arms. The capture of New Orleans and the conquest of Louisiana had been determined on by the enemy at an early day in the season ; but the design was necessarily defer red till the latter part of the year, to avoid the heats and insa lubrity of the summer months in that unwholesome climate. Toward the end of August, three British armed vessels arrived at Pensacola, with a body of troops, and a quantity of military stores sufficient for a large army. They took possession of the place, although it was neutral territory belonging to Spain. Intel ligence was received that ten thousand troops and thirteen ships of the line were expected there. The British commander at Pensacola, Colonel Nichols, issued a proclamation, calling upon the inhabitants of Louisiana and Tennessee to throw off their allegiance to the government of the United States, and join the British standard. This had the same effect as the proclamation of Sir George Prevost. The militia took up arms to repel the invaders ; and Nichols, finding that none of the inhabitants joined him, turned to the pirates of Barataria, an island on the coast of Louisiana, then occupied by a band of buccaneers. These men, under a bold and dexterous leader, of the name of Lafitte, had hitherto eluded all the attempts of the American government to suppress them, and continued to carry on their trade of smuggling and picarooning, in defiance of law. Nichols communicated the whole plan of the British expedition to Lafitte, soliciting his alli ance; but the piratical chieftain rejected the proposal at once; and although a price had been set upon his head, immediately dis closed the whole to Claiborne, the governor of Louisiana. This singular conduct was followed by important consequences to the Baratarians. The governor, struck with the romantic behavior of Lafitte, promised him a full pardon for his whole band } on 734 THE UNITED STATES. condition of their abandoning their lawless habits, and engaging in defence of the country. This was agreed to, and these outlaws rendered important services in the sequel. On the 15th of September, the British made an attack, by sea and land, upon Fort Bowyer, at the entrance of Mobile Bay ; but the garrison of one hundred and twenty men, under Major Law rence, defeated them after they had persisted in the assault for three hours. The commodore's frigate, the Hermes, lost nearly all her crew, drifted ashore, and was burnt. The garrison lost but nine killed and wounded. The British retreated to Pensa- cola, and General Jackson, the American commander-in-chief, having now received a reinforcement of two thousand volun teer militia from Tennessee, marched upon Pensacola, to demand redress of the Spanish authorities for their violation of neu trality, in allowing a hostile expedition to be fitted out from that place against the United States. On the 6th of November, he reached the neighborhood of Pensacola, and sent a flag to the governor, which was fired upon and driven back. Nevertheless, he contrived by other means to convey a communication to the governor, demanding that the forts on the harbor should be put under the protection of the United States, till the Spanish govern ment were able to enforce their neutrality. This being refused, Jackson made an attack on Pensacola the next day. Both the Spaniards and British defended the place; but the Americans speedily made their way into the town, and brought the Spanish commander to a parley, which ended by a complete surrender of Pensacola to the Americans. The British destroyed the fortifications, and abandoned the place with their squadron. Jackson proceeded to New Orleans on the 1st of December, and took measures for the defence of that city. Batteries were constructed on all the approaches toward the place, and troops collected from the neighboring states. By this time, upwards of sixty sail of the enemy's vessels, with troops and military stores, had arrived at Ship Island, at the entrance of Lake Borgne, by which the city was menaced with an attack. A flotilla of small vessels had been collected by the Americans, to defend the passage of Lake Pontchartrain ; these were attacked on the 13th, by an overwhelming force of the enemy, while becalmed in an unfavorable position, and all cap tured. This disaster caused a necessity for the most prompt and energetic measures for the defence of the city. Martial law was proclaimed by Jackson, an embargo laid on all vessels, and the negroes were impressed and set to work upon the fortifications. BATTLE OF NEW-ORLEANS. 735 On the 21st, four thousand Tennessee militia, under General Car rol, arrived at New Orleans. The enemy proceeded up Lake Borgne, and on the 22d, surprised a small body of Americans posted to defend the Bayou Bienvenu, an inlet leading directly towards the city. Jackson advanced the next day with a force of about two thousand men. and made an attempt to drive them from this position, but the enemy being three thousand strong, the attempt proved abortive, and the Americans took post higher up the river. Their line of defence extended from the Mississippi on the right, to a thick and impassable wood on the left. On the opposite bank of the river was a battery of fifteen cannon; the ship Louisiana and the schooner Caroline lay in the stream. The British army, amounting to ten thousand men, under Sir Edward Packenham, well equipped, with a heavy train of artil lery, were now concentrated near the American lines. By the arrival of the Kentucky militia, Jackson's force was augmented to about eight thousand men,, but their equipment was bad. The fate of New Orleans was now completely at stake, and the odds were decidedly in favor of the British. No battle hitherto fought between the contending parties, equalled in importance the one now at hand, for on this depended the possession of the entrance of the great river Mississippi, and perhaps the permanent command of the stream. The British began their operations by erecting a battery against the Caroline, whose fire gave them great annoy ance ; and they succeeded in blowing her up on the 27th. The next day, Packenham advanced with his whole force within half a mile of the American works, and began a furious cannonade, bombardment and discharge of rockets. The American batteries, with the Louisiana, opened so heavy a fire upon the assailants, that they drew off with considerable loss. The British then threw up batteries in front of the American lines, and at daylight, on the 1st of January, renewed their cannonade, but with no better effect. An attack was then made upon the left flank of the Americans, but this was repulsed, and the British decamped in the evening, leaving behind their ammunition and the cannon spiked. The British had suffered severely from the batteries on the opposite bank of the Mississippi, which they were unable to cross for want of boats. With immense labor, a canal was dug from the Bayou Bienvenu, to the river, through which the boats of the fleet were brought on the 7th. Everything being now prepared on the part of the invading force, the grand attack was fixed for the next day. Troops were transported across the Mississippi to attack the battery on that side simultaneously with the main assault. 63 a4 736 THE UNITED STATES. On the 8th of January, early in the morning, the British army moved in two columns to the attack of Jackson's line. Generals Gibbs and Keane led the assault ; and a body of reserve, under General Lambert, kept in the rear of the attacking columns. The troops advanced slowly and firmly, bearing fascines and scaling ladders to facilitate their passage over the ditch and ram part. The American batteries opened upon them as soon as they came within cannon shot. The sharp-eyed marksmen of the West stood behind the entrenchments, awaiting the close approach of the enemy ; and no sooner had their columns arrived within fair reach of their rifles, than a shower of bullets was discharged Battle of New Orleans. upon them with such unerring aim, that they were immediately brought to a stand. Sir Edward Packenham, observing his troops to falter, galloped to the head of the column, and while in the act of cheering them on, was struck by a rifle ball, and fell dead from his horse. The columns broke and retreated in confusion, but their officers rallied them and urged them onward nearly to the ditch. The deadly fire of the musketry again drove them back. A third assault was made, and a third time were the assailants put. to flight in the greatest confusion. Gibbs and Keane were both severely wounded, and the plain was covered with the bodies of the dead. General Lambert now took the command, and collecting together the fragments of the army, drew them off into the camp. In the meantime, the detachment under Colonel BATTLE OF NEW-ORLEANS. 737 Thornton had succeeded in capturing the American battery on the opposite bank of the river, in consequence of the panic of the militia, who imagined the enemy had turned their flank ; but this had no influence upon the result of the day, which was a most decided victory for the Americans. Never had a British army experienced such dreadfru Slaughter as on this occasion. More than two thousand of their men, including almost all their chief officers, were killed or wounded. The prisoners amounted to eight hundred. The disproportion too, between the loss of the victorious and that of the defeated army, renders this one of the most remarkable battles ever fought. The Americans had but seven killed and six wounded. The whole British scheme of invasion was at once brought to an end by this overwhelming disaster. A part of the fleet had entered the Mis sissippi and attacked Fort St. Philip, but after bombarding it for a week, they retreated. Lambert, immediately after the battle of the 8th of January, withdrew his troops from the Mississippi, and embarked for Fort Bowyer, which place he succeeded in captur ing, but this was all they gained by the expedition to New Orleans. The defence of that city reflects the highest credit on the skill and firmness of General Jackson, and the courage of the Ameri can militia. With this brilliant success closed the hostilities between Great Britain and the United States. During the interval between the repulse of the British and the arrival of the news of peace, their fleet still hung about the coast-, and it was found necessary to detain the militia at New Orleans, where martial law was still in force. The militia, imagining all the danger passed, were eager to return to their homes, and many complaints were the consequence. A paragraph in one of the New Orleans newspapers, was thought by General Jackson cal culated to excite mutiny in the army, and he arrested the writer. A writ of habeas corpus was issued to liberate him. The gen eral, instead of obeying the writ, caused the judge who granted it to be arrested and conveyed out of the city. Before this occurrence, an un-official account of the signing of the treaty of Ghent had reached New Orleans, but it was thought prudent not to abandon any of the measures that had been taken for the de fence of the country. On the 13th of March, however, two days after the arrest of the judge, a despatch from the secretary of war arrived at head-quarters, announcing the peace, and ordering a cessation of hostilities. Military operations on both sides ceased on the 19th. The judge, after his liberation, cited General Jack son before him, and fined him a thousand dollars for contempt of o4 738 THE UNITED STATES. court. The fine was paid by the general, although the citizens of New Orleans offered to raise the sum by contribution. Since the commencement of the war, the government of the United States had shown every disposition to settle the grounds of dispute with Great Britain upon reasonable terms. Early in 1813, the Emperor of Russia offered his mediation between the two powers. This offer was communicated by President Madison to congress, in May, 1813, with the information that the cabinet had acceded to the proposal, and that three commissioners had been despatched to St. Petersburg, with powers to conclude a treaty of peace. Had the British government been moderate and equitable in their demands, hostilities between the two countries would soon have ceased. The highest , hopes were indulged, throughout the country, that the Russian mediation would lead to an immediate pacification. But the British cabinet refused to admit the interference of the Russian emperor, on the alleged ground that their dispute with the United States involved certain principles of the internal government of Great Britain, which could not consistently be submitted to the mediation of a foreign power. This decision, pronounced by the Prince Regent, was communicated to the American government by a flag of truce despatched for the purpose, which, at the same time, signified to the president that the British government were willing to open a negotiation with the American commissioners, either in London or Gottenburg. This proposal was agreed to by the Americans, and Gottenburg was fixed upon as the place of meeting. Five commissioners were accordingly appointed ; John Quincy Adams, Albert Gallatin, and James A. Bayard, who had already sailed for Russia, under the proposed mediation of the emperor, and Henry Clay and Jonathan Russell. These gentlemen proceeded immediately to the place of their destination; but the British cabinet exhibited so little readiness to expedite the negotiations, that the commissioners met with nothing but delays for a long time. After many preliminary movements, the place of conference was shifted from Gottenburg to Ghent in the Netherlands, at which city the British commissioners, Lord Gambier, Henry Goulburn, and William Adam, arrived on the 4th of August, 1814. The conditions proposed by the Americans were very moderate ; they agreed to waive the abstract question of the right of British ships to impress American seamen, as the practice had ceased with the general pacification of Europe; this question they reserved for future discussion and settlement between the two powers. The only obstacle in the way of peace appeared to be NEGOTIATIONS FOR PEACE. 739 removed by this concession on the part of the Americans. The orders in council had been revoked ; the blockade of the conti nental ports had ceased ; Napoleon was overthrown ; the ancient governments of Europe were restored, and none of the causes of dissension between Great Britain and the United States were likely soon to be revived. But, to the surprise of the American commissioners, they were met by demands highly unreasonable, and totally incompatible with the honor and security of the United States. The British insisted upon a new boundary for the Canada frontier, surrendering a large tract of American terri tory to Great Britain. The United States were to erect no fortified post on the shores of the great lakes, nor maintain any armed vessel on their waters, while the British were to be allowed both. All the country west of a line drawn from Lake Superior to the Mississippi, was to be ceded to Great Britain, as well as the northern part of the District of Maine. The boundaries between the United States and the Indian territory were to be strictly denned, and no purchases of land made from the natives. To these insulting terms, the American commissioners replied by a prompt and unqualified negative. When this intelligence reached the United States, great indig nation was excited throughout the country. The honor and dignity of the nation stood pledged to resist so humiliating a proposal as a surrender of the national territory and the right of defence. A stronger resolution than ever to oppose the encroach ments of the enemy manifested itself among the people. But the exorbitant nature of these demands seemed to indicate a fixed determination in the British government to push the war to extremities, and the desperate character of the struggle was fully appreciated. This was evinced more strikingly in the New Eng land states, where the war had encountered a strong disapproval from a very numerous class of the population. The government of Massachusetts, during the first year of the war, had so little confidence in the wisdom of the federal executive, that when the militia of that state was called out, agreeably to the constitution, they declined giving the command to the officer appointed hy the president, on the plea that such command could be exercised only by the president in person. They also declined, when first called upon, to raise any portion of the militia, alleging that the consti tutional exigency, of which they alone were to be the judges, did not exist. The same was done by the states of Rhode Island and Connecticut. With the increasing rancor of party spirit, the financial embar rassments of the federal government, and the menacing and over- 63* 740 THE UNITED STATES. bearing attitude of the enemy, in the year 1814, the affairs of the country seemed to be drawing to a crisis. The legislature of Massachusetts met in October, and proposed a convention of dele gates from the New England states, to devise some measures for the general welfare, suitable to the alarming state of the times. This scheme was agreed upon ; delegates were chosen from the states of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut, and from a portion of New Hampshire and Vermont. The convention met at Hartford, in Connecticut, on the 15th of December, 1814, and sat till the 4th of January, 1815, when they adjourned, after pub lishing the result, of their deliberations in a report. This docu ment specified some defects in the constitution of the United States, and proposed amendments to the following effect : That representation and direct taxes should be apportioned according to the white population of the country, irrespective of the slaves ; that no new state should be admitted into the union, without the concurrence of two-thirds of both houses of congress ; that no declaration of war or non-intercourse should take place without the same majority; that no embargo should be imposed for a longer term than sixty days ; that the president of the United States should be eligible for no more than one term; and that two presidents should not be elected from the same state in suc cession. Much obloquy has been cast upon the Hartford Convention, and there are many, at the present day, who believe that it was assembled with a treasonable design of dissolving the union. Nothing of this nature can be discerned in the proposals above enumerated, which constitute the substance of what they submit ted to the public. So far from being treasonable or dangerous, some of them, if adopted, would conduce to the preservation and stability of the union; and one, at least, has become a favorite maxim, at the present day, with a large portion of the American people. All fears, however, for the internal tranquillity of the country were in an instant dissipated by the arrival, in February, 1815, of the intelligence that a treaty of peace had been signed at Ghent, on the 24th of December. The British government, after receiv ing the news of the defeat of the army of Sir George Prevost, and the capture of their squadron on Lake Champlain, appear to have abandoned all hope of further success to their arms, and with drew the arrogant claims which had been insisted upon at the opening of the negotiations. By the terms of the treaty, the boundaries of the two countries were to remain the same as before the commencement of hostilities, and all questions of disputed TERMINATION OF THE WAR. 741 territory were to be settled by commissioners from both parties at a future day. Both nations were to put an immediate end to the Indian hostilities, and use their best endeavors to suppress the slave trade. The treaty was ratified by the prince regent, on the 28th of December, 1814, and by the American president and senate, on the 18th of February, 1815. Thus closed a war, in which the United States encountered great perils and suffered deep disasters, but from which the nation extricated itself with honor and renown. If the republic sus tained heavy losses, she exhibited resolution, talent and national spirit, in the exertions she put forth in her defence, and vindicated her reputation, in the eyes of the world, from the opprobrium which had fallen upon it in consequence of the insults of her enemy. The American armies were sometimes defeated; but instead of wondering at this, our wonder is excited that such reverses were not more numerous. The soldiers of Britain were veterans, familiar with conquest, and fresh from the battle-fields of Europe. The United States went into the contest without an army, and their new levies and raw militia could not be expected to possess skill, discipline or practical familiarity with the duties of the camp and the manoeuvres of the field. That the govern ment of the United States committed errors, and occasionally showed weakness and indecision at critical moments, no one will deny. But to compare their conduct with that of the European cabinets, and to judge of them by the comparison, would be doing them gross injustice. They had no councils of able and expe rienced generals, learned in the history, theory and practice of war, to assist them in drawing up the plans of their campaigns, and correcting their calculations of the sources, extent and efficiency of supplies. The most fatal mistake they committed, was the appointment of superannuated generals to the command of the armies ; but as these individuals had served in the revolution, and of course were the only American officers who had seen any regu lar fighting, the mistake was natural. Hull, Dearborn, Wilkin son, Hampton and some others, had been soldiers of the revolution; but the knowledge which they retained of that period, served but little purpose, we imagine, in enabling them to direct the move ments of armies on a large scale ; while their advanced age had diminished that energy and activity, both of mind and body, so preeminently necessary in the business of the field. Accordingly, we find that none of the successes, but almost all the disasters of the American campaigns, happened under the direction of the class of officers abovementioned. On the other hand, the most deci ded and brilliant victories were accomplished by leaders of another 742 THE UNITED STATES. character. Jackson, Harrison, Scott, Brown, Ripley, Croghan, were men younger in years, new to the business of regular warfare, but prompt in action, fertile in expedients, energetic and decisive. The most heroic action was performed by the youngest officer of all. Major Croghan, who defended his post with one hundred and sixty men and one cannon, against a force almost equal to that which captured Hull's army, was a youth of twenty-two. In the vicissitudes of the war, the reverses of the Americans were much overbalanced by their successes. To the disasters of Detroit and Washington, may be opposed the victories of New Orleans, Plattsburg, the Thames, Bridgewater, Lake Erie and Lake Champlain, and the brilliant exploits of our navy on the Atlantic. The effect of these naval victories has been prodigious in augmenting the naval strength'of the country, in heightening the national pride and spirit of the people, and in preparing the way for the maritime greatness of the republic. The United States, a short time since totally overlooked or disregarded in the scheme of European politics, and utterly incapable of self-defence upon the ocean, have suddenly become a first-rate naval power. Such an insult as was perpetrated upon the Chesapeake in 1807, would, at the present day, produce war or satisfaction by the time a steam-packet could make two trips across the Atlantic. Another effect of the war, less obvious at first, but which has since gradually developed itself till its magnitude and importance have made it a great national concern, has been the increase of manufacturing enterprise in the United States. Previous to the hostilities with Great Britain, the Americans were almost exclu sively a commercial and agricultural people ; they are now rap idly becoming a great manufacturing nation. Nearly all their supplies of manufactured articles were furnished from Europe, and principally from Great Britain. The war put a stop to all importation ; and the consequent high prices gave strong encour agement to domestic manufactures. New establishments rapidly arose, invention and labor were stimulated, and the finest fabrics of Manchester and Birmingham were soon rivalled by the inge nuity of the New England artists. The manufacturing enter prise, begun upon the spur of necessity, has been maintained by native skill, industry and perseverance, and the country is daily opening new sources of wealth for the enterprise of her capitalists and the genius of her artisans. CHAPTER LXXI. War with Algiers. Expedition of Commodore Decatur. Capture of two Algtri-nt ships of war. Peace with Algiers. Affairs of Tunis and Tripoli. Domestic concerns of the country. United States bank established. Disputes with Spain concerning West Florida. Seminole war. General Jackson's invasion of Florida. Execution of Arbuthnot and Ambrister. Florida ceded to the United States. Mr. Monroe chosen president. Tranquillity and prosperity of the country. New states admitted into the union. Expedition of Lewis and Clarke. Treaty with Great Britain concerning the Oregon territory. Affairs of the Spanish American republics. Missouri admitted into the union. Affairs of Florida. Piracies in the West Indies. John Q. Adams elected president. Revival of party spirit. Affairs of Georgia and the Creek Indians. Congress of Panama. Visit of La Fayette to the United States. The northeastern boundary dispute. General Jackson president. Removals from office. Debates in the Senate, on the subject of the public lands. Treaty with France for indem nities. Proposal of the king of the Netherlands, respecting the northeastern boundary. Removal of the southern Indians. Jackson's veto on the United States bank. Indian hostilities. Black Hawk's war. Battle at Bad-ax river. Treaties with the Indians. DURING the contest with Great Britain, the commerce of the United States had also been exposed to the hostilities of the Algerines. A treaty had existed for many years with that power, but on the breaking out of the war in 1812, the Dey, under the instigation perhaps of British agents, contrived to pick a quarrel, and despatched his corsairs against the American commerce in the Mediterranean. They made several captures during the early part of the war, but as the Barbary cruisers seldom ventured outside the straits of Gibraltar, few prizes were made after the American merchantmen had forsaken the Mediterranean. On the return of peace with England, a resolution was formed to chastise the Algerines, and in March, 1815, an act of congress authorized the president to equip and employ any force necessary for this purpose. The navy of the United States was now fully compe tent to this undertaking. Several frigates and ships of the line had been constructed during the last year of the war, and were now ready for service. Commodore Decatur was despatched with three frigates, two sloops of war, and four schooners. Another squadron, consisting of a ship of the line and other vessels, was to follow, under Commodore Bainbridge. Decatur sailed from New York, and arrived at Gibraltar about the middle 4 744 THE UNITED STATES. of June, 1815. Proceeding up the straits, on the 17th, off Cape De Gatt, he fell in with the Algerine frigate Mazouda, commanded by Rais Hammida, a famous corsair, who had long been the terror of the Mediterranean. Decatur's flag-ship, the Guerriere, ran alongside the corsair, who endeavored to escape ; but after a running fight of twenty-five minutes, the Algerine struck, her commander having been cut in two by a cannon shot. / Two days after, the squadron captured an Algerine brig of twenty- two guns. Decatur then steered for Algiers, and arrived off that place on the 28th of June. He despatched on shore a letter from the president, and proposed entering at once upon negotiations for peace. The terms demanded by the American government were, that no tribute whatever should be paid by the United States; that all American prisoners should be given up without ransom ; that compensation should be made for American vessels captured and property seized by the Algerines; that American property should not be molested if found on board an enemy's vessel, with various other stipulations, fully securing the rights of the American nation both on the sea and land. The Algerines were disposed to reject these proposals, being ignorant of the capture of their ships of war, which they refused to believe till the sight of the prisoners convinced them. Intimidated by this unexpected blow, and influenced by the Swedish consul, who exerted himself to promote the negotiation, they agreed to a suspension of hostili ties, and a treaty was immediately drawn up and signed. The treaty also provided for the release of the Spanish consul and a merchant of that nation, then prisoners in Algiers. From Algiers, the squadron proceeded to Tunis, the government of which had violated its treaty with the United States, by allow ing two prizes belonging to an American privateer, to be taken out of the harbor by a British cruiser ; and by allowing a company of Tunisian merchants to extort the property of an American citizen in their territory. Decatur sent a letter to the Tunisian vizier, demanding immediate payment for these spoliations. The Bashaw admitted the fact, and the justice of the demand, but requested a year for the payment. This was refused, and finding the Americans resolute, he agreed to their demand. The money was paid to the commodore by the vizier's brother, in presence of all the European consuls. The Tunisian flung the bags on the ground in great indignation, exclaiming to the British consul, "See what Tunis is obliged to pay for your insolence ! Do you not feel ashamed to violate the neutrality of your friends, and then leave them to pay for your aggressions?" The barbarian was no bad expounder of international law. John Marshall, LL. D. Timothy Pickering. John Jay. William Wirt. ALGERINB WAK. 745 The Bashaw of Tripoli had been served with equal injustice by his British friends, who had cut out two American vessels from under the guns of his castle, and compelled 'him to refuse protection to an American cruiser. When this outrage was com mitted, the American consul struck his flag. Decatur, on arriving at Tripoli, had no difficulty in obtaining full reparation immedi ately such was the terror already inspired by the exploits of the Americans. The consul then hoisted his flag, and was saluted by the castle with thirty-one guns. Besides obtaining indemnity for the American property, Decatur also compelled the Bashaw to release ten Neapolitan and Danish captives. It is remarkable that the United States were the first nation in Christendom that refused the payment of tribute to the Barbary powers. Commodore Bainbridge, with his squadron, arrived shortly after in the Mediterranean, and took the command. As a complete pacification had been already effected, little remained to do. The squadron visited Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli, where the people were struck with surprise to behold an American ship of the line, having been induced to believe, by the British, that the Americans were prohibited by treaty, from building vessels of that size. The squadron returned to Boston in November. The domestic concerns of the United States assumed an entirely new face on the restoration of peace. That event was received with a hearty welcome by all classes of people, although the party which had opposed the war were disposed to criticise somewhat severely, the circumstance that the treaty gave up certain points, which had been originally insisted on as essential to the security of American commerce. Yet, in the actual circum stances of the two countries, it could not be denied that the pacifi cation of Ghent was settled on a firm foundation, and bid fair to promote a permanent harmony between the two countries. The rejoicing therefore was universal. The administration found themselves relieved of the burden of a war which daily brought fresh embarrassments upon them. The people, finding the honor and reputation of the country vindicated by the national arms, welcomed the revival of commercial enterprise and the diminution of their taxes. The expense of the war had been great. The national debt,*. in 1812, amounted to forty-five millions of dollars. In 1816, it had augmented to one hundred and twenty-three millions. The loans, during the last year of the war, were taken up at an enormous abatement from the par value. With the return of peace, the revenue increased, the national credit revived, and confidence in the successful action of the government and the general prosperity of the country rapidly augmented. 64 746 THE UNITED STATES. One of the most important acts of the congress which assembled during the winter after the peace, was the establishment of a na tional bank. This project had nearly succeeded in 1814. The bill at that time passed both houses of congress, but was rejected by president Madison. In April, 1816, the United States Bank was incorporated by congress, with a capital of thirty-five millions, and a charter for twenty years. This was sanctioned by Mr. Madison, who had either changed his opinion as to the constitutionality of the bank, or became more strongly con vinced of its utility. The financial concerns of the country, as well as monetary transactions and trade in general, received appa rently great assistance from this institution. A commercial treaty with Great Britain, relating to reciprocal duties, had been agreed upon in 1815. When the purchase of Louisiana was made by the United States, the territory of West Florida was considered as being included within its limits ; but possession was not taken of it till 1811. Both Spain and France made remonstrances, and the American troops were withdrawn, but without abandoning the claim. Subsequently a portion of the country was reoccupied by the Americans. A negotiation with Spain took place in 1816. The American cabinet admitted the Spanish title to most of the territory, but reminded the Spanish minister of the spoliations committed by his countrymen upon Arnerican property, the pay ment for which had been delayed, and proposed that Florida should be exchanged with the United States for a tract of country bordering on Mexico, and therefore more valuable to Spain. The Spanish minister, however, although vested with full powers to conclude a treaty, threw obstacles in the way, for the evident pur pose of gaining time and evading the demands of the American government. The negotiations on the subject were protracted through two years, when they received a new interest in conse quence of the invasion of that territory by General Jackson. That officer had been sent, in 1818, with a considerable force, on a campaign against the Seminole Indians, who fled before his army into Florida. Jackson, in the belief that the savages were instigated and protected by the Spaniards, thought it necessary, for the security of the frontier, to pursue the enemy into the Spanish territory. He accordingly took possession of St. Marks and Pensacola, in 1818, although he had received no express authority from the president to commit such an act. In the course of his hostilities against the Seminoles, Jackson made prisoners of two Englishmen, named Arbuthnot and Ambrister, whom he hanged as outlaws, on the charge of instigating the PROSPERITY OF THE COLONY. 747 savages to murder, and furnishing them with aims and ammuni tion. A violent outcry was raised against this act in England, and the excitement in that country went so far as to threaten a renewal of hostilities. There were many persons in the United States who thought Jackson's conduct altogether unjustifiable. A correspondence ensued hetween the British and American gov ernments, and the latter disavowed the conduct of their general, but held him excused by the extraordinary circumstances of the case. Jackson's great popularity saved him from a reprimand by the American government ; and the British, finding them not dis posed to make any reparation beyond a disavowal of the act, desisted from urging the matter any further. In 1818, the disputes with Spain were settled by a treaty ceding the whole territory of Florida to the United States as an indemnity for the claims of American merchants against that power. Five millions of dollars were paid by the American gov ernment to the claimants ; which sum may be considered the pur chase money of Florida. James Monroe became president of the United States in 1817, and in the summer of that year made a public tour through the country. Party distinctions were now rapidly subsiding, and a remarkable quiet pervaded the union during the administration of Mr. Monroe, who proved the most popular president since Wash ington. During his tour, the attention of the president was drawn to the surviving soldiers of the revolution, who assembled at every place upon his route to greet him. In a message to con gress afterward, he recommended granting pensions to these per sons, and an act was accordingly passed, extending this relief to all the surviving officers and soldiers who had served nine months in the revolutionary army. Upwards of thirteen thousand sol diers became pensioners of the United States by this act. The country was now rapidly advancing in wealth, commerce, manufactures, revenue and population. New states were admitted into the union. The thirteen original states had, in 1820, in creased to twenty-four. Vermont was separated from New York in 1791 ; Tennessee from North Carolina in 1796 ; Kentucky from Virginia in 1799. Ohio was erected into a state in 1802 ; Louis iana, in 1812 Illinois, in 1818 ; Alabama, in 1819 ; Missouri, in 1820, and Maine was separated from Massachusetts in the same year. The immense tract of territory in the west had been ex plored as early as 1803, when Captains Lewis and Clarke were . despatched by the government, with an armed party, on an expe dition of discovery. They ascended the Missouri to its head waters, crossed the Rocky Mountains, and following the coast of 748 THE UNITED STATES. the river Oregon, descended to the Pacific Ocean. They returned across the continent, after an absence of three years, having visited all the various tribes of Indians on the route. The expedition was highly successful. The country was in general discovered to be fertile and well watered, and susceptible of a high degree of cul tivation. Amicable relations were established with the natives ; and many discoveries made in natural history. This long and hazardous expedition was accomplished without any disaster, and may be considered one of the most interesting ever performed. The character and value of the great western territory remained unknown till 1814, when the narrative of the expedition was first published. A treaty was concluded with Great Britain, in October, 1818, respecting the fisheries of Newfoundland and Labrador, the north western boundary, and the Oregon territory. By this convention it was stipulated that the territory west of the Rocky Mountains should be open to the subjects of both powers for ten years, with out prejudicing claims of either to the sovereignty of the territory. The treaty also prolonged for ten years the convention of 1815, and made provision for the restoration of slaves captured during the war. In the meantime the Spanish colonies of South America had revolted, and there was every reason to believe that the domin ion of the mother country in that quarter- would never be restored. Commissioners had been sent to the several South American states, by the American government, as early as 1816, to examine the condition of the country with a view to the inquiry as to the stability of the new government. The commissioners published their report in 1818 ; and President Monroe, in 1819, laid the sub ject before congress. A neutral position was recommended, but the president stated formally that the United States could not be indiffereni to any attempts to subjugate the new republics by the monarchical powers of Europe, with a view to support the prin ciples of legitimacy prevailing on the old continent. The subject of internal improvement was now taken up by con gress, and in 1820, an act was passed for extending the great Cumberland road from Wheeling on the Ohio, westward beyond the Mississippi. The admission of Missouri into the union, this year, was attended with violent debates in congress and much excitement throughout the country, on account of the question of slavery, which many wished to exclude from the- new state. Mis souri, however, was admitted without any restriction on slavery; but the act was amended by a clause prohibiting the existence of slavery in future in any territory north of the latitude of thirty- COMMERCIAL TREATIES. 749 six degrees and a half, not included within the state of Missouri. Mr. Monroe was this year reflected president ; so satisfactory had his administration been to the people, that he received all the elec toral votes except one. Arrangements were made, in 1821, for occupying and govern ing Florida. The president appointed General Jackson governor, with a liberal discretionary authority. Much difficulty attended the occupation of the country, in consequence of the Spanish officer refusing to give up the archives and documents relating to the country. This caused great confusion and embarrass ment respecting the titles of lands, and the usages and cus toms of the inhabitants, which the treaty of cession obliged the United States to maintain. Jackson having arrested a Spanish officer, one of the judges appointed by the American government granted him a writ of habeas corpus, which drew on an acrimoni ous controversy between the governor and the judge. Jackson soon after resigned his office as governor of Florida. The census of 1820 showed the population of the United States to amount to 9,638,166, being an increase of 2,398,263 in ten years. The representation in congress was fixed at one member for 40,000 inhabitants. In conformity to a recommendation of the president, the independence of the Spanish American repub lics was acknowledged by congress in January, 1822, and envoys to most of these were shortly after appointed. In his message to congress, in December, the president alluded to the struggle for independence which had lately commenced in Greece ; a hope was expressed that the Greeks would succeed in their endeavors, but no interference on the part of the United States was recom mended. During this year the commerce of the country suffered much from the depredations of pirates in the West India seas, who committed their outrages in so systematic and audacious a manner, that a squadron of twelve vessels was despatched by the United States government against them. By their exertions the pirates were soon all captured or dispersed. A convention of navigation and commerce with France was concluded in 1822, placing the system of trade and duties on a basis of reciprocity. In 1824 the tariff was remodified, and the duties on several arti cles raised, to encourage domestic manufactures. Commercial treaties were concluded this year with Russia, Prussia, Sweden, the Netherlands and the Hanse Towns. A separate treaty with Russia also settled the boundaries of the Russian and American territory in the northwest. The boundary line was fixed at fifty- four degrees forty minutes north latitude ; all unoccupied places 64* s4 750 THE UNITED STATES. to be free for ten years to the subjects of either power for the purposes of fishing, or trading with the natives. At the election for president in the autumn of 1824, General Jackson, Mr. Adams, Mr. Clay, and Mr. Crawford were candi dates ; neither of whom received a majority of the electoral votes. John Qarincy Adams was chosen president by the house of repre sentatives. At the conclusion of Mr. Monroe's administration, the quiet of the country began again to be disturbed by the dis sensions of party. The United States were now in an unexam pled state of prosperity, which bid fair to be permanent. The rival interests, which had infused such bitterness into the quarrels of preceding factions, had subsided, and the old animosities were entirely healed. The country was, well governed, the public offi cers were honest, able and patriotic. The Americans universally believed their form of government the wisest, and their popula tion the freest and happiest in the world. Materials for faction or discontent appeared nowhere to exist; yet it is precisely at this moment that we are called upon to record the revival of those un happy party dissensions and rivalries which have continued with unabated rancor to the present day. Troubles soon arose with the state of Georgia, respecting the Indian lands in that quarter. A treaty had been made with the Creeks, at Indian Springs, in February, 1825, which was imme diately ratified by the federal government, in the belief that it had been negotiated in good faith ; but it subsequently appeared that a portion of the tribe had not been consulted, and that a majority of the Indians did not consent to the treaty. A delegation of the tribe proceeded to Washington, requesting that the treaty might be annulled, and complaining of the fraud and oppression prac tised toward them by the Georgians. By a contract with the fed eral government in 1802, Georgia ceded a portion of the Indian land to the United States, the government, on the other hand, guaranteeing the remainder to Georgia, and stipulating to extin guish the claim of the natives, and remove them from the state, " as soon as it could be done peaceably and on reasonable terms." Georgia was now impatient for the fulfilment of this part of the contract; and the federal government, wishing to observe good faith toward that state, and at the same time to behave with lenity and kindness toward the Indians, found itself beset with embarrassments. The governor of Georgia insisted on the imme diate removal of the Indians, and even threatened to take posses sion of their lands by force. Some apprehensions were felt that this would lead to a collision between the federal and state gov ernments. A new treaty, however, was concluded at Washing- VISIT OF GEN. LA FAYETTE. 751 ton with the Creeks, in March, 1826, by which the United States granted them an indemnity of a large sum of money, and guar anteed them the possession of the lands not expressly ceded by them. This adjusted the difficulties for some time, but they were renewed the following year. The Spanish American republics had proposed a general con- giess of the American powers, to be held this year at Panama, to consult on some combined measures for the general welfare. They had requested that the United States might be represented at this congress. President Adams announced that he contem plated sending ministers to Panama, agreeably to this request. Much debate arose in the congress of the United States upon this declaration. The power of the president to make such appoint ments on his own responsibility, was called in question, and the proceeding, in any shape, was thought by some, to hazard the peace of the country. A committee of the senate reported against the measure, yet it was finally approved in congress, and two envoys were appointed. But the whole design miscarried. The year 1824 was distinguished by the visit of La Fayette to the United States. He had spent the brightest days of his youth in combating, by the side of Washington, for American Landing of General La Fayette at New York. independence, devoting his military talent and his fortune to the cause of liberty. After the establishment of independence, he returned to his native country, where he bore a leading part in the transactions of the French revolution while the acts of the 792 THE UNITED STATES. liberal party were guided by moderation and justice. Their ex cesses soon drove him from the stage, and he had been many years withdrawn from public notice. In his declining age he was inspired with a wish to re- visit the scenes of his youthful exploits, and contemplate the progress of a nation whom he had assisted to make free, prosperous and powerful. He crossed the Atlantic and arrived at New York in August, 1824. He made the tour of the United States, and was everywhere received as the " guest of the nation," with expressions of gratitude, respect, and honor, that made his progress a triumphal march. On the 17th of June, 1825, he laid the foundation of the monument on Bunker Hill, in the presence of two hundred thousand spectators. He returned to France in September of the same^year. . The state of Georgia, in 1827, again threatened a collision with the federal government on the subject of the Creek Indians, who had not yet removed from their lands. The government of that state ordered the lands to be surveyed, and committed acts of encroachment against the Indians, who, unable to defend them selves, applied to the United States government for protection. The president despatched troops for this purpose. The governor of Georgia called out the militia to oppose them, and wrote an insolent letter to the cabinet of Washington, threatening them with a war. President Adams replied with great firmness to the governor, that he should protect the- Indians, in conformity to the laws of the country and the treaty last concluded with them, and that he should employ force, if necessary, to put down any attempt made by the government of Georgia in obstruction of this design. This subject was laid before congress in a mes sage, and caused much alarm. But a large majority of that body approved the proceedings of the executive ; and the firmness and prudence of the president again succeeded in quieting the troubles without military interference. The commercial convention with Great Britain was this year prolonged by an agreement between the two governments. But in July the British government excluded American vessels from their colonies. The subject of the northern boundary of the United States began now to attract a high degree of attention. This boundary, according to the terms of the treaty of peace in 1783, and that of Ghent, in 1814, had never been precisely set tled ; and many examinations, discussions and control ersies had taken place from time to time. A tract of debatable territory between Maine and New Brunswick had been withheld from the jurisdiction of either party while the negotiations were going on, Daniel Morgan. John C. Calhoun. Lewie Cass. Daniel Webster. THE PUBLIC LANDS. 753 But at this period, a collision between the inhabitants of these two districts began to be apprehended. Andrew Jackson was, by a large majority, elected president of the United States, in the autumn of 1828. The administration of Mr. Adams had been eminently prosperous for the country, Never was the government of the United States more ably admin istered ; never was the nation more respectable abroad, or more thriving at home. Yet, from various causes, president Adams was not popular. As a New England man, he was regarded with illiberal jealousy by the people of the south ; from his broad and comprehensive views as a politician, he incurred the hostility of the advocates of the anomalous doctrine of "state rights," which now began to be asserted to a mischievous extent. His attach ment to the system of protecting duties, gained him the opposi tion of the "anti-tariff" party. He had, moreover, a most pow erful rival to contend against; for no man surpassed General Jackson in popularity with the people of the United States. The beginning of the new administration was marked by a most sweeping change in the public affairs. Numerous incum bents of places in the appointment of the executive were imme diately dismissed, and their posts supplied by avowed supporters of the new government; but this only added to the popu larity of the president, and his party went on increasing in strength. In his first message to congress, he showed himself less favorable to the American manufacturing system than his predecessor, but his language on this topic was too cautious to give serious offence to either party. The United States bank, the great object of his subsequent hostilities, was mentioned in terms of commendation. On the subject of state rights, and the juris diction over the Indians, he differed from president Adams, and leaned strongly toward the southern policy. A treaty with the Emperor of Brazil, negotiated under the pre ceding administration, was ratified in March, 1829. The session of congress in 1830 is less distinguished for the active business transacted, than for the interest and eloquence of the debates. The subject of the public lands came before the senate, on a reso lution offered by a member to abolish the office of land-commLs* sioner, and suspend the sales for some years, till the land should acquire a greater value. The public lands were, and are still, of immense extent, and constitute a source of incalculable wealth to the country. The subject was therefore of the highest interest; but the orators of the senate digressed to topics altogether de tached from the main point. Mr. Hayne, of South Carolina, took occasion to charge the New England people with enviously op 754 THE UNITED STATES. posing the settlement and prosperity of the western states. From this matter he launched into the subject of state rights, which doctrine he defended to what was deemed a disorganizing extent. The real question before the senate was quite overlooked, and the speaker pointed his rhetoric with severe sarcasms and invectives against the inhabitants of the eastern states. This attack called forth immediately a most indignant and elo quent reply from Mr. Webster, the senator of Massachusetts. With a force of language, and a power of argumentation, only the more admirable for being unpremeditated, he defended the New England people and the constitution of the United States in a manner that carried overpowering conviction to all his hearers. Never has this great orator, either before or since, exhibited the brilliancy of his eloquence, and the elearness and force of his ar gumentation, more than in this incidental debate. The character of New England stood vindicated from the illiberal aspersions of her accusers, and the sophistries of the doctrine of " state rights" seemed to be dissipated to the winds by the champion of the fed eral constitution. This great, oratorical display, however, led to no legislative en actment, and the subject of the public lands continued long before congress. A bill for retrenchment in the public expenditures came up frequently for discussion ; but although a great outcry had been raised against the extravagance of Mr. Adams's admin istration, it was found, on examination, that all possible economy had been practised. No retrenchments, therefore, were made. In 1830 a commercial convention was renewed with Great Brit ain, but the colonial ports were not opened. A treaty was made with Denmark, by which six hundred and fifty thousand dollars were paid by that power as an indemnity for spoliations upon American commerce. In 1831 the government of France having become more favorable toward the United States, in consequence of the revolution which had seated Louis Philippe on the throne, a treaty was concluded with that power for the payment of twenty- five millions of francs, for similar depredations committed under the government of the Directory and Napoleon. The same year also witnessed a treaty between the United States and Mexico. The census of 1830 showed a population of 12,858,670. The ratio of representatives in congress was fixed at 47,700. The dispute with Great Britain concerning the northeastern boundary was referred to the king of the Netherlands ; the two parties agreeing to abide by his decision, as to the meaning of the treaty of 1783. That monarch, however, professed himself un able to explain the treaty, and suggested a compromise by divid- HOSTILITIES WITH THE INDIANS. 755 ing the contested territory. The government of the United States did not accept the compromise, as the king had not been appoint ed umpire, but expounder of the treaty. It was, moreover, not in their power to cede the land to Great Britain by their own au thority, unless upon a decision, that, by the terms of the treaty, it did not form a part of the State of Maine. The dispute, there fore, remained as far from adjustment as ever. In 1832, the Indians of the states of Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi, were removed to lands provided for them west of the Mississippi, beyond the settlements of the whites, and measures were taken to promote their security, tranquillity and gradual civilization. The hostility of President Jackson against the bank of the United States, which had been gradually developing itself, now took a more emphatic tone. The charter of that institution would expire in 1836, and the renewal of it was anxiously expect ed by its friends; but the president, in his message to congress, in 1831, took a decided stand against it. Notwithstanding this, the bank was considered, generally, by the mercantile class, as well as by the ablest statesmen and financiers of the country, to be essen tially necessary for the stability of the commercial and monetary system of the country. Congress, although the majority consisted of the political partisans of the president, passed an act renewing the charter, in the summer of 1832. The act, however, was defeated by the president, who interposed his veto. From this moment it became evident that the bank had little chance of being continued as a national institution, and preparations were made by the direc tors to close its concerns. For some years the northwestern frontier had been disturbed by the hostilities of the Indians. A great influx of settlers, traders and adventurers, into the territory of the Upper Mississippi, had been caused by the discovery of the lead mines of Galena. Sev eral murders were committed by the Indians, and an expedition of United States troops was sent against the Winnebagoes, in 1828. Many of the hostile Indians were captured. One of these, a celebrated chieftain, named Red Bird, died in prison. Black Hawk, a friend of Red Bird, undertook to avenge him. Hostili ties were renewed, and for several years the savages of the whole frontier harassed the settlers with their incursions. In May, 1832, a detachment of about three hundred troops was attacked at Sycamore Creek, by an army of nearly two thousand savages, and defeated. In July, Black Hawk, with a body of above one thousand warriors, took post at a point between Rock river and, Wisconsin ; but receiving intelligence that General Atkinson, with a strong force, was advancing upon him, he retreated into the 65 T4 756 THE UNITED STATES. wilderness. Atkinson pursued the Indians, and, on the 2d of August, came up with them near Bad-ax river, on the Mississippi. A battle took place, which lasted three hours ; the savages fought with desperation, and gave way only when they were charged at the point of the bayonet. Many were driven into the Mississippi, and more than one hundred and fifty were killed. Black Hawk made his escape, but was soon after given up to the Americans by two of his own countrymen. ' The savages were completely humbled by this defeat, and a general pacification was the conse quence. Black Hawk was well treated, and travelled over a great part of the United States, after which he was permitted to return to his own tribe. In September, 1832, a treaty was made with the Winnebagoes, by which they ceded to the United* States all their lands east of the Mississippi and south of the Wisconsin, amounting to four million six hundred thousand acres of valuable territory. By another treaty with the Sacs and Foxes, an acquisition was made of six millions of acres of land abounding in metallic ores, princi pally lead. For these territories, the United States agreed to pay the Indians twenty thousand dollars per annum for thirty years : to discharge all the debts of the tribes ; to furnish them with provisions, and to support blacksmiths and gunsmiths for their accommodation. Victory over Slack Hawk. CHAPTER LXXI1. Dissensions respecting the tariff. Hostility of the southern states towards the manufacturing system. State of feeling in South Carolina. Doctrines of nul* hfication. Convention of Columbia, S. C. The revenue laws nullified. Proclamation of the president against the nullifiers. Public sentiment. Cim- gress declares against the South Carolinians. The Compromise Act of 1833. Jackson's tour. Removal of the public deposits. Conduct of the senate. Finan cial embarrassments of the country. Petitions to the president. The hard money system. Disputes with the French government. Jackson's hostile mes sage to congress. Mediation of the king of Great Britain. Effects of the discontinuance of the United States Bank. Multiplication of small banks. Increase of paper money. Mania of speculation. Increase of the revenue. The national debt discharged. Flattering prospects of the country. End of Jack son's administration. False system of trade and finance. Mr. Van Buren chosen president. His policy. The pet bank system. Division of the surplus revenue among the states. Mercantile disasters of 1837. Stoppage of the banks. Distress of the country. Mr. Van Buren's doctrine of non-interfe rence. Deficit in the treasury. The distribution suspended. Issue of treasury notes. Increase of paper money. The sub-treasury system. Increase of public expenditures. The Florida war. General Harrison elected president. His death. Administration of John Tyler. Extra session of Congress. Retirement of Mr. Clay. Return of exploring expedition. Settlement of north-eastern bounda ry. Modification of the tariff. Doings of 3d session of 27th Congress. Celebra tion of Bunker Hill monument. Remission of fine to Gen. Jackson. Treaty with Texas rejected. Treaty with China ratified. Texas annexed by joint resolution.* Election of Mr. Polk. Two rival interests had been for some years maintaining a struggle in the United States, that of the cotton planters in the south, and that of the manufacturers in the middle and eastern states. The duties on imports, established by the tariff of 1828, operated as an encouragement to domestic manufactures; for which reason it was disrelished at the south, where the people imagined their interests had been sacrificed. The manufactures of New England had indeed given a great stimulus to the indus try and enterprise of that part of the union, and the rapidly increasing wealth and power of the eastern states could not be viewed with perfect complacency by their neighbors. There can be no dispute that the prosperity of the New England people is owing more to their native industry and ingenuity, than to the artificial helps of a tariff; yet the belief had taken deep root at the south, and particularly in the state of South Carolina, that nothing but the system of protecting duties enabled the north to prosper more rapidly than the south. Complaints on this subject were uttered at an early period, and soon became a standing topic with the public speakers and writers in the southern states. The 758 THE UNITED STATES. system of duties was denounced as unequal in its application ; and as the t opponents of the tariff heated themselves in their declama tions, they assumed a bolder and more sweeping tone of denun ciation. The import duties were pronounced unconstitutional, and it was declared that any state possessed the power to annul the laws ol the United States, by which such duties were imposed. Hence arose the doctrine of " nullification." The revenue law, passed in 1832, made a partial reduction of the duties, but the politicians of the south, who had by this time persuaded themselves into a belief that nearly the whole system of duties was to be swept off, in accordance with the principles of their new doctrine, were not in the least quieted by this change. Their opposition waxed stronger on perceiving that the people of the United States were not prepared to' admit so radical and sweeping a change in their affairs. The excitement and ani mosity in South Carolina rose to a great height ; the doctrine was publicly avowed, and at length formally announced by the legis lature of that state, in July, 1832, that the execution of the rev enue laws within the state was to be prevented by force, if necessary. Nothing equal in bold audacity to this act was ever before exhibited in the United States. All impartial and considerate men felt alarm for the tranquillity of the country, as it was evi dent that if such doctrines were to go into practice, the union of the states was at once destroyed, and the federal authority would be set at naught by any state, according to its temporary interest or caprice. The principles of nullification received countenance from some other states at the south, although not in so emphatic and undisguised a manner as in South Carolina. A convention of the people of that state assembled at Columbia on the 19th ol November, 1832, and on the 24th, passed resolutions, declaring unconstitutional, and formally nullifying, the revenue laws of 1828 and 1832. They also published an address to the people of the state, inviting them to assist in obstructing the execution of those laws. Such a proceeding as this was not to be passed without notice from the federal government. Accordingly, on the 10th of December, President Jackson issued a proclamation, warning all people to abstain from any attempts to resist the laws or authority of the United States, and announcing his deter mination to put down by force, if necessary, all attempts of that nature. The proclamation stated distinctly the causes for which it was issued, and gave a brief but lucid exposition of the consti tutional principles on which the president was bound to sustain the authority of the federal government. Edward Livingston, 759 known as one of the soundest jurists of the age, was at that time secretary of state, and this able document was understood to pro ceed from his pen. The effect of the proclamation was instanta neous and powerful ; the public voice in almost all portions of the country approved the stand which the president had taken ; his strongest political opponents were among the first to come forward and applaud his decision and firmness in support of the consti tution. The legislatures of most of the states published resolu tions condemning the conduct of South Carolina, and sustaining the views of the president. Shortly after the meeting of congress, this subject was brought before them, and an act was passed giving the president full power to enforce the revenue laws in every part of the United States. This proceeding was also viewed with high satisfaction by the people generally, and called forth their prompt applause. The nullifiers, although their scheme of forcibly resisting revenue laws was at once defeated by this firm action of the general government, yet were not quieted, and after much discussion in congress, it was thought advisable to modify the tariff still further, so as to make it less odious to the south. Accordingly, in March, 1833, the act commonly termed the "compromise act," was intro duced, which provided for the gradual reduction of the duties on imports, to take effect in parts, in January, 1834, 1836, 1838 and 1840, diminishing the duties at each of those periods. This act encountered some opposition, principally from the members of the eastern and middle states, being considered by them as an unwarrantable abandonment of the settled policy of the country, and much more injurious to the manufacturers of the north than a high tariff could be to the cotton planters of the south. The compromise act, however, was passed. Its opponents were not inclined to go the length of the South Carolinians, by nullifying it, and the revenue laws went peaceably into effect. President Jackson, in the summer of 1833, made a public tour throughout the country, in the course of which he was received and entertained with every demonstration of respect. His popularity was now at its height. He had been reflected to his office, and whatever opposition he had encountered seemed only to strengthen his party. His opposition tc the United States' Bank, from this period, became more decided and effective. He had expressed doubts to congress, as to the safety of the institution, and recommended the removal of the public funds to some other place of deposit. A committee of congress examined the institution, and reported it to be sound, and its affairs well managed. The president. 65* 760 THE UNITED STATES. however, by his own authority, caused the deposits to be removed to banks of his selection, in September, 1833. Great excitement followed, and a general shock was felt throughout the commercial affairs of the country. For a time, large portions of the people, and even many of the president's political friends, questioned the wisdom and propriety of his conduct, in these measures, but he was sustained by his party, and, the elections seemed to show, by a large majority of the people. The measures against the bank were continued, and the denunciations against banks in general became so common, that the idea of an exclusively metallic cur rency became a favorite one, and was advocated by certain lead ing friends of the administration. For many years a dispute had existed between the United States and Great Britain, on the subject of the north-eastern boundary. The line of separation between Maine and the British provinces had been described by the treaty of 1783, in terms not exactly conformable to the geographical features of the territory. This circumstance, which was owing to the imperfect state of the maps of that period, led the way to a long and perplexing controversy between the two governments. The treaty of Ghent, in 1815, left this point unsettled, and the dispute was now renewed with more zeal and earnestness, on both sides, than ever. The disputed territory was gradually filling up with settlers, both British and American, and the contested jurisdiction of the debatable land threatened to involve the inhabitants in serious trouble. There appears to be no reasonable doubt of the full justice of the American claim to the whole territory. Yet, as the obscure language of the treaty afforded the British some plausible ground for their pretensions, the American government consented to submit the dispute to the decision of the king of the Nether lands. That monarch, after diligent investigation, confessed himself unable to explain the words of the treaty, and advised a compromise by dividing the disputed territory. This was not acceded to by the American government, on the principle that the royal arbitrator was not authorized to pronounce a compromise, but to award the whole territory to one or the other of the con tending parties. Subsequent disclosures show that the British government acted with no great degree of candor and fairness in advancing their claim, they having all the while, in their private possession, sev eral maps of the country, executed in London at the period of the treaty of 1783, in which their own authorities had laid down the boundary precisely according to the American claim. The territory, however, at the northern extremity of Maine possessed George Washington. James Madison. James Monroe. John Quincy Adanu. DISPUTE WITH THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT. 761 an important value to the British, as it interposed between Nova Scotia and Canada in such a manner as to cut off all direct com munication between the former province and Quebec ; and they had long been sensible of the value of a short military road between the capitals of the two provinces. They continued, therefore, to urge their claim with unabated zeal. In the meantime the United States had become somewhat involved in difficulty with the French government, who had stipulated by treaty to pay twenty-five millions of francs, in annual instalments, the first payment to be made in January, 1833. The French government, by some oversight, neglected to make provision for this payment in season, and the bills drawn upon their exchequer by the United States, were dishonored. The president stated this fact to congress, and used language not very complimentary to the French. Another year passed without payment, and, early in 1834, he addressed congress in a special message on this subject, condemning, in strong terms, the unjusti fiable behavior of the French, and affirming it to be a sufficient cause for war. He did not, indeed, recommend in express words a resort to arms but, from his well-known resolute and inflexible temper, and the sensitiveness of the French nation, serious antic ipations were indulged, both in America and Europe, that hos tilities would be the consequence. Great anger, indeed, was manifested by the French, when the decided language of the American president became known. His suggestion of reprisals upon French commerce was resented as an insult. A strong hos tile feeling against the United States began to exhibit itself ; and a determination was apparent in the government to delay the pay ment till the president had apologized. In this threatening state of affairs, the king of Great Britain interposed his mediation, and the difficulty was adjusted. The president disavowed any inten tion of treating the French with disrespect, and the French gov ernment made immediate arrangements for complying with the terms of the treaty. About the same time, a treaty was made with the king of Naples, for the payment of similar indemnities to the United States. A treaty of commerce was also concluded with the Sublime Porte. The president continued his opposition to the Bank of the United States, and, as it closed its concerns, the effects of the change developed themselves more and more. The project of totally abolishing banks, and introducing a hard money system, proved abortive. An immense number of smaller institutions started suddenly into existence, and the country was flooded with paper money, founded upon an insufficient and insecure capital, u4 THE UNITED STATES The easy acquisition of loans from these banks tempted the rash ness and cupidity of every mercantile adventurer, and a reckless system of trade and speculation soon prevailed, which led to the most overwhelming disasters. Imports to an enormous amount were made from foreign countries, and the first effect of this over-excitement in business was a prodigious increase of the revenue of the United States ; in consequence of which the wholo national debt was paid off before the end of 1835. The revenue now became more than sufficient for the yearly expenditures, and schemes were devised for disposing of the surplus. The condition of the United States was now considered to be one of unrivalled prosperity. Within thirty years they had discharged a national debt of more than one hundred and twenty millions, besides making vast appropriations for public works ; the increas ing revenue promised them a large unexpended balance every year; population and trade had multiplied in every quarter of the Union, and everything wore the most flattering appearance. General Jackson retired from office in March, 1837, with the memorable words, " I leave this great nation prosperous and happy." Prosperous and happy the people of the United States indeed might have been, beyond all other men, had their prudence been equal to their enterprise. Unfortunately, the brilliant phantom of prosperity which now dazzled their vision, was the fruit of hasty innovation. The enormous increase of banking institu tions seemed to open at once an inexhaustible flood of riches. Without solid capital, without responsibility or prudent manage ment, they became engines of incalculable mischief in the hands of schemers and adventurers. Real estate rose excessively in value ; the mania of land speculation infected the whole country ; tracts of wilderness, not worth the cost of surveying, sold for millions of dollars to purchasers who looked for millions more of profit. Agriculture and all slow and safe modes of acquiring wealth, were disregarded; the madness of the gaming-table seemed to inspire the market, the shop, and the exchange ; and a second " South Sea bubble" was inflated to the full extent. In this critical and overwrought state of public feeling, Martin Van Buren became president of the United States, in 1837. He was understood to profess the same political principles with his predecessor, and owed his election to the circumstance of being the most prominent individual of the party which had supported President Jackson. His administration may be considered but as carrying out the views of that which preceded it. Yet it was already evident that the steps taken, instead of diminishing paper FINANCIAL EMBARRASSMENTS. 763 currency, had thus far increased it. The public deposits, removed from the national bank, were lodged in different institutions throughout the large commercial cities, which, on that account, received the popular name of "pet banks." The free use of enormous funds led immediately to swelling profits in these banks, and as speedily to rash proceedings in the persons who controlled them. At the end of the year 1836, a sum of forty-seven million, seven hundred thousand dollars, surplus revenue, remained in the treas ury of the United States. So flattering and deceitful had been the prospects of the country, that no one imagined the revenue was about to suffer any considerable diminution. An act of con gress was therefore passed, distributing forty-one millions among the several states, according to their population. It is probable that the distribution of this large sum hastened the mercantile catastrophe of 1837. In sober truth, the millions of the surplus revenue never existed : paper to that amount existed in the pet banks, but when attempts were made to realize it in solid cash, it vanished from the grasp. The inflated and overstrained system of trade experienced a violent collapse. Early in 1837, a sudden embarrassment was felt in mercantile transactions connected with the banks ; great numbers of these institutions were found to be in the most insecure and hazardous situations; an instant convic tion followed, that the whole exaggerated system of trade preva lent for the last three years, had rested on a false and deceitful foundation. A panic now seized all the trading classes; the banks throughout the country suspended the payment of specie ; commerce, trade, and manufactures received a violent shock, and all the bubbles of speculation and mercantile adventure burst in an instant. Thousands of men, who supposed themselves to be in the possession of enormous wealth, were in a moment reduced to bankruptcy. Such an overwhelming disaster seemed to call for the inter ference and aid of the government. Accordingly, numerous petitions, from all parts of the Union, requested the president to convene congress at an earlier day than usual. That officer, at length, yielding to importunities, issued a proclamation, calling upon congress to meet in September. Meantime the treasury of the United States began to feel the embarrassments of the times. Vast sums of money had been lost in the pet banks, and it was found necessary to suspend the distribution of the surplus reve nue in October, 1837, after three fourths of the money had been transferred to the states. So great had been the revulsion that 764 THE UNITED STATES. even this measure did not save the treasury from a deficit, and it was found necessary to raise ten millions by loan or otherwise, to supply an exchequer, which, a year previous,. seemed filled with inexhaustible funds. Congress, therefore, authorized the issuing of ten millions of dollars, in treasury notes, with additional power to the secretary to raise loans if necessary. The treasury notes were made negotiable, and thus answered the purposes of paper money. Ten millions more were issued in 1838, and the same sum in 1839. One of the favorite projects of Mr. Van Buren was the Sub- Treasury system, by which the national funds were placed under the control of agents, in different cities, appointed by the govern ment. This plan was approved by congress, but the system con tinued in operation only about a year; the repeal of the sub- treasury being one of the earliest acts of the first congress which convened under Mr. Van Buren' s successor. The necessities of the treasury had continued to increase, on account of the falling on* in the revenue, the augmentation in the number of public agents, and the breaking out of a new Indian war in Florida. These hostilities had their origin in 1835, from the fugitive Creeks and Cherokees who were compelled to remove from their lands in Georgia and Alabama. They withdrew to Florida, with feelings of hostility to the whites, and commenced a series of murders and outrages, against the settlers and military establish ments in that country, which continued for several years. The militia of the neighboring states were found insufficient to sup press them, and the federal government sent large bodies of troops into the country. The numerous disasters and petty ren counters that have occurred during six successive years, would only fatigue the reader in a detailed narration. One of the most painful events of the struggle took place in December, 1835, when two companies of United States troops, consisting of one hundred and ten persons, were attacked near Tampa Bay, by an over whelming force of Seminoles, and all slain but three, who, though wounded, escaped. Fifty-three days after, the bodies of the slain were found, untouched, upon the field. The officers, of which there were eight, were distinguished, and all were duly interred. Many millions of dollars have been expended, and many valu able lives lost, in these several campaigns, till, at the present time, 1843, the Florida war appears to be ended. Mr. Van Buren retired from office at the end of a single term, and William Henry Harrison became president in March, 1841. General Harrison had lived in retirement ever since the close of SETTLEMENT OF THE NORTHEASTERN BOUNDARY. 765 the war in 1815, excepting that, for a brief period, he had been ambassador to one of the South American states, and had held some local office in Ohio. On being inducted into the presidency, he found himself transported immediately from the peaceful repose of his farm to the cares, embarrassments, and anxieties of public business. So sudden a transition produced a fatal effect upon a frame advanced in years and declining in health. Labor, excite ment and exposure brought on an inflammatory disorder, and he died at Washington, after an administration of a month, on the 4th of April, 1841. Indian massacres in Florida. On the demise of General Harrison, John Tyler, at that time vice- president, assumed the government, agreeably to the Constitution, and soon after issued an official address to the people of the United States, explanatory of his political principles. These were, in gen eral, in accordance with those of his predecessor, and of the party which had elevated him to the second office in the nation. On the 31st of May, an extra session of Congress, which had been convened by General Harrison, commenced its session. Several measures of importance were adopted ; among which was a bill to. establish a uniform system of bankruptcy, throughout the United States ; also a bill for the distribution, among the states, of the net proceeds of the public lands. The sub-treasury law, adopted towards the close of Mr. Van Buren's administration, was repealed. The great measure, however, of this extra session, was the establishment of a United States Bank. This the whig party had. long desired, and a favorable opportunity, it was apprehended, had arrived, for the 66 766 THE UNITED STATES. establishment of such an institution. To the surprise and regret of the friends of this great measure, President Tyler vetoed the bill, nor could he be induced to sanction another bill, creating a "Fiscal Corporation for the United States," which was introduced, and which was supposed to have his entire approbation. The immediate conse quence of these repeated vetoes was the dissolution of his cabinet the seveial secretaries retiring, with the exception of Mr. Webster, the then secretary of state. From this time all harmony between the president and his former political friends was suspended. No measures of national importance were adopted during the second session of the 27th Congress, excepting an act apportioning the Representatives among the several States, according to the sixth census. The ratio adopted was 70.6BO. Before the close of the session, Mr. Clay, after a continuous service of nearly thirty-six years in the public councils, retired from the Senate, carrying with him the profound respect of all parties, and especially of those of similar political principles. During the summer of 1842, the exploring expedition, which the government of the United States had equipped and sent out at the national expense, returned, having been absent nearly four years, during which it had sailed nearly ninety thousand miles. The ex pedition was successful, and the discoveries, surveys, scientific observations, sketches of natural scenery, portraits, specimens in ornithology, &c., made and collected, were highly honorable to the enterprise. During the same summer, the long agitated and embarrassed ques tion respecting the north-eastern boundary, was finally settled by a treaty arranged at Washington, between Lord Ashburton and Mr. Webster. For half a century, this question had been pending be tween the two countries England and America ; and serious ap prehensions were, on several occasions, entertained of hostilities between the two countries on account of it. Fortunately for the peace of the two nations, Mr. Webster had continued in the cabinet ; and fortunate was it that a gentleman of great urbanity and equal judgment was selected by England to conduct the negotiations in her behalf. On the 10th of November, the President issued his proclamation announcing the ratification of the treaty. Before the adjournment of the second session of the twenty-sev enth Congress, (August 31st,) a bill, modifying in some important particulars the existing tariff, passed both houses of Congress, and received the signature of the President. The first bill introduced was vetoed by the Executive ; and, for a time, the friends of the BUNKER HILL MONUMENT.. 767 measure had little prospect of effecting their object. But the impe rious necessity of the measure, the wants of the national treasury, and the embarrassed condition of various branches of industry, induced Congress to yield to the prejudices of the president. Ac cordingly, such alterations were made in the bill vetoed, as com ported with Mr. Tyler's views, and it received his sanction. At the next session of Congress, the third of the twenty-seventh, the principal acts passed related to the repeal of the bankrupt law, which had become odious to a large portion of the business men of the country to suitable provisions for promoting friendly inter course between the United States and China, and also for carrying into effect the late treaty with Great Britain. By the act relating to intercourse with China, forty thousand dollars were placed at the disposal of the Executive ; who nominated Caleb Gushing, of Mas sachusetts, as commissioner, under the act, to the Celestial Empire. On the 3d of March, 1843, Congress closed its session : and on the 8th of May following, Mr. Webster retired from the Cabinet, and was succeeded in the responsible office of Secretary of State by Hugh S. Legare, of South Carolina. In June was celebrated, with great pomp and appropriate cere monies, the completion of the Bunker Hill monument. This great public work had met with numerous delays : but having, at length, received its topmost stone, the 17th of June, the anniversary of the battle, was assigned to celebrate the event. The president and sev eral members of his cabinet honored the celebration. A multitude of all classes, and from various parts of the country, were present. An oration was pronounced by Mr. Webster on the occasion. The pageant was grand and imposing, and calculated to exalt, in the hearts of the assembled thousands, the virtues and the patriotism of the men, who had in by-gone years moistened the soil on which the monument stands with their richest blood. A sad event, however, followed fast upon the festivities of the day this was the sudden decease of Mr. Legare, the recently appointed Secretary of State. He had followed the president to witness the celebration, but sud den sickness fell upon him, and he died at his lodgings in Boston on the morning after the celebration. During the following winter, Jan 8th, 1844, an act passed Con gress, refunding a fine, which had been imposed upon Gen. Jack son at the time of the attack upon New Orleans, in the late war with England. The repayment of this fine had been recommended by the president as early as 1842 ; but the measure had been till now strongly and successfully resisted. It had been imposed on the 768 . THE UNITED STATES. General by Judge Hall, for his refusal while commanding the army at New Orleans, to obey a summons to appear before the court, and answer for his disobedience of a writ of habeas corpus. The fine was one thousand dollars. The amount now refunded fine and interest, was two thousand seven hundred dollars : but the act disclaimed any reflection upon Judge Hall. In April, Congress was informed by a special message from the president, that a treaty had been negotiated with Texas, by which she was annexed as a territory to the United States. This annuncia tion excited no small surprise throughout the country, and awakened great solicitude in the minds of those who were opposed to the measure ; as, in their view, it involved an extension of slavery and a probable rupture with Mexico, which power laid claim to the republic, as a part of her rightful domain. The treaty, however, was rejected by the Senate ; and the object of the President for the present failed. During the second session of the 28th Congress, an important treaty between the United States and the Chinese Empire was ratified by an unanimous vote of the Senate. This treaty was con cluded by Caleb Gushing and Tsiyeng, on the 3d of July, 1844 ; and by it our relations with China were placed on a new footing, eminently favorable to the commerce and other interests of the United States. The rejection of the treaty with Texas by the Senate, instead of cooling, increased the ardor of President Tyler to accomplish his plan of annexation. According to his wishes, and probably at his suggestion, at the following session of Congress, a joint resolution for her annexation was introduced into Congress, and passed the House of Representatives, January 23d, by a vote of 1 18 to 101. In the Senate, the resolution underwent several inportant amendments, which, having been concurred in by the House, received the sanction of the Executive ; and thus the way was prepared, in violation of the Constitution, as many believed, for the annexation of Texas. On the 4th of March, 1845, the presidential career of Mr. Tyler closed. For a time, he had been before the country as a candidate for re-election, but finding himself sustained by no party, he with drew from the canvass. The two candidates left in the field were Henry Clay, of Kentucky, and James K. Polk, of Tennessee. These had been nominated by the two great political parties in the coun try by conventions, which had assembled at the city of Baltimore one on the 1st, and the other on the 27th of May, 1844. During the contest prior to the election, the friends of the respective can- ELECTION OF MR. POLK. 769 dictates used every effort to secure their election. On the votes being counted, in the presence of both houses of Congress, Feb ruary 12th, it was officially declared, that Mr. Polk was elected. The whole number of votes given was two hundred and seventy-five of which he had one hundred and seventy. Mr. Clay received one hundred and five. George M. Dallas was elected Vice President over Mr. Frelinghuysen by a similar majority. Bunket Hill Monument. P. 767. 66 v4 James K. Polk. George M. Dallas. CHAPTER LXXI1I. MR. POLE'S INAUGURATION. Formation of the Cabinet. Death of General Jackson First message of Mr. Polk. Relations with Mexico. Question about Oregon Ad mission of Texas. State of the controversy with Mexico. Battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma. Army increased. Proclamation of war by the President. Discussion in relation to Oregon. Notice to British government in relation to Ore gon. Capture of California by Commodore Sloat. Blockade of the Mexican coast Adjournment of Congress. Bills passed, Bills vetoed. Naval operations. Capture of California. Attack on Alvarado. Capture of Tabasco. Capture of Tampico. Military operations. Capture of Santa Fe. Siege and Capture of Monterey. Bombardment and occupation of Vera Cruz. -Battle of Cerro Gordo. Capture of Contreras, Churubusco, Jalapa, Perote, Puebla, and Molinosdel Rey. Entrance into the Capital. Battle of Huamantl a. Deat h of Captain Walker, fyc. AGREEABLY to the Constitution, James K. Polk entered upon the duties of President of the United States, and George M. Dallas, Vice President, on the fourth day of March, 1845. Mr. Folk's eleva tion to this office was unexpected to both political parties. At the Democratic convention held in Baltimore in May of the previous year, Mr. Van Buren was expected to be the prominent candidate ; but from various causes, particularly his opposition to the annexa tion of Texas, his popularity, especially at the south, had diminished. Hence, a plan was projected to supersede him by selecting another candidate ; which was accomplished, by requiring a major vote of two-thirds of the delegates present, in favor of the candidates, who should be selected. This rule, now for the first time adopted, was strenuously opposed by the friends of Mr. Van Buren ; but the advocates of the change succeeded ; and as a consequence a can didate was ultimately selected, whose name, previously to the con vention, had scarcely been heard of in connection with the presi dency. Once before the democratic party as a candidate, every effort was of course made to elect Mr. Polk ; and, yet, it is doubt ful, whether his friends seriously anticipated success ; be this, how ever, as it may, so signal a triumph over a rival candidate so distin guished and popular as was Mr. Clay, was unanticipated. The ceremonies at the induction of Mr. Polk into office were, as usual, grand and imposing, and were witnessed by a great concourse of citizens gathered from all parts of the country. In his Inaugural Address, delivered at the time, he gave, as usual, a summary of his political principles entering somewhat minutely into the course which he designed to pursue in the administration of the govern ment. " It will be my first care," said he, " to administer the gov ernment in the true spirit of the Constitution, and to assume no power 772 THE UNITED STATES. not expressly granted, or clearly implied in its terms." It would, also, be his aim to see that the general government did not trench on the rights of the states : nor the states overstep the .imits of power reserved to them. He expressed himself in opposition to a national bank, and all other extraneous institutions, planted around the government to control or strengthen it, in opposition to the will of its authors. In regard to the adjustment of the revenue laws and the levy of taxes, necessary to support the government, he consid ered it a fundamental principle to collect no more than would be required by an economical administration. In regard to a tariff, he was in favor of one which, while it furnished an ample revenue, would afford incidental protection to home industry ; but was opposed to a tariff for protection only. He was -in favor of the annexation of Texas, and expressed his satisfaction that measures were in progress to effect that object. Our title to Oregon he considered to be " clear and unquestionable." In the management of our foreign relations, his aim would be to regard the rights of other nations, while those of our own country would be the subject of constant vigilance. Public officers, especially those entrusted with the collection and disbursement of the revenues, would be held to a strict perform ance of their duties. Such is an outline of the Inaugural Address of President Polk. It was in several respects, especially in its.pledges, worthy of a high- minded and honest man, while, on the other hand, it contained views in respect to a tariff, the annexation of Texas, and other questions of political economy, which could meet with no favor from his political opponents. The formalities of the Inauguration were followed by the forma tion of a new cabinet, which consisted of James Buchanan, of Pennsylvania, Secretary of State : Robert J. Walker, of Mississippi, Secretary of the Treasury: William L. Marcy, of New York, Sec retary of War : George Bancroft, of Massachusetts, Secretary of the Navy : Cave Johnson, of Tenntest^e Post-Master-General and John Y. Mason, of Virginia, Attorney General. But a few months had the new administration been in power, when an event occurred which was calculated to make a deep im pression upon the nation, and especially upon the officers of govern ment. This was the decease of General Jackson, who breathed his last, at his residence in Tennessee, on the evening of the 8th of June. General Jackson had attained to the 79th year of his age. He had long occupied a conspicuous place in the civil and military his tory of the country. In many respects, he was a remarkable man DEATH OF GENERAL JACKSON. 773 He had enjoyed but few advantages for acquiring an education in his early days, and the want of it was not unfrequently betrayed in after life. But he had a suprising power over men. As a soldier, he excelled in courage and vigor ; and in perseverance was indom itable. At the head of an army, he evinced great skill and sagacity ; he was ever prompt to take advantage of circumstances, and few, if any, were ever more resolute in the execution of a plan or purpose which they had once formed. That he was stern, no one could doubt ; and in military discipline he was thought to be sometimes severe. That in general he had the good of his country in view is admitted by his political opponents, but the wisdom and expedi ency of the means and measures, which he at times adopted, to secure that good, may be questioned. During his administration, he met with powerful opposition ; but few men ever succeeded in carry ing forward their own plans more successfully, or triumphed more uniformly over political ojffosition. It is said that he died a Christian. On the merits of Jesus Christ, he claimed to found his hopes of acceptance with God ; and thus passed away from the turmoils of life, leaving to the nation and to the world, as the result of his convictions, that the gospel possesses a paramount value, as a sure foundation upon which to rest in refer ence to a judgment to come. The news of his death was received with due sensibility, and appropriate honors were paid to his memory in all parts of the land. The foreign relations of the country, on the accession of Mr. Polk, were far from being settled and satisfactory. The annexation of Texas had excited the jealousy and hostility of Mexico, and the prospect of an open rupture with her was steadily increasing* The question as to the title of Oregon was still in dispute between America and England, and was assuming a serious and even alarm ing aspect. Questions of internal policy, which, it was hoped, had been settled, were likely to be again agitated with a change of administration. On every side there was promise and prediction of an unsettled state of affairs, both foreign and domestic. The message of the president, on the assembling of Congrew in December, 1845, was by no means calculated to diminish the anx iety, which some entertained of approaching trouble. By the joint resolution of Congress, passed at the preceding session, Texas was to be admitted as a state into the Union, upon certain conditions. There the president informed Congress she had complied with, and nothing further remained but the passage of an act (whick he 65* 774 THE UNITED STATES. strongly recommended, should be immediately done) to admit her on an equal footing with the other states. The relations with Mexico were represented as still more dis turbed than when Congress adjourned. The minister of Mexico resident at the seat of government, had made a formal protest against the annexation of Texas, and had demanded his passports. Diplomatic intercourse with that government had consequently ceased. Besides, the belligerent conduct of Mexico had been such as to require countervailing measures, and he had consequently deemed it prudent to send a strong squadron to the coast of Mexico, and to concentrate 'a sufficient military force on the western frontier of Texas, between the Neuces and Del Norte. Such, according to the message, was the position of our-relations with Mexico, on the opening of the session of Congress. In regard to the Territory of Oregon, the president represented to Congress that several attempts had been made to settle all ques tions pending between the two countries laying claim to it, but without success. Negotiations had been carried on during the administration of Mr. Monroe and Mr. Adams, but they had only resulted in a convention for the joint occupancy of the territory for ten years. Another convention was entered into, August 6th, 1827, which continued in force for an indefinite period the article of the prior convention, touching the joint occupancy of the territory, while it provided that at any time after the 20th of October, 1828, either party might annul the convention, by giving the other party a twelve-month's notice. Here, for several years, the suoject had rested. The citizens of each nation had, according to their pleasure, settled upon the terri tory, or had carried on their hunting operations, in peace and amity. But the statesmen of both countries could not but perceive the im portance of settling in due time a controversy, which might one day disturb the relations of the two governments. In 1843, the minister of the United States resident in London brought the subject to the notice of the British government, and made an offer of partition of the territory, similar to that which had been made in 1818 and 1826. In this state of the question, the negotiation was transferred to Washington, and was renewed by an offer from the British minister (August, 1844,) to divide the territory by the 49th parallel of north latitude, leaving the navigation of the Columbia river to be equally and freely enjoyed by the citizens of both countries. This proposi tion was immediately rejected by the American Secretary ; upon receiving notice of which rejection, the British minister requested OREGON. 775 that a proposition should emanate from the American government, for an equitable settlement of the controversy. At this stage of the negotiation, Mr. Polk succeeded to the pi esi- deiicy. Anxious to settle the long pending question, he directed the Secretary of State again to offer the 49th parallel of north latitude, without the free navigation of the Columbia. This, the British min ister rejected, and here the negotiation for a time was suspended. Such was the state of things, touching this delicate question, on the meeting of Congress. It was apparent to men of observation, that the subject could not long remain in quietness. The territory was fast settling. Jealousies were beginning to exist. Questions as to rights would soon become matters of magnitude, and the longer the controversy was permitted to continue, the less probability ex isted of its amicable settlement. In this state of things, the presi dent advised that the year's notice, required by the convention of the 6th of August, 1827, should be given to Great Britain. " By so doing," said the president, " at the expiration of a year, we shall have reached a period when our national rights in Oregon must either be abandoned, or firmly maintained." In his message at the opening of the session, as already noticed, the president recommended the adoption of joint resolutions to admit Texas as a State into the Union. In accordance with this recom mendation, joint resolutions were early introduced into the House of Representatives. They were as follows : "Whereas the Congress of the United States, by a joint resolu tion, approved March the 1st, 1846, did consent, that the territory properly included within, and rightfully belonging to the republic of Texas, might be erected into a new State, to be called the State of Texas, with a republican form of government, to be adopted by the people of said republic by deputies in convention assembled, with the consent of the existing government, in order that the same might be admitted as one of the states of the Union ; which consent of Congress was given upon certain conditions specified in the 1st and 2d sections of said joint resolutions : and whereas, the people of the said republic of Texas, by deputies in convention assembled, with the consent of the existing government, did adopt a constitution, and erect a new state, with a republican form of government, and in the name of the people of Texas, and by their authority, did ordain and declare, that they assented to and accepted the proposals, con ditions, and guaranties contained in said 1st and 2d sections of said resolutions : and whereas, the said constitution, with the proper evi dence of its adoption by the people of the republic of Texas, has 776 THE UNITED STATES. been transmitted to the President of the United States, and laid before Congress^ in conformity to the provisions of said joint resolutions ; Therefore " Be it resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the state of Texas shall be one, and is hereby declared to be one, of the United States of America, and admitted into the Union on an equal footing with the original states in all respects whatever. " Be it further enacted, That until the Representatives in Con gress shall be apportioned, according to an actual enumeration of the inhabitants of 'the United States, the state of Texas shall be entitled to choose two Representatives." It was scarcely within the reasonable hopes of the opposers of the annexation of Texas, that after the adoption of the measures, with that object in view, by the preceding Congress, the present Con gress would do any thing, by which to prevent her admission into the Union. A few, perhaps, indulged the belief, that further pro ceedings might be stayed ; and with that object in view, petitions and remonstrances were sent in from various parts of the Union. The President had, indeed, in his message congratulated Congress and the nation that " this accession (of Texas) to our territory had been a bloodless achievement. No arm of force had been raised to produce the result. The sword has had no part in the victory. We have not sought to extend our territorial possessions by conquest, or our republican institutions over a reluctant people." This was ad mitted by the opposite party, but they predicted war as a conse quence, and this danger of a collision with Mexico they would have avoided, by preventing the admission of Texas. Besides, the exten sion of slavery was more distressing to many in all quarters of the Union; and, moreover, it was urged that it was of dangerous ten dency and doubtful consequences, to enlarge the boundaries of this government or territory, over which our laws are now established. " There must be some limit," said a wise and aged statesman, " to the extent of our territory, if we would make our institutions perma nent." The opposers of annexation in various parts of the country, were anticipating a warm and exciting debate on the subject in Congress, and members of that body, who represented this party, were them selves, it is believed, prepared to present strong, and to themselves, satisfactory reasons, why the project should be abandoned. But to the surprise of all, when the subject came up for consideration, dis cussion was prevented by an early movement of the previous ques- MEXICO. 777 tion. To such a summary process strong remonstrances were made ; but to the friends of the measure in Congress, who believed the most raluable benefits would result to the Union by its consummation, debate seemed needless ; and, consequently, the resolutions were urged to a speedy adoption. On the 16th of December the ques tion was taken, and the resolutions were adopted by a majority of 141 to 56. A few days after they received the sanction of the Sen ate. In this latter body, however, an opportunity was given for the opposers of annexation to urge their objections. This was done with great dignity ; but a majority in the Senate, as in the House, if not in the country, were found in favor of the measure. Thus by a novel, and to many an unconstitutional process, was Texas admitted into the Union, and " without any intermediate time of probation, such as other territories had undergone before their admission, she was vested with a right to send two Representatives to Congress, while her population was insufficient to entitle her to one, except, under the specific provision of the Constitution, that each state shall have at least one Representative." We again resume the history of affairs with Mexico. Late in the Autumn of 1845, the American government commissioned the Hon. John Slidell, of Louisiana, to proceed to Mexico as envoy to bring to an amicable close all questions in dispute between the two governments. But on reaching his place of destination, the exist ing government of Mexico refused to receive him in his diplomatic character. After a residence of some months, in the neighborhood of the capital, and repeatedly bringing the subject of his reception to the notice of the Mexican government, he was obliged to return to the United States, without having effected a single object of his mission. This rejection of its envoy was the more offensive to the American government, from the fact, that, previous to his appoint ment, assurances had been received from the Mexican government, that an envoy entrusted with adequate powers would be received. Prior, however, to the final rejection of Mr. Slidell, but under an apprehension that such an indignity would be offered both to the envoy and his government, the president directed General Taylor in command of the American forces at Corpus Christi, in Texas, to break up his encampment at that place, and concentrate his forces on the left bank of the Del Norte. In obedience to these orders, a movement of the troops from Corpus Christi commenced on the llth of March, 1846, and on the 28th an encampment was formed opposite Matamoras. About the same time a depot was established w4 778 THE UNITED STATES. at Point Isabel, near the Brazos Santiago, some thirty miles in the rear of the American camp. For years, the Mexicans had claimed the Neuces to be the proper dividing line between themselves and Texas. The passage of this boundary, therefore, by the American army, gave great offence to the Mexicans, who considered this an act of invasion. Nor was a large portion of the American people convinced either of the jus tice, or expediency of the measure. Instead of leading to peace, it was apparent that it would serve to increase the misunderstanding already existing, and end in open and possibly long protracted war fare. It was indeed claimed by Texas, that her territory extended to the Rio Grande ; but this being a disputed point, the invasion of the territory was deemed impolitic and belligerent. The Mexican General, Ampudia, at this time commanding at Mata- iioras, naturally indignant at seeing a hostile force in his immediate vicinity, warned General Taylor to retire, and that within the space of twenty- four hours. Just at this juncture, Ampudia was succeeded in command by Arista, an officer of still more enterprise and deter mination. The latter, on taking command, communicated to General Taylor, that unless he retired, he should consider that hostilities had oegun. That same day, blood the first blood was shed. A party of American dragoons, consisting of sixty-three, who had been on a reconnoitering expedition up the Del Narte, was attacked by a body of Mexicans, and sixteen were killed and wounded, and the remainder captured. The force under command of the American General before Mata- moras was far from being adequate to any hostile movement, and scarcely sufficient for defence. In view of this fact, and, indeed, in anticipation of such inadequacy, the president had authorized a call upon the governor of Texas for four regiments, and a similar num ber from the governor of Louisiana. These regiments were expected to add about 5,000 men to the force of General Taylor. But be fore they had reached the American camp, the situation of the army had become critical and alarming. The Mexican force was grad ually augmenting, and their means of attack or defence increasing. Among the Americans the stock of provisions was getting low, and communication with Point Isabel was liable to be interrupted. Find ing his situation critical on this account, General Taylor set out on the 1st of May, leaving a garrison of 700 or 800 men to defend the camp, and succeeded in reaching Point Isabel, without molestation. His departure was, however, the signal for an attack upon the American camp, which occurred on the 3d. The assault was two- BATTLE OF PALO ALTO. 779 fold one from the batteries, on the opposite side of the river and the other by means of a detachment of troops, which had crossed the river for the purpose of approaching in the rear. Both attacks were without success. The Mexican batteries were soon silenced, and the troops in the rear repulsed with considerable loss. The Americans lost but a single man. Major General Taylor. The next object, and one of great importance to the Mexicans, was to intercept General Taylor, on his return from Point Isabel and, if possible, to destroy the force with him. This it was thought would lead to an easy victory over the garrison opposite Matamoras. With this in view, the Mexican force took post at Palo Alto ; and here, on the 8th, occurred the memorable battle of that name, and which will long be remembered for the desperate spirit which was manifested by both armies, and for the signal triumph of the Ameri can arms over an enemy more than twice as numerous. The Mexican troops consisted of five thousand infantry seven pieces of artilleiy. and eight hundred cavalry. The force of the Americans was two thousand and three hundred infantry two eighteen-pounders, and two light batteries. The loss of the Americans was comparati vely small; yet they had to regret the loss of a brave officer in Major Ringgold. Captain Page was severely wounded, and died a short time afterwards. General Arista, in his official report, admitted the Mexican loss to be in killed, ninety-eight ; wounded and missing, 780 THE UNITED STATES. one hundred and forty-two. The American army, the following hight, encamped on the ground. Battle of Palo Alto. Fall of Major Rlnggold. But the contest was destined to be renewed the following day with even more severity, and with greater sanguinary results. The American army was put in motion in the morning, with a fair pros pect of reaching their camp : but when within a few miles of it they were suddenly attacked at a place called Resaca de la Palma Battle of Resaca de la Palma. MOVEMENTS OF GENERAL TAYLOR. 781 and a battle ensued, of shorter continuance than that of Palo Alto, but attended with greater loss to both contending forces. The Amer icans were again triumphant, capturing eight pieces of artillery, Charge of Capt. May, at the Battle ofResaca de la Palma. Surrender of Gen. La Vega, three standards, large quantities of ammunition, and several hun- dreds of prisoners, among whom was General La Vega. The loss of the Americans, in both actions, as returned by General Taylor, 782 THE UNITED STATES. was three officers and forty men killed thirteen officers and one hundred men wounded. The Mexican loss, officially reported, was one hundred and fifty-four officers and men killed; two hundred and five wounded ; missing, one hundred and fifty-six. Having no means of throwing his army across the river, General Taylor was unable to follow up the advantage gained over the enemy by pursuing them, as he would gladly, and, in that case, might have successfully done : but, yielding to necessity, he now directed his march towards his encampment opposite Matamoras, where he arrived without further molestation. Time elapsed ere the news of these victories reached the govern ment .at Washington : but already had the critical state of the Ameri can army become known, both to the government and to the people of the United States. The war was not popular. It was deemed both impolitic and unnecessary : but when intelligence was received that the American General and his troops were destitute of supplies were surrounded by a greatly superior force, and were hence in imminent danger, a deep and wide-spread sympathy sprung up, and an unanimous and simultaneous desire was expressed, that not only adequate supplies should be promptly forwarded, but that a force hi every respect competent should be raised, to relieve the army, and to prosecute the war to a speedy and successful issue. Con gress itself, then in session, were actuated by similar sentiments, and by a similar impulse. An act accordingly was soon passed, author izing the President to employ the forces of the United States, naval and military, and also to call for and accept of the services of any number of volunteers not exceeding fifty thousand, either cavalry, artillery, infantry, or riflemen. Besides the above, the regular army was increased several thousands. Simultaneous with the passage of the above act, the President issued his proclamation, announcing the existence of war, " by the act of the republic of Mexico," and calling upon the citizens of the United States to unite in preserving order, and in maintaining the honor of the nation. We turn again to the subject of the Oregon territory, and the issue of the long pending question respecting the claims of America and England to its soil. The President had, as has been noticed, advised to terminate the convention of August 6, 1827, by giving England the notice required by an article therein. At length, the subject came up for consideration, and seldom has a question elicited warmer or more protracted discussion. Every member felt that the subject was one of great delicacy, and pregnant with events of OREGON. 783 solemn import to the nations concerned, and perhaps to the world. It was an experiment, which might lead to the happiest results a final and amicable settlement of a long-standing controversy, or it might terminate in dire and lasting war. The debate, as was natural, took a wide range, and involved many collateral subjects for consideration. Several modes were suggested, according to which the notice was proposed to be given. At length, on the 16th of April, the question was taken in the senate on a resolution, which had originated in the house and been amended in the senate, to give said notice, and decided in the affirmative by a majority of forty to fourteen. On being returned to the house, the latter agreed to the senate's amendments, but added still further amendments. These latter, however, were negatived by the senate, and the house insisting, a conference was solicited by the latter. This being accepted by the senate, a committee of conference was appointed, who reported the following preamble and resolution, which passed the senate by a vote of forty-two to ten, and the house by a vote of one hundred forty-two to forty-six. " A Joint Resolution concerning the Oregon territory. Whereas, by the convention concluded the twentieth day of October, eighteen hundred and eighteen, between the United States of America and the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, for the period of ten years, and afterwards indefinitely extended and continued in force by another convention of the same parties, con cluded the sixth day of August, in the year of our Lord one thou sand eight hundred and twenty-seven, it was agreed that any country that may be claimed by either party on the northwest coast of America westward of the Stony or Rocky mountains, now com monly called the Oregon territory, should, together with its harbors, bays, and creeks, and the navigation of all rivers within the same, be " free and open" to the vessels, citizens, and subjects of the two powers, but without prejudice to any claim, which either of the par ties might have to any part of said country ; and with this further provision, in the second article of the said convention of the sixth of August, eighteen hundred and twenty-seven, that either party might abrogate and annul said convention, by giving due notice of tweive months to the other contracting party " And whereas it has now become desirable that the respective claims of the United States and Great Britain should be definitely settled, and that said territory may no longer than need be remain subject to the evil consequences of the divided allegiance of its American and British population, and of the confusion and conflict 784 THE UNITED STATES. of national jurisdictions, dangerous to the cherished peace and good understanding of the two countries "With a view, therefore, that steps be taken for the abrogation of the said convention of the sixth of August, eighteen hundred and twenty-seven, in the mode prescribed in its second article, and that the attention of the governments of both countries may be the more earnestly and immediately directed to the adoption of all proper measures for a speedy and amicable adjustment of the difficulties and disputes in respect to said territory " Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Uni ted States, in Congress assembled, That the President of the United States be, and he is hereby authorized, at his discretion to give the British government the notice required by its said second article for the abrogation of the said convention of the sixth of August, eighteen hundred and twenty-seven." Thus was decided a question, which had greatly agitated the en tire country, and which, in the progress of discussion, had occasioned observations and reflections strongly calculated to disturb the har mony of the two governments, and which, in the opinions of some, were designed to produce such an effect. But the folly and guilt of engendering war between two nations so allied, and in which Chris tian principle was bound to hold sway, was, on several occasions, and by some of the principal men of the nation, pointed out. Sol emn warning was given to those, who would madly have rushed to arms by setting up claims of doubtful validity, and which, it is well known, would never be acceded to by the British government. But, at length, the troubled waters grew calmer ; and, while to a small portion of Congress and of the nation, the resolutions adopted were still obnoxious, a vast majority of the people were gratified at their mild and conciliatory tenor. It still remained to be known, in what spirit this resolution would be received by her Majesty's government : but it was devoutly de sired that it might lead to a final and harmonious settlement of all questions pertaining to the territory of Oregon. And so it resulted, fortunately for the peace of the two powers immediately concerned, and to the peace of the continental powers of Europe. On the 28th of April, the President gave official notice to her Ma- ; esty, Queen Victoria, that "the convention of August 6th, 1827, would terminate at the end of twelve months from and after the delivery of these presents." Before the delivery of this notice, however, the subject of an OREGON. 785 amicable settlement of all questions relating to Oregon, had occu pied her Majesty's government, and en the 18th of May, Mr. M'Lane, our Minister, informed Mr. Buchanan that the British Minister at Washington would soon receive instructions to submit a new and further proposition, on the part of the British government, for a partition of the territory in dispute. On the 10th of June, the President made a special and confiden tial communication to the Senate, informing that body that such a proposal had been made, and requesting their advice as to the ac tion, which, in their judgment, it was proper to take in reference to it. At the same time he reiterated the views, which he had ex pressed in his annual message, "that no compromise, which the United States ought to accept, could be effected ;" " that our title to the whole of Oregon" was maintained "by irrefragable facts and arguments," and that the claim " could not be abandoned, without a sacrifice of both national honor and interests." Such was the tenor of the President's communication. But he solicited advice. On the 12th, the Senate adopted, 38 to 12, the following resolu tion : " Resolved, (two-thirds of the Senate concurring,) That the President of the United States be, and he is hereby advised to ac cept the proposal of the British government accompanying his mes sage to the Senate, dated June 10th, 1846, for a convention to settle boundaries, &c., between the United States and Great Britain, west of the Rocky or Stony mountains." On the 16th of June, the President communicated to the Se&ate a copy of a convention, or treaty, which had been concluded and signed on the 15th inst., settling boundaries, &c., in relation to Ore gon whereupon the Senate by a vote of 41 to 14 advised and Con sented to the ratification of the same. The two principal articles of this treaty are as follows : " Art. 1. From the point on the 49th parallel of north latitude, where the boundary, laid down in existing treaties and conventions between Great Britain and the United States, terminates, the line of boundary between the territories of her Britannic Majesty and tkose of the United States shall be continued westward along the 49th parallel of north latitude to the middle of the channel which sepa rates the continent from Vancouver's Island, and thence southerly through the middle of the said channel, and of Fuca's straits, to the Pacific Ocean ; provided, however, that the navigation of the said channel and straits, south of the 49th parallel of north latitude, remain free and open to both parties. " Art. 2. From the point at which the 49th parallel of north 786 THE UNITED STATES. tude shall be found to intersect the great northern branch of the Columbia. river, the navigation of the said branch shall be free, and open to the Hudson's Bay Company, and to all British subjects trading with the same, to the point where the said branch meets the main stream of the Columbia, and thence down the said main stream to the ocean, with free access into and through the said river or rivers it being understood, that all the usual portages along the line thus described, shall in like manner be free and open. In navi gating the said river or rivers, British subjects, with their goods and produce, shall be treated on the same footing as citizens of the United States It being, however, always understood, that nothing in this article shall be construed as preventing or intended to prevent the government of the United States from making any regulations, re specting the navigation of the said river or rivers, not inconsistent with the present treaty." Thus was finally settled, (ratifications being afterwards duly ex changed,) a question, which had involved the two governments in dis cussions long and wearisome for a series of years ; and which in its progress, was threatening the peace and amity of the two nations. The treaty thus confirmed was not in all its provisions quite accept able, nor was it considered the most advantageous that could have been negotiated ; but the Senate received, as it was entitled to, the thanks of the country for terminating a controversy fraught with dangers every month that it continued. Congress terminated its long and important session on the 10th of August. In addition to its proceedings, already developed in these pages, several bills were passed, among which was one for the pro tection of citizens resident in the territory of Oregon a bill for the establishment and regulation of the sub-treasury a bill, for the im provement of certain rivers and harbors in the United States and a bill to indemnify citizens of the United States for " French spoli ations." The " harbor bill," as it was denominated, had special reference to the improvement of harbors on the western waters. The great est benefits had been anticipated from liberal appropriations to this object, as many of the harbors on. the lakes were in an exposed and insecure condition. Great was the disappointment, therefore, when it was announced that the president had vetoed the bill, not only be cause of constitutional objections, but because the money would be needed in carrying on the existing war. Loud complaints were uttered, and strong opposition to the president in all that region was predicted. NAVAL OPERATIONS. 787 Another class of citizens were disappointed, whose claims to relief were beyond all dispute. These were sufferers on account of " French spoliations." For years had they attempted, but in vain, to secure the favorable attention of Congress to a subject which should long since have been acted upon, and indemnity granted, ac cording to the pledges of the American government. And now, that both houses of Congress had done some small justice, it was deemed both cruel and oppressive in the President to add his veto to this bill also, especially as it had received the decided sanction of both Senate and House of Representatives. It may be added, that near the close of the session a measure of great importance was adopted, viz., an essential modification of the tariff established in 1842. Few subjects were discussed with more eminent ability during the session. The impolicy and suicidal influ ence of the proposed alteration, were strongly urged by the friends of manufacturers, and the most serious consequences predicted to various branches of industry, left by the bill without adequate pro tection. But the democratic party stood pledged to alter the tariff of 1842, and accordingly the whole strength of that party was sum moned to carry the measure through Congress. The bill passed the House by the considerable majority of nineteen votes : in the Sen ate, however, such was the doubt existing as to the expediency of the measure, notwithstanding the encomiums passed upon it by its advocates, that it was carried only by the casting vote of the Vice President. Having detailed, with some particularity, the proceedings of Con gress to the close of its session, we revert to the operations of the government in relation to the war with Mexico, from and after the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma. Naval Operations. On the 7th of June, 1846, Commodore Sloat, commander of the naval force of the United States in the Pacific ocean, received information at Mazatlan of the existing war between the United States and Mexico. On the following day, he sailed in the frigate Savannah for the coast of California, and on the 2d ot July, entered the harbor of Monterey. On the 7th, he demanded a surrender of the place. This being evaded, an adequate force was landed from the squadron, and took possession of the town, and raised the flag of the United States without opposition, or blood shed. On the 9th, Commander Montgomery, of the sloop Port smouth, under the Commodore's orders, with like success took possession of Francisco, and that part of the country, in the name of the United States. On the 17th, he dispatched a detachment as far as the 788 THE UNITED STATES. Mission of St. John's, to hoist the flag of the United States there. On his arrival, however, he found that the place had been captured an hour or two previously by Lieutenant Colonel Fremont, of the United States Army, with whom he returned to Monterey on the 19th. On the 15th of July, the frigate Congress, Commodore Stockton, arrived at Monterey. The health of Commodore Sloat being infirm, he delivered up the command of the squadron to the former, with an intention of returning to the United States. On the 25th of July, the Cyane, Captain Mervine, sailed from Monterey, with Lieutenant-Colonel Fremont, and a small volunteer force on board, for San Diego, to intercept the retreat of the Mexi can General Castro. A few days after, Commodore Stockton sailed in the Congress for San Pedro, and with a detachment from his squadron of three hundred and sixty men, marched to the enemy's camp. It was found that the camp was broken up, and the Mexicans, under Governor Pico and General Castro, had retreated so precip itately that Lieutenant-Colonel Fremont was disappointed in inter cepting them. On the 13th, Commodore Stockton was joined by this gallant officer, and marched a distance of thirty miles from the sea, and entered, without opposition, the Ciudad de los Angelos, or City of the Angels, the capital of California. And on the 22d of August, the flag of the United States was flying at every command ing position, and California was in the undisputed military posses sion of the United States. Soon after taking possession of California, Commodore Stockton issued his proclamation, constituting a new government, appoint ing its officers, and declaring himself Governor of the territory, by authority of the President of the United States. While these events were transpiring in the Pacific, the "Home Squadron" under Commodore Conner, was attempting a reduction of Alvarado, on the south part of the Gulf of Mexico, and the capture of the enemy's vessels of war in that river. Owing, however, to the. rapidity of the current, he was obliged to abandon his design, and withdraw his force. On the 15th of October, however, he made another attempt to enter the Alvarado river for the same purpose. In endeavoring to cross the bar, one of the steamers, having in tow the principal division of the attacking force, grounded and became entangled with the vessels in tow. The current could not be overcome in the state of the wind without the aid of steam, and the commodore had the mortification of being compelled to retire. On the 16th of October, Commodore M. C. Perry, with the steamei CAPTURE OF TAMPICO. 789 Mississippi and the small vessels, left the squadron at Lizardo, and sailed for Tabasco. On the 23d he arrived off the bar, and with great judgment and gallantry captured the town of Fronteira, with the enemy's steamers and vessels in port, and proceeded up the river a distance of seventy-four miles, into the interior of a settled country, and appeared before the city of Tabasco. He captured the vessels in the port ; and, at the earnest request of the foreign mer chants/humanely determined not to involve them in ruin, by destroy ing the town. In dropping down the river, one of his prizes grounded, and a large body of Mexicans opened a furious fire on her, which was promptly returned with great effect the stranded vessel was got afloat, and the Mexicans beaten off. But in this treacherous attack, one American seaman was killed, and Lieutenant Charles W. Morris and two seamen were wounded. Lieutenant Morris sur vived until the 1st of November, when he died of his wound, on board the Cumberland. On the 12th of November, Commodore Conner sailed with a large portion of his squadron, and on the 14th the important town of Tampico capitulated unconditionally without resistance. Three fine View of Tampico. gunboats and other property fell into the hands of the captors. In the capture of Tampico, the Mexicans lost one of their most considerable ports in the Gulf. Arrangements were immediately 68 T90 THE UNITED STATES. made to garrison the place the command of which was given to an officer of the army. Military Operations. Congress having authorized the President, as already noticed, to accept the service of volunteers, not exceeding fifty thousand, a call for that purpose was made upon several of the states for twenty-six regiments, amounting in all to about twenty - three thousand men, to serve for the period of twelve months, or to the end of the war. Much the largest portion of this force was designed to co-operate with the regular army under General Taylor, then on the Rio Grande. After establishing his base of operations on that river for several hundred miles, he moved into the enemy's country in the direction of Monterey, in the department of New Leon. Another portion was concentrated, under General Wool, at San Antonio de Bexar, for a movement upon Chihuahua ; and the volunteers from the State of Missouri assembled at Fort Leaven- worth, to compose, with a few hundred regular troops, an expedition to Santa Fe, under General Kearney. The operations of the force under Generals Kearney and Taylor have resulted in important accessions to the military acquisition of the country, while it is supposed Coahulia and Chihuahua have been in effect wrested from Mexico by the force of General Wool. On the 30th of June, General Kearney, with the force under his command, amounting, in all, to about 1600 men, regulars and volun teers, moved from Fort Leaven worth upon Santa Fe, where he arrived, after a march of 873 miles, on the 18th of August, and took military possession of New Mexico without resistance. The Mexi can forces, about four thousand in number, which had been collected near that city under the late governor, Armijo, to oppose his pro gress, dispersed on the approach of our troops, and the governoi nimself fled with a small command of dragoons in the direction of Chihuahua. Having thus taken possession of New Mexico and its capital, Santa Fe, General Kearney proceeded to establish a provisional government, proclaiming himself governor, and appointing several civil officers to act under his authority. With a regular force of about 300 dragoons, leaving orders for a part of the volunteers to follow, he commenced his march from Santa Fe for California, intending to proceed down the Rio Grande about two hundred miles, thence to strike across to the Gila, and to move down that river near to its mouth, then across the Colorado to the Pacific, where he hoped to arrive about the last of Novem ber. After proceeding about 180 miles on his route, he was met STORMING OF MONTEREY. 791 by an express from California, sent by Lieutenant Colonel Fremont. Unlearning the condition of things in that quarter, and deeming that an additional force would not be required in California, he directed most of that with him to return to Santa Fe. Selecting about one hundred men to accompany him, he continued on his route. While these events were in progress, preparations were making by the hero of Palo Alto, and Resaca de la Palma, to push his con quests west of Matamoras, which had already fallen into his hands. His next object was the capture of Monterey, the capital of New Leon. On reaching the city, on the 19th of September, it was found to be strongly fortified : a large work had been constructed, command ing all the northern approaches, added to which the Bishop's palace and some heights in its vicinity near the Saltillo road, had been fortified, and occupied with the troops and artillery. A close recon- noisance of the several works, however, convinced Gen. Taylor of the practicability of throwing forward a column to the Saltillo road, and thus turn the position of the enemy. This duty was assigned to General Worth ; who, on the afternoon of the 20th, led his division, the second, to the attempt ; Gen. Taylor, meanwhile, directing a strong diversion in his favor by an attack in front of the town by the first division, under General T wiggs, and the first division of volun teers under Major General Butler. That night, General Worth and his troops occupied a defensive position, just without range of a battery above the Bishop's palace. The diversion in favor of General Worth's division was successful, and one of the enemy's advanced works was carried, and a strong foothold had in the town. Early in the morning of the 21st, the advance of the 2d division had en countered the enemy in force, and after a brief but sharp conflict, repulsed him with heavy loss. General Worth then succeeded in gaining a position on the Saltillo road thus cutting off the enemy's line of communication. From this position, the two heights south of the Saltillo road were carried in succession, and the gun taken in one of them turned upon the Bishop's palace. On the 22d, the heights above the Bishop's palace were carried, and soon after the palace itself, and its guns turned upon its fugitive garrison. During the night of the 22d, the enemy evacuated nearly all his defences in the lower part of the city. On the morning of the 23d, the troops advanced from house to house, and from square to square, until they reached a street but one square in rear of the principal plaza, in and near which the enemy's force was now mainly concen trated. 792 THE UNITED STATES. At this stage of operations, General Taylor, deeming it expedient to make no further attempt upon the city, without complete concert as to the lines and mode of approach, (General Worth being at the northern extremity of the city and advancing from that direction) dispatched a messenger to the latter, directing him to suspend his advance, until he, General Taylor, could have an interview with him. Early on the 24th, the Mexican General, Ampudia, proposed to evacuate the town : a suspension of hostilities was arranged till 12 o'clock, during which, at the request of Ampudia, General Taylor had an interview with him, which resulted in a capitulation, placing the town and the .materiel of war, with certain exceptions, in the possession of the American General. Storming of Monterey. The place, on taking possession of it, was found to be of great strength. There were mounted 42 pieces of cannon. The Mex ican force consisted of seven thousand troops of the line, and two thousand or three thousand irregulars. The American force was four hundred twenty-five officers and six thousand two hundred and twenty men. The artillery was one ten-inch mortar ; two twenty- four pounder howitzers, and four light field batteries of four guns each. The American loss was twelve officers, and one hundred and eight men killed ; thirty-one officers and three hundred and thirty- seven wounded. The loss of the Mexicans was still more consid- BATTLE OP BUENA VISTA. 793 erable. An armistice was allowed by General Taylor, of eight weeks, subject to be revoked by either government. On receiving intelligence of the armistice, and its conditions, the American gov ernment, it is said, directed its termination. The Mexican army was permitted to retire, and marched out with the honors :,f war. The capture of Monterey, considering the manner in which it was fortified, and the number of soldiers concentrated to defend it, was a bold and daring achievement. The annals of war seldom disclose greater wisdom on the part of a commanding officer, or greater valor and . determination on the part of troops, than was manifested by General Taylor and his army at the siege of Mon terey. For several months following the capture of Monterey, the Amer ican forces were employed in various military movements, having for their object the occupation of several places in the vicinity. But on the 31st of January, with about five thousand men, General Taylor left Monterey for Saltillo, a distance of sixty-five miles in the direction of San Luis Potosi. On the 2d of February he reached Saltillo, whence he proceeded about twenty miles farther, taking a position at Agua Neuva. At this point, on the twentieth of February, intelligence was communicated to him that General Santa Anna was at the hacienda of Encarnacion with a large force, and was meditating an attack. As the camp of Agua Neuva could be turned on either flank, and the enemy's force, especially of cavalry, was greatly superior to his own, he deemed it expedient to retire to the hacienda of Buena Vista, about eleven miles nearer to Saltillo, and there awaited an attack, for which all necessary preparations were made, and such positions taken as were admirably adapted to resist a large with a small force. On the 22d, early in the morning, the enemy made his appear ance, and at two o'clock in the afternoon a demand was made by General Santa Anna, requiring General Taylor to surrender at discretion. This was promptly refused ; immediately upon which various skirmishes ensued, and were continued without interims sion until dark. It was now apparent that a general battle was at hand. The Mexican General had more than twenty thousand men, completely organised, and elated with the prospect of routing a force of less than five thousand, of which not more than five hundred were regular troops. It was a night of proud anticipation on the one side, and of strong determination on the other. The odds were 68* Y4 794 THE UNITED STATES fearful, but what the Americans lacked in point of numbers they were determined to supply by superior skill and characteristic bravery. At sunrise, on the following morning, the contest was renewed, and with slight intermissions was continued on both sides until night By means of his immensely superior force, the Mexican General, at one time, drove the American army for some distance, but at a moment the most critical, two pieces of artillery were brought to bear upon the enemy, throwing canister and grape so thickly so destructively, as to compel him to halt. " Yet, for several hours," says the Hero of Palo Alto, "the fate of the day was extremely doubtful, so much so that I was urged by some of the most experienced officers to fall backhand take up a new position." This advice, however, was declined, and the struggle went on, which according to the American General's report, was the severest contest which he had ever witnessed. Night only put a stop to the contest, and, strange to say, both armies occupied the same posi tion they did in the morning before the battle commenced. All that night the Americans lay upon their arms, as they had done the two previous ones, there being no fire to be had, and the mercury below the freezing point; ready, and expecting to renew the contest on the following morning." The twenty thousand Mexicans, however, had witnessed a sufficient display of Ameri can prowess. Leaving their killed and many of their wounded on the field, they retreated during the night, proceeding in the direction of San Luis, in a wretched and disorganised condition. Few victories, whether in ancient or modern times, have been more remarkable. The skill and experience of Santa Anna are well known, and yet with a regularly formed and well disciplined army of 20,000 men, that skill and experience were insufficient to cope with the army of General Taylor, supported as he was by less than one quarter of the enemy's number. The loss on both sides was great amounting on the American side to two hundred and sixty-seven killed, four hundred and fifty- six wounded, and twenty-three missing. The Mexican loss in killed and wounded probably reached two thousand. At least five hundred of their killed were left upon the field of battle. The loss of American officers was severe twenty-eight having been, killed on the field and among them may be mentioned, as conspicu ous not only for their grade, but for their great skill and bravery Capt. George Lincoln, Assistant Adjutant-GeneralCols. Hardin, 796 THE UNITED STATES. McKee, Yell, and Lieut. Col. Clay, the latter being a son of the dis tinguished American statesman of that name. For some months the attention of the Ameiican Government had been directed to preparations for an expedition against Vera Cruz, the principal sea-port of Mexico, on the Gulf of Mexico, and the castle San Juan d'Ulloa, the latter situated on a small island a short distance from the city. The reduction of these places was thought to be important, as thereby a favorable route would be opened to the capital itself, about three hundred miles in a north-westerly di rection. This expedition was entrusted to General Scott, who, aware of its difficulties and importance, was allowed to collect a large military and naval force for the object contemplated. His troops, consisting of regulars and volunteers,- to the number of some thirteen thousand, were in the first instance collected at Tampico, a Mexican sea-port, at this time in possession of the Americans. Most of the regular troops belonging to the army of General Taylor were detached for this purpose, and hence that officer was left with a comparatively small force with which to meet the thousands of soldiers under Santa Anna at the battle of Buena Vista. On the 2d of March, the above thirteen thousand men were landed by the American navy in the vicinity of Vera Cruz, without the loss of a single life. On the 13th, the investment of the city was effected. On the 22d the preparations ^vere completed, and on that day the American commander-in-chief demanded of the Gov ernor a surrender of the city ; and urged that surrender by consid erations drawn from a desire to spare that beautiful city its gal lant defenders from a useless effusion of blood and more than all, its women and children from the inevitable horrors of a triumphanl assault. The Governor replied, that cily and castle were defended at all points, and that the American General might commence his operations in manner and form as he pleased. The naval force designed to co-operate in the bombardment' was far greater than" had ever before been sent into action by the United States govern ment. On receiving this refusal of the Governor to surrender the city, seven mortars in battery were opened upon the city, which soon after were increased to ten, and about the same time two steamers and five schooners opened a brisk fire, which continued with inter missions up to nine o'clock on the following morning. On the 24th, at daylight, a naval battery, of three thirty-two pounders and three eight-inch Paixhan guns, which the previous day had been transported from the navy, with incredible difficulty, a distance of 67* 798 THE UNITED STAfES. three miles, over a sandy and difficult route, to a commanding height within seven hundred yards of the city, was prepared to open its terrible fire upon the unsuspecting place. The destruction caused by these guns was tremendous. During the whole of the 24th and 25th, the bombardment was continued, with few intermis sions f and during the same period, both from the castle and the city, the Mexicans returned the fire but with comparatively little loss on the side of the Americans. Early on the morning of the 26th, the work of destruction having been completed, the Governor offered to surrender the city and castle into the bands of the American General. By the terms of capitulation, the garrisons were to be surrendered as prisoners of war, and all the materiel of war, and all public property, were to belong to the United States. The four thousand troops belonging to the Mexican army were dismissed upon their parole of honor. Not less than six thousand seven hundred shot and shells were thrown from the American batteries during the bombardment weighing, in the aggregate, more than four hundred thousand pounds. Some estimate may be formed by the reader, of the destruction which must have been caused, when he learns that three thousand ten-inch shells were thrown, each one of which weighed ninety pounds, and one thousand Paixhan shot, of sixty-eight pounds weight. On entering the city, the American officers were met with the sad and sickening sight of roofs crushed walls demolished, build ings razed. " No power of language," observes a writer, " can portray the sufferings, agony, despair, and helpless misery, which the inhab itants of Vera Cruz had endured for five days and nights previous to the cessation of hostilities. Night and day, during that time, they had endured an incessant shower of heavy shells, which, falling in every part of the city, crushed roof and walls in theii terrible descent, and at length burst with terrific violence, tearing everything into fragments, and striking . terror and despair into every heart. To all of this, the naval battery added its awful fire, crushing their last hope of safety and escape. The number of killed and wounded will, perhaps, never be known to us, but it must have been very great ; though, in all such cases, the soldiers suffered less than the women and children." Thus fell, under the power of the Americans, a city of great im portance to the Mexicans, and a castle of far greater importance, CAPTURE OP VERA CRUZ. 799 justly denominated, from the strength of its walls, from the number of its guns, and from its isolated position, the "Gibraltar of America." Great credit is accorded to General Scott for the scientific manner in which the siege was planned and conducted. The American loss was small, amounting to but sixty-five men, and but few officers ; embracing, however, in the latter, Captain John R. Vinton, who had highly distinguished himself in the brilliant operations of Monterey. Such military achievements reflect the highest honor upon those who conduct them; but who, after all, in view of the carnage caused, and the misery consequent thereupon, can avoid adopting the language of the humane, and yet heroic Taylor, in his letter to a great American statesman, sympathizing with him on the loss of a son "I feel no exultation in our success?" Major General Winfield Scott. The rejoicing consequent upon the capture of Vera Cruz, and the successful bombardment of the important adjoining fortress of San Juan d' Ulloa, were scarcely over, when came the news of another brilliant triumph of our arms, and of the victorious progress of our legions towards the " Halls of the Montezumas." On the 18th of April, the gallant commander-in-chief, General Scott, encoun tered the enemy, fifteen thousand strong, under the personal com mand of Santa Anna, at Sierra Garda or Cerro Gordo, as it is otherwise spelt, a mountain pass on the road to Jalapa, about sixty miles from Vera Cruz. The road from Vera Cruz as it passes the Plan del Rio, which is 800 THE UNITED STATES. a wide rocky bed of a once large stream, is commanded by a series of high cliffs rising one above the other, and extending several miles, all of which were well fortified. A front attack of these forts must have terminated, it was apparent, in an annihilation of the American army. Such a mode of attack, however, was expected by the enemy ; but the skillful eye of General Scott perceived that by cutting a road to the right, the position of the enemy might be turned, on the left flank. This movement was made known to the enemy by a deserter from our camp, upon which a large force under General La Vega was sent to the forts on their left. In order however, to cover his flank movements, General Scott on the 17th of April ordered General Twiggs to attack the fort on the steep ascent in front, and a little to the left of the Cerro. Fortunately, this position was carried by Colonel Harney detached by General Twiggs for that purpose. This position having thus been secured, with incredible labor one of the large guns was elevated to the top of the fort, in order to follow up the advantage which had been gained. On the following day, General Twiggs was ordered forward from the position he had already captured, against the principal fort, which commanded the Cerro. At the same time, an attack was made on the fortifications on the enemy's left by the divisions of Gens. Shields and Worth, which moved in separate columns, while General Pillow was ordered to advance against the strong forts and difficult ascents on the right. Aware of these intended movements of General Scott, large bodies of the enemy had been thrown into the various positions to be attacked. The most important and serious enterprise was that of General Twiggs, who advanced against the main fort commanding the Cerro. The undertaking was difficult and hazardous. The ascent was steep and rough. The forts and batteries of the enemy, poured forth a constant and galling fire. The steepness of the ascent furnished the only shelter. But the American soldiers sought no shelter, and, as usual, feared no danger. Led on by the gallant Harney, whose voice was heard amidst the thunder of the cannon, and whose arm was seen waving to his men to rush on to the charge, they paused not, but leaping from one rocky barrier to another, they at length reached the fort, from which the enemy was soon compelled to retire. It was here the enemy received their heaviest loss, and their General Vasquez was killed. % l Shortly after the force under General Worth with incredible effort passed the steep and craggy heights on the enemies left, and sum BATTLE OF CERRO GORDO. 801 moned a strong fort in the rear of the Cerro, to surrender. This fort was manned by a large force under General Pinson, a mulatto officer of considerable ability and courage, who, seeing the Cerro tarried, thought proper to surrender, which he did, with all his force, Colonel Harney at Cerro Gordo. General Shields was less fortunate. In the battery which he attacked, and which was commanded by General La Vega, a heavy fire was opened upon him, under which the fort was indeed carried, but with considerable loss. The gallant general himself here re ceived a grape-shot through his lungs, which at the time and for some time after was thought would prove mortal. On the enemy's right, General Pillow commenced an attack upon the strong forts near the river, but was at length obliged to withdraw his men to save them from a heavy fire from a masked battery. As he was preparing, however, for another attack, the enemy concluded to sur render. The victory was complete. Three thousand of the enemy were taken prisoners, with the usual proportion of field and com pany officers, besides five generals, several of them of great distinc tion. These were Pinson, Jarrero, La Vega, Noriega and Obando. The force of General Scott was about eight thousand, General Quitman's brigade not having arrived in time to take part in the engagement. General Ampudia was second in command of the Mexicans, and superintended the operations of the enemy. When the Cerro was carried, he was seen retreating on a fine white charger, his hat falling off, as he galloped away. Our army a z4 802 THE UNITED STATES. captured about thirty pieces of beautiful brass cannon of large calibre, and mostly manufactured at the extensive foundry of Seville. A large quantity of fixed ammunition was also taken. The private baggage and money-chest of Santa Anna, containing some twenty thousand dollars, was also captured. Santa Anna, with Generals Canalizo and Almonte and some six thousand men, escaped towards Jalapa, but so hotly was the former pursued that he was obliged, it is reported, to mount a mule attached to his carriage, the harness of which was cut in order to effect his escape. The carriage itself was captured, and in, or near it, was found his cork leg. Even his dinner was left uneaten, which formed an acceptable repast for several American officers, after the heat and fury of the battle was over. Besides General Shields^ General Pillow was wounded ; as were also Major Sumner of the Rifles, and Captain Mason, with Lieuts. Maury, Gibbs, Davis, Ewell and McLane. The loss of the Americans, in killed and wounded, was four hundred and thirty-four, of whom sixty-three were killed ; that of the enemy from one thou sand to twelve hundred, embracing many valuable and promising officers. The charge on Cerro Gordo was one of those cool, yet deter mined ones so characteristic of the American soldier. From the time that our troops left the hill, nearest that prominent height, the fire was incessant, yet they pressed on with their wonted bravery, determined to conquer or die. As for the Mexican general-in-chief, loud complaints were uttered by his troops against him for his pusillanimity and flight. But a few days before, in an official communication addressed to the Secretary of the Constituent Congress, he had made proclamation of his pat riotism and willingness to yield up life, if that were necessary for his country's good. " As to myself," said he, " I am determined to breast the dangers of the campaign, confident that my conduct will gain the approbation of my fellow-citizens. If I am crowned by victory, and succeed in driving the enemy from our soil, I shall retire to private life, satisfied that I shall have rendered my country some service ; or, if the lead or steel should cut the thread of my life, 1 shall die contented, as I shall leave to my country an honorable memory, and to my children a name at which they need never blush." But he hastily and ingloriously flies, entering comparatively unprotected and unattended a chapparal, through which it is sup posed he passed to Orizaba, a small town at the foot of a mountain of that name, leaving the road open to Mexico for the American troops by the way of Jalapa and Perote. CAPTURE OF JALAPA PEROTE PUEBLA. 803 The Americans having thus carried the various positions of the enemy, the division under General Twiggs started in pursuit of the fugitive Mexican army, which it followed to within three miles of Jalapa, where they encamped for the night, and entered and took possession of the city early on the following morning. This city occupies a high hill highest in the centre so that the streets incline so much that no wheeled vehicle can pass along any of them, except Main street. The city is surrounded by a wall, and has a strongly-built church near the western gate. The streets are paved. The houses, as in other Mexican towns, are of stone, with flat roofs and iron-barred windows. Jalapa vi elded to General Twiggs without opposition, and subsequently or :ame a depot for part of the American forces. On receiving intelligence of the surrender of Jalapa, the Mexican troops, which were stationed in the castle of Perote, were with drawn, and marched with the greatest precipitancy for the interior. Perote is distant from Jalapa about fifty miles, being nearly mid way between the capital and Vera Cruz. The population is esti mated at nearly ten thousand. It is a walled city ; the houses are generally of one story, built of stone, and covered with terraces ; the principal street is remarkably fine ; the others are wide and paved. The castle of Perote, together with the city, were taken possession of by Gen. Worth on the 22d April without opposition: both being surrendered by Col. Velasquez, who was left behind for the purpose of negotiating with the advancing American general. The castle or fortress of Perote is considered one of the strongest in Mexico, and its surrender to the Americans without opposition was a national loss. Two thousand troops with their officers could be well accommodated within the walls, where were found ample store-houses, hospitals, and magazines, with an excellent supply of water. The munitions of war, which fell into the hands of the Americans, consisted of more than fifty guns and mortars, of various calibre, most of them in good condition ; eleven thousand and sixty- five cannon-balls ; fourteen thousand three hundred bombs and hand- grenades ; and five hundred muskets. Within the castle were found Generals Landero and Morales, who had been there confined since the surrender of Vera Cruz. These, with several American prison ers, were set at liberty. Possession having thus been taken of Perote, an advance was not long after made upon Puebla, the next most considerable town upon the route to the capital. This city is walled and fortified. It is built of stone, and the streets are well paved. It is situated at the 804 THE UNITED STATES. extremity of a large plain, on the Vera Cruz side, and has a popula tion variously estimated at from fifty to eighty thousand. The public place would be admired in almost any part of the world : it forms a perfect square ; facing it, stands the cathedral ; on three other sides are magnificent palaces. There are many other edifices of striking beauty. Few churches are more magnificently ornamented than the cathedral. All the chandeliers and lamps and they are not few are of massive gold and silver; 'the dome is of the marble of the country, and of great beauty and fine workmanship ; the chapels ten in number are richly decorated, with an iron grate-door to each, of great height, and of the finest finish. The church was finished in 1808, at an expense, it is said, of $600,000. The Almeida, or public walk, is well kept: it is composed of three alleys, of five or six hundred feet each, which are severally lined with trees; and the whole is surrounded by a wall, at the foot of which runs a fine stream of water. Few cities in Europe present a finer appearance. But no great encomium can justly be passed upon the inhabitants : they are far less elevated and refined than were the European Span iards, who were some years since expelled. Such is a brief view of Puebla, which the division of the Ameri can army, four thousand strong, under Gen. Worth, entered and occupied on the 15th of May. A spirited opposition was anticipated, as the enemy, it was understood, were in considerable numbers gar risoning the city ; but only a feeble resistance was made. At Ama- zogue, a distance of some ten or twelve miles from the city, a body of lancers, headed by Santa Anna, made their appearance, and a skirmish ensued. No loss, however, was sustained on the American side, and but few of the Mexicans were killed. The latter soon retreated, and thus presented an easy access to the city. On enter ing, Gen. Worth took possession of such prisoners and such public and military stores as the place contained. Here also he established his head-quarters, while Santa Anna proceeded towards the capital. From this time, for several weeks no important movements took place. The army rested and recruited. On the 8th of June, a party, consisting in part of soldiers and in part of citizens, to the number of one hundred and fifty, under command of Captain Bainbridge, third artillery, left Puebla for Vera Cruz. They reached Jalapa with out opposition. But the road from that point to Vera Cruz, it was understood, was infested by strong guerilla parties. These were now multiplying in all parts contiguous to the theatre of war. They consisted either of detached bodies of soldiers, or of banded citizens, which, occupying the mountains, or the chapparals, would easily GUERILLA PARTIES. 805 rush out, and suddenly attack reconnoitering or recruiting parties and trains of waggons, transporting provisions or munitions of war. And it may here be stated, that the history of these guerillas, during the present war with Mexico, in all its details, could those details be written, would shock the most hardened minds. Such wanton cruelty, such savage barbarity, is scarcely to be believed and yet, from the representations of some few, who had the good fortune to escape their vengeance, we learn that language almost fails to describe the cruelties which are not unfrequently practised by them. Guerillas attacking a train. The above party on approaching Cerro Gordo were apprised that a considerable Mexican force was concealed in that pass, and that signal danger attended their march. Notwithstanding this, they continued their journey through the pass without meeting with the anticipated opposition, and arrived at the National bridge the same evening. While preparing to encamp, they learned that a party of the enemy was barricading the bridge to prevent their progress. In the morning, however, the bridge was cleared without opposi tion, and the main body passed over in safety. A different fortune awaited their waggon-train. For the purpose of bringing this over, an officer and soldier were sent across the bridge. But they were fired upon by a guerilla party of twenty-five, as were also the attend ants of the waggon. The waggon-master and four attendants were killed, and the waggon captured. Upon this, Captain Bain- bridge prepared for action ; but the Mexicans retreating, the captain 69* 806 THE UNITED STATES. pursued his way to the encampment of Colonel Mclntosh. This officer had been previously attacked by the enemy, and was await ing reinforcements. During the night, the enemy continued to fire on the camp, and occasionally manoeuvred as if about to charge. Great credit was given to the dragoons under Captain Duperus, to whose courage and protection the whole party was doubtless in debted for their safety. The day following, Capt. Bainbridge and his party continued their march towards Vera Cruz, which they reached in safety. Mean while, Capt. Duperus having in charge a long return train, halted at Santa Fe, where he was attacked by a strong guerilla party, greatly superior in force, but which he repulsed with considerable loss to the enemy. He also arrived at Vera Cruz with his command, having lost only a few waggons, and but three killed and wounded. Fortunately, on the day that Capt. Bainbridge left the encamp ment of Mclntosh, Gen. Cadwallader arrived with eight hundred men and two howitzers, and pushed on to the National bridge. Here he was attacked by a large Mexican force. The struggle was brief, but obstinate and sanguinary. It resulted in a repulse of the enemy, with the signal loss of one hundred killed, besides many wounded. The loss of the Americans did not exceed fifteen killed, and from thirty to forty wounded. Previously to this battle, the loss of Col. Mclntosh from the guer illas had been considerable. In an engagement, the colonel and his party had fallen back with the expectation of being pursued, and of thus saving their waggon-train : but the enemy seized upon twenty- eight waggons and nearly two hundred pack-mules ; the estimated value of which was nearly four thousand dollars. The affairs of Mexico, it was apparent, had for some months been wearing a more and more gloomy aspect. Every battle had resulted in the defeat of her armies. Her councils were distracted. Her generals were captured, or, being defeated one after another, were fast losing the confidence of the nation. The proud and boastful language of Santa Anna previous to the eventful battle of Cerro Gordo, and his hasty and inglorious flight ere it was finished, had lessened the confidence of both army and people in him. Besides, there was an increasing party in the nation, which desired peace, and which were now not slow to advocate the election of Herrera to the presidency, in order the more readily to secure that object. In this party were included the clergy and a respectable minority in Congress : but the measure was not agreeable to the army and a majority of the nation. ADVANCE UPON CONTRERAS. 807 The state of affairs and his several reverses served to perplex and discourage Santa Anna himself: and perhaps induced him about this time to tender his resignation to Congress of the presidency of Mexico and the chief command of the army. There were, however, those who considered this offer on the part of this wily chieftain only a manoauvre by which to regain his former popularity, and to entrench himself more firmly in power. Be his motives what they may have been, he secured the objects of his ambition. The Con gress declined acceding to his offers. His former services were lauded, and confidence reposed in his patriotism and ability ; and to Mexico and the cause of her arms the movement was doubtless aus picious. A temporary impulse was given to her operations. Greater confidence prevailed, and the enlistment of troops was more easy and in greater numbers. For some time following the brilliant exploits at Cerro Gordo, Gen. Scott necessarily remained inactive at Puebla, waiting for rein forcements. Meanwhile, the Mexicans, notwithstanding their many reverses, industriously employed themselves in collecting another army, and in fortifying the several approaches to the capital. Having, at length, received a small reinforcement, Gen. Scott broke up his camp, and marched for the metropolis. A spirited opposition was anticipated at the Rio Frio pass, a deep gorge, which takes its name from a small river adjacent. This pass the Mexicans had, for some time, been engaged in fortifying; but on reaching the dreaded defile, no opposition was made. The loss of this opportunity of resisting the progress of the Americans, was a sad mistake on the part of the Mexicans, as the gorge was capable of being strongly defended, and, perhaps, of proving an insuperable barrier to the American army, with a comparatively small number of troops. On descending into the basin of the capital, seventy-five miles from Puebla, the several divisions of the American army, which had left Puebla on the 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th of August, became closely approximated about the head of Lake Chalco. On the 12th and and 13th, reconnoisances were made upon the Pennon, an isolated mound, eight miles from Mexico, of great height, and strongly for tified, and flooded round the base by trenches filled with water. This fortification, being close to the National road, commanded the principal eastern approach to the city. The strength of this fortifi cation, munitioned and garrisoned in the most careful manner, induced Gen. Scott to abandon the project of an attack upon the Pennon, and to take advantage of an old, concealed road, by which 808 THE UNITED STATES. the whole army passed in safety, south of Lake Chalco, first to Ayotla, and thence to San Augustine, where they arrived on the 17th. This place is about ten miles south of Mexico on the Aca- pulco road. This masterly movement was entirely unanticipated by the Mexicans. The Pennon fortification stood, it was supposed, as an insuperable obstacle to their approach, and, although that fortifi cation might doubtless have been carried, it must have been with the loss of many a gallant soldier. By a happy mano3uvre of the commander-in-chief, this loss was spared, and his army reserved for the intensely interesting scenes which lay before them. On the 18th, Worth's division and Harney's cavalry moved on the road in the direction of San Antonio. This village was found strongly defended by field-works, heavy guns, and a numerous gar rison. During a reconnoitre of the place, a heavy discharge from the Mexican battery killed Capt. Thornton, of the second dragoons, a gallant officer, who was covering the operation with his company. This caused the dragoons to be withdrawn, but various movements took place during the remainder of the day, the object of which was to secure, if possible, a favorable position for attacking and dis lodging the Mexicans, in order to open the way towards the capi tal. A cold and heavy rain, however, now set in, which induced the general-in-chief to suspend further offensive operations for the day. The morning of the 20th found the American army notwithstand ing that the troops had lam in the field all night, destitute of tents or blankets, and exposed to a drizzling rain, which ended towards morning in unbroken torrents ready for new duties, and for the achievement of victories (all in view of the capital) which have sel dom, if ever, been surpassed. On the night of the 19th, Gens. Shields, Smith, and Cadwallader, with their brigades and the fifteenth regiment, under Col. Morgan, found themselves in and about the important position, the village or hamlet of Contreras, half a mile nearer to the city than the enemy's entrenched camp on the same road towards the factory of Mag- dalena. That camp had been unexpectedly a formidable point of attack the afternoon before, and it was now to be taken without the aid of cavalry or artillery, or the advanced corps to be thrown back upon the road from San Augustine to the city, and thence a passage be forced through San Antonia. To meet contingencies, Gen. Worth was ordered to leave, early in the morning of the 20th, one of his brigades, for the purpose of masking San Antonio, and to march, with the other, six miles upon Contreras, via San VICTORY OF CONTRERAS. 809 Augustine. Other movements and orders were now made, having for their object a general, united, and effective attack upon the strong entrenchments of the enemy at Contreras. Without entering into the particulars of this engagement, it is sufficient to say, using the language of the general-in-chief in his official report: "I doubt whether a more brilliant or decisive victory, taking into view ground, artificial defences, batteries, and the extreme disparity of numbers, without cavalry or artillery, is to be found on record. Including all our corps directed against the entrenched camp, with Shield's brigade at the hamlet, we positively did not number over 4,500 rank and file ; and we knew by sight, and since more certainly, by many captured documents and letters, that the enemy had actually engaged on the spot 7,000 men, with at least 1,200 men hovering within sight and striking distance, both on the 19th and 20th. All, not killed or captured, now fled with precipitation. Battle of Contreras. "Thus was the great victory of Contreras achieved; one road to the capital opened; 700 of the enemy killed; 813 prisoners, including 88 officers, 4 generals,-besides many colors and standards, 22 pieces of brass ordinance, half of large calibre, thousands of small arms and accoutrements ; an immense quantity of shot, shells, powder and cartridges ; 700 pack-mules, many horses, &c., &c., fell into our hands. "It is highly gratifying to find that, by skilful arrangement and rapidity of execution, our loss, in killed and wounded, did not exceed, A5 810 THE UNITED STATES. on the spot, sixty ; among the former the brave Capt. Charles Hanson, of the sixth infantry, not more distinguished for gallantry, than for modesty, morals, and piety. Lieut. J. P. Johnstone, first artillery, serving with Magruder's battery, a young officer of high promise, was killed the evening before. "One of the most pleasing incidents of the victory is the recap ture, by Capt. Drum, fourth artillery, under Maj. Gardner, of the two brass six-pounders taken from another company of the same regi ment, though without loss of honor, at the glorious battle of Buena Vista, about which guns the whole regiment had mourned for so many long months. . Coming up, a little later, I had the happiness to join in the protracted cheers of the gallant fourth on the joyous event ; and indeed the whole army sympathizes jn its just pride and exultation." The victory of Contreras was almost immediately followed by a second brilliant event, viz: the forcing of San Antonio. This was accomplished chiefly by Gen. Worth's division. Great importance was attached to the capture of this position, as thereby a shorter and better road would be opened to the capital. It was a bold achievement, but doubtless the more easily accomplished from the total defeat of the enemy's forces at Contreras. This desirable object accomplished, the division, which had been temporarily separated, was soon united in hot pursuit, and was joined by Maj. Gen. Pillow, who, marching from Coyracon, and dis covering that San Antonio had been carried, immediately turned to the left, and though much impeded by ditches and swamps, hastened to the attack of Churubusco. The hamlet, or scattered houses bearing this name, presented, besides the fortified convent, a strong field-work, (tcte de pont) with regular bastions and curtains at the head of a bridge, over which the road passes from San Antonia to the capital. The whole remaining forces of Mexico some twenty-seven thousand men cavalry, artillery, and infantry, collected from every quarter were now in on the flanks, or within supporting distance of these works, and seemed resolved to make a last and desperate stand ; for, if beaten here, the feebler defences at the gates of the city four miles off could not, as was well known to both parties, delay the victors an hour. The capital of an ancient empire, now of a great republic, or an early peace, the assailants were resolved to win. Not an American and we were less than a third of the enemy's number had a doubt as to the result. The fortified church or convent, hotly pressed by Twiggs, had CAPTURE OF CHURUBUSCO. 811 already held out about an hour, when Worth and Pillow the latter having with him only Cadwallader's brigade began to manoeuvre closely to tete de pont with the convent at half gunshot to their left. Garland's brigade (Worth's division), to which had been added the light battalion under Lieut. Col. Smith, continued to advance in front, under the fire of a long line of infantry, off on the left of the bridge : and Clarke, of the same division, directed his men along the road, or close by its side. Two of Pillow's and Cadwallader's regiments, the eleventh and fourteenth, participated in this direct movement; the other (the voltigeurs) was left in reserve. Most of these corps particularly Clarke's brigade advancing perpendicularly, were made to suffer much by the fire of the tete de pont, and they would have suffered greatly more, by flank attacks from the convent, but for the pressure of Twiggs on the other side of that work. This well-combined and daring movement, at length reached the principal point of attack, and the formidable tete de pont was at once assaulted, and carried by the bayonet. Its deep, wide ditch, was first gallantly crossed by the eighth and fifth infantry, commanded respectively by Major Waite and Lieut. Col. Scott followed closely by the sixth infantry (same brigade), which had been so mucn ex posed on the road the eleventh regiment, under Lieut. Col. Graham, and the fourteenth, commanded by Col. Gronsdale, both of Cadwalla der's brigade, Pillow's division. About the same time, the enemy in front of Garland, after a hot conflict of an hour and a half, gave way in a retreat towards the capital. The immediate results of this third signal triumph of the day were: three field-pieces, 192 prisoners, much ammunition, and the colors taken in the tete de pont The capture of the tete de pont was soon followed by the sur render of the convent, and doubtless contributed thereto. The two works were only some four hundred and fifty yards apart, and no sooner had the former been carried, than a captured four-pounder was turned against the convent. Lieut. Col. Duncan, from the San Antonia road, soon brought two guns to bear upon the principal work and upon the tower of the church. Finally, twenty minutes after the tete de pont had been carried by Worth and Pillow, at the end of a desperate conflict of two hours and a half, the church or convent the citadel of the strong line of defence along the rivulet of Churubusco yielded to Twiggs' division, and threw out on every side signals of surrender. The more sure exhibition of surrendei the white flag not long after followed. * The capture of the enemy's citadel, was the fourth signal victory 812 THE UNITED STATES. achieved that day. The immediate results of this victory were : the capture of seven field-pieces, some ammunition, one color, three generals, one thousand two hundred and sixty-one prisoners, including the officers. The loss of officers on the American side was Captains Capron and Burke, and Lieut. Hoffman, all of the first artillery, and Captain Anderson and Lieut. Easley, both of the second infantry. Battle of Churubusco. To the foregoing should be added a fifth victory, under General Shields, in the rear of Churubusco, during an engagement about the same time with the one above described. " This battle," as described by the general-in-chief, was " long, hot, and varied ; but success ultimately crowned the zeal and gallantry of our troops, ably di rected by their distinguished commander, Brig. Gen. Shields." During this engagement, Gen. Pierce, from a hurt received the evening before under pain and exhaustion fainted on the field. Col. Morgan being severely wounded, the command of the filth infantry devolved on Lieut. Col. Howard. Col. Burnett receiving a like wound, the command of the New York volunteers fell on Lieut. Col. Baxter ; and on the fall of the lamented Col. P. M. Butler, the command of the South Carolina volunteers devolved first on Lieut. Col. Dickinson, who being severely wounded, the regiment ultimately fell under the orders of Maj. Gladden. Lieuts. David Adams and W. B. Williams, of the same corps ; Capt. Augustus Quarles, and Lieut. J. B. Goodman, of the fifteenth, FRUITLESS NEGOTIATIONS. 813 and Lieut. E. Chandler, New York volunteers, all gallant officers, nobly fell in the same action. Shields took three hundred and eighty prisoners, including officers : and it cannot be doubted that the rage of the conflict between him and the enemy, just in the rear of the tete de pont and the convent, had some influence on the surrender of those formidable defences. As soon as the tete de pont was carried, the greater part of Worth's and Pillow's forces passed that bridge in rapid pursuit of the flying enemy. These distinguished generals, coming up with Brig. Gen. Shields, now also victorious, the three continued to press upon the fugitives to within a mile and a half of the capital. Here, Col. Harney, with a small part of his brigade of cavalry, rapidly passed to the front, and gallantly charged the enemy up to the nearest gate. Such were the results of this important day. Thirty-two thousand men had, in several battles, been defeated and routed. Three thousand prisoners, including eight generals, had been made, and two hundred and five other officers. Four thousand of all ranks had been killed or wounded, besides entire corps dispersed and dis solved. Thirty-seven field-pieces had been captured, besides a large number of small arms, and large quantities of ammunition of every kind. The loss on the American side was one thousand and fifty-three : killed, one hundred and thirty-nine, including sixteen officers; wounded, eight hundred and seventy-one, with sixty officers. The greatest number of the dead and disabled were of the highest worth and promise. The victories thus achieved presented an easy access to the capital, which, doubtless, might have been occupied the same even ing ; but Mr. Trist, a commissioner from the United States, sent for the purpose, if possible, of effecting a treaty, being now with the army, and the hope being indulged that the time had arrived when an adjustment of difficulties might be made, without a forcible entry into the Mexican capital, the general-in-chief decided to halt his victorious army at the very gates of the city, and await the action of its councils. On the morning of the 21st proposals for an armistice were made. On the 22d commissioners were appointed by the com manders of the armies ; the armistice was signed on the 23d, and ratifications exchanged on the 24th; immediately following which, meetings were held by Mr. Trist and Mexican commissioners ap pointed to treat of peace. These negotiations were actively con tinued to the 2d of September, when the American commissioner 70 S14 THE UNITED STATES. presented his ultimatum in respect to boundaries, and the negotia tors adjourned to meet again on the 6th. By the terms of the armistice, it was agreed that supplies from the city or country ior the American army should not be obstructed by the Mexican authorities, civil or military, nor during its con tinuance should any measures be adopted to enlarge or strengthen any existing work or fortification within thirty leagues of the city of Mexico. Infractions of these and other articles of the armistice were made by the Mexicans, particularly in regard to the military defences of the city. These infractions being brought to the notice of Santa Anna by Gen. Scott, the former replied in terms of inso lence and denial. In short, the commissioners having failed to agree, and the terms of the armistice having been repeatedly violated by the Mexicans the American general was induced to proceed at once, on the termination of the armistice, to make pre parations for an advance upon the capital. On the 7th of September a large body of the enemy was discov ered hovering about the Molinos del Hey, within a little more than a mile of Tacubaya, the head-quarters of Gen. Scott. Molinos del Rey, it was understood, contained a cannon-foundry, with a large deposite of powder. It was also understood that several church bells had been sent thither to be cast into guns. Considering the importance of this place to the enemy, Gen. Scott determined to attempt the destruction of the foundry and' seizure of the founder. A further inducement to this movement was found in the difficulty of opening a communication between the foundry and the capital without first taking the formidable castle on the heights of Chapul- tepec, which overlooked both, and stood between. The first object being the capture of Molinos del Rey, this duty was assigned to Gen. Worth, who was directed by the general-in- chief to limit his operations to that particular object, leaving an attack upon the castle of Chapultepec to a future hour. Having made such disposition of his forces as the nature of the case seemed to require, Gen. Worth put his several columns in motion at three o'clock on the morning of the 8th. The early dawn was the moment appointed for the attack, which was announced to the troops by the opening of Huger's guns on Molinos del Rey, upon which they continued to play actively until this point of the enemy's lines became sensibly shaken, when an assaulting party of five hundred picked men, commanded by Major Wright, dashed gallantly forward to the assault. Unshaken by the galling fire of the musketry and canister that was showered upon them, on they rushed, driving ATTACK ON CHAPULTEPEC. 815 infantry and artillerymen at the point of the bayonet. The enemy's field-battery was taken, and his own guns trailed upon his own retreating masses; before, however, they could be discharged, per ceiving that he had been dispossessed of this strong position by com paratively a handful of men, he made a desperate effort to regain it. Accordingly his retiring forces rallied, and formed with this object. Aided by the infantry, which covered the house-tops, the enemy's whole line opened upon the assaulting party a terrific fire of mus ketry, which struck down eleven of the fourteen officers that com posed the command; and non-commissioned officers and men in proportion, including, among the officers, Major Wright, the com mander; Capt. Mason and Lieut. Foster, engineers, all severely wounded. This severe shock staggered for a moment that gallant band : aid, however, was promptly sent to their support. Meanwhile, Garland's brigade, sustained by Capt. Drum's artillery, assaulted the enemy s left; and after an obstinate and severe contest, drove him from his apparently impregnable position immediately under the guns of the castle of Chapultepec. Various movements now took place. A most spirited and deadly work was waged in various quarters. A large proportion of officers fell ; among whom were Brevet Col. Mclntosh, Lieut. Col. Scott, and Maj. Waite, the second killed, and the first and last desperately wounded. But at length American valor and perseverance triumphed, and the victorious general and his remaining troops returned to their quarters at Tacu- baya with three of the enemy's four guns, the fourth having been spiked, as also with a large quantity of small arms, with gun and musket ammunition, and exceeding eight hundred prisoners, including fifty-two commissioned officers. The enemy's force exceeded four teen thousand men, commanded by Gen. Santa Anna in person. His total loss, killed (including Gens. Valdaroz and Leon), wounded and prisoners, amounted to three thousand, exclusive of some two thousand who deserted after the rout. The American force reached only three thousand one hundred men of all arms. The contest continued two hours, and its severity was painfully attested by our heavy loss of officers, non-commissioned officers, and privates, inclu ding in the first class some of the brightest ornaments of the service. Nine officers were killed and forty-nine wounded ; seven hundred and twenty-nine rank and file were killed and wounded. The victory of the 8th at the Molinos del Key was immediately followed by reconnoisances in reference to an attack upon the capital itself long the object of our ambitious army. The city of Mexico stands on a slight swell of ground, near the centre of an irregular 816 THE UNITED STATES. basin, and is girdled with a ditch in its greater extent a navigable canal of great breadth and depth very difficult to bridge in the presence of an enemy, and serving at once for drainage, custom house purposes, and military defence ; leaving eight entrances or gates over arches each of which was defended by a system of strong works, that seemed to require nothing but some men and guns to render them impregnable. Outside, and within the cross-fires of those gates, on the south, other obstacles not less formidable existed. All the approaches to the city are over elevated causeways, cut in many places in order to oppose the American army, and flanked on both sides with ditches of unusual dimensions. The numerous cross-roads were flanked in like manner, having bridges at the intersections which had been broken up. The meadows thus checkered were in many spots under water, and marshy, owing to the wet season. Such were some of the obstacles to an approach to the city. Besides these, existed another most formidable, but which it was essential to remove the fortress of Chapultepec, a natural and isolated mound of great elevation, strongly fortified at its base, on its acclivities and heights. Besides a numerous garrison, here was the military college of the republic, with a large number of sub lieutenants and other students. The works were within direct gunshot of the village of Tacubaya, and, until carried, the Americans could not approach the city on the west (a 'southern approach was deemed impracticable) without making a circuit too wide and too hazardous. To a successful attack upon Chapultepec, and an approach to the city by that route, it was deemed essential that a feint should be made against the southern part of the city. This stratagem was admirably executed throughout the 12th, and down to the afternoon of the 13th, when it was too late for the enemy to recover from the effects of his delusion. On the morning of the 12th, the bombardment and cannonade of Chapultepec was commenced, under command of Capt. Huger. Before night- fall an obvious impression had been made upon the castle and outworks. During this day's attack a large body of the enemy had remained outside towards the city, to avoid the fire of the Americans, and to be on hand at its cessation, in order to rein force the garrison against an assault. On the following morning, on re-opening the cannonade, the same force Was discovered outside. On the 13th, at eight o'clock in the morning, a signal was given for an attack by the army upon the castle, which had so long been the 70* 318 THE UNITED STATES. object of cannonade and bombardment. A strong redoubt, however was first to be carried. The advance of the men, led by their brave officers, was necessarily slow, but unwavering, over rocks, chasms, and mines, and under the hotest fire of cannon and musketry. The redoubt now yielded to resistless valor, and the shouts that followed announced to the castle the fate that impended. The enemy was steadily driven from shelter to shelter. The retreat allowed not time to fire a single mine without the certainty of blowing up friend and foe. Those at the distance, who attempted to apply matches to the long trains, were shot down by the Americans. There was death to those below, as well as to those above ground. At length, the ditch and wall of the main work were reached ; the lad ders arrived; and several efforts were made, by both officers and men, to scale the walls. But many of the gallant spirits, who first attempted it, fell, killed or wounded. Col. Andrews, whose regiment so distinguished itself and its commander by this brilliant charge, as also Lieut. Col. Johnstone and Maj. Caldwell, whose activity enabled them to lead this assault, greatly distinguished themselves by their gallantry and daring. Lieut. Col. Johnstone received three wounds ; but they were all slight, and did not at all arrest his daring and onward movements. Capt. Barnard, with distinguished gallantry, having seized the colors of his regiment, upon the fall of the color- bearer, scaled the walls with them unfurled, and had the honor of planting the first American standard in the work. Capt. Biddle, always prompt, vigilant, and daring, though so much enfeebled by disease as to be scarcely able to walk, left his sick bed on this great occasion, and was among the foremost to enter the works. The gallant Col. Ransom, of the ninth infantry, fell dead from a shot in the forehead, while at the head of his command, waving his sword, and leading his splendid regiment up the heights to the sum mit of Chapultepec. " I had myself been a witness to his heroic con duct," says Gen. Pillow, in his official report, "until a moment before, when I was cut down by his side. My heart bleeds with anguish at the loss of so gallant an officer. The command of his regi ment devolved upon Maj. Seymour, who faltered not, but with his command scaled the parapet, entered the citadel sword in hand, and himself struck the Mexican flag from the walls." Not less distinguished, and no less glorious, was the conduct of the fifteenth regiment of infantry, now under command of Lieut. Col. Howard. This regiment, which had greatly distinguished itself in the action near Churubusco, on the 20th ultimo, where the brave Col. Morgan was wounded, now covered itself with new honors ENTRANCE INTO THE CAPITAL. 819 and fresh laurels, under command of its present veteran leader, assisted by his gallant Major, Woods. Capt. Chase, of this regi ment, at a most critical moment in the charge, when the voltigeur regiment had advanced partly up the hill, and the enemy in strong force had occupied the redoubt, half way up the declivity, and heM us in check, under orders from my adjutant-general, Capt. Hooker, with a firmness few but himself possessed, dashed rapidly forward to the right flank of the work, calling upon his company to follow. Lieut. Beach quickly supported him with his company, and the enemy fled from the redan, pursued by the troops of my command. Great credit is due to the officers and men for their rapid move ments at this time, for the whole hill-side was mined, and had the enemy been allowed to fire their trains, great destruction must have inevitably ensued. Lieut. Selden, of the eighth infantry, of Capt. McKenzie's com mand, one of the first to mount the scaling-ladder, fell from its sum mit, severely wounded. Lieut. Rogers, fourth infantry, and Lieut. Smith, fifth infantry, of the same party, were both distinguished by their heroic courage and daring, and were both killed while nobly leading on their men. Capt. McKenzie, selected to lead the storm ing corps from the first division, acted well his part after reaching the heights, and sustained the character of the veteran division of which his command was a part. The fate of Chapultepec was thus sealed, and access to the city opened to the American army. There are two routes from Chapul tepec ; one on the right, entering the gate Belen, with the road from the south, via Piedas ; the other obliqueing to the left, to intersect the great western or San Cosme road in a suburb outside of the gate of San Cosme. Worth and Quitman were prompt in pursuing the retreating enemy, the former by the San Cosme aqueduct, the latter along that of Belens. The latter of these routes being considered far more dif ficult and dangerous, it was the design of the general-in-chief that Quitman should only manoeuvre and threaten the Belen or south western gate, while Worth should be better supported and the main attack be made at the San Cosme gate. But the valor of Quitman and his troops would not admit of delay. Gallant himself, and ably supported by Brig. Gens. Shields and Smith (Shields badly wounded before Chapultepec, but refusing to return), they pressed forward under flank and direct fires, earned an intermediate battery of ten guns, and then the gate, before two o'clock in the afternoon, but not without proportionate loss, increased THE UNITED STATES. by the steady maintenance of that position. Quitman now entered the city, when, adding several new defences to the position he had won, and sheltering his corps as well as he was able, he awaited the return of daylight under the guns of the citadel not to be subdued. During the movements of Quitman, Gen. Worth was industriously employed in fighting his way to the San Cosme, or Custom-house gate. By eight o'clock in the evening, he had carried two batteries in the suburb; and here, by direction of the general-in-chief, he posted guards and sentinels, and placed his troops under shelter for the night. There was but one obstacle, the San Cosme gate, between him and the great square, in front of the cathedral and palace, the heart of the city, and that barrier, it was known, could not, by daylight, stand our large guns thirty minutes. Such was the position of things on the night of the 13th. The weary army sunk to rest, if rest could be found, in expectation of stirring scenes on the coming morning, and with the hope of obtain ing an object long sought for possession of the city which em bosomed the celebrated "Halls of the Montezumas." But at four o'clock, on the 14th, a deputation from the city coun cil waited upon the general-in-chief with the annunciation that the federal government and the army of Mexico, having abandoned the city, they had come to demand terms of capitulation in favor of the church, the citizens, and the municipal authorities. Such demands were, however, promptly met and denied. The city, it was claimed by Gen. Scott, was, in effect, in the power of the Americans, and they would come under no terms not self-imposed. Thus terminated the interview; at the close of which, Gen. Scott gave orders to Gens. Worth and Quitman to advance slowly and cautiously, to guard a.gainst treachery, towards the heart of the city, and to occupy its strong and more commanding points. Gen. Quitman proceeded to the great plaza or square, where he planted guards, and hoisted the colors of the United States on the national palace containing the halls of the congress and executive depart ments of federal Mexico. "In this grateful service," says Gen. Scott, "Quitman might have been anticipated by Worth, but for my express orders, halting the latter at the head of the Alamedas or Park, within three squares of that goal of general ambition." " The capital," he adds, "was not taken by one or two corps, but by the talent, the science, the gallantry, the patriotism of the entire army. In the glorious contest, all had contributed early and powerfully the killed, the wounded, and the fit for duty at Vera Cruz, C en o Gordo, Contreras, San Antonio, Churubusco, (three battles) the 69* 822 THE UNITED STATES. Molinos del Rey, and Chapultepec as much as those who fought at the gates of Belen and San Cosme." No sooner had the victorious army entered, and were in the act of occupying the city, when a fire was opened upon them from the flat roofs of the houses, from windows, and corners of the streets, by some two thousand convicts, liberated the night before by the flying government, joined by, perhaps, as many Mexican soldiers, who had disbanded themselves and thrown off their uniforms. This unlawful war lasted more than twenty-four hours, during which several officers and many soldiers were killed, nor could it be pre vented by the municipal authorities of the city. Thus fell, under the power of the American arms, a city cele brated from the very discovery of the country for its wealth and magnificence for its public squares and public palaces its churches, its palaces, and its other beautiful and extensive structures and containing a population variously estimated from one hundred and forty thousand to two hundred thousand inhabitants ; and at this time defended, at vast expense, by every possible fortification, and by the combined wisdom and scientific skill of their most accom plished generals, aided by an army of thousands upon thousands. Such a series of successful enterprises, accomplished by so few men, and at such a distance from home, in an enemy's country, and that enemy fighting for their altars and their firesides, is scarcely to be paralleled. Including the garrison of Jalapa, and two thousand four hundred and twenty-nine men brought up by Gen. Pierce August 4th, the entire force which left Puebla, August 7th 10th, and which constituted Gen. Scott's entire force, amounted only to ten thousand seven hundred and thirty-eight, rank and file. At Contreras, Churubusco, &c., August 20th, the number of men engaged was eight thousand four hundred and ninety-seven. At the Molinos del Rey, September 8th, three thousand two hundred and fifty-one. At the capture of the city itself, the effective force did not exceed six thousand. The grand total loss of the Americans during their several engagements after entering the basin of Mexico is estimated at two thousand seven hundred and three, including three hundred and eighty-three officers. Of the original force of the Mexicans, estimated at thirty-two thousand, more than seven thou sand were killed or wounded; three thousand seven hundred and thirty were made prisoners, one-seventh officers, including thirteen generals, of whom three had been presidents of the republic. More than twenty colors and standards were taken; serenty-five pieces of ordnance, besides fifty-seven wall pieces, twenty thou- SANTA ANNA SUPERSEDED. 823 sand small arms, and an immense quantity of shot, shells, and powder. With the conquest of Mexico, the power and influence of Santa Anna seemed to have ended. If his patriotism was not impugned, his wisdom and military tact were extensively questioned. He retired from the city a fugitive ; his army was, in effect, disbanded ; his officers and troops scattered in every direction. The supreme government had been filled by Santa Anna, on the 16th of September, the date of his resignation of the presidency, by the appointment of Gen. Pena Y. Pena, as provisional president, who, on the 13th of October, issued his proclamation, assembling the congress of the nation at Querataro, one hundred and twenty-five miles north of Mexico. This summons was followed, on the 20th of October, by an address from Senor Rosa, Secretary of State, convoking, in the name of the president, the governors of the several states to meet him at Querataro on the 10th of November, to consult with the president and his cabinet on subjects of the highest importance. Allusion has already been made to the dissatisfaction felt with regard to the manner with which Santa Anna had conducted the war. That dissatisfaction extended to Gen. Pena Y. Pena, the pro visional president of the republic, who, through Rosa, now de prived Santa Anna of his command, and required him to deliver it up to Don Manuel Rincon, and thence to wait, at some convenient place, the formation of a council of war, to sit in judgment upon him, for the loss of the capital of the republic. On the 16th of October, Santa Anna published a farewell address to the army, dated at his head-quarters at Huamantla, in which, after alluding to the order of the president to transfer his command, in conclusion he said: "I depart from you and the theatre of the war, perhaps, to sacrifice myself to the vengeance of my enemies, or to effect an inglorious peace, which I did not wish to grant, because it was repugnant to my conscience." This was followed by a second address, purporting to be a mani festo against the government, and which was dated at Tebuscan, October 22d. In this, he uttered loud complaints against the govern ment, and all who had combined to deprive him of his command, and of the honor he claimed as due to him. The charge of a want of patriotism he repelled with indignation, challenging his enemies to produce their proofs of its truth, if proofs they had, and conjuring Generals Scott and Taylor, and their armies, to declare, whether, as a Mexican general, he had not fulfilled all his duties to his country. To a complete view of the operations of the army in Mexico, it 824 THE UNITED STATES. is necessary to bring to the notice of the reader, transactions in other quarters. On retiring from Mexico, Santa Anna, gathering a small force, proceeded to the neighborhood of Puebla. This city had been placed in command of Childs, on the march of the American army towards Mexico, with a force of about four hundred men, while the hospitals at that place were filled with one thousand eight hundred sick. Finding it necessary for the comfort of the sick to remove them within the protection of San Jose, Col. Childs was here at length besieged by a Mexican force for the space of twenty-eight days and nights from the 14th of September. During this time the enemy augmented in' numbers daily. Supplies were cut off, and even an attempt was made to deprive the garrison and the sick of water. On the night of the 22 d, as above stated, Santa Anna made his appearance, which was signalized by a general ringing of the bells, and a discharge of shell and round-shot from Soretto into the heart of the city. On the 25th of September, Santa Anna sent in a demand for the surrender of the place. On the 30th he had estab lished his battery, bearing on San Jose, which opened with great spirit. This movement, however, had been anticipated, as were also various other movements during the siege. At length, however, assistance came to the relief of the besieged general and his worn- out but still spirited and determined troops. With a competent force, Gen. Lane reached Puebla on the 13th of Ootober, at one o'clock. 'He immediately entered the city, his troops moving up towards the main plaza, and driving the scattered forces of the enemy before him, and completely clearing the streets. Thus was a brave officer and his men relieved, after a long and serious siege of nearly thirty days, and thirty nights. "Never," says Col. Childs, in his official report, " did troops endure more fatigue, by watching night after night, for more than thirty successive nights, nor exhibit more patience, spirit, and gallantry. Not a post of danger could present itself, but the gallant fellows were ready to fill it not a sentinel could be shot, but another was anxious and ready to take his place : officers and sol diers vied with each other to be honored martyrs in their country's cause. Since the capture of Mexico, two other engagements have taken place between an American and Mexican force the one at Hua- mantla on the 9th of October, and the other at Atlixco on the 19th. In the action of the 9th, at Huamantla, Gen. Lane's force consisted of Col. Wynkoop's battalion, (from Perote,) Col. Gorman's regiment of Indiana volunteers, Capt. Heintzleman's battalion of six com- BATTLE AT HUAMANTLA. 825 panies, Maj Lally's regiment of four companies of mounted men, under command of Capt. Samuel H. Walker, mounted riflemen, and five pieces of artillery, under command of Capt. George Taylor, third artillery, assisted by Lieut. Field, artillery. The Mexican force was estimated at four thousand, a large portion of which were lancers, under the immediate command of Santa Anna. Although fatigued by a long march, the American troops entered the action with great spirit and bravery. Among the dis tinguished officers taken prisoners, were Col. La Vega and Maj. Iturbide, son of the former chief of the republic. To no one, among the gallant men, who took part in the action, was the com manding general more indebted for his decided victory than to Capt. Samuel H Walker, of the mounted riflemen. The commanding general thus speaks of him : " On arriving near the city, about one o'clock P. M., Capt. Walker, commanding the advance guard, (of horsemen,) was ordered to move forward ahead of the column, (but within supporting distance,) to the entrance of the city, and if the enemy were in force, to wait the arrival of the infantry before entering. When within about three miles, parties of horsemen being seen making their way through the fields towards the city, Capt. Walker commanded a gallop. Owing to the thick maguay bushes lining the sides of the road, it was impossible to distinguish his further movements. But a short time had elapsed when firing was heard from the city. The firing continuing, the column was pressed forward as rapidly as possible. At this time a body of about two thousand lancers was seen hurrying over the hills towards the city. I directed Col. Gor man, with his regiment, to advance towards and enter the west side of the city, while Col. Wynkoop's battalion, with the artillery, moved towards the east side, Capt. Heintzleman's moving on his right, and Maj. Lally's constituting the reserve. " Upon arriving at the entrance to the city, Captain Walker, dis covering the main body of the enemy in the plaza, (about five hundred in number,) ordered a charge. A hand-to-hand conflict took place between the forces ; but so resolute was the charge, that the enemy were obliged to give way, being driven from their guns. They were pursued by our dragoons for some distance, but the pursuit was checked by the arrival of their reinforcements. Col. Gorman's regiment, on arriving at the entrance to the city at about the same time as the reinforcements of the enemy, opened a well- directed fire, which succeeded in routing them. With the left wing of his regiment he proceeded in person towards the upper part of 71 c5 826 THE UNITED STATES. the town, where the enemy still were, and succeeded in dispersing them. Col. Wynkoop's command, with the batteries, assumed their position ; but before they were within range, the enemy fled in haste. The same occurred with Capt. Heintzleman's command. The enemy entering the town becoming somewhat scattered, Maj. Lally, with his regiment, proceeded across the fields to cut off his rear and intercept his retreat. This movement not being perceived, I ordered him to advance towards the town; thus depriving him, unintentionally of an opportunity of doing good service. Captain Walker's force had been engaged some three-quarters of an hour before the infantry arrived to his support. He succeeded in cap turing two pieces of 'artillery from the enemy, but was not able to use them, owing to the want of priming- tubes, although every effort was made." Battle of Huamantla Death of Captain Walker. The victory, however, was not achieved without the loss of this distinguished officer. He had routed the enemy in the plaza at the very moment he fell mortally wounded. His loss was deeply deplored, and the more so as he had contributed so essentially to the victory achieved. The total loss on the American side was thirteen killed and eleven wounded. One six-pounder brass gun and one mountain howitzer, both mounted, were captured, together with a large quantity of ammunition and several waggons. The loss of the enemy was about one hundred and fifty. PRELIMINARIES TO PEACE. 827 In the action of tne 19th, at Atlixco, ten leagues from Perote, Gen. Lane's forces consisted of the fourth Ohio and fourth Indiana regiments. Major Lally's and Capt. Heintzleman's battalions, Col. Wynkoop's battalion of four companies, first Pennsylvania volun teers, Capt. Taylor's and Lieut. Pratt's battalion of light artillery, and a squadron of dragoons, commanded by Capt. Ford, third dragoons. About three leagues from the city, the advance-guard of the enemy was first discovered. These, on the arrival of the cavalry, were pursued for a mile and a half. On arriving at a small hill, however, they made a stand, and fought severely, until the American infantry appeared, when they took to flight. The dragoons were again ordered to follow. After a running fight of nearly four miles, and when within a mile and a half of the city, the whole body of the enemy, under command of Gen. Rea, was discovered on a side-hill, covered with chapparal, forming hedges, behind which they had taken post. Here a bloody conflict ensued. During its continuance, the infantry appeared, upon which the enemy again retreated. The column now pressed on, but night set in ere they could reach the city. But, favored by a fine moon-light, the artillery, which had come up, was posted on a hill near to the town, and overlooking it, and open to its fire. From this point, an effective fire was directed upon the city. Every gun was served with the utmost rapidity; and the crash of the walls and the roofs of the houses, when struck by the shot and shell, was mingled with the roar of the artillery. After firing for three-quarters of an hour, the firing from the town having ceased, the American troops entered, and Gen. Lane was now waited upon by the ayuntamiento, desiring that their town might be spared. The loss of the enemy was two hundred and nineteen killed, and three hundred wounded. But one American was killed, and but one wounded. The victory here was the more important, as Atlixco had for some time been the head-quarters of guerillas in that section of country. This victory achieved, Gen. Lane with his command returned to Puebla. The occupation of the city of Mexico by the American army, detailed in a preceding page, may be considered as essentially ter minating the war. A few other engagements between detachments of the two armies occurred at subsequent dates, the principal of which, however, have been noticed ; but the great and long-desired object had been reached the possession of the proud capital of the Aztecs : and now over the "Halls of the Montezumas" the American banner literally floated in triumph. To the Mexicans this event was most unexpected and humiliating. 828 THE UNITED STATES. It crushed their hopes and paralyzed their efforts. With distraction m their public councils their congress broken up their generals dispersed, and their soldiery dispirited, there remained to them no rational prospect of continuing the war with vigor and success. In this posture of affairs, overtures for an adjustment of difficulties by a treaty were renewed by Nicholas P. Trist, United States' com missioner to the President of the Mexican republic. After several months' delay, owing in part to the difficulty of convening a quorum of the Mexican congress, and perhaps still more to the divided state of public opinion, negotiations were opened; and, at length, on the 2d day of February, 1848, a "treaty of peace, friendship, and settle ment," was signed at Guadaloupe Hidalgo by Mr. Trist, in behalf of the United States, and Luis G. Cuivas, Bernardo Conto, and Mi guel Atristain, commissioners on behalf of Mexico. On receiving the treaty, the President of the United States submitted it to the consideration of the Senate. In that body, the debate, it is under stood, was long and exciting : to most of the senators, the terms of the treaty were far from being satisfactory ; and, in addition, it was understood that the powers of Mr. Trist had been revoked, and himself recalled, prior to the negotiations which issued in this treaty. But the hazard, in case of its rejection, of a renewal of hostilities, and the indefinite continuance of war, already sufficiently sanguinary and burdensome to both nations, induced the Senate to concur in its ratification. Important amendments, however, having been made by that body, it became necessary to return it to Mexico, for the concurrence and sanction of the Mexican government. With a view of explaining the modifications which the treaty had undergone in the American Senate, and to facilitate its ratification by the Mexican government, the Hon. Mr. Sevier, of the Senate, and Hon. Nathan Clifford, Attorney General of the United States, were appointed commissioners, with full powers to proceed to Mexico, and to ex change ratifications with the Mexican government, in case the latter adopted the treaty as modified. These gentlemen reached the city of Queretaro, the seat of the Mexican congress, on the 25th of May Already the House of Deputies had sanctioned the treaty; and on the day of the arrival of the American commissioners, it was adopted by the Mexican Senate by the strong vote of thirty-three to five. The ratified treaty was duly announced to the American people by the President's proclamation, bearing date July 4th ; thus coin ciding with that of the Declaration of American Independence. On the 6th it was officially communicated to Congress, accompanied by a congratulatory message from the President. PROVISIONS OP THE TREATY. 829 The most important provisions of this treaty relate to boundary lines "consideration" due to Mexico indemnity to American citi zens a nd the withdrawal of troops from the Mexican territory. " The boundary line between the two republics," according to the fifth article, "shall commence in the Gulf of Mexico, three leagues from land, opposite the mouth of the Rio Grande, otherwise called Rio Bravo del Norte, or opposite the mouth of its deepest branch, if it should have more than one branch emptying directly into the sea; from thence up the middle of that river, following the deepest chan nel, where it has more than one, to the point where it strikes the southern boundary of New Mexico; thence westerly along the whole southern boundary of New Mexico, which runs north of the town called Paso, to its western termination; thence northward, along the western line of New Mexico, until it intersects the first branch of the river Gila; or, if it should not intersect any branch of that river, then to the point on the said line nearest to such branch, and then in a direct line to the same ; thence down the middle of the said branch, and of the said river, until it empties into the Rio Colorado; thence across the Rio Colorado following the division line between Upper and Lower California to the Pacific Ocean." The free navigation of the Gulf of California and of the river Colorado, from the mouth of the Gila to the Gulf, is secured to the United States. The southern and western limits of New Mexico, mentioned in the above article, are those which are laid down in a map of the United Mexican States, published in 1847, by J. Disturnell, New York. The "consideration" which the United States are to pay to Mexico for the above territory, is stipulated in the twelfth article, and is to be fifteen millions of dollars. Of this sum three millions were paid on the ratification of the treaty ; and the remaining twelve millions are to be paid, in the gold or silver coin of Mexico, in four annual instalments of three millions each, with interest at six per cent., and at the city of Mexico. No portion of this sum is transferable. In respect to claims of American citizens against Mexico, the thir teenth article provides that the government of the United States shall severally assume and pay all such claims; both those already decided, and those still undecided the whole, however, not to amount to more than three millions and a quarter of dollars: said claims to be ascertained by a Board of Commissioners. The United States' government further engages to protect Mexico from the hostile Indian tribes inhabiting the ceded territories, and to pay for their depredations, be they more or less, as "security for the future." 830 THE UNITED STATES. The troops of the United States, the treaty further provides, shall leave Mexico in three months after the ratification of the treaty, unless the sickly season should come on; in which event, they are to retire to some healthy situation, and are to be furnished with supplies by the Mexican government on amicable terms. The territories of New Mexico and Upper California, thus ceded to the United States, are sufficiently large for a great empire. They embrace nearly ten degrees of latitude, lying adjacent to the Oregon territory, and extend from the Pacific to the Rio Grande a mean distance of nearly one thousand miles. By the possession^of the ports of San Diego and the Bay of San Francisco, the United States will doubtless be able to command the commerce of the Pacific. Seven hundred American whale ships are now employed on that sea, requiring more than twenty thousand seamen to navigate them, and involving a capital of not less than forty millions of dollars. By these acquisitions, we are brought into immediate proximity with the west coast of America, from Cape Horn to the' Russian possessions north of Oregon; with the islands of the Pacific Ocean ; and by a direct voyage in steamers, we shall be in less than thirty days of Canton and other parts of China.* California and New Mexico, deemed by many at the time of their acquisition of little value to the United States, excepting the Bay of San Francisco, have suddenly acquired great importance, espe cially the former, by reason of large quantitfes of gold said to exist in its soil, and of which already considerable amounts have been gathered, in the form of lumps and gold dust. Upper California, geographically considered, embraces several distinct divisions. The grand feature is a range of mountains, called the Sierra Nevada (Snowy Mountain), dividing it into two parts, and exercising a decided influence on the climate, soil, and productions of each. This mountain range stretches along the coast, at the general distance of one hundred and fifty miles from it. East of the Sierra Nevada, and between it and the Rocky mountains, is the Great Basin, of some five hundred miles in diam eter, and four or five thousand feet above the level of the sea, shut in on all sides by mountains. Its general character is that of a desert, but with some exceptions, there being portions of it fit for the residence of a civilized people ; and of these parts, the Mormons have lately established themselves in one of the largest and best. West of the Sierra Nevada lies the Maritime region, which is the President's Message. STATISTICS OF CALIFORNIA, ETC. 831 second grand division of California, and which, according to Colonel Freemont, is "the only part to which the name applies, in the current language of the country. It is the occupied and inhabited part, and so different in character so divided by the mountain-wall of the Sierra from the Great Basin above as to constitute a region to itself, with a structure and configuration a soil, climate, and pro ductions of its own; and as Northern Persia may be referred to as some type of the former, so may Italy be referred to as some point of comparison for the latter. North and south, this region embraces about ten degrees of latitude from thirty-second degree, where it touches the peninsula of California, to forty-second degree, where it bounds on Oregon. East and west, from the Sierra Ne vada to the sea, it will average, in the middle parts, one hundred and fifty miles ; in the northern parts, two hundred giving an area of above one hundred thousand square miles. Looking westward from the summit of the Sierra, the main feature presented is the long, low, broad valley of the Joaquin and Sacramento rivers the two valleys forming one five hundred miles long and fifty broad, lying along the base of the Sierra, and bounded to the west by the low coast range of mountains, which separates it from the sea." The valleys of the Sacramento and San Joaquin are one, but discriminated by the names of the rivers which traverse it. These are the San Joaquin and Sacramento, already named. They rise at opposite ends of this valley, receive numerous streams, some of them bold rivers from the Sierra Nevada, and, at length, meet and enter together the Bay of San Francisco, in the region of tide water, making a continuous water-line from one end to the other. The valley of the San Joaquin is about three hundred miles long and sixty broad, with a general elevation of only a few hundred feet above the level of the sea. The valley of the Sacramento is divided into upper and lower the lower, perhaps, exceeds two hundred miles; the upper, one hundred. The upper is entitled to this distinction, not only as being higher up on the river, but also from having a, superior elevation of some thousands of feet above it. This upper valley is heavily timbered, and the climate and productions are modified by its altitude. The Sacramento river is navigable to the rapids, a distance of two hundred miles, increasing from one hundred and fifty to six hundred yards in the lowest part of its course. The Bay of San Francisco has been celebrated from its earliest discovery, as one of the best in the world. It is separated from the sea by low mountain ranges. Through these ranges is a single 832 THE UNITED STATES. gap, resembling a mountain pass. This is the entrance to the great bay, and is the only water communication from the coast to the interior country. It has a total length of seventy-five miles, or about thirty-five miles, north and south of the entrance. It is divided by straits and projecting points into three separate bays, of which the northern two are called San Pablo and Suisoon bays. The head of the bay is about forty miles from the sea, and there commences its connexion with the noble valleys of the San Joaquin and Sacramento. The depth of water in the bay is sufficient for the largest ships; and here, it is said, the navies of the world might ride in safety.* The great point of interest in this newly-acquired territory is the valley of the Sacramento this being, in various portions of it, distinguished for its "placers? or gold deposits, and which are now attracting the attention of the civilized world. It is probable that the existence of gold in these regions has long been known to indi viduals, but kept a secret, until a trivial circumstance brought the fact into general notice. At the distance of about forty miles up the Sacramento, is a place known as Sutter's fort. At a consider able distance from this place, higher up, Captain Sutter, desirous of erecting a saw-mill, contracted for that purpose with a Mr. Mar shall in September, 1847. When completed, and the water was let on to the wheel, the tail-race was found to be too narrow to allow the water to escape with sufficient rapidity. To save labor, Mr. Marshall let the water directly into the race with a strong current, so as to wash it wider and deeper. He effected his purpose, and a large bed of mud and gravel was carried to the foot of the race. One day, Mr. Marshall, as he was walking down the race to this deposite of mud, observed some glittering particles at its upper edge. He gathered a few, examined them, and became satisfied of their value. Repairing to the fort, he made known the discovery to Captain Sutter, and his impressions of its importance. Such, it is believed, are the circumstances which led to the recent discovery of the existence of gold in that region. Further explorations soon followed, and, at, length, satisfactory evidence was furnished that large portions of the valley abound with the precious metal. It is needless to enter into further details. Nor shall we attempt to describe the excitement which has grown out of this discovery, nor estimate the thousands who have set sail to this newly-discov ered El Dorado. The excitement is spreading over the land; it is * Freemont's California. NOMINATIONS FOR PRESIDENT. 833 extending to various portions of the world and from all parts of the Southern continent from the various countries of Europe and the islands of the sea, vessels loaded with panters in the chase, are either already traversing the wide waste of waters, or preparing to traverse them, in quest of the "shining dust." The future history of this "gold mania" will doubtless be pregnant with exciting scenes. The administration of Mr. Polk, notwithstanding the party to which he owed his elevation supported him in his measures, cannot be said to have been popular. As an evidence of this, few, if any, seriously favored his reelection. At the national democratic con vention, held in Baltimore, on the 21st of May, 1848, for the nomina tion of a candidate for the presidency, others were brought forward, while he was not named. The prominent names were those of Lewis Cass, of Michigan, James Buchanan, of Pennsylvania, and Levi Woodbury, of New Hampshire. After several ballotings, Lewis Cass was duly nominated. General W. O. Butler, of Ken tucky, was nominated for the vice-presidency. In June following, (7th,) a whig national convention was held in Philadelphia for a similar purpose. The principal candidates were Henry Clay, of Kentucky, General Zachary Taylor, of Louisiana, and General Winfield Scott, of New Jersey. The result of several ballotings was the nomination of General Taylor, who, of the two hundred and eighty votes cast, received one hundred and seventy votes. Mr. Clay had thirty-two, and General Scott sixty-three. Millard Fillmore, of New York, was nominated for the vice- presidency. In the Baltimore democratic convention, the state of New York was not represented. Two separate sets of delegates, from two separate conventions held in that state, were present, and each claimed seats ; and while a portion of the convention were inclined to admit one set and exclude the other, and some were in favor of the admission of both, it was at length decided to exclude both. In consequence of this exclusion, the free-soil party adopted measures to convene another convention, which met at Utica, and nominated Martin Van Buren. The object of this party was two-fold to defeat Mr. Cass, and next, to lay the foundation for organizing a free-soil party, designed ultimately to gain a political ascendancy in the United States. During the summer following, the friends of the respective candi dates were not idle. While their efforts were not characterized by the enthusiasm and intemperance of some former electioneering D5 834 THE UNITED STATES. campaigns, no probable means of success were omitted. Conven tions were held speeches were made pamphlets circulated; political agents itinerated the country, and the press, as usual, gave currency to every good and evil report, as suited its political taste and interests. At length, in November, the election was held, and resulted in the choice of a majority of electors friendly to the election of General Taylor. On the 14th of February, '1849, the votes of the several colleges were opened and counted, agreeably to the constitution, in the presence of both houses of congress, when it appeared that the whole number of votes given was two hundred and ninety, of which General Taylor received one hundred and sixty-three, and accord ingly was declared to be elected. Millard Fillmore, having a like number of votes for the vice-presidency, was so proclaimed. Lewis Cass, and General W. O. Butler, had each one hundred and twenty- seven votes for the respective offices for which they were nominated. Mr. Van Buren failed to receive the vote of a single state. The THIRTIETH congress closed its second session on the 3d of March, or rather extended it to about seven o'clock on the morning of the Sabbath, a practice which cannot be too severely condemned, and which it is to be devoutly hoped, may never occur again. This must be considered the more censurable, as but few measures of signal importance were proposed for the session, and the most prominent of those few utterly failed. California was left without any pro visional government, the more to be regretted, from the great influx of people from various quarters of the globe, between whom jeal ousy and rivalry are likely to spring up, not only because of their national partialities and different customs, but especially from inter ferences one with another in their search after gold. A new department was created, called the "Home Department," an import ant office, and one which, taking certain branches of business hitherto belonging to the state and treasury departments, will greatly relieve the officers at the head of those departments. The presidential term of Mr. Polk ended on the 3d of March. The inauguration of General Taylor, according to the constitution, would have taken place on the 4th, but as that day was the Sabbath, it was postponed to the following day, when it took place with the usual imposing ceremonies. At ten o'clock, the new senate was organized. Rev. Mr. Slicer, chaplain of the senate, performed the usual devotional exercises. At half-past twelve o'clock, the president elect, supported by the ex-president, preceded by the committee of arrangements, entered INAUGURATION OF PRESIDENT TAYLOR. 835 the senate-chamber. Shortly after, a procession was formed, and moved to the eastern portico of the capitol ; where, in the presence of gathered thousands, General Taylor delivered his inaugural address ; immediately following which, the oath of office was admin istered to him by Chief Justice Taney. The inaugural address was the shortest ever delivered by any president since the formation of the government, except Mr. Madi son's. Yet it was sufficiently full and satisfactory to a large majority of his political friends. It did not abound in professions or pledges, and perhaps to a few it might have been more acceptable, had he developed his views in relation to certain questions of policy, on which he observed a studied, and perhaps sagacious silence. It was a plain, manly, comprehensible document, couched in beautiful and eloquent terms : its brevity is worthy of all praise, and in this respect, if no other, is a model worthy of future imitation. On points of greatest national importance, General Taylor waa lear and unequivocal. We quote a few paragraphs of this address, which set forth Ms aims and objects: "With such aids [the legislative and judicial branches of the gov ernment] and an honest purpose to do whatever is right, I hope to execute diligently, impartially, and for the best interests of the country, the manifold duties devolved upon me. In the discharge f these duties, my guide will be the constitution, which I this day swear to * preserve, protect, and defend.' For the interpretation .of that instrument, I shall look to the decisions of the judicial tribunals established by its authority, and to the practice of the government under the earliest presidents, who had so large a shar in .its formation. " Chosen by the body of the people, under the assurance that my administration would be devoted to the welfare of the whole country, and not to the support of any particular section or merely local interests, I, this day, renew the declarations I have heretofore made, and proclaim my fixed determination to maintain, to the extent x>f my ability, the government in its original purity, and to adopt, as the basis of my public policy, those great republican doctrines which constitute the strength of our national existence. "It shall be my study to recommend such constitutional raeasares to congress, as may be necessary and proper to secure encourage ment and protection to the great interests of agriculture, commerce, and manufactures ; to improve our rivers and harbors ; to provide for the speedy extinguishment of the public debt; to enforce a strict 836 THE UNITED STATES. accountability on the part of all officers of the government, and the utmost economy in all public expenditures ; but it is for the wisdom of congress itself, in which all legislative powers are vested by the constitution, to regulate these and other matters of domestic policy. "In conclusion, I congratulate you, my fellow-citizens, upon the high state of prosperity to which the goodness of Divine Providence has conducted our common country. Let us invoke a continuance of the same protecting care, which has led us from small beginnings to the eminence we this day occupy, and let us seek to deserve that by prudence and moderation in our councils; by well-directed attempts to assuage- the bitterness which too often marks unavoid able differences of opinion; by the promulgation and practice of just and liberal principles ; and by enlarged patriotism, which shall acknowledge no limits but those of our own wide-spread republic." The senate having been summoned by Mr. Polk to meet on the day of the inauguration with reference to an organization of the new administration, General Taylor, on the 6th, submitted the following nominations of members of his cabinet, which were duly confirmed, viz: John M. Clayton, of Delaware, Secretary of State; William M. Meredith, of Pennsylvania, Secretary of the Treasury; Thomas Ewing, of Ohio, Secretary of the Home Department; George W. Crawford, of Georgia, Secretary of War; William B. Preston, of Virginia, Secretary of the Navy ; Jacob Collamer, of Vermont, Postmaster General ; Reverdy Johnson, of Maryland, Attorney General. No other nation presents such a spectacle as the people of the United States. Our election campaigns are without a parallel. What bustle, strife, and even angry contests are witnessed at our polls ! But the question once settled and however settled in a few hours all is hushed "the noise of the waves and the tumults of the people." Each partisan, whether of the victors or of the van quished, turns off to his appropriate calling, and the government, whatever be its political complexion, is organized without further excitement, and proceeds to the execution of its duty, as calmly as if it had been wafted into power on the most tranquil sea, and by the most gentle breeze. A P P E I D IX. CHAPTER I. THE ABORIGINES OP AMERICA. Early notions respecting the Americans. Speculations concerning their origin. Intercourse of the inhabitants of the north-eastern parts of Asia with America. Similarity of the customs of the Indians with those of many tribes in the old world. General physiognomy of the North American Indians. Their mental and intellectual qualities. State of government and general knowledge among them. Description of particular tribes. The Eskimaux. Indians of the United States, their number and dis tribution. Manners, mode of life and religious notions of the Indians. The Mandans. The Sioux. The Camanchees. The Caribs. The Calif ornians. American languages. Antiquities of the North American Indians. THE early narratives of the discoveries in the western conti nent contain the most marvellous tales respecting the inhabitants. America, according to many of these accounts, was peopled with pigmies, giants, and men with heads beneath their shoulders. A tribe of negroes was believed to exist in the south, while the northern regions were supposed to contain inhabitants perfectly white. Nothing, however, is more striking than the uniform appearance of the aboriginal population. The problem of the origin of the American Indians, has em ployed the researches and speculations of ingenious men, ever since the discovery of the continent. Many fanciful theories 2 ABORIGINES OF AMERICA. have been invented to explain the manner in which America was peopled ; but the most reasonable supposition seems to be that the western continent received its first population from Asia. The map of the globe will show us that immediately within the arctic circle, the eastern extremity of the old continent is separated from America by a strait less than forty miles in width, and this strait is solidly frozen during winter. Kamtschatka, the ex tremity of Asia, situated between the fortieth and fiftieth degrees of north latitude, is peopled by natives who are thoroughly accus tomed to endure all the rigors of this climate, and is provided with many animals equally capable of existing through all its inclemencies. Under such circumstances, we can see no difficulty in concluding that, from the eastern extremity of Asia, both men and animals have passed to America, and subsequently been multiplied over the whole continent. Fn respect to human beings, it is not necessary to insist that they passed to the American shore during winter, since the distance is not too great for us to believe, that even the rudest navigators, when driven by stress of weather from their own coast, as often happens to the Eskimaux, Eskimaux. could, with little difficulty, have reached this continent. The Aleutian islands, which are very numerous, and form almost a continuous chain, beginning with Behring's Island, and extending from a point opposite to Kamtschatka, in about the fifty-fifth degree of latitude, may have afforded a much easier and more certain approach. These islands are in the same parallel of lati tude with the greater part of Hudson's Bay and Labrador, where even Europeans are able to endure the climate during the severest ABORIGINES OF AMERICA,. 3 seasons. There is, in fact, positive proof, that the reindeer cross over in vast herds on the ice, subsisting on the moss found on these islands during their passage. An objection has been made to this hypothesis, grounded on the fact of the striking difference between the Eskimaux and the common Indian, seeming to prove that they were derived from different races. But the Eskimaux bear a manifest resemblance to the Kamtschadale, Tunguse, and other natives of the northeast of Asia, notwithstanding that they differ in many respects from other inhabitants of the new world; there can, therefore, be no reasonable doubt that they are descended from the same parent stock. The copper-colored natives of America, who are the most numerous of the aborigines, approach more closely to the Asiatic Tartars in color and stature. Our belief of the Asiatic origin of the Americans is strengthened by the similarity which many of their customs bear to those of many wild tribes of the ancient continent. The practice of scalping was common among the Scythians. Herodotus informs us that they carried about witn them at all times this savage mark of triumph. The ferocity of the Scythians to their prisoners, extended to the remotest part of Asia. The natives of Kamtschatka, at the time of its discovery by the Russians, put their prisoners to death with the most linger ing tortures. The Scythians were believed by the neighboring nations, annually to transform themselves into wild beasts, and again to resume the human shape. The true account of this metamorphosis may be found in a practice very common among the American Indians. They disguise themselves in dresses Indian hunter, with a deer's hide on. made of the skins of beasts, and wear the heads fitted to their own ; these habits they use in hunting, to deceive their game. Ignorance and superstition, .among barbarous people, would natu- 4 ABORIGINES OF AMERICA. rally ascribe to a supernatural metamorphosis these temporary expedients to outwit the brute creation. The Indians of North America are marked by considerable differences in stature, color and physiognomy. Their average height corresponds with that of Europeans, though many indi viduals may be found, in various tribes, far exceeding the ordinary height. Their color varies, from a cinnamon-brown to a deep copper-color; and some have been found of an olive-yellow tinge. They almost .universally have black, straight and stiff hair, Chief of the BlacJcfoot nation. though it frequently appears coarser from their mode of dressing it, than it would in its natural state. The features of tne face are all large and strongly marked, except the eyes, which are gener ally deep-seated, or sunk in large sockets, and placed nearly in a horizontal line. In this respect, and in general beauty of person, they more nearly resemble the European than any other variety of the human race. The forehead is commonly rather low, some what compressed at the sides, and slightly retreating from the perpendicular. The facial angle is about eighty degrees. The nose is generally prominent, and sometimes arched. The cheek bones are high and widely separated ; the angle of the jaw is ABORIGINES OF AMERICA. 5 broad, and the chin square. These latter marks give a peculiar fulness to the lower part of the face, and occasion much of the remarkable expression of the Indian countenance. They were formerly supposed to be destitute of a beard, but this is erroneous ; they eradicate the hair from the face with the greatest care. The haii 1 of the head is also, in a great part, removed ; a small lock being usually left on the centre or crown, which is commonly decorated with feathers, porcupine quills and other ornaments. It is almost a universal habit with them to paint their bodies, either on occasions of ceremony, or preparatory to battle; hence, vermilion has always been a substance of great value to them. Under ordinary circumstances, where this substance is not to be obtained, they employ various colored clays, charcoal, &c., which are smeared over the skin in fantastic figures. Western Prairie. In his native wilds, free from the debilitating vices and corrup tions of civilization, the North American Indian is brave, hospita ble, honest and confiding ; for him danger has no terrors, and his house is ever open to the stranger. Taught to regard glory as the highest reward of his actions, he becomes a stoic under suffering, and so far subjugates his feelings as to stifle the emotions of his soul, allowing no outward sign of their workings to be perceived. His friendships are steadfast, and his promises sacredly kept; his anger is dreadful; his revenge, though often long cherished in secret, is as horrible and effective as it is certain. Neces sity and pride teach him patience ; habitual exercise makes him vigilant and skilful. His youth is principally spent in listening to the recital of his ancestors' deeds of renown, and his manhood is passed in endeavoring to leave for his children an induce ment to follow his example. In common circumstances, the Indian is grave, dignified and taciturn ; but in the assembly of his nation, or in a council with the whites, he frequently becomes fluent, impassioned, eloquent and sublime. With few words and ABORIGINES OF AMERICA. no artificial aid, drawing his images exclusively from surrounding objects, and yielding to his own ardent impulses, he rouses his friends to enthusiasm, or strikes dread into his enemies, , as he depicts, with a few rapid touches, the terrors of his vengeance, 01 the horril le carnage of his hattles. Indian Council. The stein impassiveness of the Indian is one of his strongest characteristics. When suffering from hunger, he utters no com plaint ; when long absent from home, he expresses no emotion at his return. "I am come," is his simple salutation. "It is well," is the reply. When refreshed by eating and smoking, he relates the story of his enterprise to his assembled friends, who listen in respectful silence, or only testify their interest in his narrative by a single ejaculation. The Indians almost universally revere the aged, and are exceedingly indulgent to their offspring, whom they rarely chastise, except by casting cold water on them. They are not so kind to their women, who are generally treated more as domestic animals than as companions, and are seldom exempted from severe toils, even when about to give birth to their children. Notwithstanding this, the women appear contented with their situation, and not unfrequently exhibit excellent traits of charac ter. At times, their jealousy or other depressing passions lead them to the commission of suicide, and in some tribes this pre vails to a considerable extent. Indian habits of thinking vary with their modes of education, and differ much in different na tions, ^f he want of chastity, before marriage, is not universally considered n loss of character; neither is incontinence in the female, after marriage, regarded as a crime, if the husband gives ABORIGINES OF AMERICA. 7 his consent. Yet the same people will treat as infamous, and even put to an ignominious death, a woman who receives the addissses of another man without the permission of her husband. The number of wives taken by the men is most commonly limited only by their ability to maintain them, as almost all the Indians practise polygamy. Their wandering modes of life and precari ous subsistence render the increase of population among them far inferior to what it is among the whites. Knisteneaux rvoman. The government to which they submit is that exercised by their chiefs, who are, with very few exceptions, chosen in consequence of their superior courage, physical strength, or great experience and wisdom. The deference paid to them is not at all to be com pared with that manifested by Europeans to their rulers ; it is a respect for high qualities and reputation, but confers no other privileges than that of leading them to battle, or directing the movements of their camp ; it does not entitle the chief to interfere with the rights of others of his tribe, nor can his will be carried into effect unless it be supported by the general opinion of his people. The authority of the chiefs of the ancient German tribes, according to the relation of Tacitus, was precisely the same. The most general and enduring passion among the Indians, is that for military glory. The earliest language the young savage learns, is the warrior's praise ; the first actions he is taught to perform, 72 S ABORIGINES OF AMERICA. have for their object the eventual attainment of this distinction, and every thought is hent towards the achievement of heroic deeds. Hence death. is despised, suffering endured, and danger courted The song of war is more musical to his ear than the voice of love; and the yells of the returning warrior thrill his hosom with pleasing anticipations of the time when he shall leave blood and ashes where the dwelling of his enemy stood, and hear the tri umphant shouts of his kinsman responsive to his own returning war-cry. Movable wigwams of the Kaskaskias. The knowledge of the Indians is very limited; their talents are most exhibited by their skill in hunting, and the shrewdness of their observation, by which they can detect the footsteps of game or of their enemies. Their acquaintance with the mechanic arts is small ; they construct huts or lodges, with skins, bark, or earth, sustained by rude poles. They make canoes of birch-bark, shape bowls out of wood, with vast labor, by the aid of sharp flints and other stones ; make a rude and sun-dried pottery ; fashion to bacco-pipes of clay or stone; dress the skins of animals by rub bing them when moistened with brains, till they are pliable ; and from these skins they manufacture moccasins, pouches, &c., va riously ornamented with porcupine quills, which they know how to dye several brilliant colors. Their knowledge of medicines and surgery is exceedingly rude and imperfect, and consists in a few plain remedies and a great deal of juggling mummery. They cannot be said to have any acquaintance with astronomy, if we except the ability which some of them possess to guide their course by the polar star. Their ideas of the Deity are very crude and indistinct, though ABORIGINES OF AMERICA. 9 they all seem to possess some notion of a future state, as well as of a Great Spirit and Director of the universe. Many tribes have some belief in the rewards and punishments of a future life ; but their ideas on this subject are necessarily founded on their appre ciation of what is at present agreeable or disagreeable to them selves. They believe in bad as well as good spirits, and are as strongly incited to worship the one from fear, as to adore the other from respect and love. Indians hunting buffaloes. Their modes of living vary throughout the regions they inhabit. Those who reside where game is plenty, live entirely by hunting; others, in the neighborhood of lakes and rivers, live by fighting ; many tribes raise maize and tobacco. The Indians who frequent the prairies and level tracts, in general are fond of horses, and are excellent horsemen; while those who roam the forests are more remarkable for the speed and sagacity with which they travel on foot. Eskimaux hut. 10 ABORIGINES OF AMERICA. The Eskimaux who inhabit the most northern parts of the continent, differ considerably from all the other aborigines of America. They are far inferior in stature, and their features are extremely harsh and disagreeable to Europeans. Their cheek bones are very prominent, their cheeks tumid and somewhat globose, their noses small, flat or sunken, and their whole phy siognomy resembles considerably that of the most ill-favored Tartar tribes. The Eskimaux character varies from Prince Wil liam's Sound, where they are of the largest size, as they extend to the more northern regions, to the coast of the Icy Sea, Hud son's Bay, Greenland and Labrador, they become dwarfish in comparison with the Europeans, and have heretofore given rise to stories of a race of pigmies inhabiting those regions. The number of Indians inhabiting tire territory of the United States east of the Mississippi, at the period of the first settlement, has been estimated at somewhat below two hundred thousand. These people spoke a vast variety of dialects ; yet the number of languages radically distinct, was only eight. These eight races were the Algonquin, the Sioux or Dahcotah, the Wyandot or Huron- Iroquois, the Catawba, the Cherokee, the Uchee, the Natchez, and the Mobilian. The Algonquin race were the most numerous, and extended from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to Carolina. This race comprised numerous tribes. 1. The Micmacs, who inhabited Nova Scotia, and often invaded Maine, but do riot appear to have become permanently domiciliated there. 2. The Etchemins, or Canoe-men, in the eastern part of Maine. 3. The Abenakis, on the Penobscot and Androscoggin. 4. The Sokokis on the Saco. 5. The Pennacooks or Pawtuckets, in New Hampshire, and the ABORIGINES OF AMERICA. 11 county of Essex, in Massachusetts. 6. The Massachusetts, who, at the period of the discovery, had but a few scanty settlements in the state to which they gave their name, but had formerly been very numerous. 7. The Pokanokets, who dwelt about Mount Hope, in Rhode Island, in Nantucket, Martha's Yineyard and on Cape Cod. 8. The Narragansetts, in the western part of the state of Rhode Island, and a part of Long Island ; these were the most civilized of all the northern tribes. 9. The Pequods, in the eastern part of Connecticut and on Long Island. 10. The Mo- hegans, between the Connecticut and the Hudson. 11. The Manhattans, whose settlements were mixed with the Mohegans. 12. The Lenni Lennape, subdivided into the Minsi and Dela- wares, inhabiting New Jersey, the banks of the Delaware, and the Schuylkill. 13. The Nanticokes, between the Delaware and the Chesapeake. 14. The Accomacs, on the eastern shore of Virginia. 15. The Pamlicoes, in the eastern part of North Caro lina. 16. The Shawnees, in Kentucky. 17. The Miamis, on the Scioto, the Wabash and Lake Michigan. 18. The Illinois, between the Wabash, the Ohio and the Mississippi. 19. The Potawatomies on Green Bay. 20. The Chippeways or Ojibways, Chippervay Village. in the country south of Lake Superior. 21. The Menomonies, near Green Bay. 22. The Sacs, between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi. 23. The Foxes, in the same neighborhood. 24. The Kickapoos, in the north of Illinois. Such were the diver sities of the great Algonquin nation, which possessed more than half of the territory of the United States east of the Mississippi. The Sioux nation inhabited the northern bank of the Missis sippi, and waged a hereditary war with the Chippeways. Their numbers appear to be greater at present than formerly. 72* E5 12 ABORIGINES OF AMERICA. The Wyandots were very numerous and powerful at the time of the discovery; they appear to have come originally from Canada; they dwelt about Mackinaw, Detroit, and along the southern shore of Lake Erie and Ontario, occupying a great por tion of New York and Pennsylvania. The Mohawks, OneidaSj Onondagas, Cayugas and Senecas, were comprised in this nation. In the south, were the Chowan, Meherrin, Nottaway and Tus- carora tribes in Carolina. The Wyandot tribes of the north, were of great political importance ; they effected many conquests, and for a long time held the balance of power between the French and English settlers. The Catawba nation occupied the interior of North and South Carolina. They were the hereditary enemies of the Wyandots, and do not appear ever to have been a powerful nation ; they are now nearly extinct. The Cherokee nation inhabited the elevated regions of Caro lina, Georgia and Alabama, and the upper valley of the Tennes see. They have now emigrated beyond the Mississippi. The Uchee nation dwelt southeast of the Cherokees. The Natchez inhabited the country on the eastern bank of the Missis sippi. Both these nations are now merged in the Creek confed eracy. Palmetto Glade Florida,. The Mobilian nation inhabited Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. This nation includes various tribes, several of which remain undiminished in numbers to the present day. The Yamassees and Creeks dwelt in Georgia, the Semi- noles in Florida, the Choctaws between the Alabama and the Mississippi, and the Chickasaws to the north of the Natchez. ABORIGINES OF AMERICA. 13 Many of these nations remain in Florida; others have emigrated to the west. From the above account of the aboriginal inhabitants of that portion of the continent with which we are the best acquainted, the reader may gather some notion of the great variety of the tribes which still occupy the forests, the prairies, the plains and the deserts of North and South America. The names would form an extensive catalogue, and we shall confine our descriptions to such of them as attract especial notice. Anything mystical or marvellous among the Indians of the west, is called a medicine, and a person supposed to be a conjurer, is styled a medicine-man. The fur-traders were formerly almost all French, and their word medecin, or doctor, became adopted by the Indians, to signify anything marvellous or unaccountable, among which, of course, is the practice of physic with the natives. The Indian country is full of doctors, all pretending to be skilled in magic, and to deal in mysteries and charms, which are their main helps in curing disorders. The Indians have their "medi* Indian Robe. cine-bags," which are made of the skins of animals, birds or reptiles, and ornamented in a great variety of ways. These bags are generally attached to some part of the clothing, or carried in the hand. They are often decorated in such a manner as to be 5 14 APORIGINES OF AMERICA. exceedingly ornamental, and are always stuffed with grass, moss ? or something similar ; they are religiously closed and sealed up, and are seldom or never opened. The medicine-bag is a sort of amulet, on which the Indian relies for protection, and to which he pays homage. Feasts are often made, and dogs and horses sacri ficed, to a man's medicine, and weeks of fasting and penance suffered, to appease this mysterious object, when he imagines it is offended with him. The medicine-bag has fallen into disrepute along the frontier, where the white men have depreciated it by their ridicule ; but in the distant west it is in full reputation. A boy of fourteen or fifteen years is said to be ' making his medicine,' when he -wanders away from his father's lodge, and absents himself for four or five days ; during which time he lies on the ground in some secluded spot, crying to the Great Spirit, and fasting both day and night. In'this state, when he falls asleep, the first animal, bird or reptile, of which he dreams, he believes the Great Spirit has designated for his mysterious protec tor through life. He then returns home and relates his success, Knistenaux, mth his lance and medicine-bag. and after eating and drinking, he sallies forth, with weapons of traps, in quest of the animal of which he has dreamed. The skin of this animal is made into his medicine-bag, and carried by him through life. After death it is laid in his grave. ABORIGINES OF AMERICA. 15 The value of the medicine-bag to the Indian is beyond all price ; to sell or give it away would expose him to such signal disgrace with his tribe that he could never recover his standing among them. His superstition, moreover, is an effectual guard against any such sacrilegious act. If he loses his medicine-lag in battle, though fighting ever so bravely, he suffers a deep dis grace ; his enemy carries it off as a trophy, and the loser bears the degrading appellation of a " man of no medicine," until he can replace it by rushing into battle and capturing one from an enemy whom he slays with his own hand. This reinstates him in his rank, and even elevates him higher than before; for the captured article is considered of superior power, and goes by the name of "medi cine honorable." Mandan cemetery, The Mandans never bury their dead, but place the corpses on a slight scaffolding, just above the reach of human hands, and out of the way of wolves and dogs. There they are left to moulder and decay. This aerial cemetery is commonly in the neighborhood of one of their villages, and often contains some hundreds of corpses. When a Mandan dies, and the customary honors and condolences have been paid to his remains, the body is dressed in his best attire, painted, oiled, and equipped with bow and quiver, shield, pipe and tobacco, knife, flint and steel, and provisions for a few days 7 journey. A fresh buffalo's skin, just stripped from the animal's back, is then wrapped round the body, and tightly bound with thongs of raw hide from head to foot. Other robes of skin are then soaked in water till they are quite soft, and these are 16 ABORIGINES OF AMERICA. also bandaged tightly round the body, so as totally to exclude the air. The scaffold is then erected for it, constructed of four upright posts : on the tops of these are laid small poles and willow-rods, forming a support just strong enough to sustain the body, which is laid upon its back, with the feet to the rising sun. Fathers, mothers, wives and children may be seen, prostrated on the ground, under these scaffolds, howling piteous cries, tearing their hair, cutting their flesh with knives, to appease the spirits of the Mandan chief. dead. When the scaffolds decay and fall to the ground, the nearest relations bury the bones, reserving the skulls, which are perfectly bleached. The skulls they place in circles of a hundred or more, on the prairie, with the faces all looking inward. In the centre of the ring is a little mound, on which are placed two buf falo skulls, a male and a female. In the centre of the mound stands a medicine-pole, sustaining many curious articles of mystery and superstition. The Indian children are carried on the backs of their mothers. The child in earliest infancy has its back lashed to a straight board, with the feet resting on a broad hoop These cradles, if they may be so called, are made in a great variety of fashions, ABORIGINES OF AMERICA. 17 and among some tribes are highly and tastefully ornamented, The Sioux cradles are carried on the backs of the women, and Sioux cradle. sustained by a band passing round the forehead. This band is covered with a beautiful embroidery of porcupine quills, with Camanchee wigwam. figures of horses, men, &c. A broad hoop, of elastic wood, passes around in front of the child's face, to protect it from a fall, from IS ABORIGINES OF AMERICA. the front of which is suspended a little toy, of exquisite embroi dery, for the child to handle as a plaything. All the other orna ments are of the brightest colors. The Camanches are a powerful nation, occupying the territory on the shores of the Red River. They excel all the other Indian tribes in horsemanship. A Camanchee, on his feet, appears out of his element, and almost as awkward as a monkey on the ground, without a limb or branch to hold upon; but the moment he mounts his horse, he seems metamorphosed, and flies away like a different being. Their numbers amount to thirty or forty thousand, and they are tolerably well skilled in agriculture. Their wigwams are made sometimes of skins and sometimes of prairie grass. Many of their villages contain five or six hundred dwellings. When Columbus first arrived at Hispaniola, he received intelli gence of a barbarous and warlike people, called Carribals, Cani- bales, or Caribs, who made depredations on that and the neighbor ing island. Columbus found this warlike race upon the wind ward islands, and they remained there in considerable numbers till towards the end of the last century. The great difference in language and character between these savages and the quiet and inoffensive natives of Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica and Puerto Rico, causes us to believe that their origin was different. Yarious tribes, closely akin to the Caribs, if not identical with them, were scattered over the northern part of South America, extending from the Orinoco to Essequibo, and throughout the province of Surinam to Brazil. Some of them still exist in a state of independence. The Caribs were among the most remarkable of the native Ameri cans. Restless, enterprising and ardent, they seem to have con sidered war as the chief end of their creation, and the rest of the ABORIGINES OF AMERICA. 19 human race as their natural prey. They devoured, without remorse, the bodies of their prisoners. This horrid custom is so repugnant to every human feeling, that, for a long series of years, until the discovery of similar practices among the islanders of the Pacific Ocean, the most judicious European writers boldly im peached the veracity of the old navigators upon this point. But the fact of their cannibalism rests on irrefragable proof. Among themselves, however, the Caribs were peaceable, faithful, friendly and affectionate. They considered all strangers, indeed, as enemies ; and of their European visitors they formed a right esti mation. Carib house. The Caribs were not so tall as the generality of Europeans, but their frame was robust and muscular; their limbs flexile and active, and there was a penetrating quickness and a wildness in their eyes, that seemed an emanation from a fierce and martial spirit. They painted their faces and bodies with arnotto so extravagantly that their natural complexion, which was nearly that of Spanish olive, was not easily to be distinguished under the surface of crimson. They disfigured their cheeks with deep incisions and hideous scars, which they stained black ; and they painted white and black circles round their eyes. Some of them perforated the cartilage that divides the nostrils, and inserted a fish-bone, a parrot's feather, or a fragment of a tortoise-shell ; and they strung together the teeth of such of their enemies as they had slain in battle, and wore them on their legs and arms. One method of making their boys skilful, even in infancy, in the exer cise of the bow, was to suspend their food on the branch of a tree, compelling the hardy urchins to hit it with their arrows before they could obtain permission to eat. As soon as a male child was born, he was sprinkled with a few drops of his father's blood; 73 F5 20 ABORIGINES OF AMERICA. and the period of attaining the first year of his manhood was solemnized by a scene of ferocious festivity and unnatural cruelty. No other race of men has been found with a forehead so low as that of the Caribs ; and in order to exaggerate a character which they deemed beautiful, they had recourse to artificial means of flattening this region when the bones are soft and capable of y ield- ing to artificial pressure. On the birth of a child, the skull was confined between two small pieces of wood, which, applied before and behind, and firmly bound together on each side, altered the growth of the skull bone. This uncouth and frightful custom continued to be followed by the wretched remnant of Caribs, that, till a recent period, inhabited the island of St. Vincent. Cruelties of the Spaniards. The natives of Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, and the Bahamas, who were so quickly extirpated by their remorse less conquerors, appear to have been the gentlest and most simple, amiable and benevolent of the human race. Three or four mil lions of them peopled these islands at the period of their discovery ; and in an incredibly short space of time the whole nation had disappeared from the face of the earth. They were taller, but less robust than the Caribs. Their color was a clear brown, not deeper, in general, according to Columbus, than that of a sun burnt Spanish peasant. Like the Caribs, they altered the natural configuration of the head in infancy, but after a different fashion ; and by this practice, Herrera informs us, the crown was so strengthened, that a Spanish broad-sword, instead of cleaving the skull at a stroke, would frequently break short upon it. Their features were hard and unintellectual, but their eyes beamed with good nature, and there was something pleasing and inviting in their countenances, which proclaimed a frank and gentle disposi tion, " It was an honest face," says Peter Martyr, " coarse, but not gloomy, for it was enlivened by confidence and softened by ABORIGINES OF AMERICA. 21 compassion. Another striking peculiarity, which distinguishes these people from all the other American races, was their remarK- ahle attachment to the female sex. An insensibility, or a contemp tuous disregard towards women, is a strong trait in the character of most of the continental aborigines ; but with these islanders, a fondness for the sex was a prominent characteristic. Love, with them, was not merely a transient and youthful ardor, but the source of all their pleasures, and the chief business of life ; for not being, like the Caribs and other martial and restless tribes, op pressed by the weight of perpetual solicitude, and tormented by an unquenchable thirst of revenge, they gave full indulgence to the instincts of nature, while the influence of the climate height ened the sensibility of the passions. Natives of the West India Islands. These islanders were indolent, as their genial climate and pro lific soil enabled them to satisfy their few simple wants without much labor. In muscular strength they were consequently defi cient ; but their limbs were pliant, and their movements displayed gracefulness and ease. Their agility was eminently conspicuous in their dances, in which they excelled and delighted, devoting the cool hours of the night to this amusement. It was their custom to dance from evening to the dawn ; and although fifty thousand men and women were frequently assembled on these occasions, they seemed actuated by one common impulse, keeping time, by responsive motions of their hands, feet and bodies, with an exact ness that struck the Spaniards with amazement. The Californians were long famous for the fantastic ornaments of their dress. Sir Francis Drake mistook the common head-dress 2*2 ABORIGINES OF AMERICA. of some of these people, for a diadem, which it much resembles, and considered the gift of one of these, made to him by one of the chiefs, as the abdication of the crown of California to Queen Elizabeth. These natives have made little progress toward civili zation, although the Spaniards have long been established in the country. They have none of that boldness and independence of character, and very little of that activity, industry and perseve rance, which distinguish the Indians nearer the pole. They almost entirely neglect tillage, living by the chase and on the spontaneous productions of the soil. A few, however, in the imme diate neighborhood of the Spanish settlements, possess some cattle and horses. Their habitations are wretched wigwams, built of rushes, and resembling bee-hives. They hunt animals by dis guising themselves in skins, like the Indians- of the north. La Perouse saw a Californian, with a stag's head fixed to his own, walk on all-fours, as if he were browsing the grass ; he played his pantomime to such perfection that the hunters would have fired at him, had they not been forewarned. By this disguise they get within two or three yards of the deer, and discharge arrows from their concealed bow. without rising erect. Great numbers of the Californians are nominally Christians, but they know little more of Christianity than the names of a few Catholic saints. The languages of the native Americans have afforded a very interesting subject for the researches of philologists. From the territory of the Eskimaux to the banks of the' Orinoco, and again from this torrid region to the frozen climate of the Straits of the Magellan, the mother tongues, entirely different with regard to their roots, possess the same general physiognomy. Striking analogies of grammatical construction are observable throughout. Idioms, the roots of which do not resemble each other more than the roots of the Sclavonian and the Biscayan, have those resem blances of internal mechanism which are found in the Sanscrit, the Persian, the Greek and the German. Almost everywhere in the new world, we recognise a multiplicity of forms and tenses in the verb, an artificial industry to indicate beforehand, either by inflexion of the personal pronouns which form the terminations of the verb, or by an intercalated suffix, the nature and relation of its object and subject, and to distinguish whether the object be ani mate or inanimate, masculine or feminine, simple or complex. Some of the American languages have an enormous complication of tenses, two presents, four preterits, and three futures. This multiplicity is a characteristic, in a greater or less degree, of all, even the rudest, of the American tongues. They are, according to Humboldtj like complicated machines, the wheels of which are ABORIGINES OF AMERICA. 23 exposed. The artifice is visible ; the industrious mechanism of their construction strikes the observation at once. We seem to be present at their formation, and we should state them to be of very recent origin, if we did not recollect that the human mind follows iniperturbably an impulse once given; that nations en large, improve and repair the grammatical edifice of their lan guage, according to a plan already determined. There is no proof that the existence of man is much more recent in America than in the Old World. Within the tropics, the strength of vegetation, the breadth of rivers and partial inunda tions, have presented powerful obstacles to the migration of tribes of men. The extensive countries of the north of Asia are as thinly peopled as were the savannas of New Mexico at the period of their discovery ; and it is not necessary to suppose that the countries first peopled are those which offer the greatest masses of inhabitants. History, in carrying us back to the earliest epochs, instructs us that almost every part of the globe is occu pied by men who think themselves aborigines because they are ignorant of their origin. It is a somewhat ancient opinion that the Americans were of Jewish descent. A more absurd notion never was entertained ; yet it has been thought that proofs could be detected in the abo riginal languages. Hebrew scholars have imagined that they saw striking analogies between the dialects of the new world and the Semitic tongues. Credulous travellers among the Choctaws and Chickasaws, have heard the Hallelujah of the Hebrews sung by the tawny natives. Monuments of many of these languages yet remain. We have already mentioned the translation of the Bible into the Massachusetts tongue, by Eliot. The Peruvian language can boast of a poetical work, in which the Idyls of Theocritus are imitated with perfect grace and simplicity. The antiquities of the northern American tribes consist of se pulchral mounds, either the general cemetery of a village or tribe, or the funeral monuments of a battle-field, or the result of a cus tom prevalent among some of the tribes, of collecting, at stated intervals, the hones of the dead, and interring them in a common repository. The bricks discovered in these mounds appear to have been formed after the modern method, and are well burnt Many metallic remains have been discovered in them, mostly of copper. In a mound at Marietta was found a cup of massy silver, finely gilt on the inside. The mounds also abound in tools and articles of pottery. In the caves of Tennessee and Kentucky have been found mummies, in a high state of preserva- 73* 24 ABORIGINES OF AMERICA. tion, clothed in skins and cloth of various textures, inlaid with feathers. The most remarkable, however, of the northern antiquities, are the mural remains, or ancient fortifications, which abound through out the Western States. Some of these contain many acres of land, comprising walls, ditches, mounds, causeways, towers, gate ways, terraces, pyramids, &c. Vestiges of whole towns are dis cernible in many places, with streets and squares laid out in perfect regularity. In the state of Missouri, are the remains of a building, of rough stone, fifty-six feet long and twenty-two broad, with a stone roof. In the same neighborhood are the ruins of another building. On* the south side. of the river Missouri is an en closure, including an area of about five hundred acres ; it consists of walls fifteen feet high and seventy or, one hundred feet wide at the base. To this enclosure are attached a redoubt and a citadel, with gateways, hornworks and curtains, much resembling the structure of European engineers. There can be no doubt of the antiquity of these ruins, as they are overgrown with large cotton trees in full growth. At Cincinnati was a mound, six hundred and twenty feet long and sixty feet broad, on which were stumps of old oaks seven feet in diameter ; this mound contained articles of jasper, crystal, coal, carved bones, beads, lead, copper, mica, marine shells and do mestic utensils, with human bones. In Ohio, is a conical stone tumulus, one hundred feet in diameter and forty feet high. Another, in the same state, was ninety feet high, and contained an immense number of human skeletons, of every size and age, all laid horizontally, with their heads toward the centre. Stone axes, knives, and various ornaments, were deposited near the head of each individual. These structures of the northern aborigines extend over a wide territory, and may be traced from the state of New York, along the western line of the Alleganies, to the southern extremity of Florida. In the west, they exist in great numbers on the shores of all the western waters, reaching to the north as far as the sources of the Mississippi; southerly, they extend nearly to Mexico. They are undoubtedly of high antiquity, most proba bly the ruins of temples and cities, some of the most massive and durable construction, and all indicating the existence of a population permanently established. Most of them are covered with forests, and there is every appearance that several genera tions of trees have sprung up on them and disappeared, since they were deserted. CHAPTER II. Antiquities of Mexico. Uxmal. Palenque. Tezcuco. Chi-chen. Cholula. Xochicako . Papantla. Zayi. Mexican hieroglyphics . Manuscripts. South American Indians. The Otomaques .The Peruvian Indians. Antiquities of Peru. Palaces of the Incas. Latacunga. Canar. The Araucanians. The AJnpones. The Patagonians. The Fuegians. Conclusion. Ancient Mexican musicians. IN a former part of this work, we have described the magnifi cence and extent of the architectural structures of the Mexicans. The country still contains many interesting remains of the cities, fortifications and temples of the ancient inhabitants, although the Vandal spirit of the Spanish conquerors displayed itself in attempts to obliterate everything in the nature of a national monument. The great city of Mexico, formerly the wonder of the western world, can hardly, at the present day, boast of a single stone of the age of Montezuma. The most important an tiquities are at Uxmal and Palenque ; and here we find vestiges that indicate a near approach to civilization, as far as the me chanic arts are concerned. The ruins at Uxmal stand on a plain in the peninsula of Yucatan. When first discovered, they were covered with a thick forest. The most remarkable edifices lie in a group, and consist of pyramids coated with stone, and quadrangular stone edifices and terraces. One of these pyramids is one hundred and thirty feet in height, supporting a temple on the summit. On one of the facades of the temple are four human 26 MEXICAN ANTIQUITIES. figures, similai to caryatides, cut in stone, with great exactness and elegance. Their hands are crossed upon the breast, the head is enveloped in something like a casque; about the neck is a Uxmal by moonlight. garment of the skin of an alligator, with a border beautifully- worked ; over each body is sculptured a death's head with bones. All the sculptures are brilliantly colored. At Palenque, are the ruins of a city of great extent, but so completely overgrown with a thick forest, that few of the build ings have been explored. The principal structure appears to have been a royal palace, and its architecture is on a scale of great magnitude. It stands upon an artificial elevation, of sixty feet in height, and beneath it is an aqueduct of stone, constructed with the greatest solidity. The four sides have corridors, or por ticoes, the roofs of whic. are supported by square pillars ; these are crowned with square blocks of stone, stretching from col umn to column, and covered with designs in stucco work. The chambers are ornamented with ornaments in stucco, representing grotesque figures. The sculptures are executed very skilfully. Within an open court, in the middle of the whole building, stands a pyramidal tower, of four stories, fifty feet in height. More than a dozen other buildings already explored, exhibit the same species of architecture and sculpture. The human figures represented here, are all remarkable for the great size of the nose, and a pro trusion of the under lip; they are also beardless. Some of the sculptures represent human sacrifices, hieroglyphical symbols, and men dancing, with palm-leaves in their hands. One figure, sup- ABORIGINES OF AMERICA. 2? posed to be a deity, is sitting in Hindoo style, on a throne, orna mented on each side with the head and claws of an animal ; another, seated cross-legged upon a two-headed monster, is receiv ing an offering from a man in a kneeling attitude. In all these representations, every appearance of martial weapons appears to be wanting. Some of the windows are in the form of a Greek cross ; and on the wall of one of the apartments is a tablet of sculptured stone, exhibiting the figure of a large and richly orna mented cross, placed upon an altar or pedestal. A priest stands on one side, in the attitude of adjuration, and on the other side, is another priest presenting some offering. On the top of the cross is seated a 'sacred bird, which has two strings of beads around its neck. These sculptures are accompanied with hieroglyphics, which no one yet has been able to decipher. Ruins of a temple at Chi-ehen. At Tezcuco, Merida, Xochicalco, Chi-chen, Zayi, Zacatecas, and numerous other places, are ruins of great extent, which ex hibit striking proofs of the proficiency of the aboriginal Ameri cans in the science of architecture. At Copan, in Guatimala, are the walls and other remains of a great city, which extend along the river for two miles. Here are some remarkable monuments, in the shape of obelisks and columns, covered with fantastic sculptures. Everything shows that Mexico and Guatimala, at the time of the conquest, were covered with flourishing cities, con taining magnificent palaces and other public buildings. The inhabitants appear to have been a polished and cultivated people; the arts were in a high state of advancement. 65 ?8 MEXICAN ANTIQUITIES. The pyramids in this country are also numerous. The largest is that of Cholula, which measures fourteen hundred and twenty- three feet in .length, and one hundred and seventy-seven feet in height. It is built of alternate layers of clay and sun-burnt bricks, and is divided into four stories or stages, and ranged Pyramid at Cholula. exactly in the direction of the cardinal points. The ascent to the summit is by steps. In the interior has been- discovered a vault, with stone walls, roofed with beams of Cyprus wood, containing skeletons, idols, &c. This large pyramid is surrounded by sev eral smaller ones. At Xochicalco, is a pyramid, which seems to have been formed by cutting a hill into an artificial shape. It is nearly three miles in circuit, from three to four hundred feet high, and encompassed by a ditch. It is divided into four terraces, and the intermediate slopes are covered with platforms, bastions, pyramidal and rec tangular elevations and stages, one above the other, all faced with large pophyry stones, skilfully cut, but joined without ce ment. The construction of the stories is remarkably similar to the Egyptian style of architecture. On the stones of this pyra mid are many figures sculptured in relief, some representing hieroglyphical signs, and others, human figures seated cross- legged, in the Asiatic manner, and crocodiles spouting water. Al Papantla are the remains of another pyramid, constructed of enormous blocks of hewn stone, regularly laid in cement. It is sixty feet high and eighty feet square. No city of any impor tance, at the time of the conquest, was without a number of these ABORIGINES OF AMERICA. 29 stupendous edifices in its vicinity. Most of them were over thrown by the Spaniards, but their remains, scattered over the country in every direction, attest the former populousness of Mexico and Guatimala. Ruins at Zayi. The paper which was used for the Mexican hieroglyphical paintings much resembles the Egyptian paper manufactured from the papyrus. It was made from the agave, a plant now familiarly known in our gardens by the name of aloe. Some of the hiero- Mezican helmet and cotton armor. glyphics now extant, are painted on deer-skins, others on cotton cloth. Immense quantities of Mexican manuscripts were burnt G5 30 MEXICAN ANTIQUITIES. by the Spaniards, at the times of the conquest, for the purpose of extirpating the idolatry of the natives and all that could remind them of their nationality. Some hundreds of them, however, still remain. In these manuscripts, simple hieroglyphics represent simple and familiar objects, as water, earth, air, wind, day, night, speech, motion, &c. These signs, added to the picture of an event, as a bactle or a procession, marked in a very ingenious manner whether the action passed during the day or the night, the age of the persons represented, whether they 'had been talking, and who among them talked the most. There are also vestiges of phonetic writing, or that which indicates relations, not with things, but with the language spoken. Among semi-barbarous nations, the names of individuals, of cities, mountains, &c., have generally some allusions to objects that strike the senses; and it is by a com bination of these objects that the Mexican characters were able to express proper names. Chimalpopoca, or smoking shield. The annals of the Mexican empire, as we are informed by Humboldt, appear to go back as far as the sixth century of the Christian era. At that period we find the epochs of the migra tions, the causes which produced them, the names of the chiefs and warriors of the illustrious house of Citin, who led the north ern nations from the unknown regions of Aztlan and Teocolhu- acan into the plains of Anahuac. The foundation of Mexico, like that of Rome, goes back to the heroic ages, and from the twelfth century, the annals of the Aztecks give an uninterrupted account of secular festivals, the genealogy of their kings, the tributes im posed on the conquered, the foundation of cities, celestial phenom ena and the minutest events which influence the state of society in its infancy. It is singular that neither history nor tradition connects the nations of South America with those north of the isthmus of Darien. ABORIGINES OF AMERICA. 3] Several Mexican paintings represent the deluge of Coxcox, the American Noah. Coxcox is drawn floating in a bark. Mount Colhuacan, the Arrarat of the Mexicans, lifts its summit above the waters, crowned by a tree. At the foot of the mountain Ancient Mexicans. appear the heads of Coxcox and his wife. The men born after the deluge are represented as dumb ; but a dove from the top of a tree distributes tongues among them. This deluge of Coxcox stands in the Azteck cosmogony as the fourth destruction of the world. In these four destructions we find the emblems of four elements, earth, fire, air, and water. The Mexican volumes examined by the first Spanish missiona ries, contained notions on a great number of different subjects. Mexican women making bread. They consisted of annals of the empire, rituals indicating the days on which sacrifices were to be made, cosmogonial and astrologi cal representations, papers relating to lawsuits, lists of tributes 74 32? MEXICAN ANTIQUITIES. payable at certain periods of the year, genealogical tables, alma nacs, laws, &c. A great proportion related to lawsuits, and the use of these paintings, in matters of litigation, were continued in the Spanish tribunals long after the conquest. The natives, unable to address the judges except through an interpreter, found the hieroglyphics doubly necessary. It was for a long time deemed indispensable to have attorneys, pleaders, and judges, who were able to read the titles, the genealogical paintings, the ancient laws, and the lists of taxes, which each feudatory was obliged to pay his lord. One of these manuscripts represents a lawsuit for the possession of an Indian farm. The farm is drawn in a bird's-eye view ; the main, road is indicated by foot-prints, and the houses are sketched in profile. The Spanish judges sit in their chairs, with the law- books before them. The Spanish plaintiff sits on the ground on one side, in conjunction with the hieroglyphic of water painted green, showing that his name was Aguaverde. The Indian's name is Bow. The amount of talking is indicated by the number of tongues marked against each individual. Everything portays the state of a vanquished country. The native scarcely utters a word, while the men with long beards make long speeches with the demeanor of conquerors and masters. Modern Mexicans. Many tribes of the Aborigines inhabit the forests and plains of the northern part of South America, where they continue in their original wildness. These are among the most indolent of all the American Indians. Their firm belief is that the purest and most exalted enjoyments under the sun are idleness and intoxication. A strong liquor called chiche was formerly manufactured by them from the fermented juice of fruits ; but this has been discontinued by those tribes who dwell near the Spanish settlements, where they can supply themselves with rum and brandy. These people pass ABORIGINES OF AMERICA. $33 their lives between drinking and sleeping. With great reluctance, the Indian leaves his hammock only when the inclemency of the weather, rendering the agricultural labors of his wife unproduc tive, obliges him to go and hunt ; then he concerts his measures with so much address, that the exertions of one day procure him subsistence and repose for a week. The Otomaques, on the high lands of the Orinoco, are an exception ; they are active and indus trious, though even an Indian of this tribe was never known to labor two days in succession. They have games, played with a ball of caoutchouc, requiring much agility, like our game of ball. The strange custom of eating earth, which is peculiar to some of the South American tribes, exist, among the Otomaques, who are among the most voracious of all these people. They mix a par ticular kind of earth with alligator-fat, and subject it to a species of cooking, which prevents it from being hurtful. All the va grant tribes along the banks of the Rio Meta, likewise eat earth. Some natives, in the regions bordering on the Casiquiare, live chiefly upon ants. The lot of the women, throughout all the tribes of the Orinoco, is peculiarly hard. The day of marriage is the last day of ease and comfort to a female here. All domestic labors, without exception, form her task ; the toil of culture and harvest must be performed by her hands ; whatever embarrass ments she may endure from children, she is never exempt from the painful toils which are imposed by the matrimonial state. She stands exposed to the heat of a scorching sun, and to torrents of rain, while her barbarous husband, lazily reposing in his ham mock, smokes his cigar and stupifies himself with strong liquor, without addressing a word to his companion exhausted with fatigue. Standing silently by, she waits till her oppressor has finished his meal, which she has prepared for him at the expense of the greatest suffering ; when he has done eating, she is allowed to regale herself on the fragments. Among some of these tribes, husbands exchange wives with one another for a limited time, and receive them back again, without the smallest difficulty arising between the parties. ,No costume appears so beautiful to one of these Indians, as to have his whole body painted red. Oil and arnotto are the ingredients which compose the paint, and every one applies it either with his own hand, or by that of another. Children at the breast undergo this operation twice a day. No Indian thinks himself naked when he is painted ; it would require a long time to persuade him that it is more decent to dress than to paint. When Indian strangers visit them, hospitality requires that the women should wash away the old paint, and give them a fresh coat. Yast tracts 34 ABORIGINES OF AMERICA. of country on the Orinoco and its branches, remain, and are likely to continue, in the undisputable possession of the Indians. The soil, for a great extent, is periodically inundated by the river, and immense swarms of insects are generated by the intense heat of the sun upon these marshy tracts, rendering them utterly unin habitable except to the natives. In our history of the conquest of Peru, we have given an account of the political and religious system of that empire. The Peruvian Indians of the present day* have become christian ized, but retain most of their native characteristics ; they have somewhat deteriorated since the conquest, and are now infected with the vices of the 'northern Indians, idleness and intoxication. In labor they are persevering, but so slow as to give rise to a proverb. When a thing of little value, requires much time and patience, it is pronounced "fit only to be done by an Indian." They weave carpets, curtains, quilts and other stuffs, but being unacquainted with any better method in passing the warp, they have the patience every time to count the threads one by one, so that two or three years are required to finish a single piece. As among the northern Indians, also, the women do nearly all the work ; they grind the barley, roast the maize, and brew the chiche, while the husband sits squatting on his hams. An Indian, once settled in this posture, cannot be made to stir by any reward. So that if a traveller has lost his way, and applies to an Indian cottage, the man hides himself, and tells his'wife to say he is not at home, though he might earn a considerable sum by going a mile or less. Should the stranger alight from his horse and enter the hut, the Indian would still be safe ; for as there is no light, except what comes through a very small opening, he could not be discovered. The only things in which a Peruvian Indian shows any lively sensation or alacrity, are parties of pleasure, rejoicings and dances; but in all these, the liquor must circu late plentifully. With this they begin the day, and continue drinking till they are deprived of sense and motion. The women, however, young and old, are never intemperate. The common food of the Peruvian Indians is the meal of roasted maize or barley, which they eat by spoonfuls, two or three of which, and a draught of chiche or water, make a repast. When they set out on a journey, their whole store is a little bag of this meal and a spoon, and this suffices for a journey of two or three hundred miles. Their habitations are very small, and con tain a fireplace in the middle; the family and their animals occupy the hut promiscuously, like an Irishman and his pigs. They have a particular fondness for dogs, and are never without ABORIGINES OF AMERICA. 35 three or four little curs in their hut. They sleep squatting, on beds of sheepskin, and never undress. Those of the Indians who are brought up in the towns, have some knowledge of Spanish, but the others speak only the Quichua, or language of the Incas. The Indians of the towns are far more acute and intelligent than those of the country. Among them the barber surgeons are particularly distinguished ; the French academicians, who travelled in Peru, thought them equal to the most famous of their craft in Europe. The attach ment of the Indians to the Christian religion appears to be neither strong nor constant; their fickleness is such that although they attend divine service on Sundays, it is merely from the fear of punishment. The following anecdote will illustrate one point in their character. An Indian had for some time absented himself from the church service, and the priest being informed that it was owing to a drinking frolic on Sunday, ordered him the usual pun ishment of whipping. The Indian took the flagellation with great meekness and patience, and when it was finished, he turned round to the priest and humbly thanked him for having chastised him according to his deserts. The priest commended him for his submissive behavior and true Christian spirit, and added a timely exhortation to the whole audience, on the excellence of the eccle siastical discipline. No sooner had he completed his homily, than the Indian stepped up, and gravely requested a second whipping for the next Sunday, as he had made an appointment for another drinking-match, and wished for his flogging in advance, that his frolic might be enjoyed with more comfort. The hills and plains of Peru are covered with architectural remains of the times of the Incas. The Peruvians had made considerable progress in the mechanic arts ; and considering that they were unacquainted with the use of iron, the magnitude of these superb ruins, and the contrivance and ingenuity which they exhibit, are certainly suflicient to excite our admiration. The European symmetry, elegance and peculiar disposition of parts, must not be looked for in these structures ; yet they have a beauty of their own. On the plains of Latacunga are to be seen the walls of the Inca's palace, built entirely of stone as hard as flint, and nearly black. The stones are exceedingly well cut, and joined so admirably that the point of a knife cannot be thrust between them. No mortar or cement of any kind is perceivable. The stones in some of the walls are convex, and there is an ine quality both in the size of the stones and the direction of the courses, which gives a singular appearance to the work. A small stone is immediately followed by a large one ; the interstices and 74* H 5 36 ABORIGINES OF AMERICA. projections are irregular, yet all the stones are joined with the same exactness. The walls are about fifteen feet high, and three or four feet thick at the base, narrowing upwards. The doors of the palaces were made of such a height as to allow room for '.he chair in which the Inca was carried on men's shoulders into his apartment, the only place in which his feet touched the ground. It is not known whether these palaces had stories, nor how they were roofed, as the Peruvians, like the natives of Mexico and Guatimala, were ignorant of the arch. Near Atun Canar, is another palace or fortress of the Incas, the largest, best built, and most entire in the country. It is two or three hundred feet in length, with very thick walls, built of hard and well-polished stone. The Jong galleries contain niches like sentry-boxes, and many of the walls are full of hollows resem bling cupboards, ornamented with beads. " This building contains a great number of apartments, and the walls make a great many irregular angles. In the centre of the space which they enclose is an oval tower. A little stream flows at the foot of the walls. Many other ruins are to be seen in various parts of the country, most of them in desert places, without any vestige of a town or village near them. The more irregular are thought to be the work of the Indians before they were reduced by the Incas. An immense number of mounds or tumuli, are also scattered over the territory, which, on being opened, are found to be tombs. They are commonly sixty feet high, and a hundred and twenty in .length. The bodies are found in cells of brick or stone. These, also, contain various utensils of copper and gold, stone mirrors and axes. The Araucanians are the most martial and courageous of all the South American Indians. They inhabit the country south of Chili, and have sustained an almost uninterrupted war with the Spaniards for three hundred years. Their exploits have afforded a subject for the finest heroic poem in the Spanish language; and the Araucana of Don Alonzo de Ercilla, celebrates, in thirty-seven cantoes, the heroic defence which this brave nation made against the European invaders. The Araucanians have never been sub dued. In person, they are of a moderate stature, strong, muscu lar, exceedingly well built, and they have naturally a very martial air. Their color is a little lighter than the other Indians and they often attain ** the age of eighty, without a gray hair. They are exceedingly jealous of their honor, hospitable, honest, grateful, generous and humane to the enemies they conquer. When not engaged in a campaign, they are indolent, addicted to intoxica tion, presumptuous and haughty. Their dress is generally of ABORIGINES OF AMERICA. 37 blue cloth, and they are extremely fond of this color. Their women are highly ornamented, and every one wears a silver ring. They practise cultivation, but never build large towns. The government is aristocratical. and their several communities are Araucanians. associated in a federal union. They hold a general congress when any affair of importance is to be decided upon. Both their military government and their civil and criminal codes display a great degree of intelligence. Their army consists of cavalry and infantry. The infantry is formed into regiments of one thousand men each; there are ten companies to a regiment. Each regi ment has a banner with a star, which is the arms of the nation. Araucanians burning a negro. The soldiers wear helmets, shields and cuirasses of leather, hard ened with varnish. The cavalry have lances and swords, and the infantry, pikes and clubs, headed with iron They have 38 ABORIGINES OF AMERICA. never been able to make gunpowder, though they were at first very anxious to learn the secret of it. Having observed some negroes among the Spaniards, they supposed that gunpowder, from its blackness, was extracted from their bodies. One of these negroes, having the misfortune to fall into their hands, gave them an opportunity of trying the experiment. He was first flayed from head to foot, and then burnt to cinders ; but this chemical essay, to their great surprise, proved a total failure. They have since imbibed a strong prejudice against fire-arms, and when they are taken from the Spaniards, little use is made of them. The Abipones are a numerous and warlike tribe of Indians, in Paraguay. They have -never been subdued by the Spaniards, but maintain their independence to the present day. They lead a roaming life, and are engaged in frequent wars with their neigh bors. They are a well-formed race, muscular, robust and active. They are particularly famous for their skill in managing horses, and may be considered a nation of cavalry. They have harassed the Spanish settlements ever since those unwelcome intruders came into their neighborhood, and, next to the Araucanians, have been the most formidable foes encountered by the Castilian inva ders. The vast extent of country, bounded by the Rio Grande and the Paraguay, is occupied by the Abipones, who are divided into several hordes, each of which is headed by a chief, whom they call capita, a name borrowed from the Spaniards. This affords some evidence that their form of government or military tactics underwent some modification after the arrival of the strangers. Although they make common cause against the Spaniards, yet the different tribes are often involved in desperate wars with each other. Their numbers have been greatly dimin ished by these intestine hostilities, as well as by the measles arid small pox. Their natural increase is also checked by a barba rous and unnatural custom, prevalent among the women, of killing their children. No man can obtain celebrity among the Abipones, except by warlike prowess. Their arms are the bow and spear. The Abiponian spear is as long as a Macedonian pike, and is a most formidable weapon. It is pointed at both ends, so that if one be blunted in battle, the other may be immediately turned against the enemy. When going to fight, they grease the points, that deeper wounds may be inflicted. They also possess a few mus kets, but have no skill in using them. They also use a weapon made of three stones, covered with leather, and fastened together by a thong; this they whirl round rapidly, and dart at an object with great precision. A hostile expedition is always preceded by ABORIGINES OF AMERICA. gQ a drinking festival, in which copious draughts of mead are swal lowed ; and the drunker they get, the more wisdom is supposed to be in their councils. Whatever is determined upon in these bac chanalian orgies is always religiously executed after they become sober. On their march, each man has three horses, riding one and driving the others, so that he has always a fresh horse. When they attack the Spaniards, they put their horses to a gallop and rush upon them with all the speed they can exert ; the attack is made not in close ranks, but in a scattering manner and in various parties, so that the enemy finds himself assailed in front, flank and rear. They strike a single blow, and then leap back quickly, to avoid a blow in return. They can turn their horses jound in circles with surprising swiftness, and hold the animal in perfect command ; they have all the expertness of a professed tumbler, and practise every sort of gyration and evolution upon the horse's back, sometimes hanging under his belly, and thus by continually changing their position, avoid every shot that is aimed at them. These savages are capable of enduring great fatigue. On their marches, they pass the day and the night in the open air, and are either parched with heat or drenched with rain for many days together. They expose their bare heads to the burning sun ; if wide rivers or lakes are to be crossed, they need neither bridge nor boat ; when the water is no longer fordable, they' leap from their horses, strip off their clothes, and holding them above the water, on the point of their spears, swim across, leading their horses by the bridle. They use a prodigious number of trumpets, horns and other uncouth instruments, which they sound on going to battle ; and these horrid clangors, with the terrific appearance they give themselves by painting, strike great dismay into the Spaniards. The Jesuit Dobrizhoffer, who lived many years among these Indians, thus speaks of the extreme dread in which they held their neighbors. " How often have I seen the Spanish settlements thrown into the greatest terror by a mere flying report that the Abipones were coming. In an instant every man imagined a troop of these ferocious savages, with blackened faces, mounted on swift horses, rushing to the attack with horrid shouts and the alarm of trumpets, brandishing an enormous spear in their right hands, laden with bundles of arrows, breathing fire and slaughter, and with their ferocious eyes threatening death and destruction ! You might see crowds of people running up and down, bewailing their fate, while not an enemy was nigh. Not only women and children, but men distinguished by military titles, took refuge within the stone -walls of the churches, or skulked into hidden 40 ABORIGINES OF AMERICA. corners. Not many years ago. the city of Buenos Ayres was thrown into such an alarm, one Sunday afternoon, by a cry that the Indians were upon them. In an instant the streets were rilled with crowds of people, terrified almost to distraction, ana uttering the most piteous cries. Nothing could surpass the scene of disorder ; every one was hurrying, he knew not whither, for security, and in this great confusion, one lost his wig, another his hat, another his cloak, and the fright was universal, till the garri son troops, plucking up courage, turned out and scoured the neighborhood, and discovered that not a vestige of an enemy was to be seen ! Scenes like these were very common in the cities of Santa Fe, Cordova, Assumpcion and Salta, whilst the savages were overrunning the province with impunity. A ludicrous event, that took place in the city of Corrientes, is worthy of par ticular mention. Towards evening, an alarm was suddenly given that a troop of Abipones had burst into one of the streets, and were slaughtering the inhabitants. This spread an instant panic ; crowds of people, overcome with fright, hurried to the church, which had strong stone walls. The chief captain himself, an old man, was seen amid a throng of terrified women, uttering groans and prayers. l Here/ said he, ' in the house of the Lord, and in the presence of Jesus Christ, we must die.' This cowardly behavior, in an old soldier, excited the indignation of a priest, who swore a tremendous oath, and exclaimed, 'No dying, fight the enemy ! ' With these words, he snatched a gun, leaped upon a horse, and galloped toward the quarter of the city where the sav ages were thought to be raging. But lo ! when he arrived there, everything was quiet, the inhabitants were sound asleep, not so much as dreaming of the Abipones !" The Patagonians have been supposed to be a nation of giants. Magellan, the discoverer of the country, stated them to be seven or eight feet in height. Sarmiento, a Spanish voyager, made them out to be actual Cyclops. Sir Thomas Cavendish measured their footsteps, which were eighteen inches long. Sebald de Weert, in 1 599, was attacked by a troop of them, ten and eleven feet high, as he affirms. Le Maire and Schouten, in 1615, found skeletons in their tombs, ten and eleven feet long. Commodore Byron, in 1765, saw much of the Patagonians, and the narrator of this dis coveries affirms them to be from eight to nine feet and upwards in height. Many other voyagers have confirmed these wonderful tales. But as, on the other hand, many visitors in Patagonia came away without finding any of the inhabitants who were above the ordinary size of Europeans, and as some of the ac counts of the Patagonian giants contained matters evidently ABORIGINES OF AMERICA. 41 fabulous, the whole story fell into discredit, though the evidence of the huge size of the natives, seemed, in the first instance, to be too positive to be diregarded. The voyages of Captains King and Fitzroy, in this quarter, by order of the British government, have supplied us with fresh information on this curious and interesting subject. The following facts may be fully relied upon. Patagonian. The Patagonians are at present divided into four tribes, each of which has a separate leader or cacique; but they all speak one language. When it is found convenient, they all assemble in one place, but if food becomes scarce, or quarrels happen, each party withdraws to its own territory. At such times one body will encroach upon the hunting grounds of another, and a battle is the consequence. The whole Patagonian nation comprises not above four or five thousand souls, and the women exceed the men three to one. The Patagonians are generally tall and stout, though not giants ; no one has been seen for many years much above six feet in height. Yet it seems indisputable that the Patagonians are really the tallest race of men in the world, taken collec tively. Not more than one in forty or fifty of the adults is below five feet nine or ten inches. The cacique Cangopol, measured by * Falkner, was more than seven feet high. The women are tall in proportion to the men. Both men and women, moreover, have a 42 ABORIGINES OF AMERICA. habit of folding their arms in their mantles, across the chest, which magnifies their apparent height. Their heads and features are large, their hands and feet comparatively small. Their color is a rich, reddish brown. They wear mantles or cloaks of skins loosely gathered round them, and boots made of the skins of horses' legs. They disfigure themselves with red, white and black paint. They have horses of a diminutive size, with which they hunt ostriches and guanacoes. Their huts are common Indian wigwams. Fuegian. The natives of Tierra del Fuego are inferior in stature, ill- looking, and badly proportioned; they have a villanous expression of features, and have altogether the most savage exterior of the whole human race. Their color is that of old mahogany. They pass much of their time in low wigwams, or cramped up in small canoes, which injures the growth and shape of the legs, and causes them to move about in a stooping manner, with the knees much bent; yet they are nimble and strong. The smoke of wood fires, confined in small wigwams, hurts their eyes so much, that they aie always red and watery. They rub their bodies with grease, oil, charcoal, ochre and clay, and wear a scanty clothing of skins, but no shoes or moccasins. Their canoes are made of bark, and when they are paddling about, always have a fire burning in a ABORIGINES OF AMERICA. 43 heap of earth in the middle. They are constantly roving from one place to another, and never attempt to cultivate the soil, fish being almost exclusively their food. Cannibalism prevails among them, and the following horrid custom is proved by the evidence of a native boy, who was carried to England, and learned the language. In a severe winter, when the snow prevents their ob taining food, arid famine is staring them in the face, they seize the oldest woman of the party, hold her head over a thick smoke, pinch her throat and choke her to death; after which, they devour every particle of her flesh. They also eat invariably the enemies whom they kill in battle. The scenery of the territory is perfectly consonant to these savage and atrocious manners ; noth ing can surpass the horrid aspect of Tierra del Fuego a heap of craggy rocks, wild, sterile and desolate, fit for the production of monsters rather than men. At this extremity of South America man appears to exist in a lower state of improvement than in any other part of the world. The South Sea Islander is comparatively civilized. The Eski- maux, in his subterranean hut, enjoys some of the comforts of life, and in his canoe, when fully equipped, manifests much skill. The tribes of Southern Africa and New Holland are sufficiently wretched, but with their skill in climbing trees, tracking animals and hunting, they are superior to the miserable Puegians, many tribes of whom subsist on nothing but shell-fish. Hardly a gleam of sunshine illumines the rocky barrenness of the country. In midsummer, snow falls every day upon the hills, and the valleys are deluged with rain and sleet. The Fuegian wigwam, consist ing of nothing but a few broken branches stuck in the ground, slightly thatched with grass and rushes, lasts only for a few days. Sometimes these sleeping-places amount to nothing better than the lair of a wild beast. A late voyager thus describes them. "Ingoing ashore, we pulled alongside a canoe contain ing six Fuegians. These were the most abject and miserable creatures I anywhere beheld. They were quite naked, and one of them was a full-grown woman. It was raining heavily, and the water with the spray of the sea trickled down her body. In another harbor not far distant, a woman, who was suckling a recently born child, came one day alongside the vessel, and re mained there while the sleet fell and thawed on her naked bosom and on the skin of her naked child. These poor creatures were stinted in their growth, their hideous faces bedaubed with white paint, their skins filthy and greasy, their hair entangled, their voices discordant,, their gestures violent and without dignity. Viewing such men, one can hardly believe they are fellow-creatures and 75 1 5 44 ABORIGINES O? AMERICA. inhabitants of the same world. It is a common subject of con jecture what pleasure in life some of the less gifted animals enjoy: how much more reasonably the same question may be asked with respect to these barbarians. At night, five or six human beings, naked and scarcely protected from the wind and rain of this tem pestuous climate, sleep on wet ground, coiled up like animals. Whenever it is low water, they must rise to pick shell-fish from the rocks; and the women, winter and summer, either dive to collect sea-eggs, or sit patiently in their canoes fishing. If a seal is killed, or the floating carcass of a putrid whale discovered, it is a feast, and such miserable food is assisted by a few tasteless berries and fungi. Nor are they exempt from famine, and as a consequence, cannibalism, accompanied by parricide." Whilst beholding these savages, we naturally ask, whence have they come? What could have tempted,' or what change compelled, a tribe of men to leave the fine regions of the north, to invent and build canoes, cross the Strait of Magellan, and estab lish themselves in one of the most dreary and inhospitable coun tries on the face of the globe ? There is no reason to believe that the Fuegians decrease in number, and, therefore, we must suppose that they enjoy, amidst this apparent misery, a sufficient share of happiness to make life worth possessing. A surgeon, who accompanied the expedition of Captains King and Fitzroy. had frequent opportunities of examining the physical structure of the Fuegians, and discovered that^they are provided with a powerful natural defence against the cold and dampness of their dreary climate. The Fuegian is like a cetaceous animal, which circulates red blood in a cold medium, and possesses, in his fleshy covering, an admirable non-conductor of heat. The corpus adiposum is uncommonly thick on the parts of the body most liable to the attacks of cold ; on the hips it forms a perfect cushion, and in most parts of the body, fills up the interstices be tween the muscles. The great quantity of fat which covers the bodies of the Fuegians, may be imputed to their diet, as their greatest dainty is fat of all kinds, that of the seal and penguin in particular ; vegetables they can hardly be said to know as food, the country producing nothing of the land eatable except berries and the excrescences of stunted birch trees. Nature has been bountiful in providing for the Fuegians an almost inexhaustible supply of shell-fish, which are procured with so little trouble, that no ideas are required which can improve the reasoning faculties. No patience or perseverance is necessary, like that exercised by savages, who, in hunting, must employ reason superior to the instinctive cunning of the animals they pursue, ABORIGINES OF AMERICA. 45 When distressed by the famine of winter, the dreadful expedients to which they resort for their relief, are such as to debase their faculties and morals still more. The different tribes seem to have no government or head, yet each is surrounded by other hostile tribes, speaking different dialects ; and a dearth of provisions is sure to lead to wars. Their country is a broken mass of wild mountains, barren rocks, and dreary, unproductive forests, and these gloomy objects are viewed through mists and endless storms. The habitable land is reduced to the stones which form the beach. In search of food, they are compelled to wander from spot to spot, and so steep is the coast that they can only move about in their wretched canoes. They cannot know the feeling of having a home, and still less that of domestic affection, unless the treatment of a master to a laborious slave can be considered as such. How can the higher powers of the mind be brought into play in these circumstances ? What is there for imagination to picture, for reason to compare, for judgment to decide upon? To know a limpet from a rock, does not even require cunning, that lowest power of the mind. The skill of the Fuegians may in some respects be compared to the instinct of animals, for it is not improved by experience. The canoe, their most ingenious work, poor as it is, has remained the same from the time they were first known to Europeans. The condition of the Fuegians, as compared with that of the ancient Mexicans and Peruvians, affords us a striking instance of the effect of climate and local circumstances, in accelerating or retarding civilization and human culture. There can be no doubt that the same original stock produced the several nations which erected magnificent cities in the temperate regions of America, and which roam over the bleak and barren regions of the north and south, in a state more assimilated to that of beasts than men. The American continent, like that of Africa and Asia, presents several points of a primitive civilization, of which the mutual relations are as unknown as those of Meroe, Thibet and China. The civilization of Mexico emanated from a country in the north ; that of Peru appears to have arisen from a point having no con nexion with Mexico. Other, civilized and industrious nations have flourished and passed away in America, leaving no written or tra ditionary memorials of their existence behind them. Amidst the extensive plains of Upper Canada, in the western part of the United States, in Florida, in the deserts bordered by the Orinoco, the Cassiquiare and the Guiania, walls and dikes of great length, weapons of brass and sculptured stones, afford evidence that these countries were formerly inhabited by populous, civil- 75 1 5 46 ABORIGINES OF AMERICA. ized and industrious nations, where savage hunters now chase their prey, or adventurous emigrants from the east are forming new settlements. The unequal distribution of animals over the surface of the globe has had a considerable influence on the fate of nations, and on their progress, more or less rapid, toward civilization. In the old continent, the pastoral life formed the passage from a hunting to an agricultural nation. The ruminating animals, so easily reared under every climate, have followed the African negro, the Mogul, the Malay and the hordes that dwell on the Caucasus. Though several quadrupeds and a greater number of the vegeta ble tribe are common to the most northern regions of both conti nents, America possesses, in the species of oxen, only two, the bison and the musk-ox. These animals are difficult to tame, and their females yield but little milk, notwithstanding the richness of the pasture. The American hunter was not led to agriculture by the care of flocks and the habits of a pastoral life. The inhabitant of the Andes was never tempted to milk the lama, the alpaca, or the guanaco. Milk was formerly a nourishment unknown to the Americans, as well as to several nations of east ern Asia. Though no traditions point out any direct connection between the nations of North and South America, their history is not less fraught with analogies in the political and religious revolutions, from which is to be dated the civilization of the Mexicans, the Peruvians, and the other nations that had made any progress in social improvement. Men with beards, and with clearer com plexion than ordinary, make their appearance in different countries of America, without any indication of the place of their birth, and bearing the title of high-priests, of legislators, of the friends of peace and the arts which flourish under its auspices, operate a sudden change in the policy of the nations, who hail their arrival with veneration. Quetzalcoatl in Mexico, Manco Capac in Peru, and Bochica, the Boodh of the Muyscas, on the lofty plains of Bogota, are the sacred names of these mysterious beings. Quet zalcoatl, clothed in a black sacerdotal robe, comes from Panuco, on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico. Bochica arrives from the savannas, which stretch along the east of the Cordilleras. Manco Capac and his wife appear on the banks of the Lake Titicaca. The history of these legislators is intermixed with miracles, reli gious fictions, and with characters which imply an allegorical meaning. Some learned men have pretended to discover that x these strangers were shipwrecked Europeans, or the descendants of those Scandinavians who visited the shores of New England ABORIGINES OF AMERICA. 47 in the eleventh century ; but a slight reflection on the period of the Toltec migrations, on the monastic institutions, the symbols of worship, the calendar, and the form of the pyramids, and other monuments which still exist in North America, will lead to the conclusion that the civilization of this continent was not of Euro pean origin. When the Mexicans or Aztecks, in the year 1190, took posses sion of the country where they founded their empire, they already found the pyramidal monuments of Teotihuacan, of Cholula and of Papantla. They ascribed these great edifices to the Toltecs, a powerful and civilized nation, who inhabited Mexico five hun dred years earlier, who made use of hieroglyphical characters, who computed the year more precisely, and had a more exact chronology than the greater part of the people of the old conti nent. The Aztecks knew not with certainty which tribe had inhabited the country of Anahuac before the Toltecs;* conse quently, the belief that the monuments of Teotihuacan and Cholula were built by the Toltecs, assigned them the highest antiquity. It is not surprising that the annals of the Toltecs should be as uncertain as those of the Pelasgi and the Ausonians, and that no history of any American nation goes farther back than the seventh century. The history of the north of Europe reaches no further than the tenth century, a period when Mexico was in a more advanced state of civilization than Denmark, Sweden or Russia. In one of the Mexican pictures now extant, is a figure representing Q,uetzalcoatl appeasing, by his penance, the wrath of the gods, when, thirteen thousand and sixty years after the creation of the world, as the hieroglyphics state, a great famine prevailed in the province of Chilian. We seem here to behold one of those ancient hermits of the Ganges, whose pious austerity is celebrated in the Puranas. We have alluded already to the striking similarity of some of the figures in the antiquities of Central America, to the Hindoo drawings. Yet, whatever resemblances may be traced between the Amer icans and the nations of the old world, there is nothing in them modern or recent. Neither the physical peculiarities nor the political and religious institutions can be identified with those of any nations of the ancient continent, though they approximate (he western civilization to that of the Hindoos, the Egyptians and the Chinese. The origin of this resemblance is to be traced back to the earliest ages, when these great nations first separated, and carried into Egypt, Hindostan and China, the same religion, arts, customs and institutions, to be variously modified under the influ ence of diverse causes. The great diversity of American law- 48 ABORIGINES OF AMERICA, guages, the few analogies which they present to those of the old world, the absence of the use of iron, certain peculiarities in their astronomical systems, and some of their own traditions, which have preserved the memory of historical events, all concur in supporting this belief. In conclusion, we may state that the aborigines of America appear to have been a primitive branch of the human family which penetrated at a very early period into the western continent ; that the American race was not derived from any nation now existing, but is assimilated, by numerous analogies, to the Etrurians, Egyptians, Mongols, Chinese and Hindoos, and is most closely related to the Malays and Polyne sians. o, Y. .